How do you do the impossible? – Family Devotion – January 21, 2022

Read: Ephesians 3:14-21

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19

How do you do the impossible?

 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Are you ready for a puzzler? How can you be strong enough to lift a car over your head when you don’t have muscles big enough to pick up a feather? How can you understand something that can’t be fully known or understood? And finally, how can you fit more water into a glass that’s already full to the brim? This isn’t some weird, three-part Mind Trap riddle. This is an illustration of the three things the apostle Paul prayed that God would give to Christians. Read his prayer again in our verses for today. Did you hear it? Paul prays for the Ephesians (and you!) to have ultimate power and strength, deep knowledge, and overflowing fullness.

Whew, these are big thoughts! At first glance, they seem like complete opposites—you can’t be human and have ultimate power; it’s impossible to know something fully that can’t be known; and it’s one thing to overfill a glass, but to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God? But if our devotions this week have reminded us of anything it’s this: when God gives, he gives more than enough in Christ. That’s why the apostle Paul prays the way he does here, because he knows that in Christ, God doesn’t hold anything back from you when he gives.

Are you ready for another puzzler? How could sinful humans like us ever stand in the presence of a holy God? That’s an impossibility, isn’t it? We can’t pay the price for a single one of our sins, let alone all of them. There is nothing in us that can make us pleasing to God; there isn’t anything we could do to earn God’s favor. Because of our sin, we weren’t just spiritually weak; we were spiritually dead. But that’s exactly where God found us and made us alive in Christ.

God goes about the work of doing what should be impossible. He saved you and gave that salvation to you as a gift from Jesus. In Christ, God loved you with a love that knows no limits. On this side of heaven, we just begin to see how wide and long and high and deep God’s love is for us. It’s a love that led God to take on our human flesh and, to do what would seem impossible, die in our place! That’s the Love that found you when you weren’t looking for him. That’s the Love that does the impossible for you and in you, so that you are filled with his power, granted his surpassing knowledge, and filled to overflowing with his perfect righteousness. Give thanks that you have a God who does the impossible, and in Christ, he does it for you!

Closing Prayer:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

• How did God show how much he loves you?
• Who is able to do the impossible?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

• How could sinful people ever stand in the presence of a holy God?
• Describe one thing you learned about God in today’s devotion that maybe you never thought of before.

Questions for Middle School and Above

• What exactly is the answer to Paul’s prayer for ultimate power, incomprehensible knowledge, and overflowing fullness?
• Name one way you want to grow in your appreciation of God’s boundless love for you.