Although Paul was imprisoned in Rome during the time this book was written, he had the distinct privilege and boundless grace to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. v 8

God's intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. v10

The fact that God had done the seemingly impossible - by reconciling and organically uniting Jews and Gentiles in the church - making the church the perfect means of displaying His wisdom.

It is staggering to think that the church on earth is observed, so to speak, by the spiritual powers and that to the degree the church is spiritually united to portray to these powers the wisdom of God.

Truly, the God of the universe has an awesome plan to make Himself known in His multifaceted splendor through his church.

Ephesians 2: 21, 22 (The Passion Translation)

21 This entire building is under construction and is continually growing under his supervision until it rises up completed as the holy temple of the Lord himself. 22 This means that God is transforming each one of you into the Holy of Holies, his dwelling place, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you!

May we come to appreciate the tremendously immeasurable sacrifice Christ afforded for us to become a part of His forever family! For those who receive Him as Lord and Savior, we are under construction to be His Holy of Holies, where He dwells within each of us.

"But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience, he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved." (Eph 2: 4, 5 - Good News Translation)

"I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God's power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you!"

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead works mightily within the lives of believers to show forth the greatness and power of God for all to see.

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus - all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts. Ephesians 1: 3 (The Passion)

Life is meant to bring a succession of discoveries of our need of Christ, and with every such discovery the way is opened for a new inflow of the supply He has waiting for us!

Our background text comes from St John 19:30, where Jesus declares "It is finished." These resounding words of Jesus satisfied the payment for sin on mankind's behalf. A brand-new beginning was afforded on that fateful day for all who would ever accept His payment personally as their own and invite Him into their lives as Savior and Lord. We can now live with Him forever.

As believers, we will all struggle with doubts from time to time. But like the father in today’s lesson taken from Mark 9:23-24, he told Jesus he believed, but asked of Him to help his unbelief! This father demonstrated both honesty and humility.

We must not allow our doubts to derail us. Our doubts won’t deny God’s blessings to us. When placed in His hands, they can serve as a platform to help our faith grow🌷

“But Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew them all. There was no need for anyone to tell him about them, because he himself knew what was in their hearts.”