My Heart His Home – Ephesians 3:14-21 – Episode 71

Speaker 1 (00:03):

Is your world a little crazy and off kilter at the moment, feeling a bit frazzled? Well then, you’ve found the perfect place to regain some quiet today. Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast, where we study his Word and encourage one another. The Sweet Selah Moment Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole (00:28):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. We are so glad you decided to spend some time with us today. I have a question for you today. What are you doing right now as you listen? I listen to podcasts when I drop off my kiddos and I’m driving home in the car or when I’m folding laundry or doing dishes, it helps me pass the time for those less fun tasks. How about you? We love to hear from our listeners. What are you doing as you listen? Write us @sweetselah.org/podcast and let us know. Today we are on episode 71 and our title is My Heart, His Home. Sharon, I can remember as a little girl being told Jesus would come into my heart if I asked him, how about you?

Sharon (01:08):

Me too. That was the phrase. Ask Jesus into your heart. All the Sunday school teachers and vacation Bible school, people were always saying, ‘have you asked Jesus into your heart’? I think it might be a little confusing for a kid. It really wasn’t for me. I don’t know that I understood it, but I just wanted Jesus close and the heart seemed close. (Nicole: Right) Right? But for, some, it might seem strange. The heart is a little organ in there that pumps blood. So how does Jesus get in there? Do I eat him? You know, that kind of thing? But maybe it’s just that my parents did a really good job of explaining it to us. And maybe it’s part of our theme, my heart is his home. (Nicole: Yeah) If you think of opening the door and letting someone into your home, it’s almost like you’re opening the door to yourself and saying, come on in. (Nicole: Yeah) Right, kind of thing? So it’s kind of interesting. So, I think too, you have to help a child to understand the spirit of a person is separated from their body.

Nicole (02:08):

Yes.

Sharon (02:08):

You know, we’ve got this physical body, but there’s something in us that isn’t that. That’s not just blood and muscle and sinew. And you know, I think the first time I really got it wasn’t until college, I was living with a lady who had multiple sclerosis. (Nicole: Oh) And I loved her so much, Georgia Smith. And I got free room and board there because I took care of her for the state and she needed help.

Nicole (02:37):

Oh, that’s nice.

Sharon (02:37):

I cooked her meals and did things like that. And she was a lot older than me. And her body was just failing, even eating was an effort because her hands shook like crazy. (Nicole: Yeah) You know, even getting a glass up half of it would spill, but she still was determined to do as much as she could by herself. Right? So, and we were sitting, talking one evening cause we did that a lot. And I thought, you know what? She is not her body at all. I’m getting to know this woman. Not, not as the sort of broken old lady, you know, that I first saw her as, this victim I was being nice to. I got to know Georgia. I mean, she was like my first friend that was 40 years older than me too. I didn’t even know that was possible. Can you be friends with somebody 40 years older? Yes you can.

Nicole (03:26):

You can.

Sharon (03:28):

And I was, and we became buds and we laughed together and we had our own little jokes. I mean, we lived together. We were room-ies, right?

Nicole (03:35):

Right. That’s so cute.

Sharon (03:36):

Yeah. So, but what it showed me more than anything was that the essence of Georgia Smith was not related to a failing crumbling, mass of flesh and bone and blood. There was something in her that was alive, that was more than that. And that’s what we’re doing when we ask Jesus into our heart, saying, come into the part of me that will always be. (Nicole: Yeah) The eternal part, right?

Nicole (04:05):

Right.

Sharon (04:05):

Yeah. Cause like when you see someone who’s dead, you know that spark has gone out of them. All the body parts are still there? (Nicole: Right) But that breath of life is gone. (Nicole: Yeah) So, that was a long answer to your question.

Nicole (04:18):

It was a very good one though.

Sharon (04:20):

But so how do you help your kids understand this concept of Jesus in the heart or, Jesus, our heart, his home?

Nicole (04:30):

Yeah. As a kid, I was just thinking back to what you said about like a little, I always mentioned like a little Jesus, like in a little door into my heart too. Like it’s funny that visual, like he’s living in my heart. Like it’s so tiny though and like, where’s that?

Sharon (04:42):

I thought God was big. Right.

Nicole (04:42):

It’s like, well, okay. But it like, you know, you always hear it growing up and I just kind of accepted it, like, okay, he’s in my heart. But if you really think about it, like you know it’s a muscle, it’s not really a place, it’s kind of hard. It feels too big to explain sometimes.

