… then, I urge you to live a life worthy …
Summary: Living a life worthy of our Lord is a full-time job. It is also a job that requires us to wear many hats.
Continue reading “Ephesians 4:1b – The Power to be Worthy”Ephesians 4:1a – What Jesus Wants
As a prisoner for the Lord,
Summary: As Paul begins the fourth chapter of his letter, he reminds us that he is a prisoner “for the Lord.” To put this in perspective, it is helpful to reflect on Paul’s life and what it might have been like had he not met Jesus.
Continue reading “Ephesians 4:1a – What Jesus Wants”Ephesians 3:18b – Spiritual Potting Soil, Part III – Liquid Love
… together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Summary: Continuing on with Paul’s metaphor, we explore what it means to be rooted in love and discover that being fed on God’s love is the key to understanding.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:18b – Spiritual Potting Soil, Part III – Liquid Love”Ephesians 3:16b – The Spirit of Power
… through his Spirit in your inner being,
Summary: Paul’s life is a marvelous example of how God communicates with us.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:16b – The Spirit of Power”Ephesians 3:13 – The Glory of Suffering
I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
Summary: There is a relationship between our suffering and our faith. As we look at Paul’s suffering and his attitude towards it, we can learn a lot about what it means to walk in faith.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:13 – The Glory of Suffering”Ephesians 3:9b – Breadcrumbs
… which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
Summary: Paul points out that our God can keep secrets. The biggest secret was how he planned to set the world right through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:9b – Breadcrumbs”Ephesians 3:7b – Redirection
… by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.
Summary: Paul wasn’t just sitting on the side of the road when God met up with him. He was on his way to change the world. God stopped him, changed him, and then set him off again in a different direction.
Continue reading “Ephesians 3:7b – Redirection”Ephesians 2:22 – The Impossible
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Summary: Following Paul through the twists and turns of his metaphor can be exhausting. With his building metaphor Christ is the reason for the building, the cornerstone of the building, and the place where the building resides.
Continue reading “Ephesians 2:22 – The Impossible”Ephesians 2:18 – Access to God
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Summary: Paul’s sentence describes how we can gain access to God. To do so we need to reach out through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Continue reading “Ephesians 2:18 – Access to God”Ephesians 1:9a – More Mystery
… he made known to us the mystery of his will …
Summary: Some mysteries can be solved with good detective work. Others, like the mystery of God’s will, is beyond us, until God, in his timing, decides to explain.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:9a – More Mystery”