15 I have been told of your faith and your affection towards all the believers, 16 so I always give thanks to God, remembering you in my prayers.
17 May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of Glory, reveal himself to you and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you may know him.
18 May he enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God.
May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for his saints;
19 may you understand with what extraordinary power he acts in favor of us who believe.
20 He revealed his almighty power in Christ when he raised him from the dead and had him sit at his right hand in heaven, 21 far above all rule, power, authority, dominion, or any other supernatural force that could be named, not only in this world but in the world to come as well.
22 Thus has God put all things under the feet of Christ and set him above all things, as head of the Church 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Beloved, what a beautiful blessing this is. St. Paul prays this prayer not only for the believers of his day, but it is also a blessing that all of us who believe and hope in You can lay claim. I claim this wonderful blessing for myself and for all whom I pray, so that we can all come to a fuller understanding of the rich blessings we enjoy through faith in You.
Luke 12:8-12
8 I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But the one who denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.10 There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.11 When you are brought before the synagogues, governors and rulers, don’t worry about how you will defend yourself or what to say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.”
The world is becoming more and more a place where people want to wipe all traces or signs of You my Lord. But to those of us who believe, is given the responsibility to stand up and speak up - acknowledging that we are Your followers. If we allow human respect to decide whether we will allow fear to overcome us, then we can expect that You too will deny all knowledge of us. You also assure us that we need not agonise about what we are to say when we are called to stand up for our faith. The Holy Spirit Himself will inspire us and give us the words we need to speak.
2 O Lord, our Lord,
how great is your name throughout the earth!
And your glory in the heavens above.
3 Even the mouths of children and infants
exalt your glory in front of your foes
and put to shame enemies and rebels.
4 When I observe the heavens,
the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars you set in their place –
5 what is the mortal that you be mindful of him,
the son of man, that you should care for him?
6 Yet you made him a little lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor.
7 You made him rule over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet –
With the Psalmist I thank You for loving us, watching over us and helping each of us to develop to the fullest level of our potential. The more we bloom the greater the glory that abounds to You our God.
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