Sharon (04:55):

It does.

Nicole (04:56):

So, you know, I kind of approached it similar to like, well, let’s define what the spirit is versus the body, talking to the girls about their spirit and how it’s real. We can’t see it. It’s like our thoughts or the wind, but it’s very real. And then when Jesus comes into our heart, he kind of like supercharges that spirit into like our soul that goes to be with him someday, you know?

Sharon (05:15):

Yes, yes, exactly.

Nicole (05:16):

so just kind of like helping them to see other non-physical things and then relate it to their, their soul, you know?

Sharon (05:22):

I love that.

Nicole (05:23):

You know, it’s that part. (Sharon: Yeah) But it’s tough. It’s a big concept.

Sharon (05:25):

It is. But it’s good to introduce it early, I think. (Nicole: Yeah) Because right from the ‘get-go’ our kids need to know that we’re more than just flesh.

Nicole (05:35):

Yes. absolutely.

Sharon (05:36):

You know, that there’s a part of us that is different from that. And the part actually we need to be concerned about cause that’s what grows our personality, that grows the love, joy, peace, patience, all that good stuff that we need, you know, that doesn’t come from, you know, sinew?

Nicole (05:52):

Right. That’s true.

Sharon (05:53):

It’s another part of us. So anyways, very, very cool. (Nicole: Yeah) So today we are going to look at one of my favorites in Ephesians.

Nicole (06:02):

Oh nice.

Sharon (06:03):

I love this part so much. It’s, it’s kind of a soul care prayer, but it’s also an encouragement to feel the wonder of Christ making his home in us. We’re being a temple of sorts. We house God’s spirit. I’m looking at you right now, like you have God’s spirit in your body.

Nicole (06:25):

Isn’t that crazy?

Sharon (06:26):

It is so crazy and so amazing that God would deign to live in us. To say, I will be so close to you that I’ll be in you and Jesus saying to his disciples when he left, something better’s happening here. Trust me, I’m physically here now, but I can only be in one place at one time. When I leave, my spirit is going to be able to be in everyone that wants it.

Nicole (06:50):

That’s so cool.

Sharon (06:50):

That he’s that close to us. (Nicole: He is) Oh my goodness. So, but in order to understand this particular passage, we actually have to go back to the beginning of Ephesians 3, even though today we’re looking at the end. So would you read for us the beginning again, Ephesians 3:1-3, because there’s gonna be kind of like this parenthesis that we just looked at. So let’s go back to the beginning. We’re done the parenthesis. We’re gonna get the end, but remind us of it.

Nicole (07:17):

Okay. So back to Ephesians 3:1-3, “When I think of all this, I Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the benefit of you Gentiles, assuming by the way that you know, God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.”

Sharon (07:38):

So Paul’s starting to say something and then he goes, but you know, as I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. And we’ve just talked about that. So he’s done that, right? So now we’re getting back to the other stuff that came before that. We’ve talked about grace being what saves us, how we were created to be his masterpieces, his poems, and the thinking about that grips him. But he goes on into a side thing then assuming by the way that, you know, God gave me a special responsibility. He talks about that last week, we looked at that mysterious plan. He talks about that, bringing into the kingdom, God, wanting to save all of us, not just the special people. So now we’re coming back to that. So I’m going to pick it up at verse 12 and read to the end of the chapter, which is what we are studying today. So remember Ephesians 3:1 starts with a phrase, ‘when I think about all this’, then he does all the side stuff. So now he’s going back to, when I think about all this, and this is his conclusion about what he had thought about in all this other stuff. So here we go, verse 12 and then, (oh, I’m reading the whole thing it says, all right, I will). “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here, I am suffering for you. So you should feel honored.” And here’s the phrase again that we just heard. I like this phrase, verse 14, “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of every thing in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will go down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Oh, now all glory to God who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think, glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Nicole (10:19):

Amen.

Sharon (10:20):

Wowzers.

Nicole (10:20):

That is a really good section.

Sharon (10:22):

He’s just going off. I love it. It’s so rich and amazing. You know, you know my word for the year is abide? And Paul is putting this into practice right in the middle of a letter, you know? He’s so overwhelmed by God’s plan and his grace and his love for us he just can’t stand it. So he falls to his knees and prays, like in the middle of a letter!

