Thought for 24 October 2025

 

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever!  Amen. 

While scrolling through social media yesterday, I listened to an interesting talk by a Scottish pastor based in Ohio by the name of Alistair Begg.  I’ve mentioned him before in these articles, he was the one who told the story about the thief that was on the cross getting to heaven and when he arrived, he was asked what he had done that would entitle him to be admitted to paradise with his answer being ‘the man on the middle cross said I could come’.  I tried to find yesterday’s article today and, of course, was unable to locate it so I have to trust my memory!!!!!  He was talking about holding bible study sessions at his Church in Ohio.  At many of these sessions, folks would read a passage of scripture and say ‘nothing is really jumping out at me’.  The pastor’s conclusion was ‘when something in the bible isn’t jumping out at you, maybe its because you aren’t jumping far enough into it’.

In the bible, we hear a lot about God in the Old Testament and we hear a lot about Jesus in the New Testament but I think that maybe we don’t quite appreciate the power and works of the Holy Spirit.  Whether we have committed ourselves to Christianity, or whether we are venturing into a Church for the first time we will be changed.  We will react differently in different situations and make different and better decisions than we would have made before being pulled towards salvation.  This is due to the Holy Spirit working within us.

Our reading reminds us that God’s power and love is far beyond anything we could ever imagine.  It reminds me of the chorus we have often sung:

So High, You Can’t Get Over It,
So Low, You Can’t Get Under It,
So Wide, You Can’t Get Around It,
Oh, Wonderful Love!

The ultimate goal of God’s work is to reach the time when every knee will bow  acknowledging him as the one true God.  Until then, our lives, prayers and ministries should always point back to him.  Paul tells us in our reading that the Church is not just something that has been created by men and women, it is the body chosen by God where we can learn about his wisdom, love and power through all generations until Jesus returns and reflect this is the way we react with others.  It is worth noting that Paul wrote these words while in prison which shows that even when life is not going our way, we can trust in God’s plan knowing that he can bring about more than we could ever imagine. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit is working within us, enabling us to accomplish more than we can imagine. Open our hearts and minds to recognise the part you play in our lives.  May we walk confidently and resolutely in the path you have set before each of us, knowing that your strength is made perfect in our weakness. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen."