Saturday, October 20, 2018

20 October 2018 - the hope of our call



May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call

If we really realize the hope that belongs to our call we begin to see much more radical change in our lives.

and what is the surpassing greatness of his power
for us who believe,
in accord with the exercise of his great might,
which he worked in Christ,
raising him from the dead

The power of the resurrection is at work in us through our faith. The very same miraculous power that raised Jesus from the dead is meant to transform us as well. If this power can't be limited even by death what else could hope to limit it? And if there are no limits to the power then surely it can make us all saints.

To embrace the hope of our call we have to recognize that it is a call to be in Jesus Christ. In the exultation of Christ above every principality and power we too are exulted because in his humanity we are united with him in this glory. He is the head and we are the body.

And he put all things beneath his feet
and gave him as head over all things to the Church,
which is his Body,
the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

If the eyes of our hearts aren't enlightened we don't realize what's possible. We don't see that there is a great destiny toward which God is moving us and a massive power by which he has proven he can get us there. So we must begin with prayer. And we must pray expectantly, knowing that because Jesus wants to reveal himself he absolutely will do so.

It is this union with Christ that means that we must be ready to acknowledge him to others. Our words have power. Ultimately, they can be enough to separate us from Christ and from the union with us which he desires. They can be so contrary to what Jesus himself wants to say through us, his body, that the relationship ultimately is severed. But even then, there is hope. In the darkness of our own weakness apart from Christ we are free to return to him.

Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven

Only if we deny this forgiveness itself, offered by the Holy Spirit, are we without hope.

The grace of our union with Christ is not abstract, nor even legalistic. It is more than abiding by a set of rules so that we can know based on the teaching of others that Christ is in us. He wants to live in us. He wants to work through us if we will only recognize the hope toward which we are drawn.

For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.




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