Nicole (10:41):

I love that. He just can’t, he can’t not glorify God in the moment. He’s like, wow. You’re amazing! I need to tell you this.

Sharon (10:47):

Yes, yes. And so then he goes off on this. It’s a wonderful reaction.

Nicole (10:51):

Oh, it is.

Sharon (10:52):

Oh my word. When we’re abiding with Christ, we recognize that he’s with us every single minute. I mean, his heart’s our home. He’s right there. So basically at any moment we can stop talking about him or other stuff and just talk directly to him. The Psalmists do that all the time.

Nicole (11:08):

They do.

Sharon (11:08):

They’re like, God is this, oh Lord, you’re great. And you’re like, wait, what just happened here? You were talking about him now you’re praying. Well, we could do that cause God’s always here. He’s always kind of a part of the conversation. We should remember that. He’s always part of our conversation.

Nicole (11:20):

Yes.

Sharon (11:20):

Hmmmm. So that’s what Paul does. He falls to his knees and starts talking to his heavenly Father and he lets us in on it so we can see what he says and he feels. It’s so intimate. And maybe that’s why I like it. I love being close. And it’s all about Paul feeling close to God. And it’s just a stellar example of how we should respond to God in the moment when something strikes us.

Nicole (11:45):

Yes.

Sharon (11:46):

Yeah. I mean, we should be bursting into random acts of prayer all the time.

Nicole (11:51):

I know we really should be.

Sharon (11:54):

So I love how Paul in verse 15 continues to talk about the Father. So look at verse 15 for me, maybe reread it and then tell me, how does Paul describe God there, adding to the word Father?

Nicole (12:07):

After he falls to his knees to pray to him he calls him the Creator of everything in heaven and earth. So he calls him the Creator. And I think so much more than just our Father he is Creator God, you know, a wonderful creative inventor of everything everywhere. So not just Father but Maker of us. So he knows best how we work.

Sharon (12:27):

He sure does. He put us together. He knit us together.

Nicole (12:30):

Yes! Every little part. Even the quirky ones.

Sharon (12:35):

So yeah, cause if you think of a normal human father, he didn’t knit us together. (Nicole: Right) You know, he started us off, but that was about it. Right? But God not only is our Dad, our Abba Father, but he knows us. Every part, he knows our DNA.

Nicole (12:51):

Right. Down to our very little selves. So he knows; he put us so he knows what’s absolutely irrefutably best for us.

Sharon (12:58):

He sure does. Also he knows the future. That helps too true.

Nicole (13:01):

True. That’s a helpful thing too.

Sharon (13:02):

It is. Because then he knows what we ought to be doing based on what’s going to happen next, which we never know.

Nicole (13:08):

No, as earthly parents we can’t.

Sharon (13:08):

And I don’t know about you but so many times I’m like, well, if I knew what was gonna happen next, I’d know what to decide.

Nicole (13:13):

I know. It’s so maddening not to control that.

Sharon (13:16):

Yeah. You look at your child and you’re like, well, if you go to this school, what will happen to you? If you go to that school, what will happen? You don’t know.

Nicole (13:22):

You don’t know. You have to trust and it’s so hard sometimes.

Sharon (13:25):

Yeah. Yeah. So then in verse 16, we dive into the prayer itself and verse 16 starts off with, “I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit.” You know, Nicole, he’s praying here, but he’s also helping us notice. God’s attributes still. (Nicole: Yeah) Right. He’s like, I want you to notice this. He’s got power. He’s got glorious, unlimited resources. And so when I pray this, I can pray with confidence that he’s, he’s got the ability to do what I’m praying.

Nicole (13:56):

That’s amazing.

Sharon (13:57):

You know, which is really nice. So, so he’s the Father. He’s the perfect Abba Dad who loves, cares, protects. He’s also Creator of absolutely everything. So that makes him powerful beyond comprehension. What are we learning next in verse 16?

Nicole (14:14):

He has the unlimited and glorious resources. That’s just wild. And that he empowers us and gives us inner strength through his spirit. Um, it’s so funny. Last night we were doing a little devotional with the kids and it’s the Louis Giglio. I think it’s “How Great Thou Art? The one that’s science. He talks about the science, and how cool God is. (Sharon: Yeah) This one was about the sun and comparing, like the sun would be an elephant if the world, if the earth was a golf ball and how big the sun is. (Sharon: Oh!) And God just breathed and the sun came out. Like he created it in a breath and that immense power comes in and dwells in us. And the girls were just like, whoa, like to to think about that , well, how do we like, okay guys, we have this power, how do we activate this power?

