Thursday Thought – June 18, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“It was he (Jesus) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

What does maturity look like?

Paul makes the answer pretty clear to the Ephesians. He says that maturity looks like Jesus! To be mature is to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

To be mature means to have the same priorities that Jesus had. His priorities were the will of God and the needs of the people around Him.

To be mature means to have the same attitudes that Jesus had. His attitudes were an unwavering commitment, absolute unselfishness, compassion, kindness, confidence, serenity, and a host of others.

To be mature means to act in the same ways that Jesus would act if He faced the same situations we face. There was never a time in Jesus’ life in which He gave in to a sinful response to anyone around Him or anything He faced. He responded with purposefulness to each situation and with a godly response.

Is maturity attainable? Well, not perfectly in this life, although the promise of the Bible is that we will attain maturity in heaven. The Apostle John promised, “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)

In a moment of time, when we see Jesus, we will be transformed to perfect maturity. In the meantime, maturity is to be our goal and the direction in which we are to be moving.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought – June 17, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit -- just as you were called to one hope when you were called -- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6)

The unity of His children matters to God. He gave His Son not just to reconcile people to Himself, but also to reconcile people to each other. Yet, that which was meant to reconcile has been twisted to bring even more division to the world. There are thousands of denominations, each with the attitude that they know the truth and each holding the other denominations in suspicion. It’s easy to divide. It doesn’t take any effort at all.

To unite requires that each Christian take some initiative. What are you doing to fulfill Paul’s admonition: “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.”?

Now understand, there are those who call themselves Christians who aren’t. They deny the core truth of the Gospel. Paul is not teaching that we should ignore what people believe. He provides a summary of the core truths that are the foundation of our faith: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. But the truth is that the core truths are not usually what divides God’s children.

Unity matters to God. It’s got to matter to us, too.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought – June 16, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Can you imagine Moses standing by the Red Sea? The sea was in front of him. The Egyptian army was behind him. The rock cliffs were on the sides. There was nowhere to go to escape the danger. God had brought him and his people to this place, but Moses could not imagine how God could rescue them. He didn’t even know what to ask for! Then, God told him to stick his staff into the water and at the moment it touched the water the sea parted and the people could walk across on dry ground. That was not something Moses asked for. That was not something he could even imagine that God could do.

Can you imagine how Enoch felt right at the end of his life? He had a great relationship with God, the Bible says he “walked with God.” He was ready to leave the world and be with God for eternity. The only way he’d ever heard of anyone leaving this earth was through death. He could imagine God taking him to heaven through death. He could even ask for that. But God did something Enoch did not ask for, something he could not even imagine. God took Enoch to heaven without death – he just was gone!

Mary was a young virgin. She knew that some woman would be chosen to bring the Messiah into the world. She heard the Old Testament prophecies. I doubt that she had ever asked to be the one. She couldn’t imagine that God would choose someone as unknown as her. She was shocked when the angel came to tell her the news. It was more than she asked for. It was more than she ever imagined God would do through her.

How many more stories can you think of that tell of what God has done in the lives of His people. Things they didn’t ask for. Things they never even imagined that He might do in them or through them!

God is not bound by our requests. He can work beyond what we ask for. He is not bound by our imagination. He can work beyond what we even dream possible.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought – June 15, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)

What is the secret of spiritual maturity?

Paul tells us that it is to be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” That sounds like spiritual maturity to me, to be filled completely with God!

It is surprising to read what Paul says will bring us to spiritual maturity.

It starts by being rooted and established in love. Spiritual life starts when we come to understand that God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. Responding to God’s love is the first step toward spiritual life and spiritual growth.

The second step is about love, too. It is to grow in our understanding of God’s love for us. None of us fully comprehend how much God loves us when we first come into a relationship with Him. It will take all our lives to begin to grasp the extent of God’s love. As we grow to more fully understand how “wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” then we will move toward greater and greater spiritual maturity.

The third step is about love, too. It’s not just to know God’s love or to grasp how much God loves us, it is to “know this love.” It’s about personally experiencing God’s love. Spiritual growth is not just about head knowledge, it’s about heart experience. Knowing God’s love “surpasses knowledge.” We come to know God’s love, to experience it in the deep places in our hearts, as we walk through life and see God at work in us and around us.

