Category: Ephesians Devotionals

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Ephesians Devotionals

Because we are…

Child of God

Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children… (Ephesians 5:1)

Father, those words just totally jumped off the page.

We desire to be like you, not because of fear.

Not because we feel we have to somehow earn your approval or your love.

But as people already rooted and grounded in your love.

We are already your beloved children. (1)

We are already saints. (3)

We are already light in you. (8)

We don’t have to strive to become these things.

We already are.

And as such, we joyfully seek to bring a smile to your face each day.

Help us to always remember who we are in you.

We love you because you first loved us.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Rooted and established in God’s love

Deeply roooted

I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17–19)

Recently, I gave a message on “first love” talking about how vital it is to maintain our first love for Jesus.

But maintaining our first love isn’t first and foremost about anything we do. It’s not about reading our Bible more, or praying more, or serving more.

Rather it’s rooting ourselves in this one truth: God first loved us.

It’s daily coming to a deeper understanding of how long, and wide, and high, and deep his love is for us.

But we can’t root ourselves in things we take for granted. We can’t root ourselves in things we never ponder anymore.

Put another way, it’s easy to read the things Paul has been talking about it in the first three chapters of Ephesians, and just say, “I know, I know I know.”

But here are three thoughts I’m pondering. That I’m trying to grasp more fully in my heart. 

God chose me before the world began to be his child. (1:4-5)

I’m forgiven of all the filth in my life. God sees me as holy and blameless in his sight. (1:4, 7)

I’m God’s masterpiece. And he has already planned out things for me to do to serve his kingdom. (2:10)

As I think of these things, and how unworthy I am of them all, I can’t help but say, “Wow.”

I think Paul felt the same way. (3:8)

As you’ve been reading these chapters, have you been saying “I know, I know, I know?” Or have you been taking the time to wonder at these truths?

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Ephesians Devotionals

What God has prepared

Walking with God

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Yesterday marked my 30th anniversary of coming to Japan. When I first came here in 1995, I had no idea I would be here this long.

But I found out over the years that God had plans for me here that he planned ahead of time for me to do.

It’s amazing for me to think back on.

But it struck me that there are still more things God has prepared for me to do. I don’t know what they are. But I want to keep my eyes open to the things God has prepared for me and to walk in them.

My prayer is that you would do the same.

Because it’s not just me.

We are Christ’s workmanship.

We were created in Christ Jesus for good works.

God has prepared good works for us that we might walk in them.

And to do so…together.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Put all of your armor on

armor of God
David Padfield/FreeBibleimages.org

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil…

For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. (Ephesians 6:11, 13)

“The full armor.”

Those are the words God impressed on me this morning.

Put on the full armor. Take up the full armor. Not just part of it. All of it.

Satan schemes against us and uses different strategies to get at us, not just one. And if we don’t put on the full armor every day, we’re vulnerable.

Rephrasing Paul’s words, if you don’t put on the full armor, you can’t stand against the devil’s schemes.

If you don’t take up the full armor, you won’t be able to resist, you won’t be able to take your stand.

So put on truth. The truth of God’s word. Make it foundation of your thinking. Let truthfulness also mark your speech. And put away the masks. Don’t be two-faced, one person at church, another person outside the church.

Put righteousness over your heart. Deal rightly with the people around with you. And when Satan accuses you for your failings, put on Christ’s righteousness which is ours by faith in him.

Put on the gospel of grace on your feet, so that you don’t slip into constant self-condemnation, nor legalism, nor willful sin.

Take up the shield of faith. But don’t just stand alone. Stand together with other Christians.

Make fellowship with them a priority so that your shield becomes part of a mighty turtle shell that protects not only you, but the Christians around you from Satan’s attack.

Receive the helmet of salvation. Welcome it with thanksgiving, knowing that you received it freely by God’s grace.

And swing the sword of God’s word whenever the enemy comes against you with his lies.

How about you? Are you putting it all on every day? Or are you leaving some of it on the floor?