Sharon (14:55):

Right.

Nicole (14:56):

And they’re like, I don’t know. What do we do? (Sharon: Yeah) Like this is huge. Like, okay, we know he’s got power. How do we activate it? So we were talking about praying and asking God to help us, like be nice to our sister. And Ellie’s like, yeah, I see God’s power in me when I didn’t wanna hit Charlotte earlier. I’m like, ah, there we go. Thank you, Jesus.

Sharon (15:15):

Oh yeah. I’m with Ellie. Thank you for preventing me from hitting someone.

Nicole (15:19):

But she got it so quickly that beautiful connection to his glory, but she’s like, oh yeah, I just ask God and he helps me do that. I’m like, you’ve already been doing it. You’ve been walking in the Spirit. (Sharon: Yes) Like, Oh, I wish I had your faith, you know?

Sharon (15:31):

Yes, isn’t it so cool? And self control, really. It takes a tremendous amount of power to control oneself.

Nicole (15:37):

Oh yes. Especially with heated big emotions.

Sharon (15:39):

Oh my word, with big emotions. Exactly. And we have that power.

Nicole (15:42):

We do.

Sharon (15:42):

And too often we forget it.

Nicole (15:45):

I know, I forget so often Sharon.

Sharon (15:46):

Oh man, I’ll be in a situation where somebody’s mad at me and they’re yelling at me or something. And if I would just pray and say, uh, I have unlimited power within me, Lord. So I kind of need it right now. (Nicole: Right) It would help.

Nicole (15:57):

I Know. So many times if we just stopped and prayed first for that power. So pretty amazing. But he’s ready. He’s ready to empower us and give us this through his Spirit. (Sharon: Yes) Anytime. (Sharon: Yes) We gotta remember this, people. We gotta do it.

Sharon (16:07):

Yes we do! We’re given that inner strength because of that. And he’s given us those resources. We just have to remember they’re there.

Nicole (16:13):

I know.

Sharon (16:15):

God’s the one who says that ‘they, that wait on the Lord will renew their strength’. Right. (Nicole: Mmm, yes) You know, I mean really when we’re weakest, we’ve gotta tap into that power because it’s when we wait on him that he can give us strength we don’t have ourselves.

Nicole (16:28):

Right. Oh, that’s so good.

Sharon (16:29):

So can you ever think of a time where you just felt like you had no strength and you really, really needed his to kick in? I mean, I had that with Dad Gamble a lot. I was just so tired, but God’s strength would take over when mine was nonexistent.

Nicole (16:43):

Yeah.

Sharon (16:43):

How about you?

Nicole (16:44):

Motherhood.

Sharon (16:46):

It’s this care giving role. Isn’t it?

Nicole (16:48):

It’s care giving. It requires so much of you because you constantly have, you have to die to yourself and learn not to be selfish and learn to care for someone else.

Sharon (16:55):

That is so true.

Nicole (16:56):

It’s this twofold struggle against your sin nature.

Sharon (16:58):

That’s so true. And that’s that power thing again, I need power to struggle against myself. (Nicole: Yes) And my desire to stay in bed and ignore them crying.

Nicole (17:06):

Yes. It’s very… you know, motherhood has. Yeah, I’ve been surprised how often it’s brought me to my knees and how often I’ve needed his strength and how, when I have waited on him and called on him, he has though, he’s come through every time. Oh. And I need to do that more. But you know, even now that my kids aren’t in that baby stage and the scary early stuff, it’s still, you know, every day is just so, it’s challenging to raise children, you know?

Sharon (17:29):

It is very, very challenging.

Nicole (17:29):

So I need his strength a lot in motherhood. Every moment.

Sharon (17:31):

Yes indeed. And you know, it never stops. You pray for your kids now. You pray for strength. I’m still praying for my kids and different situations they’re in. And it’s my, it’s my honor and privilege that my daughters want me to. Right? (Nicole: Yes) I know that, I know not everybody has that. And I can still go to my mommy.

Nicole (17:51):

I know. I love your mom.

Sharon (17:52):

At eighty-eight! And say, mom, I need prayer.

