Tag Archive - ephesians

Unfathomable love

June 18, 2010 in Challenges with 3 Comments

Read the following passage, and ponder on it for a while…

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 3:16-19

So, what do you know. The love of God surpasses knowledge.

Why do we still try to measure God’s love for us in human terms?

I have been on a  journey with God the last couple of weeks around what His love means, and every time I try to place it in terms of human love, I have been disappointed.

We need to just let God love, and stop to try and measure His love in the way we measure the love we have for each other, like by the size of gifts we give to each other, or the amount of time we are willing to spend on someone.

The love of God is so big, that He was willing to carry all our sins on the cross for us, even though we did not deserve it?

Would you die on a cross, the most humiliating way to die, for someone that does not know you? You might know them, but they do not necessarily know you.

That is what our Father did for us, and we need to simply accept that.

Works will not, and I repeat, will NOT get us in heaven with God, but only accepting Jesus, which is His love for us, will get us there.

Through accepting this love, the works will come naturally, and it will not be a forced act of love, but a genuine act of love.

This is the difference to unbelievers doing good works, and a reborn Christian doing works through faith.

I pray that God will reveal His love for you today, and that this will transform your life, in ways that you will never imagine.

The old way has to go

August 24, 2009 in Challenges with 0 Comments

So last night at church our pastor carried on with his series on ‘This means war’

This is such a brilliant series on spiritual warfare. He went on to state that Ephesians are split in to three parts, to sit in the Lord, to walk in the Lord and to stand in the Lord, and that these three things are the order in which we are able to defeat the evil forces with the blood of Jesus Christ.

One verse that stood out for me in the sermon was Ephesians 4:17

And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.

If this is not really in your face, and you think that you can make this out as just another verse, then there is still a long way to go for you, as this pretty much tells you straight on that God does not like these things, and as a warrior in the kingdom of God, you have to put these things behind you.

Best Question

July 27, 2009 in Challenges with 0 Comments

question-mark

Ephesians 5:15-17

Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Found this great blog post on Beliefnet.

What is the best question to ask in every situation, in order to get closer to what God wants to do for you in your life?

Read further here

Children of Light

July 14, 2009 in Challenges with 3 Comments

While I was putting fuel into my car this afternoon, I opened the Bible that I keep in my car, at Ephesians 4

From verse 17 to verse 32 it speaks of leaving the ways of the Gentiles behind you as a Child of God, and living like children of Light.

The following verses hit home in my current working situation, and it just puts the challenge out there to still be Jesus to people.

17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Now the following part just hit me right between the eyes, in that no matter what, this is how I must behave

20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.
21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.
22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Now, my challenge for you guys today are to really go out, and be Jesus to people, especially if you think they do not deserve it…

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