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Be blessed!
Chris
How Much Does Your God Love You?
Is it just about salvation? If it was just going to Heaven, it would be great already.
But is God able to bless you? Is He WILLING? Do you think He is willing? Or is that dependent on your performance?
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (NKJV)
Eternal or everlasting life is about knowing God. Knowing God is not a one time event, neither is eternal life.
John 14:6 says that Jesus is THE LIFE.
After we got saved, the more we know Him, the more our Spirits (one with the Holy Spirit) are in control and THE LIFE manifests.
Paul’s First Prayer for the Ephesians
Ephesians 1: 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Beyond getting saved, Paul earnestly prayed for the Ephesians this prayer. Note the things he prays for. 2 things have to be true here:
1. Paul felt that this was important (WE MUST NOTE)
2. Paul must have thought the Ephesians needed it
We need wisdom to know God. Mere intellect cannot discern Him. When we know God and His love, all our problems in life find an answer.
It takes us yearning for more of God to receive this wisdom.
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (NKJV)
We need our eyes of understanding to be enlightened, that knowing God brings us great hope IN HIS CALLING. His calling, His will for us is good, His plans to prosper us. We have great riches of glory – God’s goodness, in the inheritance in the saints.
We need to understand what great plans He has for us to walk in. If this was for Heaven only, then Paul would not have bothered to pray this pray so earnestly.
Paul’s Second Prayer for the Ephesians
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Paul’s second prayer-that we might be strengthened by His Spirit (who is one with our spirit) in the inner man – your soul, heart, will.
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, when we know His love. Gal 5:6. Easy to have faith when we know His love.
Comprehension of this is a church thing, in the body of the believers. No solo-Christians.
We need to KNOW the LOVE of Christ. I suspect we all only have the smallest glimpse of this – it passes human intellectual knowledge, which is why it cannot be understood in the intellect.
The more we get to know this love, the more we are full of God. Truly, we can love to the measure we know we are loved.
*Our Christian growth must be characterized by how much we know His love for us.*
*This is a direct equivalent of knowing Him.*
*How well we know Jesus and the love demonstrated by Him on the Cross will determine how far we go in life.*
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (NKJV)
John desired that we prosper and be in health. He points out that this is to the measure that our souls prosper. As our minds are renewed by the Word of God, as we start to see things God’s way, we change our thinking (repent) and this will see corresponding prosperity and health.
John’s deepest desire as should be ours, is to see his children in the Lord walk in TRUTH. Truth is a person (John 14:6) and His name is Jesus.
Once full of Him, we get excited and tell the world. It's like having the cure for cancer, except it's a lot better and every unbeliever is another patient who needs what we have. We HAVE to tell the world!
Matthew 28: 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (NKJV)
2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (NKJV)
It is a fallacy that all Bible teaching must come from pastors or those trained in bible school
That is why we are all called to disciple.
2 Good Men Needed Only...
If each of us can disciple 2 persons every year of our lives and the ones we disciple do the same, it would take only 2 committed Christians to start with, to have the whole world saved in 20 short years!
Year 1 2 Christians Make 4 disciples Total 6 Christians
Year 2 6 Christians Make 12 disciples Total 18 Christians
Year 3 18 Christians Make 36 disciples Total 54 Christians
Year 4 54 Christians Make 108 disciples Total 162 Christians
Year 5 162 Christians Make 324 disciples Total 486 Christians
Year 6 486 Christians Make 972 disciples Total 1,458 Christians
Year 7 1,458 Christians Make 2,916 disciples Total 4,374 Christians
Year 8 4,374 Christians Make 8,748 disciples Total 13,122 Christians
Year 9 13,122 Christians Make 26,244 disciples Total 39,366 Christians
Year 10 39,366 Christians Make 78,732 disciples Total 118,098 Christians
Year 11 118,098 Christians Make 236,196 disciples Total 354,294 Christians
Year 12 354,294 Christians Make 708,588 disciples Total 1,062,882 Christians
Year 13 1,062,882 Christians Make 2,125,764 disciples Total 3,188,646 Christians
Year 14 3,188,646 Christians Make 6,377,292 disciples Total 9,565,938 Christians
Year 15 9,565,938 Christians Make 19,131,876 disciples Total 28,697,814 Christians
Year 16 28,697,814 Christians Make 57,392,628 disciples Total 86,093,442 Christians
Year 17 86,093,442 Christians Make 172,186,884 disciples Total 258,280,326 Christians
Year 18 258,280,326 Christians Make 516,560,652 disciples Total 774,840,978 Christians
Year 19 774,840,978 Christians Make 1,549,681,956 disciples Total 2,324,552,934 Christians
Year 20 2,324,522,934 Christians Make 4,649,045,868 disciples Total 6,973,568,802 Christians
The Take-Away
· Knowing God = Eternal Life
· The more we know, the more The Life manifests
· Knowing God = Knowing His Love
· Knowing His love = Getting full of God
· Getting full of God = Living The Life God intended – deep peace, satisfaction, blessings
· Learn this love in the Word
· Teach others!
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