What a beautiful passage. Honestly these three verses are jam packed with rich and essential beliefs of our Christian Faith. We can legit take these three verses and make a series out of them on their own.

But for the sake of time, let’s briefly explain each of these statements. First thing I want you to notice is that the word “one” repeats over and over in these verses. It seems to me that Paul is suggesting that this is the truth and there is no adding to it. There are no multiple paths. There are no multiple truths.

A truth claim is exclusive. To say that one thing is true is to say that all other options are false. The world would want you to believe that there are multiple roads to the same place. But Paul here is very singular in his vocabulary. He says there is…

ONE BODY
That is there is one church. There is one people that is united by the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, male or female, imprisoned or free. We are all one under the banner of Jesus. We all have experienced the mercy, grace, and forgiveness of sin through Jesus’ p perfect work on the cross.

ONE SPIRIT
There is only one Holy Spirit whom the Bible calls our counselor, guide, and comforter. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us of sin and draws us to God through Jesus. The Holy Spirit emboldens and empowers us with gifts to use for the benefit of the local church and to draw others to Jesus.

ONE HOPE
This is the hope that we have experienced through Jesus. While we were dead in our sins and trespasses, Jesus died in our place paying the punishment we were due. Jesus grants us this hope now but we also have a hope to come. That one day we will be with Jesus and there will be no more weeping, no more pain, and no more suffering.

ONE LORD
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is only one who can wipe away the sins of mankind. All other gods fall short. There is only one who can raise a spiritually dead person to life. He is the way, truth, and life and no one comes to the Father except by him.

ONE FAITH
We are saved by grace through faith. We have faith, not in ourselves or our good works. We have faith in Jesus. That faith is the faith needed to move mountains of which the greatest was the tombstone laid upon my spiritual grave. But Jesus has revived us and we are able to receive this free gift of faith through faith.

ONE BAPTISM
We are baptized in Jesus name and into his victory. As Jesus was buried in the grave, we were buried with him and risen in him. As Christ conquered the grave, we conquer the grip of Satan and sin over our lives.

ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL
There is only one God. We are not pantheists which believe that is all and in all. This means you are not a god. You cannot worship the universe as god. We are not polytheists which worship many gods and God is just one god among many. There is on one God, one Father, and ne creator of all. He is eternal, all knowing, all powerful, all present, and everlasting.

ABOVE ALL
He is above every kingdom. He is above every government and president and king. He is above every angelic being. He is above all.

THROUGH ALL
He is taking care of us all. He provides for his children. Every good and perfect gift comes from God above. Not only does he grant us forgiveness of sin through Jesus but he also freely shares wisdom, love, grace, mercy, justice, holiness, truth, and faithfulness:

IN ALL
That is that by the power of his Spirit he dwells within the believer guiding, directing, correcting, rebuking, convicting of sin and drawing hearts closer to himself.

By: Danny Torres
A devotional series on the book of Ephesians

One of the most intimate and meaningful moments you can share with someone is prayer. In Ephesians 3 we find this beautiful prayer that Paul prays for the believers in Ephesus. It leads us to believe that the church in Ephesus held a special place in the heart of Paul. So much so that he breaks out into a prayer for them in the middle of his letter.

Among the things he prayed for, he prays for them to be "strengthened with power" in their "inner being through his Spirit." I wonder how many of us could benefit from this very prayer?

​Have you ever experienced a time when you needed inner strength? You see, you can bandage a wound, set a broken bone. But inner wounds aren't so easily repaired.

I bet there have been times when you’ve struggled with a pain deep down inside that no one else knew about, even those closest to you. Do you know what you need in those moments? You need to be, “be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit.”

Perhaps you’re going through financial hardship. An attack on your personhood. Maybe you’re facing relational strife or experiencing hardship within the family. Then for you I pray for inner strength through God’s Spirit.

When all hope seems lost and you feel alone and broken, perhaps God is never more close to you then in that moment.

• The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. {Psalm 34:18 NIV}

This week, let's pray for inner strength through God’s Spirit.

By: Danny Torres
A devotional on the book of Ephesians

What does a minister look like? Do they wear pin striped suits and shiny shoes? Do they wear long robes and funny hats? Or maybe they carry a huge dinosaur sized Bible under their arm?

We all have a preconceived notion when we hear the word "minister." The first thing that probably pops into your mind is, "that's not me."

This week we read in Ephesians 3:7 that Paul called himself a "servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace." The word "servant" is translated from the Greek word "diaconos" which means, "someone who executes the demands of another, a servant, a minister."

One of the last things Jesus told his disciples was to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," {Matthew 28:19 CSB}. This means that we all have a role to play when it comes to making disciples.

Here's three things Paul did as a minister of the gospel that we can do as well.

1, PROCLAIM
The first thing we get to do as servants and ministers of the gospel is proclaim the incalculable riches of Jesus. Proclaiming is simply sharing the great gift of God’s love that we have experienced through Jesus with someone else.

2. SHED LIGHT
​As ministers and servants of the gospel, you can shed light on this mystery. What mystery? Well, it’s no longer a mystery for you. It’s the mystery of the gospel. It’s the good news of Jesus Christ.

Each time you talk to that friend or family member, you’re shedding a little more light. As a minister of the gospel, God is using you to shed light on this mystery of the gospel and ultimately point others to the hope and faith you have found in Jesus.

3. BE BOLD AND CONFIDENT
As ministers of the gospel we can be bold and confident. Not in our own abilities or skills. Instead we can have boldness and confidence because we have access to the Father through Jesus.

Be bold and confident as you proclaim and shed light and share the hope you have in Jesus with those around you. Have confidence knowing that Jesus loves those in your relational circle more than you do. It’s God’s heart to seek and save the lost. His heart is not that any would perish but that many would come to repentance.

In Matthew 9 Jesus said, "The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." {Matthew 9:37-38 CSB}

What if you were an answer to this prayer by Jesus and the disciples? What if God has placed you right here, right now to share the love of God with those around you? My hope and prayer is that you would begin to see yourself, like Paul, as a minister and servant of the gospel.