Ephesians 4-C No Beachhead of Bitterness

S = 4:26-27, 31-32 “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil… Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

O = In the context of this passage, the way in which we deny the devil an opportunity is by dealing swiftly and faithfully with our anger. The best way to stop an invasion is to keep the enemy from establishing a beachhead in the first place. Unresolved anger provides the devil with a beachhead from which he can expand his destructive work in our lives. Paul is calling on the Ephesians to throw the invaders of offense, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander out of our hearts into the sea of forgiveness. It truly can be a Red Sea type of moment for us when we can no longer be hurt by the actions or inactions of others in our past because the sea of forgiveness has covered it all. The dividing and conquering work of the enemy is healed and unity is built by my actively obeying God’s orders in verse 32. Kindness, and tenderhearted care for one another, goes a long way towards binding up all our wounds and building trust relationships for the future. Being the church requires this kind of active forgiveness.

A = Is there any area where I have unresolved anger in my heart? Perhaps I don’t stir it up often, but maybe there are areas I have fenced off and posted with a “Danger! Mines!” sign that need to be reclaimed. Lord, have mercy! Have I deceived myself into believing that my sins for which Christ died are somehow less heinous than what others have done to me?  Lord, have mercy! Have I begun to demand grace for myself and law for others? Lord, have mercy! This week I need to look for ways to actively forgive others, because I have been forgiven much more than I deserve. I need to pound the enemy’s beachhead in the lives of others with consistent acts of kindness, and by taking time to listen to people’s story with a tender heart.

P = O Lord, may I become a fountain of forgiveness this week…not because I am better than others, for I am not, but because you have forgiven me and shown me mercy! Holy Spirit, may your presence in my life produce fruit that tastes of you (Gal. 5:22-23) to others, rather than leaving the bitter aftertaste of my own selfishness. May I not see other people as irritating, or even as enemies, but as precious children whom you dearly love. Enlarge my heart to better understand what it is that you have done for me, so that I can share that same love with others this week…because you deserve it! Amen.

Ephesians 4-B A Change Coming

S =  Ephesians 4:17-20 “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!”

 

O = Paul saw that some in Ephesus who had previously professed faith in Christ were not becoming more like Christ, but had continued in their previous ways. He wrote that some needed a change of mind from one characterized by futility, a darkened understanding, and alienation from the life of God. How could this happen to them? He saw that their heart was hard and their choices were making them callous. Repeated practice of impurity can callous our heart so that it doesn’t challenge the futility of our mind with the good will of God's love. Paul makes it clear that they had not “learned Christ” this way. So how did we learn Christ? We were enlightened spiritually by the convicting influence of the Holy Spirit to sense God’s love and to see that we are not God, but that Jesus is. There comes a change of heart as we respond to Jesus’ love which brings a change of mind as we begin to see things as he does, then produces a change of clothes (v.22-24)—new desires, new values, new behavior that better expresses God’s love towards others (v.31-32).

 

A = Is there some way that my thought life is being drawn back to futility and darkness? Am I seeing the results in my life of some hardness or growing callousness in my heart? To what am I giving myself up today? This week I will cooperate with the Spirit and put on the new self (which Jesus has given to me)—starting with a new heart and a new mind that is readily visible to others.

 

P = O Lord, let me learn of you with a softened heart and an enlightened understanding. May you give me a strengthened settled resolve to resist the enemy rather than to give in to his lies! O Lord, conform me—by your love and grace—into the image of Christ so that I might walk/live well in your sight. Amen.

Ephesians 4-A "One..."

S = 4:1-7 “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit…one hope… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.”

O = Paul strongly urges unity in the body and the attitudes and behaviors that support it. Unity in diversity—different gifts that lead to the unity of the faith (v.13). In the midst of the list of the “ones” there is an individual application of Christ’s gift to “each one of us.” And the health of the whole depends on the individual part working properly. Paul very practically describes what a “manner worthy” looks like. We need all…humility, gentleness, and patience if we are to bear with each other in love. We are not free to “work alone” in the Kingdom of God for we are members of one body. It is a pretty high calling…but God gives us grace to enable us to function in the role to which he has called us.

A = I need to work properly with those who are different from me so that I can truly be whole and healthy as I help others to be all that God has called them to be. How can I walk in humility, gentleness and patience this week? Am I “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit or do I tend towards grumbling and disputing?

P = O Lord, God of the prophets and apostles, my God, I choose again today to die to my selfish individualism to be a part of your “one” so that I might mature in you…becoming who I am in Christ.  Help me to be more encouraging in my speech, and more helpful in my actions, building others up in your love.  Amen.

Ephesains 1-D “Eyes of Our Heart Enlightened”

Pastor Randy went back to Chapter 1 for Easter, so this blog post if from that passage.

S = Ephesians 1:16-20 “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know…

·         what is the hope to which he has called you,

·         what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and

·         what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead…”

O = These verses are part of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. I especially am drawn to v. 18-19 where he prays that the “eyes of the heart” might be enlightened. An interesting phrase—referring not to a physical seeing but the soulish-spiritual sight of one who really gets it down deep inside. No matter the circumstances your eyes see before you—what is the reality the eyes of your heart perceive and understand? Three things he prays that such enlightenment would cause us to know (for sure): the hope to which he calls us; the value he puts on his inheritance; and the great power available to us in Christ. Such knowledge should raise our spirits and provide the vision to persevere and even overcome, because he has and we are his!

A = How do I allow my hearts vision to be obscured by apparent set-backs, delays, disappointments? I will not be bitter or wallow in frustration this week because he calls me to a hope. How would I want others to be praying for me? I would love it is someone prayed for me like Paul prayed for the Ephesians (any volunteers?)! How am I praying for others to grow in Christ? This passage challenges me to be more strategic about how I pray for others. We all need a revelation of who we are in Christ if we are going to ever “become who we are”.

P = O Lord Jesus, may we see more clearly, from the heart, the purpose of our calling is hope, the inheritance you value is your people, and that your power is towards us who believe…your love has predestined us in ways more glorious than we can imagine—to be received into your family and life forever…to the praise of your glory! Amen.