<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Ephesians 3;11-13<div><br></div><div><b>11. &nbsp;This </b>(God’s plan,&nbsp;the oneness with God and each other,&nbsp;and&nbsp;purpose&nbsp;of the Church as&nbsp;a&nbsp;manifestation of the wisdom of God) <b>was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,</b></div><div><b></b><b>12. &nbsp;in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him.</b></div><div><b>13. &nbsp;So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Paul here concludes,&nbsp;adding for us another insight into&nbsp;<i>“the mystery”</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;of God. &nbsp;God&nbsp;accomplishes&nbsp;all his good plans for us through his&nbsp;own&nbsp;sacrificial love. &nbsp;This love moved the Father&nbsp;to give his only Son&nbsp;&nbsp;into flesh to suffer, die, and be raised for our justification and eternal life. &nbsp;Now,&nbsp;God has given&nbsp;<span>the Holy Spirit to the Church, so that she would have power to&nbsp;reflect the very&nbsp;image of God in Christ into this world. &nbsp;The Church now,&nbsp;through her own suffering, by faith the indwelling&nbsp;of&nbsp;Christ, partakes of this divine nature,&nbsp;&nbsp;manifesting&nbsp;the same sacrificial love of the Father and the Son.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>(Paul is saying&nbsp;his imprisonment is also a part of this glory of God. &nbsp;It is&nbsp;a part of this ongoing work of God for our blessing, all part of God’s perfect plan from eternity.)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>When Paul concludes by saying, <i>“which is your glory.” &nbsp;</i>He is referring to the same glory that Jesus spoke of when he said upon entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, <i>“the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” &nbsp;</i>(John 12;23-28)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The same sacrificial love of God in Christ, was working in Paul, and now works in us the Church today,</span></div><div><span>this is our glory. &nbsp;We have been made to share in it. &nbsp;This is our <i>“access to God,” </i>&nbsp;not just to come into his presence, but rather, to come <i>into Him, </i>partaking of his divine nature, becoming one with Him, as a husband and wife become one.<i></i></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, grant us grace and strength to embrace the Light revealed in darkness, the Life sent into death to conquer death, the mystery of Christ in us. (Colossians 1;27) &nbsp;<u>In Jesus</u>&nbsp;we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</span></div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Ephesians 3;11-13
11.  This (God’s plan, the oneness with God and each other, and purpose of the Church as a manifestation of the wisdom of God) was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,12.  in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him.13.  So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
Paul here concludes, adding for us another insight into “the mystery”  of God.  God accomplishes all his good plans for us through his own sacrificial love.  This love moved the Father to give his only Son  into flesh to suffer, die, and be raised for our justification and eternal life.  Now, God has given the Holy Spirit to the Church, so that she would have power to reflect the very image of God in Christ into this world.  The Church now, through her own suffering, by faith the indwelling of Christ, partakes of this divine nature,  manifesting the same sacrificial love of the Father and the Son.
(Paul is saying his imprisonment is also a part of this glory of God.  It is a part of this ongoing work of God for our blessing, all part of God’s perfect plan from eternity.)
When Paul concludes by saying, “which is your glory.”  He is referring to the same glory that Jesus spoke of when he said upon entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, “the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.”  (John 12;23-28)
The same sacrificial love of God in Christ, was working in Paul, and now works in us the Church today,this is our glory.  We have been made to share in it.  This is our “access to God,”  not just to come into his presence, but rather, to come into Him, partaking of his divine nature, becoming one with Him, as a husband and wife become one.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, grant us grace and strength to embrace the Light revealed in darkness, the Life sent into death to conquer death, the mystery of Christ in us. (Colossians 1;27)  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
