"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" - Ephesians 3:20

Robert Arthington lived in a single room, cooked his own meals, and shared his friendship with students who were in need. Yet he gave tremendous amounts of money during his lifetime to Christian missions. When he died, his estate was worth about five million dollars which he willed to missions.

After his death a letter he had received from a missionary was found in his belongings. It said, “Were I in England again, I would glad­ly live in one room, make the floor my bed, a box my chair, another my table, rather than the heathen should perish for the lack of knowledge of Jesus Christ.” Robert Arthington was determined to make that kind of self-denial the pattern for his life.

Arthington’s story, and his gift to missions, made news around the world and was even written up in the New York Times. Eventually, the funds built mission stations across central Africa. Researchers estimate that Arthington played a crucial role in bringing tens of millions of Africans into Christendom. Christian schools, hospitals, colleges and countless missionaries in remote locales around the world were funded over the next 25 years.

Our Lord is a God of miracles and He provides for us in countless ways beyond what we can imagine. Today in prayer, praise Jesus that He does immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

"He can give only according to His might; therefore He always gives more than we ask for." - Martin Luther

God's Word: "The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice." -Psalms 97:1  

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory." - Ephesians 3:13

John W. Yates II tells the story of the Devil’s Tools: “It was advertised that the Devil was putting up for sale all of his tools. On that date the tools were laid out. They had prices marked on them for public inspection, and there were a lot of treacherous instruments: hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, pride, lying, and so on. Laid apart from the rest of the Devil’s tools was a tool, but it was worn more than any of the others and was priced very high. “What’s the name of this tool?” asked one of the customers.

“That,” the Devil replied, “is discouragement.”

“Why have you priced it so high?”

“Because discouragement is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside a man’s heart with that when I cannot get near him with any other tools. It’s badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since so few people know it belongs to me.”

Do not become discouraged during difficult times; the Lord is with you. Today in prayer, do not let anything discourage in your faith in Jesus.

“Too often, discouragement, depression, and disappointment grabs a hold of us with what seems like a death grip. This seems to happen even more after we commit to a consistent and deeper walk with the Lord.” - Troy Dewey

God's Word: "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." - Romans 8:17-18

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." - Ephesians 3:12

Deep in the high desert of west Texas, Marfa has a population of 1,750. It's home to an odd work of art: a storefront that resembles a Prada shop. Marfa has also been the filming site of many movies, including "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country For Old Men." Despite this, Marfa is incredibly isolated. There isn't another town west of Marfa for another 500 miles.

The nearest commercial airports are both three-hour drives away in El Paso and Midland. It is a seven-hour drive from Austin.

It has spotty cell phone service and a slow-blinking stoplight that welcomes you to Marfa, coaxing you to choose a direction, none of which spans more than a handful of blocks before nothingness begins again.

It is one of America’s most isolated and distant towns.

The Lord is omnipresent and approachable, desiring all to come into a relationship with Him. Today in prayer, give thanks Jesus that He we can approach Him in confidence knowing that He hears our prayers.

"On the ground of our own goodness we cannot expect to have our prayers answered. But Jesus is worthy, and for His sake we may have our prayers answered. But if we trust in Christ, if we hide in Him, if we put Him forward and ourselves in the background, depend on Him and plead His name, we may expect to have our prayers answered." - George Muller

God's Word: "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." - Ephesians 2:19-20

If Kurdistan were its own country, it would extend across 193,000 square miles currently within the borders of southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northern Syria and northwestern Iran. But even though the Kurdish people have laid claim to this contiguous territory for centuries, they have no recognized nation of their own. After World War I, the Western allies drew up plans to create a "Kurdistan," but those were quashed when the Treaty of Lausanne drew up the borders without establishing “Kurdistan”.

In the 1970s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein stripped citizenship from thousands of Kurds. Saddam argued that members of the ethnic minority group were Iranians, not Iraqis. The move left thousands of Kurds stateless, with only a small fraction able to obtain Iranian citizenship. Some Kurds are Christians and even though they are stateless in this world, they have “citizenship in heaven”.

As Christians, we are citizens in God’s family. He paid the price for our citizenship and there is no cap on how many people He accepts. Today in prayer, praise Jesus that He has adopted you into His family and given you a new home in Heaven.

