The part of Paul’s
prayer relevant to this post, is that He would “give to you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him …. that
you may know …. what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17,18). I include myself when I say
this, but most of us, tend to settle for far, far less than He has
provided in our inheritance. In particular how many of us have a
revelation of the riches of the glory of our inheritance in the here
and now? This inheritance is not just rich, it's not just glorious,
it’s the riches of gloriousness, and gloriousness of richness!
Paul elsewhere tells us that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor
has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has
prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us
through His Spirit” (1Corinthians 2:9,10a).
Note the tense, it’s
“has revealed,” the very same as that given in “His divine
power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2
Peter 1:3). But I hear you saying “If it's already been given, how
come we are not seeing it?” Good question, I am glad you asked!
First and foremost, this comes by revelation and prayer. Paul prays
for this revelation, because it’s not received automatically, and
he prays for a spirit of it, because it intended to be continuous
and ongoing and part and parcel of our lives. Yesterday’s manna has
worms (reference) . Having a revelation of this is far more than
getting intellectual knowledge. And as with all revelation, it
requires a response. We also need to know that the type of
revelation scripture talks about, comes with the Grace to receive
it, the Grace to press into it, to obey it, and to war for it. We
can of course “fall short of the grace of God” (Hebrews 12:15),
either by quenching or grieving the Spirit or being lukewarm
despising our inheritance (Genesis 25:34).
But why does it have to
be so difficult? It’s all part of the divine romance. If we are to
love Him with all our heart soul mind and strength, we must not be
lukewarm, limp lovers. He hides for us, not from us, and He tells us
that “you will search for me and find me (and all the treasures I
give) when you search for me with all of your heart” (Jeremiah
29:13 - the words in brackets are mine). Salvation is free, and we
are intended to be secure in that (1 John 5:13), so this is not about
earning our salvation. This is about tapping into the abundant life
(John 10:10b), it is about getting and staying free and living in
peace and joy, even in the midst of trials (James 1:2). For this we
were born, serving God and enjoy Him forever.
Father, we join with
Paul's prayer this morning, asking for this spirit of wisdom and
revelation. Open the eyes of our hearts Lord, to see You more and
more clearly, for You are our exceedingly great reward (Genesis
15:1). And Lord I want to know in the here and now, something of
why the elders keep falling on their faces (Revelation 4:10). And
Lord please continue to woo us to Yourself in this Divine romance,
and we'll give You all the honour, glory and praise in Jesus Name
Amen.
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