Faith, Hope, Love

Have you guys ever thought about Ephesians 3:14-21? I love these verses.

Eph 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 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, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Vs.17- What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 says: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.

Because we know God is there, even though we can't see Him, we have faith. It's just like my testimony. I was hoping for God to do a miracle- I wasn't wishing... There's a difference. When you hope, you know there's a way. When you wish, you know there's not. Through me hoping, not wishing, God was able to provide that "evidence of things not seen" and give me (vs.20) "immeasurable more than all I ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us." Also, have you ever realized that our Christianity is based on relationships and love?

1Cr 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of
these is love.

Even though what I mentioned before is important, love takes a higher ranking. If we don't love God in the first place, we won't have the hope and faith that He will pull through when we need Him. Other religions are self-based. ex- Buddhism where you are nice to others only so you can experience that enlightenment or self peace. When Muslims kill and hurt people, so that they may have a higher place in after they die, are they focused on loving their neighbor? But even though they may not focus on love, we still need to love them back. That's what we're all about. Love your neighbor as yourself. Treat them the way you want to be treated. Don't take to heart bitterness because they are different.
Where the whole love concept is brought back in is at the end of that verse. (vs. 17) "being rooted and established in love" Established in love. Rooted in love. Can a tree survive without its roots? Of course not. It will die. If we don't have the right focus... love.... then we can't thrive spiritually. It's not possible to grow a tree if it doesn't have roots. vs. 19 "and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Even though we don't know how to explain God's love with our knowledge, it's there.
What they're trying to say is that they were praying that the people would know this Love, even though we don't understand It with our human minds. They were praying that the people would be filled with everything that God is. God is love.

1 John 4:8- Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

He's waiting for us to acknowledge the love He has for us, so that we may give Him the glory that He deserves.
Thanks for listening (or reading ),
Amy ♥