Making Known the Mystery

Daily Reading:  Ephesians 1

Scripture Focus: Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ... (Ephesians 1.9)

Devotional Thought: "When you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp!" 

The Apostle Paul, even in the midst of "alligators," never forgot his original objective: to make known the mystery of God's will.  Paul wrote the book of Ephesians while he was in prison, a place where he could easily have lost his focus.

How did Paul keep his focus in prison, in shipwreck, in beatings, in rejection?  He had seen Jesus!  When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), the scales literally and figuratively fell from his eyes.  The mystery was solved, and he now realized that the Messianic prophesies which he had studied for years, were all fulfilled in this one person, Jesus. 

The mystery has been made known… Do we grasp onto this concept in our faith?  We do not always understand his purposes.  The circumstances and situations in our lives will not always make sense.  But, the Ancient of Days has made himself approachable through his Son, and also through his Word. 

God’s character is no mystery.  He has revealed himself personally and intimately through his Word.  He desires nothing more than to have this relationship with us.  It is why he lavished the riches of his grace upon us by sending his Son, “as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1.10).

Prayer: "Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with thee; Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be."  Amen.  (T. O. Chisolm)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 147.1-11

1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.

2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

6 The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!

8 He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills.

9 He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.

10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.