Dimensions of God’s Love

Ephesians 3:14-19  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (15)  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  (16)  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;  (17)  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  (18)  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  (19)  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Here the Apostle Paul offers a prayer to God. It was first for the Church at Ephesus but we understand that it is extended to us as well. The prayer is to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man in order that Christ can dwell in our hearts so that we may be rooted and grounded in love and able to comprehend in unity with all saints the breadth, length, depth and height of Christ's love in order to be filled with the fullness of God.

There is much wealth in this passage of scripture. I want to examine one part today. In verse 18 there is mention made of the breadth, length, depth and height of God's love. This verse points out 4 dimensions of His love. It so happens that dimension is defined as; a measure of spatial extent, especially width, height, or length. Dimensions can be parallel. You can move from one dimension into another but exist in more than one at a time. The first 2 dimensions can be looked at in more natural terms (though not exclusively) and the last 2 in more spiritual terms (again not exclusively). 1Corinthians 15:46 says, Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

So we can begin to look at the breadth (width) and length of the Lord's love. As we mature in Christ we grow from one dimension to the next as the Word of God says, "from faith to faith and from glory to glory." Our love for Christ moves from mere natural affections to more spiritual matters. Colossians 3:2-4 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3)  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  (4)  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. At one point in my life I valued salvation because quite simply I didn’t want to go to hell. Although it’s hard for me to imagine that now; if I could have found a way around it I would have. However, as I have matured in Christ I am saved not just because it saves me but because it pleases Jesus and my obedience could save someone else. My walk with God is motivated by His love and not by my fear. He took me from one realm or dimension to another.

Getting back to the scripture we see the breadth which suggests a great extent of God’s love. This speaks about an incalculable measurement from side to side. It brings to my mind the lyric, “He’s so wide you can’t get around Him.” We see the length which again is in incalculable measurement. How long is the Lord’s love? Well if nothing can separate us from it, it must be extremely long. With length we find something most interesting. The measurement of length alone is one dimension. The measurement of length squared is two dimensions called the area. The measurement of length cubed is three dimensions called volume. How all encompassing is God’s love!

Moving on to the last 2 dimensions mentioned in verse 18 we come to the depth. Figuratively it speaks of the mystery of God’s love. Metaphorically it speaks of the deep things of God. The root of the Greek word means bottomless. All of these things point us to knowledge of His love that is incomprehensible. Now how is it possible to know something that is incomprehensible? It can only be perceived by the Spirit. The Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Truth, bears witness with our spirits. We are led into a life of worship, established in love, by the Spirit. Those that worship the Father must worship in spirit and in truth. The Father is seeking true worshippers. (John 4:23) Through worship alone we are led into the depths of Christ’s love for us and the world. We experience fullness in His presence. (Psalm 16:11)

The final dimension the Apostle Paul mentions is height. Height measures how high up something goes. It speaks about an elevation. Figuratively it can mean to be exalted. Height also relates to a place or station; as in heaven. Metaphorically it speaks about rank or a high station. We see then that this dimension of God’s love leads us into a place of elevation. Those who ascend to this dimension do so by humbling themselves before the Lord. Matthew 23:12 tells us this very thing. This dimension of love leads us into a relationship of authority in Christ. We work for Him and reign with Him in the earth. Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It’s from this position of authority in Christ that we are meant to ascend to and live in. It’s in this position alone, in Christ, that we are fully equipped to share His love with the world and to ensure that the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord!


Next time I want to look at the 4 dimensions of love Jesus speaks of in the 1st commandment. Until then, be blessed and let's ascend together into the heights of God's love! God Bless!

Recognizing the "I" in Unity

In the 17th chapter of John Jesus prays 3 prayers. The 1st was that the Father would glorify Him because He had accomplished the work He was sent to earth to do. The 2nd was that the Father would keep and guard the apostles because they had work to do on the earth. The 3rd was for the Church; that it might be unified. It is the last of these prayers with which we will concern ourselves now.

John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Jesus begins by praying for those who believe in Him through the word of the apostles to be one. In other words Jesus is releasing through prayer the Spirit of Unity to the Church. Its this Spirit that the Apostle Paul wrote about to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:3 when he said, Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Then He explains how it works. As all things related and pertaining to God are; it is released, activated and then works or is demonstrated through relationship. In everything Jesus did He always pointed to the Father. His authority was through the Father, our authority is through Jesus.

