20 September. Paul prays for the believers to know Jesus better.
"In Christ we were chosen to be God's people, because from the very beginning God had decided this in keeping with his plan... We are the first people who hoped in Christ, and we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God's glory."
"So it is with you. When you heard the true teaching - the Good News about your salvation - you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised."
"That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive what God promised for his people until God gives full freedom to those who are his - to bring praise to God's glory."
"That is why since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I always remember you in my prayers, asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you will know him better."
"I pray also that you will have greater understanding in your heart so you will know the hope to which he has called you and that you will know how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised his holy people."
"And you will know that God's power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world."
"God has put Christ over all rulers, authorities, powers and kings, not only in this world but also in the next. God put everything under his power and made him the head over everything for the church, which is Christ's body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way.
(Ephesians 1:11-22)
In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul reveals God’s ‘secret plan’ – “that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head” (Ephesians 1:10).
So he goes on to explain that God has given the Holy Spirit to the believers as a guarantee that they will receive everything that God has promised. "That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will receive what God promised for his people until God gives full freedom to those who are his - to bring praise to God's glory." (Ephesians 1:14)
For this reason, Paul prays constantly for the Ephesians and continues to ask God to give the believers the Holy Spirit “so that you will know him better” (Ephesians 1:17).
Paul then reminds the believers that the Holy Spirit living in their hearts is incredibly powerful: “That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world” (Ephesians 1:19-20).
So Christians should rejoice that the church is Christ's body, with Jesus as the head. For "God put everything under his power and made him the head over everything for the church, which is Christ's body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22)
The photo shows the remains of a 1st century Roman house in Ephesus.
You can read more from Paul's Letter to the Ephesians @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/15-paul…/gods-secret-plan/