May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Eph 1: 2 NLT May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph 6: 24 NLT With very little fanfare we finished our 6-week study of Ephesians and 7-week round-up of Bible Study Methods. What were your main take-aways? What mattered to you about what you learned? I felt that I finally reduced Inductive Bible Study to its simplest possible form: Observe, Interpret, and Apply. The idea of sitting down with any passage of scripture and navigating through it now seems possible to me. I still like my prompts and I'm dependent on my journal (or as my grandson calls it as he totes it around "our secret history map,") but I now understand that the whole process helps turn God's Word into my life story. And Ephesians, you sweet book of only 6 chapters containing God's amazing purpose for the Church and for me-- how can I reduce you to only one theme? I struggled with this until one final reread focused my eyes on the one word that Paul began and ended with: grace. It was grace that brought Jesus to the cross and grace that opened my eyes to Him there. Grace propels those lavish spiritual blessings upon us daily-- redemption and renewal are possible only because of grace. Our purpose and ambitions are defined by grace. And our Father's love is revealed to us because of His gracious nature. Grace is the thing I will take with me from this study. Grace beginning my study and my days, grace ending my meditations and my nights. May you know His hope, may you know His love, may you feel and be aware of constantly, His grace. If grace really changes everything, then LET it change everything. Amen. -Jan Truth? Ephesians 5 beat me up this week. I was decked with that first verse. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. I sat and stared at that verse and really could only think of the times that I've been a poor copy of me, not a reproduction of my Heavenly Papa. How could Paul even think that imitating God is even possible for those of us who work and drive children to appointments and sweep the kitchen floor for the third time today. Until I began thinking of what it meant to be His dear child. You know how you laugh at the silly things your kiddos say? And think that the dancing toddler is adorable? And put their pictures on the buffet or the refrigerator or anywhere you can find a place? That's how God looks at us. Beyond that--there is a new reality. He planted His own life, His DNA, deep in our hearts and well, we actually ARE becoming an imitator of God. Just like our physical genetics determine how we look, His Spirit has given us the potential to become just like Him. Turning back to Him, realizing He has already provided me with what I need, that was the turning point in my week. Now I can look at Paul's list of "to-do's" and start making plans to proceed. -Jan I'm finishing up some of my last notes about Ephesians 4 today and couldn't get over the word picture that Paul painted in my mind. He took such care to contrast the old life he wanted believers to leave behind with the new life he wants Christians to put on. Old and new, endings and beginnings, past and present, are all available in our closet so to speak.
Every day when I wake up, I put on physical clothing. You know--take off the pajamas and robe and slippers and get into the exercise clothing or the work clothing, depending on the schedule. And Paul says I'm not finished there. I need to take off old ways and put on the new. I started to make a list of specifics to remove and put on when it suddenly occurred to me--this undressing and re-dressing takes place in my mind. Look at what Paul says needs to come off:
Now that we're unclothed, so to speak, let's get dressed:
So if we're holding onto any lies about God or ourselves which don't align with the previous three chapters of Ephesians, dump them. If we for one minute entertain the notion that God doesn't see or love us-- that we aren't chosen, take it off--it doesn't fit! If we think that this time we've really messed up God's plan, girlfriends, get that thought out of your head and by all means, put it in the trash can! Put on the truth, rehearse God's love toward you and His promises IN YOUR MIND. Verbalize them--every day as you're dressing. Because this thinking stuff--it's hard work. But now that we know where to begin, we can get dressed for our day. Thanking God today for His power at work in you and me- Jan |
AuthorLoving words written to increase hope. Archives
May 2020
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