FFG--Out Standing, Outstanding

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Preface:  I started a "phone Bible study" with my heart-sister in Georgia last week, but yesterday, I overslept!  And her toilet was leaking, so she was a little distracted.  At 1:00 the realization hit that I never called her for our 6:30am (central time) Bible study hour.  Big oops, but we both laughed over our circumstances, and had an impromptu 15-minute study instead of our usual hour.

That said--and keep trusting me that this really is a Farm Girls post--here is the passage we studied:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened,

so that you will know what is the hope of His calling,

what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

which He brought about in Christ,

when He raised Him from the dead

and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,

and every name that is named,

not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And He put all things in subjection under His feet,

and gave Him as head over all things to the church,

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:18-23

Keep reading!  It's a Bible study but it touches my Farm Girl heart!  Really!

Dee and I stopped on the phrases surpassing greatness of His power and strength of His might.  We guessed--correctly--that the word power was the Greek dounamis, from which we get our English dynamite.  From the phrase strength of His might, we discovered that the word strength is also translated as dominion, and the word might is simply His strength.  Slightly confusing, but I think the Lord (through Paul) is emphasizing the incredible power, might, and strength that He possesses.  Look at what the Lord did, through His power:

• He raised Christ from the dead
• He seated Christ at His right hand
• He seated Him far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, every name named
• He seated Him in this age and in the one to come
• He put all things in subjection to Christ
• He made Him head over all things
• He called the church the body of Christ
• He calls the church His fullness

That's pretty powerful!  After we talked about how the Lord should be preeminent in our lives, and that our life is not about us, but all about Him, and His being glorified, Dee commented about a book that she is reading by Blackaby (Chosen to be God's Prophet, about Samuel I think).  She paraphrased that our desire is to do something great/incredible for God, when He wants simply our trust and obedience.  He will cause efforts to succeed, or fail.

When Dee mentioned our desire to do something outstanding for God, I remembered something humorous my dad said:  "I know this farmer out standing in his field."  Or was it, "...outstanding in his field?"  *wink*

Obviously, I would love to accomplish something outstanding for the Lord!  But the Lord wants me to be out standing in my home, outstanding in my home:  loving my husband, nurturing my children, and yes, doing the dishes.  He will work what He desires in my life.  I am to trust and obey.

So, if you ring my doorbell today, you will probably find me out standing in my kitchen.  :)

Back to life,
Christine

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