Nicole (17:56):

Yeah.

Sharon (17:56):

And she will, and then she’ll come back to me and say, I prayed about that. How did it go? (Nicole: Oh!) So it never stops. Sorry.

Nicole (18:05):

It’s gonna keep those prayer muscles going then.

Sharon (18:07):

Yeah. It changes. It changes. But always we need to call on his power on behalf of our children. It’s, it’s a wonderful thing that we, as Christian moms get to do for our kids.

Nicole (18:17):

It’s so wonderful we have that. I couldn’t imagine doing this without God.

Sharon (18:20):

Oh, I can’t either.

Nicole (18:21):

I couldn’t do it without God.

Sharon (18:23):

No, no, no, no. And like when Mary has a problem and she’s living in Europe, it’s not like I can go help her. (Nicole: Right) But I can pray. And I know that the same God that lives in me lives in her there and that, as I’m praying here, he’s touching her on my behalf there.

Nicole (18:40):

I love it.

Sharon (18:40):

It is so comforting to me because the mama bear in me wants me to always be there. Right?

Nicole (18:45):

Right. Ray’s thankful that you can pray and not zip over there every other week.

Sharon (18:49):

Oh yes. He’s like, hello, I have needs too. Stay home. (Nicole: Aww) It’s so fun. So this prayer that we’re reading from Paul is a powerful prayer to pray for those we love. (Nicole: Yes) Isn’t it? This whole thing is. It gives us such good ideas on how to pray. So we know Paul loved those Ephesians. I mean, he just is pouring it out. He’s pouring it out and they would surely need God’s inner strength, all their lives as they were persecuted and living in such a dark city. (Nicole: Oh yeah) We talked about that at the beginning. Ephesus was not a fun place to live. You know, basically demons were worshiped there and idols were worshiped there. Sometimes we forget that we have that strength. We’ve gotta ask. He’s always there. So.

Nicole (19:30):

Oh yeah. I love how verse 17 tells us the result of being empowered and strengthened from, you know, the Spirit within, if we wait on him and ask for that, it says then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him, your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And I do so love that illustration of roots and trees.

Sharon (19:47):

Isn’t it awesome.

Nicole (19:48):

We talked about that before in different podcasts and it’s just, but it’s such a great illustration. You know that if we are a tree abiding in Christ, there’s your word, abide, you know? (Sharon: Right) And being a tree growing by him, the living water, we can grow roots and Sharon in this crazy world right now, things are not going to get better.

Sharon (20:04):

No, it’s hard.

Nicole (20:06):

We keep thinking, we’ll get through this. And another big crisis comes, like this world is not getting better. So, you know, as the end times approach, it will get even worse. So now more than ever, we need to grow our roots down deep in Christ, or (Sharon: We do) we’re gonna be in serious trouble. (Sharon: We are) you know? And I so love the promise of God’s love and how he will keep us strong. So we are guaranteed that he’s the best place to abide and grow those roots.

Sharon (20:29):

Absolutely. And what are we, what are we sucking up from that? (Nicole: Yeah) We’re, we’re… the nutrient is God’s love, God’s strength, the Fruit of the Spirit, this peace.

Nicole (20:40):

Yeah, yeah.

Sharon (20:40):

I mean, we’re sinking our roots into eternal truth.

Nicole (20:45):

That’s true.

Sharon (20:45):

Instead of temporary things, and we sink our roots into the latest issue or we sink our roots into the latest fad, it’s, it’s flimsy. It can’t hold us. We need eternal stuff.

Nicole (20:57):

A short distraction. Oh yeah.

Sharon (20:58):

We super need eternal stuff. So and I just love the visual too of making Christ, making our heart Christ’s home because you know, when he first enters and we talk about this a lot in Christianity Explained, and I just love it. You know, we kind of let him in, but he might be just in the foyer right?

Nicole (21:18):

In the hallway.

Sharon (21:19):

Yeah. Then he’s like I need to redecorate the living room here. This part where you’re, you know, dealing with your husband and you’re like, oh, really? Do you? Yes, I do. Okay. So then he kind of renovates there. This is the sanctification process. Right?

Nicole (21:33):

Right. Oh, I love this visual.

Sharon (21:35):

Yeah, yeah. And then he’s like, so let’s walk over to your bank account. You’re like, no, no, not my bank account!

Nicole (21:42):

Give me a week, give me a week.

