September 4
Song of Solomon 1-2
Palm 102:1-11
Proverbs 21:29-31
Ephesians 3
The Love of Christ
“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:16-21 NIV
This is one of the most encouraging scripture passages in the Bible. Paul is trying to express in the strongest possible words the extent of the love of Christ for us and the importance of our understanding that love. He believes that only by God’s grace could someone as unworthy as him be entrusted with spreading the gospel to the Gentiles and only through the power of the Holy Spirit could he possibly be able to carry out his mission. Our imagination cannot even grasp the full extent of God’s love. Its width, length, height, and depth are lost in their immensity. Its eternality and infinity are beyond our grasp and its intensity is well beyond our comprehension. Its width encompasses all the vast universe. Its length reaches back from the beginning of creation and stretches forward to the eternal reign of Christ. its depth touches the deepest depravity of the human heart from the fall of Adam to the evil of our own sin. And its height reaches to the heavenly throne of grace.
When we begin to understand how much He loves us, we are filled with such an appreciation that it compels us to live lives that are pleasing to Him, and it creates a love in us for Him which overflows in love and grace to others. This kind of love goes beyond mere information. It is so compelling that it overflows in action. It cannot be contained. His love gives us strength and power to accomplish everything He has intended for us to do. We are filled with all the fullness of His power and His love so that we are enabled to give that love to others. His love for us is not based on anything we do or don’t do. It cannot be earned, and it cannot be lost. His love is part of His character. He is faithful and true. The only thing that can even give us a tiny picture of this love is the love of a mother for her child. The Mother loves her newborn baby even though the baby cannot return her love. She would do anything for this child, even die for it. As human mothers we are not perfect, so our love is not perfect and inevitably we fail to express that love completely all the time. God is perfect. His love is perfect, and He always acts in our best interest. He always does what is best for us and He always does immeasurably more that we ask or imagine. I pray that you feel the love of your Heavenly Father today.
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