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Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1 

One of the most difficult things to do in the world is to grasp God’s love for you.  Your view of His love may be impaired because of difficult circumstances you’re facing, or particular sins―whether past or present, or because of poor examples of how a loving Father acts and behaves based on some faulty earthly models, or for a hundred other reasons.

If any of these are the case for you, I’d encourage you to take a close look at chapter 1 of Ephesians (and chapters 2 and 3 if you can), asking God as you read to open the eyes of your heart to His great love.

Paul felt so passionately about this topic that he spent the first half of his letter to the Ephesians telling them of God’s great love for them―and the grace that God was eager to extend to them in Christ.

In chapter 1, he prays  for them that God,

“…may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe…” (Ephesians 1:17b-19a). 

In chapter 2, he says,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). 

And in chapter 3, he prays,

“…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17b-19). 

God loves you deeply, yet grasping it can be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do in your life.  But grasping it will also bring you more joy than you’ve ever known in your life.

Paul seems to have discovered what it meant―at the deepest level―to be “adopted” by God.  While some who are adopted find it hard to get over their feelings of abandonment, others realize that being adopted means that that they don’t belong to someone by chance, but by choice.  Paul clearly had this latter view, as he reminded the Ephesians:

“In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5-6). 

Mother Teresa, who took in and cared for thousands of children during her lifetime, seemed to capture the heart of God towards those who feel “unwanted” in a beautiful way when she said,

“There is no such thing as an unwanted child.  If you don’t want them, give them to me.  I want them.” 

God feels the same way about you.  Although you may feel like others have abandoned you, God never has.  He has always loved you, will always love you, and still loves you today as much as He ever has.  Why?  Because you are His beloved child.  You are made in His image.  You are His own precious creation.  He loves you deeply and wants more than anything in the world to have an intimate relationship with you.

If I could do one thing for you today, it would be to do what the Apostle Paul did for the Ephesians:  to get down on my knees and pray that God would open the eyes of your heart, and that you would be able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love for you in Christ.  And that’s just what I’m going to do, if you’d like to pray with me…

Prayer

Father, I pray that every person reading these words would be able to grasp Your incredible love for them in a deeper way than ever before.  Open the eyes of their heart, that they would be able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love for them in Christ.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Memory Verse

“In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5-6).