Ephesians

  And he gave to some people apostolic gifts, to others prophetic gifts, to some the gift of reaching out to others with the good news, and there were those He equipped to be pastors and teachers.  And her gave these gifts so that the whole body could be equipped to do the work of serving ths world and for the encouragement of the body of Christ.  We need these gifts as we work towards unity and as we increase in understanding the Son of God, because we are growing into perfection and Christ is working in us to draw us up to His full height and fill us with that which fills Him :   so that when we attain this we shall no longer be like children blown about in the storm of doctrine and by the lies and trickery of cunning, crafty, deceitful men.  But by speaking the truth which dispells the lies, we shall grow up in everything we do and all we believe and this body shall become like its head - Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what eac...

  As God's prisoner then, I beg you to live a life worthy of this calling.  Be lowly and gentle, long- suffering. Put up with each other's annoying ways because you are indwelt by love, trying hard to keep the unity of the Spirit which holds us all together in peace. There is only one body and there is only one Spirit just as there is one hope- the hope of eternal life.  And it is to this that you have been called.  There is one Lord, one faith and one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. But despite us being one body, each individual has been given grace according to how much Christ wants to give us.  This is why He says   ' When He ascended on high He took captivity captive and gave gifts to men'. (So what does ' he ascended' mean?  Well you cant go up if you arent down to start with.  And He was down in the grave, down in the very depths of hell.  He who went down is also the one who ascended ...

  So it is because of all of this that I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ - in whom we are all related and joined together into one big family.  And Im asking that He would bless you with strength to carry on, and that from the amazing storehouse of riches He posesses, you would know your spirit being indwelt by His mighty, strong, undefeated, resilient Spirit.  I pray that  because you trust Him, Jesus would come and take up permanent residence in your heart so that you, being rooted and grounded in His  love may be able to understand along with all the saints how wide and high and deep and long - not just understand with your mind but know beyond a shadow of a doubt in the depths of your being the love of Christ.  Actually, it is beyond ' knowing'.  And I pray that you will be filled top full with everything with which God Himself is filled. So, to Him who is able to do massively, superabundantly more than we ask or even dare ...

  So, Im taking it that you have heard about how God gave me a special measure of grace for you guys  ( Ive told you about it before in a brief message which, when you read it , will help you to understand how I know about the mystery of christ) and how He gave me a special revelation, showing me things which were unknown to previous generations but which have now been revealed by the Holy Spirit to the apostles and prophets He has set apart.  And this is it - what He showed me - that the Gentiles should have exactly the same rights of inheritance, and be part of the same body and partakers of the promise of christ through the great and fantastic news which I have been telling, thanks to the gift of grace God has given to me by the effective working of His power.

  So, don’t forget that you were physically uncircumcised Gentiles, you were without Christ, alienated from the nation of Israel, strangers to the promises of God, having no hope and being without God in the world. But now, because of the blood of Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near and are indeed indwelt by, and are part of Christ. For He is our peace.  He has taken Jew and Gentile and made them both one, breaking down the wall of division which used to stand between us by taking the enmity which existed between us and putting it to death in His own body. In so doing, He made one new man out of the two old ones and thereby brought peace.  And He came and preached peace to you who were so far away and to those of us who were close – because through His Spirit we both have equal access to the Father

  Once you had heard the truth, the good news that Jesus had paid the price for your sins, you put your whole trust in Him, and having believed in Him He sealed you up with the Holy Spirit who is a downpayment from heaven, which will be fully redeemed and will buy us our full inheritance once we get there.  Praise God!   Because of all this, when I heard about how much you trust Jesus and love his people I cant stop thanking God for you.  I keep asking that glorious Father God will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you can truly know Him, see Him, know yourself in the light of knowing Him, understand all the treasure that is yours because you are His and live in the experience of the power which He exercises on our behalf.  It’s the same power which raised Jesus from the dead and lifted him high to seat Him at God’s right hand high, high , high above everything which concerns us on this earth, above the spiritual realm, above absolutely everythi...