Strengthen You With Power
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every
family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious
riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you,
being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the
Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled
to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now
to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Nature abhors a vacuum. That means our atmosphere may be filled
with a colorless, tasteless substance, which is air. The same principle is at
work in our spiritual lives. When the Holy Spirit begins to convict us of sin,
the idea of starting a self-improvement plan immediately comes to mind. We put
forth our best effort to defeat our worst habits. But every attempt to get rid
of unclean thoughts, attitudes, and desires is destined to fail because getting
rid of one creates a vacuum in our souls. As soon as we empty ourselves of one
vice, others move in to take its place, and we end up just as bad off or worse
than when we started.
The only permanent solution to the problem of sin in our lives
is to replace it with the love of Jesus, which fills the vacuum. The more we
are filled with His love, the less room there is for any evil thing.
We don’t need to put our house in order before Jesus comes in;
He puts it in order after we let Him in.
Our Daily Bread –