Spiritual growth is about love – understanding and experiencing how much God loves us!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought – June 12, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ.” (Ephesians 3:7-12)

Paul had a clear grasp of the awesome privileges that were his in Christ – and they are ours, too!

He was a servant of the gospel. He considered it a gift of God that he could share the good news with others. He considered himself the least deserving of all of God’s people for that privilege. That same privilege is ours, not based upon how much we deserve it, but based solely upon God’s giving us the opportunity. God invites us to be involved in the most significant task imaginable, to share with others the message of Jesus Christ.

Paul had the privilege of being a part of God’s object lesson to the heavenly authorities. It’s the church that is the illustration God uses to show all of the spiritual powers His wisdom, grace, and love. It’s amazing to consider that God is willing to use us to further His work among people on earth. It is even more amazing when we realize that angels and demons watch what God is doing through us and learn more about God’s character.

Paul enjoyed unhindered access to God’s throne. He could approach God’s throne with freedom – no one blocking the way, no intermediary to go through. He could approach God with confidence. He didn’t need to cower in God’s presence. He wasn’t required to beg in order for God to pay attention to him. He could approach God with the confidence that God cared and wanted to hear from him. We have the same kind of access to God that Paul knew!

Those are awesome and amazing privileges for which Paul gave thanks to God. Those privileges are ours, too. Let’s be sure we take advantage of the privileges that are ours – and express our appreciation to God for them.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought – June 11, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

“He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:14-18)

Where can we find peace? Paul’s answer: only in Jesus.

The history of the Jews and Arabs is a history of conflict, distrust and hatred. It went on for thousands of years and continues to afflict the Middle East today. Noble Peace Prizes have been awarded for the progress that has been made between Jews and Arabs in some seasons. Yet conflict continues and every peace process that has been initiated has ultimately failed to produce the desired effect.

Peace between Jew and Gentile does not come and will not come through human efforts. Peace can only come through Jesus! You see that peace in the church of the New Testament era. Jews and Arabs were united in the one body of Christ. Their distrust was dissolved as those who came to Christ gave themselves to a common cause. The hatred was replaced by love for God and love for one another. The division was ended and peace prevailed.

The one place you can see that same kind of peace today between Jews and Arabs, even in Israel, is still in the church. Long-standing ethnic division disappears when Jesus is Lord in the lives of those involved.

That same principle is valid in families, between genders, among races, between nationalities, and in whatever other kinds of divisions exist among humans.

Division dissolves when those involved embrace a common Lord and commit themselves to His will.

There is only one way to peace, and that’s when those in conflict move toward Jesus. The closer we move toward Jesus, the closer we also move toward one another.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought – June 10, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

Paul says the same thing twice in just four verses in Ephesians 2. Maybe he did that because he got so caught up in the excitement that he blurted it out before he was really ready to develop the idea. Maybe he did it because he really wanted us to understand his point – there would no missing this point! Maybe he did it because it’s the core of what Christianity is about.

He said it first in verse 5:  “it is by grace you have been saved.”

There it is again in verse 8:  “it is by grace you have been saved.” This second time he adds, “through faith.”

Grace – unmerited favor is its official definition. It means that this marvelous thing that we have received from God – this eternal relationship with Him – is something we do not deserve in any way and have not and cannot earn in any way. We have received it as a gift from God’s generous and loving heart. That is the only way that it is available. Try to attain salvation in some other way and you will fail! It is available only as a gift!

There is only one way to access this amazing gift – by faith. That is, to trust God for it. If you try to earn, He won’t give it. If you think you deserve it, you’ve been fooled or are fooling yourself. Ask for it and believe that He is loving enough and generous enough to give it – and it’s yours!

That is the core of what Christianity is about and the basis of what marks Christianity as different from every other religious system in the world. Every other system is based upon some form of deserving or earning. You deserve salvation because you are the right ethnicity or have the right ancestry. You earn salvation by doing enough good works or believing the right things or saying the right mantras or doing enough penance or in some other way. Deserve it or earn it are the marks of every other religious system. But the marks of Christianity are gift and trust – grace and faith.

“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith.” Thanks be to God!

His, by Grace,

Steve