"Socrates, being asked what countryman he was, answered 'I am a citizen of the whole world.' But ask a Christian what countryman he is, and he will answer, 'A citizen of heaven.'" - William Secker

God's Word: "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" - Philippians 3:20

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" - Ephesians 2:14

Amy Carmichael was a Northern Irish missionary to Japan and southern India. She endured hardship such as Dengue fever and she was on the field for more than 55 years. She is remembered for building a Christian orphanage in Dohnavur, India which housed more than 500 young girls who were rescued from the streets.

Her lengthy ministry was sustained through her strong reliance upon scripture and prayer.

She wrote, “Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace…If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you know what His will is.”

Only Jesus can bring peace. Today in prayer, give thanks to the Lord that He is our peace.

“Christ alone can bring lasting peace - peace with God - peace among men and nations - and peace within our hearts.” - Billy Graham

God's Word: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - John 14:27

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

Dr. Jeff Volkmer writes on grace: “My wife and I did a portion of our honeymoon in Central Oregon, and as an English major in college, I desperately wanted to attend a performance at Ashland’s renowned Shakespeare Festival. As newlyweds, my wife was a great sport as we drove from Bend to Ashland to try to get tickets to see one of Shakespeare’s plays. However, this was at a time when the internet was in its infancy and so the only way to purchase tickets was to physically travel to the box office and pick them up.

You can imagine how bummed we were when, after a long drive, we were informed by the attendant at the booth that all of the shows were already completely sold out. The despair and disappointment were evident on our faces when an older man walked up to inform us that he had two tickets for the evening’s next play, but he was not able to attend and wondered if we’d like his tickets. I immediately said “yes!” and asked how much he would like for them, to which he responded, “they’re free, enjoy!”

This was tremendous news and we entered the theater and tried to find the seats and row written on the ticket, but were having no luck. So we went to one of the ushers, showed her our ticket, and she said that she would walk us to our seats.

We were not prepared for the fact that we were to be led all the way to the front of the theater and seated in the middle two seats in the very front row — the best seats in the entire theater! We could not believe how blessed we were by this ticket owner’s generosity!

Our invitation into the theater was indeed free, but those prime seats were nevertheless contingent upon tickets that demonstrated the legitimacy of our claim to those seats. That legitimacy, in turn, was purchased by someone else and accorded to us. Just like the unexpected guest at the wedding, our invitation into the kingdom is free, but it is nevertheless contingent upon the sacrificial gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our God loves us and it is by His abundant grace we are saved. Today in prayer, thank Jesus for His grace.

"Saving grace makes a man as willing to leave his lusts as a slave is willing to leave his galley, or a prisoner his dungeon, or a thief his bolts, or a beggar his rags." - Thomas Brooks

God's Word: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." - Ephesians 2:4-5

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." - Ephesians 1:22-23

There have been many famous deaths in world history; we might think of John F. Kennedy, or Marie Antoinette, or Cleopatra, but we do not refer to "the assassination," "the guillotining," or "the poisoning." Such references would be incomprehensible. The use of the term "the crucifixion" for the execution of Jesus shows that it still retains a privileged status. When we speak of "the crucifixion," even in this secular age, many people will know what is meant. There is something in the strange death of the man identified as Son of God that continues to command special attention. This death, this execution, above and beyond all others, continues to have universal reverberations. Of no other death in human history can this be said. The cross of Jesus stands alone in this regard. … There were many thousands of crucifixions in Roman times, but only the crucifixion of Jesus is remembered as having any significance at all, let alone world-transforming significance.

Jesus stands alone; no one is like Him. Today in prayer, give thanks to Christ that He is Lord of all.

"If ever man was God or God man, Jesus Christ was both." - Lord Byron

God's Word: "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him" - Colossians 1:18-19

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS   †

"For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." - Ephesians 1:15

Robert Morgan, in his book “On This Day”, writes: “In 1722, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, troubled by the suffering of Christian exiles from Bohemia and Moravia, allowed them to establish a community on his estate in Germany. The center became known as Herrnhut, meaning “Under the Lord’s Watch.” It grew quickly, and so did its appreciation for the power of prayer.

On August 27, 1727, twenty-four men and twenty-four women covenanted to spend an hour each day in scheduled prayer, praying in sequence around the clock. Soon others joined the prayer chain. More signed on, then others still. Days passed, then months. Unceasing prayer rose to God twenty-four-hours a day as someone—at least one—was engaged in intercessory prayer each hour of every day. The intercessors met weekly for encouragement and to read letters and messages from their brothers in different places, giving them specific needs to pray about. A decade passed, the prayer chain continuing nonstop. Then another decade. It was a prayer meeting that lasted over one hundred years.