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Ephesians Devotionals

To be like you

God's image

But that is not how you came to know Christ, assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, to take off, your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on, the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. (Ephesians 4:20-24)

Father, we were originally made in your image. (Genesis 1:26-27)

But that image has been distorted and corrupted by our sin.

Your image in my life has been distorted and corrupted by my sin.

And yet you loved me, and by your grace you saved me, desiring that I become like your Son. (Ephesians 4:13)

So help me to put on the new self, one created according to your likeness.

May I be characterized by your righteousness. By your truth. By your love. By your grace. By your kindness. By your compassion.

When others see me, let them see you. I want to be like you.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Drawn near

Ruth, Tamar, and Rahab

At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ…

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household. (Ephesians 2:12-13, 18-19)

This is perhaps my favorite passage in Ephesians. And it perfectly encapsulates Christmas and why Jesus came.

We were outsiders to God’s family, foreigners to all of God’s promises of blessing to Abraham and his descendants. But now in Jesus, we who were once far away have been brought near.

We see this in Jesus’ own family tree.

Tamar was a Canaanite, a people that God would ultimately order the Israelites to destroy because of their sin. (Matthew 1:3; Genesis 10:15-18, 15:16; Leviticus 18:24-28; Deuteronomy 7:1-4)

Rahab also was a Canaanite and a prostitute as well. (Matthew 1:5)

Ruth was a Moabite, another group that was supposed to have been excluded. (Matthew 1:5 Deuteronomy 23:3-4)

All of them perfectly fit what Paul talked about: excluded from the citizenship of Israel, foreigners to the covenant of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But they were brought near, fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.

And so are we.

Meditate on those words this Christmas. Chew on them.

And rejoice.

I know I am.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Lavished on

Immanuel

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

I love the translation of verse 6. God has “lavished” his grace on us.

The word translated “lavished” is used only one other time in the New Testament, when Gabriel visited Mary. Gabriel told her,

Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.（Luke 1:28)

He was basically saying to her, “Mary, God has lavished his grace upon you.”

You may think that Mary must have been pretty special for the angel to say that to her.

And yet, God says the same thing to us.

“I have lavished my grace upon you through my Son. I chose you before the foundation of the world to be adopted into my family.”

The words God spoke to Mary are for you. God has lavished his grace on you. And in Jesus, he is Immanuel, “God with us.”

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Ephesians Devotionals

Understanding God’s will

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)

Father, as I walk each day, help me keep in mind the bigger picture of what your will is.

Your will is that everything would be brought under your Son’s rule. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

That includes me. That includes the people around me. That includes all creation.

That’s the bigger picture. But as I see the bigger picture, help me also see the smaller picture of what you want me to do today.

Help me to see the opportunities you’re giving me to touch other’s lives. To rescue Satan’s prisoners of war and bring them into your kingdom.

Give me your compassion for them. Help me to walk in love as Jesus loved me.

And help me to make the most of every opportunity you give me today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Ephesians Devotionals

God’s power in us

Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us… (Ephesians 3:20)

I was thinking about that last phrase: “his power that works in us.”

So often, I thought of that as God’s power working through us to do his work, to touch others’ lives.

But today, it occurred to me that God’s power is at work in me to change me. And he is able to do in me above and beyond all that I could think or imagine.

Many times when I face problems, I ask God to take the problem away. To change my circumstances.

God in his grace sometimes does that.

But so often, he’s not so interested in changing our circumstances.

He’s interested in changing us, to make us like his Son. (Romans 8:28)

Sometimes, though, that seems impossible.

My pastor has been preaching recently about leading our hearts. (Proverbs 23:19)

That can be hard. Especially when it comes to forgiveness or other hurts we deal with in our lives.

We want others to apologize. We want them to change.

But all the while, we harbor doubt that our hearts can change if they don’t, if our circumstances don’t.

But God is able to do above all we ask or think. Why? Because his power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us.

The question is, “Do we believe that?”

Father, root me in your love. Firmly establish me in it.

