When I Heard of Your Faith & Love.......I Prayed......

Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints (the people of God),

1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

How often have we read these two verses? In fact every time we read the book of Ephesians we come across these verses, yet we fail to stop and think of what Paul was saying.

"....because I have heard of your FAITH...." - Faith can be heard - Faith can be seen.
When I say, "I have faith", I am saying that because I believe in the Word of God and I am "ACTIVELY" confessing the Word. If a Christian keeps confessing the Word - keeps on "saying" what the Word says, faith comes into him. Hence, faith can be heard.

How about "faith can be seen?", yes, your faith can be seen too. You automatically begin to "DO" what you "SAY". So if you are "saying" what the Word says, you will begin to "DO" what the Word says you can do. Did I confuse you? No, I did not!

If you "SAY" - "I am righteous because Jesus has cleansed me from all sin" then you will begin to "BELIEVE" what you say because it is what the WORD says.

Acts 13:38 So let it be clearly known and understood by you, brethren, that through this Man forgiveness and removal of sins is now proclaimed to you;

13:39 And that through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as his Savior and devotes himself to Him] is absolved (cleared and freed) from every charge from which he could not be justified and freed by the Law of Moses and given right standing with God.

If you say that you are righteous because the WORD says you are righteous, you begin to live righteously. The WORD has power to do what it states.

When you confess healing over your body, healing begins to manifest. Because you believe in healing you confess healing and you will see healing upon yourself. It is your FAITH that cause you to say and to be healed. Faith can be seen.

Paul says, "because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus." Faith can be seen and heard.

Love

".....and your love toward all the saints (the people of God)"

I must admit that it is easy to love someone who loves you. It is difficult to love someone who wrongs you. I am speaking in the context of the church and not of those in the world. Can we honestly say that we love our brothers and sisters in the Lord?

Sadly, the answer to this is "NO". If we are to understand what Paul is about to pray for the church in Ephesus, then we need to understand LOVE for the saints.

How often do we turn our face from someone we don't particularly like - maybe they have a bad attitude or a bad aroma (just kidding about the aroma). Yes, their attitude may be bad or wrong, but can we say that we love them? I admit it is hard and I am still asking the Lord to help me everyday.

"....love towards all the saints..."
When we sing the song Amazing Grace - it's always for "us" - "that saved a WRETCH" like ME, but not the "WRETCH" next to me. We are ready to "jump on the Grace band wagon" for ourselves, but many times we refuse to let "the wretch next to me" get on.

Paul tells the church in Ephesus, "...faith & love...", when we read Ephesians, Paul talks of "strong meat" and not just milk. When he was talking to the Corinthian church, Paul said that he fed them with milk and not meat.

1 Corinthians 3:1 HOWEVER, BRETHREN, I could not talk to you as to spiritual [men], but as to nonspiritual [men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates], as to mere infants [in the new life] in Christ [unable to talk yet!]

3:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough [to be ready for it]; but even yet you are not strong enough [to be ready for it],

3:3 For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?

That is why Paul had to spell out everything for the church in Corinth. Imagine, one whole chapter on love. Why? Just because they were still babes drinking milk. But it seems that many Christians have gone back to drinking milk - just because it is easier to digest.

Let's look at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

13:5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

13:6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

13:7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

I like verse 5 "....love is not touchy...." Ouch! You touched me and I'm going to react........ Are you touchy?

Here's another one, "Love bears up under everything...." Can we honestly bear up/ cover up the faults of our brothers and sisters? Or do we pull it out into the open and leave it exposed?

1 Peter 4:8 Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

Love covers the sins of others. Do we cover the sins and faults of others or do we expose them?

Let me get this straight. John 20:23 tells us that we have the authority to forgive sins.

John 20:23 [Now having received the Holy Spirit, and being led and directed by Him] if you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained.

Are we going to take this or are we going to leave it to the Catholic priests and then say they are wrong?

It's the WORD - the WORD that we claim to LOVE so much. The same WORD says that we can and MUST forgive one another.

Is it easier to say "I forgive you" or to cast out a demon or heal a sick person? Remember reading that somewhere?

Matthew 9:2 And behold, they brought to Him a man paralyzed and prostrated by illness, lying on a sleeping pad; and when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven and the penalty remitted.

9:3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, This man blasphemes [He claims the rights and prerogatives of God]!

9:4 But Jesus, knowing (seeing) their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil and harbor malice in your hearts?

9:5 For which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven and the penalty remitted, or to say, Get up and walk?

Let me say this, the first time I heard this, my mind went blank and then slowly started receiving the light of the Word.

I've cast out many demons and healed many sick people. A stubborn demon can go out of a person just by us using the name of Jesus - we know casting out a demon is easy and healing the sick is also easy. Then, saying "I forgive you" is also "VERY EASY".

It's just that we need to understand that there is "No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" Rom 8:1
Whether the person has done wrong or not, Christ does not condemn, so neither should we. Rather we are called to "love one another as Christ loved us."

1 John 3:20 Whenever our hearts in [tormenting] self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us. [For we are in God's hands.] For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understands) everything [nothing is hidden from Him].

3:21 And, beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us [if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us], we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God,

3:22 And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him.

3:23 And this is His order (His command, His injunction): that we should believe in (put our faith and trust in and adhere to and rely on) the name of His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and that we should love one another, just as He has commanded us.

Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints (the people of God),

1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.


If we can understand this, then we can go ahead into the prayer Paul prayed for the church


Until next time.......walk in Faith & Love.


Karl Walker
@ The Place Called "There"