They had heard that the church was bearing much fruit, so they prayed that the church would be filled with "knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding". See that Paul had high expectations for them. We were not created so that God is a mystery, but so that we can know God. And we need spiritual wisdom and understanding. Spiritual wisdom is something that comes from the Holy Spirit, and we increase in spiritual wisdom when we put Him first and seek His righteousness.
The fruit of all this is not that we get puffed up with knowledge or become proud of our own wisdom, but so that we live a life worthy of our calling, live a life pleasing to God, bearing fruit in good works. These are measures that we can apply to assess our own development and growth, and which we can also use to assess the value of any movement within the church.
Then Paul prays for us to be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might. We need strength. Sometimes people say in despair "God give me strength". This should be a genuine prayer of ours.
Now see what the power and glorious might is for. We might expect it to be for doing signs and wonders, or for confronting the spiritual forces of evil, but no. It is so that we might have "all endurance and patience with joy". We need endurance and patience. Many false teachings will play on our lack of patience, offering a quick fix. Moreover, "patience and endurance" are vital weapons of spiritual warfare. They help us overcome all things.
And all this is with joy and thanksgiving. A life of patience and endurance is not a miserable one!
We have been qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints. We need nothing more. We have been rescued from dominion of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of His Son. We do not need to be set free from anyone else, we have all the freedom we need, though we certainly do need to learn to live in that freedom.
No comments:
Post a Comment