The Fullness of God

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-20

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge: that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Reaction: I found this reading under the topic of Christian Life. There are so many meaningful phrases in just these few verses, but I chose to concentrate on two of them: “…be strengthened with might through His Spirit…” and “…be filled with all the fullness of God.”

In a previous prayer session, I viewed ‘strength’ as having the confidence to make good decisions and the fortitude to follow through with them. Today this theme was expanded to include physical and emotional strength as well. I am currently involved in some pursuits that are not of a spiritual nature, and they require some physical dexterity that I’m still trying to achieve. There are also areas of my life where I wish I had more ‘will power’ to resist overeating and other temptations. Although these issues where not on my mind when I began my scriptural contemplation, I definitely felt that God would give me the power I need to work on my all of my goals, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual. The might of His Spirit is there to fortify me in all good things that I pursue.

As a spiritual director once told me, if I always keep the Lord before me and dedicate all that I do to Him, then everything I do is a form of prayer. In the past several weeks I’ve been thinking about how to keep the Lord ever present in my life. I’ve come up with a few strategies to remember that He is always with me, and I am getting better at applying them. As I continue to be aware of His presence and of Christ dwelling in my heart through faith, I am indeed filled with joy and peace, and with all of the fullness of God.