Help me to understand the length and width, height, and depth of your love so that the void in my heart may truly be filled with you and all my wounds healed.

I don’t ask that you change my circumstances or the people around me. I ask that you change me.

By your power, which can do more than all I could possibly ask or imagine, make me like your Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Ephesians Devotionals

But God…

But God…made us alive with Christ…He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus…

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:4-6, 10)

I was just marveling at God’s grace this morning.

In the Greek, “his” is stressed in verse 10. Paul says, “We are HIS workmanship.”

I wondered at that. Why stress “his”?

Then Paul’s words in verse 4 struck me: “But God…

Because of everything I’VE done, I was spiritually dead, separated from God. Because of all I’VE done, I was a child under God’s wrath, deserving hell.

But GOD…

God made me alive. He forgave my sins through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. He raised me up and gave me new life. And he has seated me with Christ by his side.

Why?

Not because of how great I am or anything I’ve done.

But because of his great love and mercy toward me.

When God first made me in my mother’s womb, I was his “masterpiece.” (Psalm 139:13-14, Ephesians 2:10, NLT)

But with me dead in my sins, a “masterpiece” broken and scarred, by his grace, God then made me anew.

I am twice HIS masterpiece!

And he made me not so just so that people might admire me. He has prepared me for a specific work: to touch people for his kingdom. And I want to walk each day, doing that work.

You are God’s masterpiece too. Twice his masterpiece. Let’s rejoice in that. And let’s walk each day, doing the things he has given us to do.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Grieving the Spirit

Ephesians

And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:30)

A lot of times, people recognize the personality of the Father and the Son. But they don’t often recognize the personality of the Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit is not a mere power like the Force is in Star Wars. He has personality. And he can be grieved.

He grieves when we harden our hearts against him. (18)

He grieves when in our pride we break the unity of his people. He grieves when our words are filled with bitterness, anger, wrath, slander, and malice toward each other instead of grace. (29, 31)

Let us not grieve the Spirit. Instead, let us always keep humble, softened hearts toward him and toward his people.

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Ephesians Devotionals

More than we can ask or think

Ephesians

Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. (Ephesians 3:20)

Lord, may I never make you too small in my own mind.

You are able to do so much more than I could even ask or think. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is working in me. (Ephesians 1:19-20)

So don’t ever let me shy away from praying for what seems impossible.

And if as I’m praying for people and situations, you want me to do something, please make that clear.

At times, I feel like my faith is so small. But you said that even the tiniest amount of faith is enough (Matthew 17:20).

So use what faith I have. And Lord, increase my faith.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Created to serve God’s kingdom

Ephesians

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

As I read that verse today, I thought about the phrase “good works.”

Paul says that we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.

But what does he mean by “good works?” Does he simply mean, reading our Bibles, praying, going to church, and showing random acts of kindness?

Certainly, all those are good things. But Paul goes on to say, “which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

Which seems to go far beyond reading our Bibles, praying, going to church, and doing random acts of kindness.

God has a work he has prepared for each one of us. So let us all take time to seek him and find out what he would have us do.

Father, before I was even born, you had plans for me.

Plans for good works in which I would touch the people around me with your love.

Plans in which I make a difference for your kingdom.

Holy Spirit, speak to me. What does my Lord want to say to his servant?

Show me the good works you’ve prepared ahead of time for me to do.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Acts Devotionals Ephesians Devotionals

Amazing

Ephesians

For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)

The love and grace of God towards us is truly amazing to me.

That before the foundation of the world he would choose us. That he would determine when we were born, where we born, and the circumstances of our birth.

He did it so that we would reach out and find him. And the thing is, when we did, we found out that he had never been far from us in the first place.

Not only that, this God who would not deign to live in temples made by human hands chooses to dwell in us.

We ourselves become his temple. (Acts 17:24, John 14:23, 2 Corinthians 6:16)

When I think of it all, the only word that comes to mind is…amazing.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Receiving our salvation from the hand of God

Ephesians

I found something interesting as I looked at this passage, specifically in verse 17. Paul says,

Take the helmet of salvation… (Ephesians 6:17)

The word “take” there is an unusual one in that most times it is translated in the Bible “receive.” The picture is of a soldier receiving his helmet from his servant and putting it on.