Finally Jesus tells us the reason or importance of a unified Church. Yes we are blessed because of unity, we know this because we find in Psalm 133 that God commanded the blessing where unity was. However, here we find that the reason Jesus prayed this was so the world might believe that He was sent by the Father. That's what He is after; our hearts. He longs and desires to heal, mend and restore. This is why He does all that He does. He is in pursuit of the hearts of His creation to reconcile us to Himself and restore the authority He created us to have and exercise with love.

It all begins with unity!

One person at a time realizing that the only I in unity is Jesus, the great I AM!

Until next time stay unified in His Spirit! God's richest blessings to you!

United at the Cross

At the center of Christian faith stands a great pillar. It was and remains a symbol of the greatest sacrifice ever known to man. It is the cross. Many songs have been written about the cross. "At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light and the burdens of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day." Recently I heard one that said, "The first time I saw love it was hanging on a tree, the first time I saw life it was dying there for me." Its songs like these that paint a picture of the importance of the cross to our life. For without it there would have been no way to enter into the promise of eternal life and a life free from bondage, sin and death.

For some it may be hard to believe in a God that would require a sacrifice of this magnitude. Perhaps they place the emphasis completely on the death and miss the love that is required for a Father to give His only Son for a world that is unworthy of this gift. Its because we could do nothing in and of ourselves to bring salvation that we required a God that would give a sacrifice so great. The Word of God says, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) Jesus willingly gave His life so that we might live. Not just a natural life, but an eternal life. He reconnected us to God's purpose for mankind; to have dominion, to rule and reign on earth.

There can be no resurrection without something dying. Jeanne Guyon says this in her masterful book, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, "But you will be amazed to find that there is only a short space between your sacrifice and your resurrection!" The time for Jesus was 3 days. He was crucified and buried and 3 days later he rose again. In His resurrection He conquered sin, death and the grave. Isaiah 25:8 tells us, He will swallow up death in victory... We also find, For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

What is very interesting to notice is that our resurrection is an instantaneous thing. Immediately upon confessing and believing in Christ as Lord and Savior we are resurrected from dead to living. Of course there is constant work being done to perfect us but we are immediately translated into the Kingdom of God. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:13-14)

So being aware of the cross and what it means to those who choose to believe, serve and worship God through Jesus who is Lord and Savior, we can allow it to serve its purpose in our lives. We must not ever allow it to just be a symbol but it must become the resting place. We must continually turn and return to the cross. Daily we are told to take up our cross and follow Christ. (Luke 9:23) Through every hardship and trial, every up and down, every high and low; we focus ourselves on the redemption we have been given yet will never be worthy of. We allow God's mercy, grace and love to keep us and make us whole. We allow His righteousness and holiness to be etched in our hearts. We allow His Word, that died on that cross, to be hidden in our hearts. Its only in this continual turning and returning to the cross that we can be firmly established in our faith and perfected for the coming of our Lord, Christ Jesus.

That is what I call the Centrality of the Cross.

Until next time, continue to look to the cross for the healing, restoration, saving and redemption that is rightfully yours! Be Blessed!

Unified through Holiness

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

To better understand the Apostle Paul's address to the Corinthian church we look to the Old Testament. As we know, God made a covenant with Abraham which passed from generation to generation. This covenant was established and set. We find God delivering the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, aiding them in defeating numerous peoples more mighty than themselves so that they might possess the Promised Land, working miracles through the rod of Moses, feeding them with manna from heaven and setting them apart to be a people unto Himself. As a requirement God continues to tell them to put away idols and not to worship other gods. We find, however, over the course of their generations that they continued to slip back into familiar ways and patterns. They became an idolatrous people. Though God judges them many times, His covenant still stands. He longs for them to be His people; separated, consecrated and holy unto Him alone.

Many centuries later after the birth, death and ressurection of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost the Apostle Paul brings this message to the Corinthians. And still many centuries later the Church of today finds itself in need of this message. We are living under the New Testament/Covenant and so of course what applied then still applies today. In light of that let's look at what the Apostle Paul wrote prophetically to our Church.

