Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights Archives

Christ in the Heart

By Andrew YoungSeptember 29, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“…that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” (Ephesians 3:17) Bible Reading: Ephesians 3:14-19 This morning in my devotions I re-read the first part of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians found in Ephesians 3:14ff. As I did so, my mind was drawn back to a lengthy article I had written on this passage some years ago. Finding it again in my computer files, the thought came to mind that it may be helpful to break it into parts and share it with my Ezra devotional readers. So that is what I am going to do as we enter this […]

Something More?

By Andrew YoungSeptember 30, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“What more, then, could they experience?” Bible Reading: Ephesians 1:11-14 Yesterday we began to look at Paul’s great prayer in Ephesians 3:14-19. We did little more than introduce this study as on that will be based on sermons by the late Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Today we begin to look at the prayer itself. Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus (and others for whom this letter might have been written), that he prays for them in the following way: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that […]

A Real Presence

By Andrew YoungOctober 1, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“Is he a living, powerful reality within us…?” Bible Reading: John 14:15-24 We ended yesterday’s devotional by asking the question, “Is there something more?” When Paul prays that God would strengthen the Christians in the “inner man” so that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:17), was he asking for something more than they already had through the Holy Spirit? This is the question we begin to answer today. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that what Paul is asking for the Ephesian Christians here is not something entirely new, but a deeper experience of what they already had. […]

Controlled by Christ

By Andrew YoungOctober 2, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“Paul’s desire is… that Christ may be the dominating factor in the whole of their life…” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones) Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:17-24 Lloyd-Jones is helping us understand what it means to have Christ “in the heart”. We noted yesterday that this is a real presence, that Jesus does indeed manifest himself within us as real, personal and present, through his indwelling Spirit. Our devotional today continues this thought. The way in which Jesus’ active presence shows, Lloyd-Jones argues, is in the way he controls and influences what we do. He so influences our thoughts, feelings and actions that his […]

Through Faith

By Andrew YoungOctober 3, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:17) Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:1-7 Paul is praying for the Ephesian Christians as those who have already come to trust in Christ and have received his Spirit in their lives. Yet, he longs that they might possess a fuller knowledge of Christ – one in which he is a real, personal presence to them moment by moment through each day. How are we to obtain such knowledge? This is what we consider in this devotional, drawing on the insight of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Given this is the experience that […]

The Life of Faith

By Andrew YoungOctober 4, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“His presence is actualized in our experience as we exercise faith in him.” Bible Reading: Galatians 2:20 Christ dwells in our hearts through faith – this is what the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 3:17. But what does that mean in practical terms? This is what we explore in this devotional. In doing so, they are to set their minds on him constantly and rely on him in everything. They are to look to him as the source of their life (Colossians 3:4). Like branches in a vine, they are to draw their life and sustenance from him (John […]

Prayer for Strength

By Andrew YoungOctober 5, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“The moment you begin to look at this inner man… you see that he is very weak…” Dr M. Lloyd-Jones Bible Reading: Romans 7:14-20 In this devotional we begin to look at how Christ comes to live in our hearts – that is, the means of this experience. The focus before us is on the need to pray for inner strength for this to be so. Jesus’ presence in our lives is made real to us through faith. Where does this faith come from? Can we generate it ourselves, or are their ways and means by which it grows? Paul’s […]

Reading the Word

By Andrew YoungOctober 6, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“The Christian life is not simply a matter of adopting a number of ideas… it is personal, it is individual.” Dr M. Lloyd-Jones Bible Reading: Romans 10:14-17 The Lord Jesus Christ comes to be a present reality in our lives as we firstly ask to be strengthened by the Holy spirit in our inward being, then as we read about him in his Word. It is this second activity that we consider below. If Christ is to be the object of our faith, we need to feed our minds with truth concerning him. That means we must constantly read the […]

Dying to Self

By Andrew YoungOctober 7, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“While we love ourselves, Christ will not come into our hearts.” Dr M. Lloyd-Jones Bible Reading: Luke 14:25-34 In this devotional we look at a third requirement for having Christ dwell in the heart by faith, namely, dying to ourselves. Basic to experiencing Christ dwelling in us is readiness to die to ourselves. As noted earlier, Christ lives in us to control and direct us. He wants us to present ourselves to him as his servants, ready to do his bidding. But we will never be able to do that if at heart we are intent upon our own interests […]

Never Mechanical

By Andrew YoungOctober 8, 2017Devotionals: Miscellaneous Insights

“…we are dealing with personal relationships, and that in the realm of personal relationships mechanical methods not only do not count, but they can even be the greatest possible hindrance…” Dr M. Lloyd-Jones Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:9-11 In this devotional we look at a fourth requirement for having Christ dwell in the heart by faith, namely, rejecting any notion that we can manipulate God through our actions. As important as it is to pray, read the Scriptures, and rid ourselves of self-interest, we must never imagine that we can control the Lord’s activity within us. Experiencing Christ in […]