In The Word
Read: Ephesians 3
Paul’s Stewardship
3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; 3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
When Jesus died, was resurrected from death, and ascended to sit at the right hand of God, He accomplished many things for us. One of those things was that the veil (curtain) in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This was the veil that was used to separate the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God dwelt. The High Priest was the only person allowed in the Holy of Holies, and he was only allowed in there once a year to make atonement for the sins of the people. Now, through the new covenant, we have access to come to the Father through Jesus Christ.
Let us look at what some of the words mean in verse 12:
- Boldness: to be able to speak freely
- Confident: trust and reliance
- Access: the act of bringing to or moving to.
When we plug these words with the given definitions back into the verse, we can see that through faith in Christ, we are able to reach out and touch the Father. We can speak freely and openly to the Father and trust and rely that He has heard us!
Today you may feel that God does not hear you and that you cannot get close to Him. If you have made Christ your Lord, and you are a child of God walking in the Spirit, then that is simply not true. You have access right now to approach God’s presence and talk openly with your Father in Heaven!