Ephesians 3.8-21 (6)
Pray Psalm 27.4-6.
One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Sing Psalm 27.4-6.
(St. Denio: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise)
One thing we request but to dwell with You, LORD.
Your beauty to test and to think on Your Word.
In trouble You hide us secure in Your grace;
no foe may o’erride us: We sing of Your praise.
Read Ephesians 3.8-21; meditate on verse 20.
In the context of all we’ve seen in Ephesians 1-3, meditate on the word “above”. What does this suggest?
Preparation
1. What is God able to do?
2. How will He do this?
Meditation
When I was a kid, I was sick and at home for a six-week stretch, confined to bed rest and minimum activity. I had assignments from school, which I did each day. But mostly I watched TV game shows. Remember “The Price Is Right”? Is that still on? All I remember about it is, whenever someone won something—say a new car—the host would say it like, “A NEW CAR!” as the gift was unveiled behind the door. The audience, following the electronic prompt, would cheer and applaud. Then the host would say something like, “So that you can PULL YOUR NEW BOAT!” Unveiling, more cheering and applause, “Louder”. And at last, “Because you’ll need these for your TWO-WEEK STAY AT THIS LAKESIDE RESORT!” Audience goes maniacal. Theme music blasting. I loved it. More and more. Exceeding and abundantly above what the winners had ever dared to ask or think. Crowd nearly uncontrollable.
Child of God, seated-in-glory-saint, eyes opened from within your heart to see Jesus exalted and filling and overflowing you, basking in His peace, strengthened in your inner person, filling up with God—THAT’S SOME REALLY GREAT STUFF! Praise abounding, tears streaming down, hands clapping involuntarily as you think on all that God has done for you in Jesus Christ.
BUT THERE’S MORE! More than you’ve ever dared to ask or think. God’s power at work in you—His Holy Spirit and Word—is ready to stretch out in you with grace and truth above what you have ever dared to ask or think. But try. And ask. And think about Him working in and through you exceeding abundantly above all you’ve ever known. All yours because to God, the price was right in Jesus. Have a nice trip.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.The Price is Right, as exciting as it was, underestimated real glory. If you guessed the price too high, you lost.
And that’s where the similarity ends. For God is telling us to price our salvation, and the life that He has planned for us to live with Him, exceedingly abundantly above any price we could ask or think—a huge over- estimation!
Because God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3.20). And that power is Himself, filling us with the fullness of Jesus Christ (Eph. 3.19).
Let’s hark back to that humble fig tree. When Jesus and the disciples passed by it, in its withered state, Peter, remembering how Jesus had cursed it, said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus, in His loving way, using every occasion as a teaching moment for His disciples, said to them,
“Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mk. 11.20-24).
We are not asking for cars, boats, or trips; but we are asking to be filled with His Spirit, to know Him better, to love Him more completely, so that we can practice His Presence at all times in our lives—obediently serving Him and enjoying Him forever.
We are also seeking His Kingdom first and foremost, and when we do so, all these things will be added to us (Matt. 6.33).
Long ago, when the Israelites were first becoming a people, it behooved them to grow in numbers. The same should be true regarding our prayers for the Church today, that her people will grow to love Him more, obeying His Word, and learning of Him exceedingly more each day. “But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them” (Ex. 1.7). Oh, that this will become true of us!
When our heart is set on Him, and our eyes look only to Him, and the things of earth “grow strangely dim” in importance to us; and our desire for things exceeding and abundant focus directly upon Him and Him alone, then we will experience the fullness of Jesus, and the grace to experience grace and then give it away.
“…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature…” (2 Pet. 1.3, 4).
THAT’S SOME REALLY GREAT STUFF!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
(Helen H. Lemmel, 1922)
Reflection
1. How would you describe your prayers? How you praise the Lord? What you seek from Him?
2. What would “exceeding abundantly above” look like in your prayer life? In your daily walk with and work for the Lord?
3. Don’t underestimate God. How will you encourage your fellow believers today?
Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, is a remarkable expression, and bids us entertain no fear lest faith of a proper kind should go to excess. Whatever expectations we form of Divine blessings, the infinite goodness of God will exceed all our wishes and all our thoughts. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Ephesians 3.20, 21
Pray Psalm 27.7-14.
God can do more to flex His power in and through you. Pray that He will hear your prayer, that He will teach and lead you into that which is exceeding abundantly above all you’ve ever known of His great salvation, and that you will know it today.
Sing Psalm 27.7-14.
(St. Denio: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise)
Hear, LORD, when we cry and be gracious, we pray!
LORD, do not deny us Your favor this day!
Our help, our salvation, though others may fall,
preserve our good station when on You we call.
LORD, teach us; LORD, lead us because of our foes!
Hear, LORD, when we plead for release from their woes.
Had we not believed all Your goodness to see,
our heart sorely grieved and in turmoil would be.
Wait, wait on the LORD; persevere in His grace.
Hold fast to His Word; seek His radiant face.
Be strong, set your heart to abide in His Word;
His grace He imparts; therefore, wait on the LORD.
T. M. and Susie MooreIf you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we continue looking at ways the Law of God applies to our lives. This week in our Read Moore podcast we consider the question of what it means to know Jesus Christ. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