Sharon (21:44):

And we start to be refined in how we spend and how we give. (Nicole: Right) And he doesn’t do it all at once because we would not be capable of it. And then eventually he gets to the closet where we stuffed the stuff. Right. (Nicole: Yea) So that whole idea of making our heart, his home, and him renovating and, and fixing us and healing us. Yeah. And, and taking out the, the junk

Nicole (22:10):

And opening the windows letting sunshine in.

Sharon (22:13):

Opening the windows. Exactly. It’s just such a beautiful thought. And that’s what he does. He sanctifies us. That’s the sanctification. (Nicole: I love that) So yeah. He comes in when we’re four years old or whenever. (Nicole: Right) But then the rest of our lives there’s renovation needed.

Nicole (22:25):

I know, isn’t it, it’s the slowness of renovation sometimes, but can’t you just be like, you know, like quick fix the whole house perfect?

Sharon (22:33):

Yes. Yes, could we have a Mary Poppins little thing? (Nicole: Right) No.

Sharon (22:35):

No, no.

Nicole (22:36):

But no, it’s slow.

Sharon (22:38):

So cool. Well, okay. So now Paul is just so fired up on all that God does in our hearts and amazed at the power of love and drinking deeply from God’s love, which of course only happens when we’re abiding and at home. So he expresses his longing for these new believers to understand this love in verses 18 and 19. So he’s just on a roll here. He wants so much for them to get it. (Nicole: Yeah) He loves God’s love and he wants them to love God’s love. (Nicole: Love it) So here it is again. “And may you have the power to understand as all God’s people should, (which means we should be understanding it today)how wide, how long, how high, how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though It is too great to understand fully.” Oh, what a thing I wanna pray for my kids that they’d experience the love of Christ. “Then you’ll be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” So what do we learn about God’s love through this part of the prayer?

Nicole (23:36):

I love Paul. I love his description. I don’t know if a more thorough defining, could be found for love, God’s love.

Sharon (23:42):

There it is. Wide, high, deep.

Nicole (23:43):

Wide, deep, high, but the more, the more we pray, the more complete we can begin to see how God’s love is, I think. (Sharon: Yes) You know, we kinda get to see a little bit more of it. See how deep like, oh, it keeps going, oh, he loves me even through this.

Sharon (23:57):

Right, right.

Nicole (23:58):

You know, it’s just, and knowing how loved we are completes us and gives us that fullness of life and power. My cousin, the one who adopts special need kiddos from all over the world?

Sharon (24:07):

Yes, that dear cousin.

Nicole (24:08):

She’s amazing. Her, their little catch phrase is always, ‘look what love can do’. And they, you know, they show their journey with these kiddos and it’s incredible to see them change. (Sharon: Yeah) And I just think about, you know, these children thriving underneath, you know, safe and loving human hands and they love God too. So there’s Jesus there. (Sharon: Right, right) But that’s just fragile human love though, you know, like, think about it.

Sharon (24:27):

That’s so true.

New Speaker (24:28):

Imagine what we could do for Christ if we realized how loved we really are and went out to share that amazing love with others.

Sharon (24:34):

Oh, my goodness, Nicole, we’d take offense so much less, we’d be so secure in his love.

Nicole (24:38):

Oh my word. It would just like, it would change the world if Christians could just really soak this one verse in.

Sharon (24:43):

Right, I know, it would.

Nicole (24:44):

And if I could just soak this one verse in.

Sharon (24:46):

Yes. Yes, we are preaching to us.

Nicole (24:48):

Yes. Like I just need this tattooed on my forehead to see every morning, you know, it’s just amazing what, you know, his love is so amazing.

Sharon (24:55):

It is. It is. And then when we see hurting people that are hurting us, what, what do we want for them? That they’d get it.

Nicole (25:02):

Yes.

Sharon (25:02):

That they’d feel this love. (Nicole: That love. Right) Cause then they’d be filled up full.

Nicole (25:06):

Right. They wouldn’t be hurting.

Sharon (25:06):

That would be so nice for them. (Nicole: I know) Paul’s heart is for the Ephesians in such an amazing way. You know, I’m just more confident to face the world and all the people, when I realize how special I am to God, it’s what keeps me strong, going deep with him and believing and then trusting in the love. So, now he’s finishing his prayer, kind of the way he began it, full of praise. Cause this whole thing is like, you know, I’m thinking about this and it makes me just praise God. (Nicole: Right) So, can you read the last two verses for us?

