Blessed In Ephesians chapter one, Paul lets us know who he is and says, I’m Paul a learned Christian who calls himself an apostle; or follower of the Lord, one who knows what it is to abide in the Lord. His theme seems to be one of caring for the welfare of the body of Christ the Church, in all of his writings. He is addressing the saints which are at Ephesus, not only them, but to all saints throughout the world. Saints are Christians that are committed to the Lord, disciplined in following the Lords will as they are faithful in obeying the Lords Word. That is one of many reasons we have been given the Bible, so we could understand as Christians, the importance of rules and the need to fulfill them. It is as we abide in the Vine, Jesus Christ we have assurance of being accepted by our Lord. It then is not my way, or mans way; it becomes Gods way we are walking in. That is why it is a narrow way and not to may find it. Paul sees the importance of each Saint known by not only what they say, but what they do. Note, it is as we are faithful to the Lord; Christians stand out with a purpose different than any other of Gods creation. The world at times feels they are as good as some Christians and this prevents others from accepting the Lord. The world reason if that is what a Christian acts like I do not want to be one, for look at me I’m better. I hear this many times as I minister to those in jails and prisons, even from those I meet out on the streets. . Lord, Help us to put on the new man and resist the old man and his desires, or urges as Colossians 3:5 says, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Verse 8 but now put off all these anger wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Verse 9 Lie not one to another, seeing you have put off the old man with his deeds. Verse 10 and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” The mind is very powerful and it controls our tongue, what we experience in life should teach us right from wrong. As I begin to look at myself and see evil all around, I am very aware of the fact the heart of man is desperately wicked and who can know it. We are seeing things today that are causing fear where we should not have fear, we need the spirit of Adoption into the family of God, we’ll, look at that latter in this chapter. Note how easy it is to sin, just as Eve saw the fruit that she was not suppose to eat, she desired it, for it looked good, just like the other fruits, so she takes and says to herself; it is good, I must give it to Adam. She sees, desires, takes and gives and you know the rest of the story, they both hid from God. Isn’t that what we do every time we do something wrong, we deny it is wrong. We need the Lord help to understand where we go wrong, so we can say, forgive me Lord. Remember God created us with a conscience so we should not get hurt. Is your imagination alive to the truth, which is reality from the experiences we have with our reason for doing what we do. Is our memory working and do we remember what happen the last time we sinned or even did something wrong and how it affected our affection for God. Don’t you think that’s why Paul understood very well from his experience the importance of faithfulness to God? Here earliery in life he was killing the Christians, now he loves them as an apostle according to God will. That is abiding in the arms of the Lord for sure. Notice what happens next that is a blessing for verse 2 begins with the strongest word in Christianism. 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is one of the hardest words to understand Barclay says, in his Daily Study Bible, Grace has always two main ideas in it. The Greek word is charis (<G5485>) which could mean charm. There must be a certain loveliness in the Christian life. A Christianity which is unattractive is no real Christianity. Grace always describes a gift; and a gift which it would have been impossible for a man to procure for himself, and which he never earned and in no way deserved. Whenever we mention the word grace, we must think of the sheer loveliness of the Christian life and the sheer undeserved generosity of the heart of God. When we understand everything we have and are, it’s because of the grace of God we take upon ourselves God’s presence at the greatest degree, for it is said of the Lord in Luke 2:40 40 “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” Then the Lord grows in Grace with those he meet, Acts 2: 47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The question I ask is, Am I finding grace and favor with those I minister to, or am I better than them? Lord help me to understand that Grace becomes ours as we accept His love which is your will for my life and every one is as good as me in Christ. We are living in a world that says, since God created me, he lives in me, so please do not tell me what to believe and I will not tell you. This has crept into the Church and causes total collapse of our trust in the Lord and then we trust ministers, or evangelist and not God. Yes, we need to trust ministers and evangelist and even one another, but it seems like an impossibility, because of not being able to speak the truth in Love. To me grace is love in action and we see it by how one obeys the promise of God. Charles Swindal says, “I preached Grace, Grace, but now I realize it is obedience, obedience. For the Children of Israel knew it was not just grace, but obedience to what God promised.” Did God come to destroy the law, or fulfill the Law? Acts 4:33 says even we today need to experience God grace “ 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.” Grace to you that are reading this, for God wants you to dwell under His arms and lift you up to new heights, as you abide in His will. Ruth Graham has a new book out about how in every pew there is hurt, for she was one of them. As I look at the Church today and minister in the jails, I find hurts abounding and it seems no deliverance is possible. For we deny the truth of Gods grace, we need to accept God can perform what man can’t. He gives us the power to resist sin. We have motto’s that just say, NO to Drugs! How about sex before marriage? How about same sex marriage? How about abortion? How about that which is making us calloused to sin, to where we are deceived. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (KJV) Says, “ 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. When we accept the truth, the Lords will is that, were obedient to His ways and His grace becomes operational and God gives us the ability to say no, to the sins that would so weigh us down. Like 18:8 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Does not our faith in God give us grace to go through the problem, or sin that wants to weigh us down preventing us from being an Ambassador for Christ? Can you begin to see what is in store for us, as we abide in the vine and grow the way the Lord wants us to grow in His grace? |