Undoubtedly this prayer chain helped birth Protestant missions. Six months into it, Zinzendorf, twenty-seven, suggested the possibility of attempting to reach others for Christ in the West Indies, Greenland, Turkey, and Lapland. Twenty-six Moravians stepped forward the next day to volunteer. The first missionaries, Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann, were commissioned during an unforgettable service on August 18, 1732, during which one hundred hymns were sung. The two men reached the West Indies in December of that year, beginning the “Golden Decade” of Moravian Missions, 1732–1742. During the first two years, twenty-two missionaries perished and two more were imprisoned, but others took their places. In all, seventy Moravian missionaries flowed from the six hundred inhabitants of Herrnhut, a feat unparalleled in missionary history.

By the time William Carey became the “Father of Modern Missions” over three hundred Moravian missionaries had already gone to the ends of the earth. And that’s not all. The Moravian fervor sparked the conversions of John and Charles Wesley and indirectly ignited the Great Awakening that swept through Europe and America, sweeping thousands into the kingdom. The prayer meeting lasted one hundred years. The results will last for eternity.”

Prayer makes a difference because our Heavenly Father answers prayer. Today in prayer, thank Jesus for the privilege of prayer and pray for the needs of others.

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons; but they are helpless against our prayers.” – J. Sidlow Baxter

God's Word: "After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before." - Job 42:10

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" - Ephesians 1:7

Lewis Smedes, in his book “The Art of Forgiving” tells the following:

“In November of 1990, as the long struggle for freedom in South Africa was reaching its climax, a group of black and white spiritual leaders from almost all the churches in that land met at a hotel outside of a little town called Rustenburg.

Some of the leaders represented people who had wounded and wronged blacks. Others represented the people who had been so horribly wounded and wronged, these men and women came together to answer two questions: Could the blacks ever forgive? And could blacks and whites ever be truly united as brothers and sisters?

Desmond Tutu, spiritual leader for many in South Africa, answered for the wounded and the wronged of his beloved country. He gave his answer in a straightforward speech that bears the title “We Forgive You”…Forgive, yes, said Tutu: “The victims of injustice and oppression must be ever ready to forgive.” But could there ever be a coming together?

Ah, that is another question. “Those who have wronged [us] must be ready to make what amends they can…if I have stolen your pen, I can’t really be contrite. When I say, ‘Please forgive me’ if at the same time I still keep your pen. If I am truly repentant, then I will demonstrate this genuine repentance by returning your pen. Then [reunion], which is always costly, will happen…it can’t happen just by saying ‘Let bygones be bygones”

We can forgive him if he keeps the pen. We should not be his friend unless he gives it back.”

God has forgiven us for the death of His Son and we have received reunion to all who place their faith in Him. Today in prayer, praise the Lord for His forgiveness of your sins and seek to forgive others for the wrongs they have done to you.

"The man who is truly forgiven and knows it, is a man who forgives." – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

God's Word: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you." - Matthew 6:14

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS †

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will" - Ephesians 1:4-5

Luke Bacon was adopted by Welsh missionaries as a baby. Now an Anglican minister in Chatham, Kent, his experience inspired him and his wife, Becci, to extend their own family through adoption.

He said: “I was an unexpected, unplanned baby. My biological mother had the firm conviction that she didn’t want me to be raised in a single parent family, so put me up for adoption with a Christian agency while she was pregnant.

My heritage is a mix of West African and British and one of the stipulations was that I be placed with a family who had some understanding of the African part of my identity. This coincided with a couple from South Wales, who had recently returned from two years teaching in Ghana, exploring the possibility of adoption. They picked me up from hospital when I was one week old.

As someone who has benefited so greatly from adoption, it is something that has always been on my radar, and when Becci and I got married we shared the opinion that we would love to extend our family through adoption.”

God has opened His heart to adopt us into His family. Today in prayer, praise your Heavenly Father for His love and making you a son or daughter through Jesus Christ.

"The moment we were born again, we were placed in an adoptive state as heirs, as sons of God." - Jon Courson

God's Word: "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." - Romans 8:23

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2024, Devotional E-Mail

DEVOTIONS IN EPHESIANS   †