I like to let the Holy Spirit highlight passages to me and then lead me in a time of meditation upon them until I sense I am seeing something that was once hidden from my vision.  I want to do more than just read them.  I want to own them.  I want them to become a part of me.

Here’s this morning’s consideration.  It is the prayer of a mighty apostle of Jesus crying out to God for the believers at Ephesus.

Ephesians 1:17 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, 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.

Paul’s desire here is not that believers will possess intellectual knowledge of Scripture.  He wants them to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus!  He wants them to experience what Christ knows and to know Christ very intimately.  He wants their intimate knowledge of Christ to increase all the more.

He goes on to detail what this would look like.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened?  Why?  So that you may know something important!

It is important that you know the hope of His calling.  Apart from His calling, you and I are no different than anyone else.  But when you put the hope of His calling into place, it separates us unto Him and His purpose and gives us importance for our time here on earth.  It sets us apart from others and gives us meaning beyond ourselves.  It is important to know this.

It is also important that we know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.  Jesus has an inheritance in the saints that it is important for us to know about.  This inheritance is filled with the riches of glory!  When the saints are together in unity of purpose to Tabernacle with God in their fellowshipping together, there is a riches of the glory experienced and released.  These riches of the glory are reserved for the saints, not individuals alone.  Certain things are meant to be experienced only when we are together.  Paul desired that we know and understand this.

Then, we are brought to this amazing promise of possibility and opportunity.  To know what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

This is huge!  This is so incredibly important, yet sadly, so little is it meditated upon.  When we were born again, the supernatural power of Christ made us into something that had never existed.  We became New Creations in Christ!  This is a work that requires His mighty power.  He made us into something brand new.  His greatest display of power is this new creation work, which was exhibited towards us who believe!  If you think it took much power to raise Jesus from the dead, then consider this fact.  It took the same amount of power to make you and I a new creation in Christ!

The same power that it took to raise Jesus from the dead, then to seat Him at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, and then to make certain Jesus is far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion not just in the here and now but for all eternity, that same power was and is at work in us who believe!  Jesus, who is the expression of that power, the owner of that power, the authority of such power, is living in those who believe!  We have not been shortchanged or had anything kept back from us that belongs to Christ Jesus and is part of the inheritance of the saints.  But we cannot take advantage of what we do not know we have in Him.

Suppose you do not meditate and let the Holy Spirit illuminate your understanding and revelation. In that case, you will read right past this amazing prayer of Paul and all that it reveals regarding the exceeding greatness of His power at work in you!  There’s something at work in you that can redefine your whole existence and elevate your purpose to such a degree that nothing can hold you back.  It is all discovered in knowing Jesus for who He is and for all He has done.  Not just knowing about Him, but truly knowing Him and understanding the scope of all He has done! It is truly incredible to get into and explore, and I challenge and encourage you to do so.  Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and heart to see and to know as Paul prayed.