It is important to remember that our salvation is not something we make, or work for, or earn. It is something we receive from the hand of God.

Many times Satan will direct arrows at our minds saying, “You’re not worthy of salvation.”

But we can say to him boldly, “That’s right. But God has given it to me by his grace. Jesus took on the form of a servant, went to the cross, and paid for my sin. And now by his hand, I have received my salvation.”

Let us always rejoice in that truth, and stand firm in it as we face our Accuser.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down.” (Revelation 12:10)

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Ephesians Devotionals

Because we are

Ephesians

Paul’s words strike me.

Because you are beloved children of God, imitate your Daddy.

Because you are saints, stay away from sexual sin, greed, and impure words.

Because you are children of light, live that way.

Notice what Paul doesn’t say.

He doesn’t say, “If you want God to love you and make you his child, imitate him.”

Nor does he say, “If you want to become a saint, stay away from sexual sin, greed, and impure words.”

Nor does he say, “Become children of light.”

Rather, we are already beloved children of God.

We are already saints.

We are already children of light.

All Paul is saying is, “Live up to your identity.”

Because you are a beloved child of God, because you are a saint, because you are a child of light, live that way.

And when we fail, know that the grace of God is there to pick us up.

But remember, we don’t need to strive to become children of God, saints, or children of light.

By his grace, we are already these things.

And so by his grace, let us live that way each day.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Why we cannot follow this world

Ephesians

We live in a time when we as Christians are urged to follow the thinking of the world, particularly when it comes to moral issues.

We are urged to compromise on what the Bible teaches and to get on “the right side of history.”

But that is something we dare not do.

Why?

Look at how Paul describes this world.

Their thoughts are futile. (Ephesians 4:17)

They have hearts hardened and calloused against God.

Because of that, their understanding has become darkened and they are excluded from the life of God. (18-19)

They are deceived by their own desires. They actually think that what is evil in God’s sight is good. They actually celebrate what God calls evil.

The result? Their lives have become corrupted, and they are headed for destruction. (22)

And so Paul charges us: “Don’t be like them.”

Rather, we must put off their way of thinking and put on our new self, “one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” (24)

So when you are tempted to bend the teaching of Scripture to match the teaching of this world, remind yourself of the true situation of the people of this world.

Pray for them.

Be light to them.

But do not be like them.

Rather be like our Savior, who loves us and gave his life on a cross so that we might find true life.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Never good enough?

Ephesians

How Paul saw himself is really interesting to me.

We often hear how important it is to have a healthy self-esteem.

But think about how Paul saw himself.

In I Corinthians 15:9, he called himself “the least of all the apostles.”

In verse 8 of today’s passage, he goes beyond that, calling him the “least of all  the saints” (that is, the least of all God’s people).

In 1 Timothy 1:15, he goes even further, calling himself “the worst of all sinners.”

Note that Paul doesn’t say, “I was the least of all the apostles and the saints” or “I was the worst of all sinners.” He says, “I am the least. I am the worst.”

I can imagine many people today telling Paul, “Don’t say that about yourself! You need to have a positive self-esteem!”

And yet, it was that attitude that caused Paul to stand so amazed at the grace he had received. Every day, he looked at that grace and wondered at it. Every time he thought about it, it brought tears to his eyes.

He wondered at the free access he had to his heavenly Father.

He wondered at the privilege he had to share the gospel with others.

And he rejoiced.

Do you feel you’re never good enough as a Christian?

It’s true. You aren’t. Neither am I.

But don’t be ashamed of it.

Rather let your unworthiness cause you to turn your eyes to God’s grace and rejoice at what you have received: Forgiveness. Free access to God. Opportunities to touch people for him. And an eternal inheritance.

