| Paul’s
Letter to the Ephesians Love and Respect Please re-read Ephesians chapters
1-3!!!! Ephesians 5 Vs. 2 – “Walk in
love, just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us…” Vs. 21 – “…and be
subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” Transformed people have transformed
relationships · When the ark of God (ark of the covenant) which symbolized
the presence of the Lord was brought into the house of Obed-Edom for 3 months,
God “blessed the family of Obed-Edom with all that he had” (1 Chronicles
13:6,13-14). If God’s presence is in your heart and in your home, He will
bless all that you have and all that you do. · If I want to transform my
eating habits or my money spending habits, or anything about me, I need to
change from the inside out. Otherwise there is no real change. The change in
behavior only lasts temporarily if we don’t change how we think (our value
system). · Paul speaks in Ephesians 4 of putting the old man away, being
renewed in the spirit of our mind and putting on the new man. A few
observations about this. o This is not a “one-and-done” deal. You do not once
forever put off that old man, so that you can confidently say to yourself, “I
gave up that sin a long time ago.” It is a constant daily (hourly) battle. It
is an ongoing transformation until we die. We may put off some things, and
then later in life those thing return to challenge us. Or maybe later in life
we face new challenges as other parts of our character are refined into
Christ’s image. o The “renewed in the spirit of your mind” part is connected
to “learning Christ” that we see in verses 20-21. If we want to act like
Jesus, then we need to think like Jesus. o The new man is “created according
to God.” That means God is doing this work, and we need to give ourselves
over to that working and let God do His transformation. You cannot
effectively change yourself without the power of God working in the inner man
(Ephesians 3:14-21). Relationships
focused on Christ · Joseph, the son of Jacob, was able to resist a strong
temptation to commit adultery with Potiphar’s wife because his mindset was,
“How can do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (see Genesis 39). ·
Peter was able to WALK ON WATER when his eyes were focused on Jesus, but the
moment his eyes began to focus on the winds, the waves and the storm, then he
began to sink (Matthew 14:25-33). · As to the Lord o Go back over the first
three chapters of Ephesians and see the emphasis on Christ and what He did
for us, how He cares for us and blesses us, especially in contrast to how we
were living before He saved us! That is the foundation for our thinking in
our relationships. |
