Paul loved the church in Ephesus… and they loved him. They prayed and cried together when they came to the beach to see his ship off to Jerusalem, knowing this would be the last time they would see him. Now, very likely from a jail cell, Paul writes back to his friends- his spiritual family- and he includes a couple of statement about what he most wishes for them… what he prays for them when he talks to God about them- Ephesians 3:16-19. As we are about to face a new year, I want to borrow his sentiments and wish the same things for my family at Woodland Oaks:

First, He said, “I wish for you that your trust in God would be so very strong that Christ would feel right at home in your hearts.” Have you ever been to someone’s home and you just felt so comfortable that you were totally at ease and could be yourself without any reservations? The word “dwell” (v17) means to settle down and take up residence. It is an absolute, child-like trust in God that makes Jesus feel so comfortable and pleased that he says, “I’m going to stay here forever!” I wish that for every one of you.

Second, He said, “I want you to experience for yourself the vastness of Christ’s love for you. I want you to know what that love feels like.”

You read and study and do all your homework, you gather all the facts, you talk to all the experts and then you can say you “know” something or someone. But then there’s a level of knowledge that can’t be “taught,” isn’t there? It is more than understanding and comprehension; it is to know something so well that you “own it.” It is your personal possession. It is knowledge that goes far deeper than the surface.

There is a word in Ephesians 3:18 that expresses this concept of knowing something so well that it becomes yours. The NIV uses the word “grasp” … and that comes pretty close to expressing the original meaning of “to seize for your own.” He continues by saying that this level of love “surpasses knowledge.” In other words, you can’t know it until you immerse yourself in it.
Have you ever walked into a beautiful meadow of flowers on a warm spring day and just had to lay down in it and “let it flood over you?” As you soak in God’s love, Paul says that God will fill you up completely with Himself. You’ll become totally saturated in God and His love.

You will find power, motivation and consistency for your life that you can never know any other way. I wish that for every one of you. And I want these things for myself.

May our Lord bless us as we work together to build up the Lord’s body in unity and maturity.

-Ken Stegall