Ephesians 3:1, 13 (NKJV) "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles... Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory."Paul writes Ephesians from prison, not from an ivory tower somewhere. He is in a hard place... I can imagine him being kind of confused in prison, asking, "Why am I still locked up? There is a hunger inside o...

"Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory." (Ephesians 3:13)Paul finishes this section by telling the Ephesians not to lose heart over his tribulations, difficulties, pressure, and pain. But when he says "for you, Gentiles" in Ephesians 3:1 and again in Ephesians 3:13, he isn't trying to guilt them into feeling sorry for him. He's actually saying s...

"To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." (Ephesians 3:8)Paul was in prison, and anybody could have looked at him and said, "He's wasting his life in there." But Paul knew not only who he was, he knew his purpose, and that gave him confidence. Not arrogance, but confidence that God was usi...

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)Ephesians 3:1-13 actually reads like an unplanned detour. He was headed somewhere else entirely in chapter two, and you can see where he picks back up in Ephesians 3:14. However, here he pulls back the curtain on something...

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)I don't have to remind you that ours is a negative, pessimistic society. We live with negativity all around us. All you have to do is turn on the news and you see negative programming, negative journalism, negative event...