Category: Ephesians

Ephesians 6

3/12/2012

Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”

It is so important for us to be learning and understanding how God wants us to live. He gave us tools so we can use them to grow, we should be masters with using these tools so we are complete.

Verse 14 says, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.” We must know the truth because it will set us free. When we realize how incredible God is and how much He loves us we believe truly that what He says is right and His actions are righteous.

Verse 15 says, “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” The Good News is that Jesus Christ was born and died taking our sins and then was resurrected and has bridge the gap to heaven for us. There is only peace in that, without that life would end and we would be separated for eternity. But we know we can join the Father in heaven through Jesus Christ His Son.

Verse 16 says, “In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” We can’t think that satan will leave us alone after we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. He will constantly do things to try and knock us off the narrow road. When we have a relationship with God we understand this and we ask for wisdom that keeps us ready for the fiery arrows. We realize that satan is actually seeking to destroy and we actively seek God’s will and know we are protected through Christ.

In verse 17 we are told, “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” As we grow we know that in Christ there is eternal life and that understanding keeps our eyes focused and our ear hearing what the Spirit is showing us and we live to please God in everything. We open God’s word and we meditate on it because it makes our walk active and alive and we walk the walk and our lives are different. We transform into the new creations and we live for God saying not my will be done but yours.

This armor is important as we live our lives daily. When we surrender to the Spirit we will desire it all and it won’t be a check list it will be what is natural. Amen

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Ephesians 4

3/11/2012

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Ephesians 4:11-13 “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: The apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

We cannot take lightly that we constantly having to learn and develop ourselves and the people who call themselves believers. We need to “…equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” This is us constantly working together to build people up and disciple them so they mature in there walk and the church will grow with people that glorify God in their lives.

I like what it says in verse 14, “Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try and trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.” It is so important for us to be seeking wisdom and learning constantly so we grow to maturity in our walk. We are all called to share the Good News and be Christ-like and that is very difficult if we don’t know what to say or how to act. It’s not a one and done faith, it is a relationship that takes work and devotion, time and effort as we focus on Him.

Verse 15 says, “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.” Don’t think someone else will do your part, be a part of the body and grow. Amen

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Ephesians 3

3/9/2012

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Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Paul’s prayer inspires me to know God more and really seek all the understanding He offers me. We need to be empowered by the Spirit so we stop trying to live on our own strength and our hearts are full of the Spirit’s promptings. The more we study and open our hearts to this the roots of Christ will grow deep and we will feel God’s love for us and we will begin to understand and our focus will be true.

When we grow our selfish desires will get less and we will desire the complete power that a life with Christ has to offer. We will have joy and not just happiness. We will serve and give with a cheerful heart because God has filled us with Him and we will long to share the Good News because there is nothing greater. I don’t want a taste of it I want the entire thing. We can’t settle, God wants us to be warriors considering it great joy to be a part of His family.

Verse 20 says, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Even when we fully surrender to Him we can’t understand everything, but He will give us the strength to make a difference and help people see God’s love in us. Let’s not be satisfied with our strength, let’s tap into His and live for His will. Amen

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Ephesians 4

7/8/2011

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I want to try something to get more discussion going. If you would try and answer these questions from the heart.

Does personal effort make a difference?

Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

What effort have you made in the past month or so that has kept you united with the Spirit?
Are you missing out on the inner peace we are promised, what can you do differently to have this peace?

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Ephesians 3

6/14/2011

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Ephesians 3:16-17 “I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

First, I love that Paul is always focused on others and concerned with people, even the believers, making sure they had a relationship with the Lord. Through His Spirit He will empower us and give us strength, so are we feeling the Spirit? What do we do when we hear the Spirit guiding us and tugging us to make decisions? Do we listen or do we second guess it? The next part is huge, it says, “…then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him.” Trust means: confident expectation of something. Are we confident that Christ is who He says He is? If so, have you surrendered to that and is your life being changed to be like Him. This is a constant devotion to learning and growing everyday. We can’t have a one and done mentality, we must know the more we learn and do the more we will learn and be lead to do.

Verse 19 says, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Trust in the Lord and let Him open and fill your heart to experience true life. Amen

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Ephesians 1

6/9/2011

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Ephesians 1:22-23 “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.”

Notice how important it is for us to be full of Christ. We can’t go into this not expecting to be full and be passionate to be the church. We are what keeps the Good News going and reaching people. When we don’t pursue this relationship with the Lord we miss out on all the joy and benefits we get from being in His family.

In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 it says, “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago.”

Don’t wait for some sign or special feeling, seek and learn all that God wants and fill that Spirit that you have when you believe and make it a shouting voice that drives you to move for Christ. And remember as it says in verse 8, “He has showered His kingdom on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” Amen

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Ephesians 4

10/22/2010

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Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

It is so important that we are opening God’s word and learning. It says, “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit…” to me that comes from self study and asking God for wisdom. Our focus should be Christ and we should take to heart that God sent His Son to live life out so we had an example to learn by. We always have Jesus to study and learn from as we go through this world trying to be a light. Now we have the Holy Spirit that guides us to keep us focused on what is right and keep our eyes on Heaven.

Verse 5 says, “There is one Lord, on faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.”

So we need to equip ourselves everyday to be our best so our faith is seen by the world.

I love the challenge in chapter 4 verses 21-24 which says, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God –truly righteous and holy.”

We have heard about Christ, what is holding us back from changing and living to be truly righteous and holy? Amen

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Ephesians 6

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 3

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 3

Ephesians 1

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