I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

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Ephesians Devotionals

God’s kind intention

Ephesians

As I was reading Ephesians 1, one word caught my attention. In Greek, it’s the word, “eudokia.” It’s found in verses 5 and 9, and is translated “good pleasure” in the CSB and “kind intention” in the NASB.

The idea behind it is that God has a good purpose for us. And behind that purpose are God’s kind intentions toward us. It pleases God greatly to do good to us.

Have you ever thought about that? God loves to do good to us. It gives him pleasure to do so.

And that’s the reason for all the spiritual blessings God gives us in Christ.

In his love, he chose us before the creation of this world to be holy and blameless.

He predestined us and adopted us as his children.

In Jesus, he has lavished his grace upon us, pouring it into our lives.

Through Jesus’ blood, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.

In him, we have a heavenly inheritance.

Why? Because God has kind intentions toward us. Because it gives him pleasure to do so.

So whatever struggles you may be going through today, remember that.

Look to the cross. Remember the grace you have been given. And remind yourself:

“God has kind intentions toward me.”

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Ephesians Devotionals

Making the most of our time

Ephesians

Pay careful attention, then, to how you live—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)

As I read Paul’s words, I think to myself, “How am I living? Am I making the most of my time?

Each moment God gives me is an opportunity to make a difference for his kingdom. Do I take advantage of the opportunities he gives me? Am I aware of the Lord’s will in my life each day?”

It’s so easy to live for ourselves. But our time is short. When Jesus comes for us, will he find us doing what he has asked?

Or will he find us wasting our time?

We are dearly loved children of God. Jesus loved us and gave himself for us (1-2).

So let us be imitators of our Father, and walk each day, each moment, in love. Let us look, not solely at ourselves, but at God and what he’s doing around us.

And let us join in his work, touching the lives of the people he has placed in our lives, our families, our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, and our fellow church members.

Then when we stand before God some day, he can look at us with a smile and say,

Well done, good and faithful servant! (Matthew 25:21)

Are we living each day wisely? Or unwisely?

Are we making the most of our time and opportunities? Or are we wasting them?

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Ephesians Devotionals

What God has done for us

Ephesians

As I look at these two chapters, I can’t help but think how God-centered they are. They’re all about not what we have done, but about what God has done and will do. Think about it.

He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

He chose us before this world began to be holy and blameless in love before him. (1:4)

He predestined us to be his sons and daughters. (1:5)

He lavished his grace on us in Jesus. (1:6)

He redeemed us through the blood of Jesus. (1:7)

He forgave our sins. (1:7)

He will bring everything together in Christ. (1:10)

He has given us an inheritance  in Jesus. (1:11)

He works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will. (1:11)

He sealed us with the Spirit, claiming us as his own, and guaranteeing our inheritance. (1:13-14)

He raised Jesus from the dead, and set him far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion. (1:20-22)

He made us, who were dead in sin, alive in Christ. (Ephesians 2:5)

He raised us up with Jesus and seated us with him in the heavens. (2:6)

He gives us the gift of salvation. (2:8)

He brought us near through the blood of Christ. (2:13)

Jesus reconciled both us and the Jews to each other and to the Father. (2:14-16)

Jesus proclaimed peace to us. (2:17)

Jesus gives us access to the Father. (2:18)

God makes us fellow citizens with all the saints. (2:19)

He builds us in Christ to be a temple for God. (21-22)

All this God did for us.

What did we do?

In all these passages, what does it say we did?

Paul says, “You….carried out all your sinful desires.” (2:3)

That’s what we did. We were people deserving God’s wrath.  We deserved nothing from God but death.

And yet he poured out his love and grace upon us. And because of that, we came to believe in him.

That’s what Paul means when he tells us,

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift–not from works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Think about that truth. Meditate on it. And let us praise God for his glorious grace.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Spiritual amnesia

Spiritual amnesia

It is so easy to forget as Christians.

We forget how much God has blessed us.

We forget how he chose us before the foundation of the world.

We forget the riches of his grace that he has lavished on us.

We forget the hope to which God called us.

