Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

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, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20, 21

We should never doubt that God is able.  We ask for a dollar, he has a bank full that he can use for us.  The question should never be if God can do it.  He can because of his mighty power that is at work within us. Our responsdibility is to conform ourselves to his Spirit that works in us, a gift that comes with salvation.

The thing I must remember is that God is at work within us.  That must certainly mean that he is right now at work in us!  He is more concerned about our spiritual health than we can possibly imagine.  He is keeping us.  He is protecting us.  He loves us with divine love that surpasses all human love.  He is at work in us, asking us to cooperate with him as he straightens our paths and keeps us faithful.

Furthermore, Paul reminds us, this same Spirit of God is at work in the church.  It is none other than our Jesus Christ who works and works generation after generation, forever and ever.  So, what he does in our hearts is a miracle indeed.  He is in us to do his will!  And he never tires.

I am pushing 90 years old, Anna Ruth is already there!  What are we learning?  That God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. If He should stop working in us, we are helpless, doomed.  I need to apply this truth to my heart this morning.  I know it.  Lord, give me grace to believe it and to move forward in faith that you are able.

Prostate with eyes of faith I see

My Savior fasten’d to the tree,

A victim on that altar laid,

Himself presenting to the skies,

The grand vicarious sacrifice,

The righteous in the sinner’s stead.

Well-pleasing to our God above,

His sacrifice of life and love

I plead before the gracious throne:

Father, a prodigal receive,

And bid a pradon’d rebel live,

The purchase of thy bleeding Son.

The late afternoon sun brightened every drop of the spray in this lovely pattern.  I reseeded a bald area in our lawn yesterday and was pleased at the beauty of the spread of the water that hopefully will cause new green grass to sprout.

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.

Ephesians 3:17 – 19

I need to pause a bit and listen to the Spirit of God.  He speaks of love, love that sends our roots down into the great power of God. For it is in that love, the love our Lord, that we begin to comprehend a power that exceeds all power, the power of the love of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Not that we will fully comprehend the measure of that love because it surpasses knowledge.  But what we know, what we feel, what buoys us up day after day is a power that causes us to bow the knee, raise the voice of praise and exalt His name forever.

Then the best of all, we might say, is to begin to understand that, through faith in Him, we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Amazing.  It is not just a thought but a reality that is behind and beyond all things – the love of God.  That explains it all.

All love is rooted in God’s love. That love is most obvious in the life, death, resurrection and ministry of Jesus Christ!  I embrace that with all my being.

The milkweed plants at the bottom of our yard attract milkweed beetles, here as infants. So life goes on.  They are one of the few insects that love the white milk of the plant, poisonous to most bugs.

Ephesians 3:6

What does this really mean, “the Gentles are heirs together with Israel?”  That Tanzanians and Americans need the same cleansing?

I wrote this a few years ago.

I distrust dreams, always have. But, early on in Tanzania, I had a dream while sleeping. I came into the house sweating after hoeing in my garden, told Anna Ruth that I was off to the river to bathe, so throwing a towel around my neck I took the path to the river. I could already feel the coolness and cleansing of that refreshing water as I whistled my way down. Presently I saw the river.

That was good. Then what I saw disturbed me. It was full of bathing Tanzanians, all undressed, of course. I saw my dilemma. I needed a bath but I was not willing to appear like that! So, noting the flow of the river, I started upstream where I hoped to find a nice secluded spot where a sweating white missionary could bathe without being seen by anyone at all. I no sooner left the path then I heard a voice as clear as a thunderclap. “Don, there is only one place to bathe in this river!”

I was startled awake. What did that mean, if anything? I had no way of knowing but I did know that I was aware of my need for cleansing. When I finally, in reality, found myself rushing to Jesus for cleansing, I discovered that I and all like me met as sinners being cleansed. That punched a huge hole in my inflated superiority. It was the beginning of freedom for me.

And it became the meeting place for a fellowship of faith that produced, for me, some of the richest experiences of true fellowship that I have ever known, a fellowship of repentant sinners that melted the borders of every cultural bubble. 

Yesterday I mowed the lawn wearing my well-worn memorable sneakers.  Because of wear part of the sole came off so I am afraid I am about to depart with my old friends that did me well as I played tennis with Anna Ruth and others, as I jogged here and there around the world, and that sort of thing – old friends who served me well. Farewell.  Now just rest!

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.  In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Ephesians 3:10 – 12

I find that I see more and more of the grace of God as I ponder this profound letter to the believers in Ephesus – Jews, Gentiles and all people.  Amazing grace, we sing, and in our minds we say “Amen.”

“Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.”  The church of our Lord in the world, those who love and follow Him, weak as we are, show clearly the love of God for all people, no matter our tribe, race, or anything else.  Our combined voices, from the fellowships in Japan to the congregations in our land, so to speak, speak a common message, our unity is what was accomplished in Christ Jesus, our Lord.  It is the grace of God at work. We do not create this fellowship of believers that surrounds the globe today, God did and God inhabits it today!

Reading the news this morning of what is happening in our beloved nation, split over protests at football games, is a call to all believers to cry out against this.  What is happening to us when a “Christian” politician is elected, seen pulling a pistol from his pocket and all the images that conjures up?  Should we not stop and think for a bit?  Is that the message of our Jesus?  He tells us to drop our carnal weapons and fight the fight of faith, not with human force.

Is this why we, the church, seem so weak?  As we condemn others who are also believers in Jesus, is it not strange that in so doing we lose our freedom and confidence in Jesus Christ, our Lord? In other words, as we believers quarrel, how do we pray?  It weakens our prayer life and saps our love for one another.

Lord, renew our faith!  Forbid that we should use the arm of the flesh to divide instead of using that arm to embrace.

We enjoy our roses.  Now, almost out of season, a blossom will appear, as here.  I was impressed with the subtle, warm texture of the picture.  A nice way to bid goodby to a most amazingly beautiful Summer!