In verse 16 a very important question is posed. What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? An idol is something that we give more reverence and respect to than we give to God. It is not limited to the worship of false gods but also and more often for our time includes desires. Most Christians would not allow themselves to be entagled in worshipping false gods. How often do we set up idols of televison, the computer, food, celebrities, etc. that keep us from fulfilling the will of God? We give so much attention to these things and wonder when the day is over what happened to our time. We learn in this verse that we are the temple of the living God and God wants to dwell in us and walk in us. But how can that happen if we don't clean the temple and make room for Him to enter in?

Verse 17 is a sobering exhortation to separate from the world. We know that though we are in the world, we are not of the world. By the renewing of our minds we can be transformed (Romans 12:2). When we separate ourselves God promises, I will receive you.

In verse 18 God promises to be a Father unto us and we will be His sons and daughters. We understand that because of Christ we have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we can cry Abba, Father. Its the Spirit of God that bears witness with our spirits which teaches us we are the children of the Almighty God. (Romans 8:15-16).

Now verse 1 of chapter 7 is where we find the key. Because of the promises that have been made to us to be heirs and joints heirs with Christ we are to cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. The word flesh is easily understood because we know the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Spirit here is the word for the Greek pneuma. In this instance it refers to affections, emotions or desires. So we cleanse ourselves from the lusts of the flesh and also from affections, emotions and desires that will cause us to fall into the trap of sin. By doing this we begin the work of perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Perfecting is the word for the Greek epiteleo which means to take upon one's self. In other words we put holiness on as a cloak. If we put it on we must understand that it can be taken off. If it is ever taken off it is of our own volition. There is work involved in keeping holiness on. This work is done, as we do all things, by the grace of God. As we live by God's grace we are able to walk in obedience and live in the fear of God. When we fear God we reverence Him and understand that His way of righteousness and holiness is so much better for us then anything we could ever imagine.

Until next time, let's put ourselves in remembrance to take the highway set before us; the way of holiness!

Unified by Another Chance

Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

On this day, the 1st of a new year, many people have committed themselves to new year resolutions. I read something recently about the majority of resolutions being broken. Often new year resolutions are focused towards a goal that will change a person. Some think about getting in better shape. Some resolve to eat healthier. While others are focused on new business ventures. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, in fact they are all good in that they create healthy and benefitial goals for a person to work toward. Why then, if these resolutions are good, do many people falter and lose sight of them only to slip back into familiar patterns? As I pondered that question my mind turned to God. (If you know the man I have become you probably just said to yourself, "Of course it did." LOL

Well.....as my mind turned to God I started to think about the promises we all have made to God and all the agreements we have entered into. We promise to live holy, righteous lives. We promise to live in peace. We promise to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We promise that we will trust and obey God. We agree that the words from our mouths should be pleasing to Him. We agree that He is Lord of our whole life. We agree to always pray and not faint. We agree to give our bodies as a living sacrifice. The list goes on and on and on....

If you just thought to yourself, "How is it possible to fulfill it all?", it means you are only human. And because you are only human you can rely on the supernatural strength of the One who called and chose you for the life you live today in God through Christ Jesus. Yes we all make mistakes. We all have come short a time or two or hundred. I know I have. However, the ability to live the way we promised God we would when we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is easier than many think. The grace of God allows us to accomplish all that we must. I think that what hinders some of us is thinking about what seems far away and losing focus on what's at hand. We know that God has called us to a certain place but sometimes its hard to see all the steps to get there. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Of course we must focus on the vision that God has given us but even when we are uncertain we must move forward knowing that as we are obedient to God and His word He is leading, guiding and directing us daily

You see every day is a new year with God. But what does that mean? Every day is another opportunity to live as God has called us to live. Why wait for the new year to 'really' get right, as some are apt to do, when God's mercies are new every morning! Every day is a chance to live higher. A couple months ago God spoke to my spirit, "I am calling my people to a higher way of living." Immediately I took the word for myself. Everyday I wake up focused on God and my part in fulfilling His plan, purpose and will for my life. Some days may seem more difficult than others but knowing that its all by the grace of God empowers us to move forward victoriously.

Knowing that we have been redeemed and set apart by God should give us the resolve to live each day at the level that God expects of us. And I think we should learn to live to expect it of ourselves!

Until next time, let's continue in the faith knowing that the grace of God is sufficient!