Nicole (25:37):

Sure. Verse 20-21 says “Now all glory to God who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Sharon (25:55):

Amen. And amen.

Nicole (25:56):

I know.

Sharon (25:58):

I love how Paul reminds us that God is able to do way more than even we could think to ask.

Nicole (26:04):

Isn’t that wild?

Sharon (26:04):

Isn’t it. Yeah. And we, we experienced it when we dropped that $40,000 a year so Ray could be a Christian school teacher.

Nicole (26:11):

Yeah, that’s right.

Sharon (26:12):

And never missed it. I mean, that’s insane. We never missed the money.

Nicole (26:16):

That’s only God. He was helping you do that.

Sharon (26:17):

What in the world did we do with all that? Why didn’t we miss it?

Nicole (26:18):

It doesn’t work on paper. Right. It doesn’t work on paper and God’s like, I got it.

Sharon (26:22):

Right. It’s just so beautiful. And that’s when I started, you know, and kept filling in my little book of miracles. I just kept a record to see what God did when their daddy stepped out in faith like that and that’s just so beautiful.

Nicole (26:33):

That’s so good to keep records. Cause he does so many little things that sometimes we just forget about like, oh, that was God that did that. It was God that gave you the extra clothing when you needed it. Or God that gave you a little vacation here or, you know, there’s so many little things (Sharon: Absolutely) I’m not very good at remembering

Sharon (26:50):

Uh hmm, I need my books.

Nicole (26:51):

I need to start doing that. I really do.

Sharon (26:53):

My little legacy books.

Nicole (26:54):

Yeah.

Sharon (26:55):

Oh, so cool.

Nicole (26:56):

It’s so scary to step out in faith, you know, but he never, he never leaves us hanging. And I love that about God, it’s such an opportunity to show how God can provide for us if we do step out in faith, you know, and especially for our kiddos, they see us doing that, you know?

Sharon (27:11):

Right, right.

Nicole (27:11):

And like you guys stepped out in faith and took that huge pay cut. And we’re about to step out in faith on something and we’re terrified. This is, it’s scary. But going through that is such a testimony to our children and I know God’s gonna come through. I don’t know how, and that’s the scary part.

Sharon (27:25):

But he will.

Nicole (27:27):

He will, you know, and I just, I can’t, I can’t wait to see what God will do.

Sharon (27:31):

Oh my goodness. And the testimony it’ll be. (Nicole: Yeah) On the other side.

Nicole (27:35):

I wanna get to the end now.

Sharon (27:36):

I know, I know.

Nicole (27:37):

Let’s be honest.

Sharon (27:38):

It’s hard in the middle, but he does promise that all things work together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purposes. So, you know, even if it doesn’t work out exactly the way you want, he will work it together (Nicole: It’s true) for good. We can trust it. We really can. So I just think it was the coolest thing in this particular part of scripture that Paul just up and quit talking theology on grace and mercy and God’s kindness and burst into a rhapsody of prayer and praise. I feel like in mid conversation, I should do that more. Could we just stop and praise God?

Nicole (28:10):

I know.

Sharon (28:11):

So let me, um, burst into some prayer now.

Nicole (28:14):

Perfect timing for it.

Sharon (28:17):

Oh Father, thank you so much for the reminder that you made your home in my heart. That you’re that close to me. That your love is in me because you are in me. That there’s never a situation, no matter how horrifying, that I face alone ever, because you’re that close to me. I praise you for that love that doesn’t quit. I praise you for that love, that sticks with me in the hard and horrible times, that doesn’t walk away like a human being would be tempted to do. I praise you that you’re with me in my messes as well as in my triumphs. Thank you, thank you for being the awesome God who will do way more than we ask or think or imagine in these crazy lives we’re living. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (29:10):

Amen. Wow. We hope this section of scripture becomes a favorite of yours as it has for us. We want so much for you to know, listener, that God loves you and wants to do renovation of your heart, making it his home and making you into all you were created to be. We’d love to hear from you. So don’t forget to write us @sweetselah.org/podcast. Donations are always gratefully accepted @sweetselah.org/donations. Come back next week for episode 72, we’re calling it Together is Better.

Speaker 1 (29:44):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word, Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found at SweetSelah.org. Thank you for joining us.