We forget the riches of the glorious inheritance we have received.

We forget the immeasurable greatness of his power in our lives.

We forget the greatness of our King who is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

And so in Ephesians 1, Paul prays that God would heal our spiritual amnesia. That we would truly see all these things.

When you read the words of Ephesians 1, do they ring in your soul? Or do they leave you cold?

I pray that these words of Paul for you today.

But please pray them for me as well.

Because I get spiritual amnesia too.

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Ephesians Devotionals

What mark Christ’s people. What marks Christ’s church.

Ephesians

Twitter, Facebook, Line, and other social networks can be a wonderful thing.

But one thing I have noticed recently is a certain lack of Christ-like character in the things Christians sometimes post, particularly to one another.

In Ephesians 2-3, Paul talked about how God is building his temple from both Jews and Gentiles.

Two peoples that were formerly divided as “the people of God” and “not the people of God,” now through Christ have been made into one. The hostility has been killed and we now have peace with God and with each other.

We are now “coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (Ephesians 3:6)

And now God’s desire is that his ” multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens.” (3:10)

To that end, Paul prayed at the end of chapter 3 that we, the church, (the “you’s are plural there) would be rooted and established in God’s love, understanding as we relate with him and one another the length, width, height, and depth of his love, so that we, his church, would be filled with all of his fullness. (3:14-20)

And then Paul says, “Therefore,” pointing to all that he had just said.

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received…(Ephesians 4:1)

What does that mean? It means that our lives, our words, our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ are to be marked by the following:

Humility.

Gentleness.

Patience.

Bearing with one another in love.

Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2-3)

How often do these words describe us when we interact with one another in social media, particularly when we disagree on something?

From what I’ve seen on social media lately, precious little.

I suppose part of the problem is that debating issues over social media is a horrible way to do things anyway.

Perception is a huge part of communication, and perception is easily distorted when we can’t see people’s faces, look into their eyes, and hear how they are saying things.

You may think that you are speaking with humility, gentleness, and patience, but the written word too often fails to communicate that.

This is true not only of social media, but email as well.

The result? When we get upset with each other, we end up sinning. We let the sun go down on our anger. And we give the devil the opportunity to tear apart Christ’s church through our words and attitudes.

So as Christ’s body, whenever you send messages to your brothers and sisters on social media, email, or whatever, before you press “send,” keep Paul’s words in mind.

No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.

And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. (Ephesians 4:29-32)

How about us?

Can those in heaven and on earth see the multifaceted wisdom of God and all his fullness in us, the church, as we interact through social media?

Or do they see a splintered, factious group that is no different from the rest of the world?

Categories
Ephesians Devotionals

A God-centered salvation

Ephesians

One thing I have been doing the last couple of days as I have read Ephesians 1-2 is noting all the “him’s” and “his’es” that are there, and really thinking through, “Who is this talking about, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, or God in Trinity?”

Sometimes it’s a little hard to tell. For example, in chapter one, three times Paul uses the phrase “to the praise of his glorious grace” or “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).

In the first, it’s certainly talking about the Father.

In the second, it’s probably talking about the Father, but you could see how it could also be talking about the Son.

In the third, it’s talking about the Spirit’s work, with no apparent reference to the Father, but with a definite reference to the Son in verse 13.

But with verses 6 and 12 referring to the glory of the Father, it’s hard to say that Paul isn’t thinking about the Father’s glory here too.

All that said, I think it would be safe to say that our salvation is to the glory of God in Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And that I think is my main point for today. I really encourage you to take the time to highlight each reference to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (including the “his’es and “him’s) in these two chapters.

You’ll be stunned to see how they permeate Ephesians 1 and 2.

Read Paul’s words and think about how each person in the Trinity is involved in our salvation.

And when you do, I think you’ll start to appreciate the power of Ephesians 2:8-9 even more.

For you are saved by grace, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is God’s gift–not from works, so that no one can boast.

So as we meditate on these two chapters, let us praise God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for his glorious grace which he has granted to us.