more encouragement for the saints and faithful

This from Terry Dudley:
After doing my word study ( I only looked up about 30 cross references) on saints, this is my long paragraph I wrote to summarize what God says about His beloved saints: Beloved, my faithful one (Eph 1:1), I want you to see how I have lavished my love on you. Do you realize you are my inheritance (Eph 1:18); I have given you grace and peace ( Col 1:2) and equipped you in everyway for works of service; building up the body(Eph Eph 4:12). I've given you my Spirit so that your heart can comprehend the immeasurable dimensions of my love for you and be filled to the fulness of God (Eph 3:18). I have given you community with the saints where you will find yourself sharing (Ro 12:13) and serving each other and persevering with prayers and petitions on their behalf (Eph6:18). Your love for them comes from my love that abides in you. Know my Beloved that angels gather you heart-felt pleas for one another and yourself in a golden bowl and lay them on the altar where a sweet aroma arises before Me (Rev 5:8, 8:3-4). Awaken and wipe the sleep from your eyes that you can capture my glory and see all that I have entrusted you . Contend for the faith (Jude 1:3)with fear and reverence and awe for I have called you out of darkness and into my glorious light through the sacrifice of my Son, Jesus, who I dearly loved. Strengthen your hearts and be holy (1Thess 3:13), (you are to be holy as I am holy). Repent of your sin and allow your heart to overflow with thanksgiving (Eph 5:3). Jesus will be glorified in His people called by His name(2 Thess 1: 10), wash the feet of the saints and greet all the saints (1Tim 5:10, Heb 13:24), share your faith (Phile 1:5-7). The Spirit I have given you as a deposit til I return and fully redeem you will intercede for you (Ro 8:27). There will be hard times. Those that fear the Lord will lack nothing (Ps 34:9). In the end I will come and pronounce judgement in favor of my saints (Dan 7:21), stand firm in your faith in me, rejoicing. One day you will possess the kingdom with me which will last forever and ever. THe fear of the Lord will leave you securely anchored, embracing my glory and you will lack nothing for the days ahead inorder to follow me. Meantime make yourself ready for my coming, prepare for I have the finest of white linen that you will be dressed in and shine brightly with purity of the righteousness (Rev 19:8). (1Cor 1:26-31) Boast only in the Lord, because formerly you were weak and despised and through the death and resurrection of Jesus you were given His righteousness, holiness and redemption. The Lord will reward the saints who revered His name (Rev 11:18). P.S. I love you more than you will ever imagine.

from study of Ephesians 1:15-22

this from Katie Hughes:
Hey Susan, I know you like to hear from us re: how we're doing in the study. Well, I just wanted to tell you how wonderful last week was for me. I learned so much. Probably the most difficult spiritual discipline for me is prayer, and it always has been. I struggle with inconsistency and distraction, finding it hard to sit still and rest in the presence of God when there is always so much going on and so much to be done. I realized last week what a wonderful resource the Word is to us, not just in Bible study, but in prayer as well. Prayers can be surprisingly simple and powerful at the same time, like Paul's prayers in Ephesians. Praying that prayer for people made me love them more, and caused me to truly desire those things for them. One person in particular I prayed for is my brother, who is 21, and rather apathetic and unmotivated these days, particularly with regard to his faith. I of course tend to worry about him and not pray for him, and praying this prayer relieved me of my worrying, forced me to confess that only God can change him, and gave me great hope for what God can do in and through him. Katie