Sunday, June 10, 2007

Ephesians 1:1-14,. Part 2

See "link". It will take you to the post below.

"In Christ Jesus."

There are 11 mentions in these 14 verses of being “in Christ Jesus” (and variations), one “in love,” and one “in all wisdom.”

In real estate, the joke is that the three most important things to remember are, “location, location, location.” In Christianity, the three most important things are, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
John 15:5. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (Context is John 15:1-11).
Jesus used a simple picture familiar to the Jewish farmers and home-owners to whom He was talking. A vine-dresser, pruning, bearing fruit. Paul drove the same point home by repeating “in Christ” with a list of blessings, benefits, and promises.

Link

Monday, June 04, 2007

Ephesians 1:1-14,. Part 1

Ephesians 1:1-14. NASB95
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 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 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on 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 on us. In all wisdom and insight
9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
  • Verse:
    • In Whom:
      • Resulting in:
  • 1:1
    • In Christ Jesus
      • The saints who are faithful
  • 1:3
    • In Christ
      • Blessed us with every spiritual blessing
  • 1:4
    • In Him
      • Chose us to be blameless and holy before Him
  • 1:4,5
    • In love
      • He predestined us to adoption as sons
  • 1:6
    • In the Beloved
      • His freely bestowed grace
  • 1:7
    • In Him
      • Redemption through His blood
      • Forgiveness of our trespasses
  • 1:9
    • In Him
      • The mystery of His will
  • 1:10
    • In Christ
      • The summing up of all things
  • 1:10,11
    • In Him
      • We have obtained an inheritance
  • 1:12
    • In Christ
      • That we would be to the praise of His glory.
  • 1:13
    • In Him
      • We believed the gospel of salvation
  • 1:13
    • Sealed in Him
      • With the Holy Spirit of promise

Fear, anger, and unbelief.

John 14:1,27. NASB95.
1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
Several years ago, one of our pastors spoke about the closeness of fear and anger. Physiologically, the reactions are similar in terms of the brain centers involved and the hormones released. A startled (and therefore fearful) animal will bite, growl, or otherwise attack. Some of us tend to respond to fear inducing situations with anxiety, others with anger.

My mother and my father-in-law are both old, frail, getting more and more vulnerable. In recent phone conversations, they lurched from anger to fear and back again, repeatedly. As they have gotten older, the ability to mask the emotions has broken down, as has the wall between anger and fear.

This has caused me to look at my own “anger triggers” and “hot buttons.” When I have a flash of anger, under that anger, or with that anger, is fear. The fear is proportional to the anger. The unbelief under that fear is proportional to the fear and anger.

Asking myself, “What am I afraid of?” is merely repenting from the sin (or “falling short”). Asking myself, “Where is my unbelief?” is still merely repenting from the sin. They are necessary questions. However, both questions keep my focus on me and my falling short. They are stepping stones to repenting (turning) to Jesus. I need to ask Jesus to “help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). I need to ask Jesus to soften my hardened heart (Mark 16:13-14). I need His grace, His forgiveness, His hope.

I need to follow the full trail from the anger to the fear, from the fear to the unbelief, from the unbelief to believing in Jesus.