Walking the Talk - 17 February

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5  he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us. Eph 1:2-8a (ESV)

Predestined: there are many theological positions on the term “predestination”, so it’s important to know what it means as well as who has been predestined to what! Predestined, in the language of the New Testament, is proorzio. It’s two words combined that means “to limit in advance” or “to predetermine”.

Redemption: in Greek, it’s apolutrosis and refers to releasing someone/something upon payment of a ransom. According to this passage, the ransom was paid through Christ’s blood.

Let’s look at the text. What do you learn about we and us?

Where are our blessings?

What does the phrase according to connect?

Are you certain that these blessings are meant for you? If not, please email me – or talk to Stephen, Robert or Mark. We can show you the free gift that God has for you if you just place your faith in Jesus, repent of your sins and make Him the Lord and Savior of your life. Once you’ve done that, you can be assured that all the blessings of the Bible are yours!

Read those blessings again. How does God’s Word’s description of you compare to the way you normally see yourself? Ouch! Maybe we don’t walk the walk as well as we should because we don’t understand who we are in Christ Jesus!

Please continue to apply the 5Ws and an H to at least one verse every day as you continue the Read Through The Bible Challenge. It will strengthen your understanding of the Word and may give you unexpected blessings!

See you Monday.

Walking the Talk - 15 February

Which verse did you pick yesterday? Did applying the 5Ws and an H to a verse make it more meaningful? In what way?

I picked this verse because it’s one that is easy to just read over, not looking at the underlying meanings.

Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting…  Ex 39:32 (ASV)

Who: The Israelites

What: The completion of the Tent of Meeting

When: After they had been miraculously saved from the Egyptians by God

Where: In the wilderness

Why: The Israelites voluntarily and sacrificially gave to create their moveable tabernacle. Just a few verses earlier, we read of the only time that church members gave so much that they were told stop. We have enough.  

And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Jehovah commanded to make. 6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. 7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much. Ex 36:5-7 (ASV)

For the Israelites, the Tent of Meeting was the moveable tabernacle of God. It represented their church building, and was guarded by the tribes when they camped. This was a large building with many heavy metal pieces, and took much time to carefully take down and put back up. The Tent represented the moveable state of Israel, and the curtains which cut of the holy and most holy places from the people represented the separation from God. When Jesus was crucified, these curtains (which were very thick) were torn from top to bottom, representing the tearing of the wall separating us from God through Christ’s blood. I always find the “types of Christ” parallels in the Old Testament fascinating. Everything God ever did was for one purpose – to point the way to His Son, Jesus Christ.

Practice this exercise one more time this week. Pick a verse or two today or tomorrow and apply the 5Ws and an H. Let me know which verse you picked!

On Friday, we will continue with our study, reading Paul’s words in Ephesians as we learn more about what God thinks – about us!

See you then.

Walking the Talk - 13 February

Do you know people (maybe even yourself) who talk their Christianity but don’t really walk it? Have you ever said “well, THAT wasn’t very Christian!”? Or have you found yourself wondering how we are supposed to behave in uncomfortable situations? If we’re honest, we know that we’ve said and done these things on occasion. This study will give us insights to the way God expects us to walk.

As we go through this study, you may have questions or prayer requests. Feel free to post your questions on the blog – you can do so anonymously – or email me. I will reply quickly! If you have prayer requests, you can post them on the blog, or you can email them to me. I would be honored to pray for you.

Take a few minutes to think about (and possibly write your answers) these questions.

How should we walk in relationship to our family members? Our friends? Our enemies?

What standards should we uphold? What moral values should we hold dear? Are there absolute moral values?

How should we act toward the Bible? Toward God?

These questions form the basis of our Christian worldview. It’s the outward signs of our Christian faith that others see. These signs can turn people toward or away from God. It’s important that we understand how God wants us to walk, not the way our society says we should behave. Frequently, those behaviors are at odds with one another.

Let’s start by looking at what God thinks about us. To really understand what God wants us to do, we need to slow down as we read His Word. We need to observe through inductive study – discovering  the “five Ws and an H” – who, what, when, where, why and how. Only then will we begin to deeply understand the riches of His Word, and that Word will seep into our very souls, changing our lives and behavior forever.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. Eph 1:1 (ASV)

Let’s really look at this verse! Who is writing? Who is he? How did he get to be who he is?

To whom is he writing? What are they called? How are they described?

This verse is one that is easy to gloss over when going through your devotions. It doesn’t seem to have a lot of bearing on us – it was written a couple thousand years ago. But look closer.

Paul is an apostle of Christ. He is an ambassador and messenger for Christ. This gives his position in the body of Christ, and shows we need to pay attention.

…through the will of God. Paul is who he is because God ordained it. Paul did not choose his position. He was not elected, nor did he earn his position by birth. He was made an apostle by God Himself. If that isn’t authority, I don’t know what is!

He writes to the saints at Ephesus. Before Christ’s first coming, the Jews were called saints, because they were separated from other nations and consecrated to God. After Christ’s death, the word is applied to believers, because we are reconciled to God and purified through Him. The Greek word from which the word 'saint' is derived signifies 'to cleanse,' and also to consecrate. So, Paul is writing to the  saints – which includes you and me, if we are saved and cleansed by the blood of Christ, and by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. When we are saved, we are separated from the world and consecrated to God.

Paul describes the saints as faithful in Christ Jesus. Our outward expression of God’s free gift of salvation is our faithfulness in Christ and to His teachings.

Read the verse one more time:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. Eph 1:1 (ASV)

Does this verse say anything more to you now than it did the first time you read it? God, through Paul, has reached through the very fabric of time and included us in this instructive letter to a long-ago church. What an amazing book!

Many of you are involved in the Read Through The Bible Challenge. I challenge you to take one verse from tomorrow’s reading of  Exodus 37-40 and apply the 5 Ws and an H. Let me know which verse you choose and what you’ve found! We can all gain new insights from slowing down and really examining God’s Word.

See you Wednesday!