This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Ephesians 1:18 “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,…”
Faith is never just a head thing. Although the intellect of faith is important, faith is not just a knowledge of God, but a trust in God. Trust is a “gut” thing. Sure it is supported by one’s knowledge and intellect, but our heart is really where the deep seated, reactionary, habitual aspects of life and faith develop.
Paul continues his prayer for the believers in Ephesus and for us with a desire that God would open our hearts to see clearly and experience fully the hope to which God has called us along with the glorious inheritance that is in store for us.
So what is that hope?
The Apostle Paul writes about it in virtually every letter. It is not a hope that has its limits in the worlds ability to provide, but it is a hope in what has been promised to us by our Father in heaven. To the Colossians, he wrote:
Colossians 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you.
To the Corinthians, he wrote:
1 Corinthians 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
To the Thessalonians he wrote:
1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Paul had not yet experienced the full aspect of eternal life with Jesus, but he was certain of it. He knew that the worst that could happen to him on this earth is his own death or the death of someone he loved. The hope he had in Christ gave joy to the thought of each. Death was merely the passage way to experience the hope and glorious inheritance God had promised him in Jesus.
He wants you to have this hope as well. Life in this world will end. So what keeps us from depression and despair? Hope. Hope that is firmly built not on wishful thinking, but on the completed work of Jesus on the cross and the fact of the empty tomb. Because he lives, we too will live.
So it is my prayer that this hope deeply embeds in my heart and yours so that in all circumstances of life we have a peace that is settled in the hope of eternal life that IS ours through Jesus!
Apply: Rate your “peace” meter. Is your heart disrupted by worry and concern or is it settled in the promises of Jesus?
Prayer: Lord, open the eyes of my heart so I may see and believe more fully the hope to which you have called us and anticipate with joy the glorious inheritance that you have promised to me. AMEN.