Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate himwith all our hearts! And in love he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence. Epehesians 1:3-4 Today, we open our series on Ephesians. It will be very high level, with only 3 passages per chapter per week. Today’s snapshot comes from the first few verses of the letter, and they set the tone for the whole thing, if you ask me. We are in Christ and receive every spiritual blessing because of that reality. We were chosen and our wonderful Father sees us as set apart for Him in Christ. We are holy. How does that strike you?

I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! Ephesians 1:18-20 May the eyes of your imagination be illuminated today until you really grasp the magnitude of the calling that you have received in Christ... Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, and for us. May the eyes of your heart be opened today to the height, the breadth, the depth of God’s love for you. That the faith of Christ and the faith you have been graced with in Christ would unlock the riches and power of God in your life today. We are in Christ as He is in that highest place in the universe. Live that way, but also learn to live in love and live loved. Amen.

Eph 1:22-3 And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given him the highest rank above all others. And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it! If we are His body, and He is in the place of highest honor and authority, then we also share in that power and honor, via delegation and under His authority. Yes, we who are in Christ already have the power we need, we already have the love that we need to change the world. We, through Him, have already overcome the world as well as the prince of the power of the air. He sits on the throne, He does not stand, or pace about, wringing His hands. He is in repose because His work is done, the war has been won, and by complete submission to and love for the Father, He won that place at the Father’s right hand. Not that it wasn’t His from before creation was even a thing, but He earned the right to stay in that place through faithfully executing the Father’s plan to renew all creation and bring us all back unto Him.

Ephesians 1: Who are you? Father, As we look at these prayers and thoughts from Paul that he shared with the believers in the region around Ephesus, I ask that you would enlighten and illuminate the eyes of our hearts to see the truth of who we are in Jesus. Jesus, come and help these things to sink in. Holy Spirit, come and do the work in us that the scales would fall away from the eyes of our hearts so that the light of the truth can come flooding in. Amen. On Monday, we opened this new series on Ephesians with a quick look at the greetings in the first few verses of the letter. I introduced the series and gave an idea of what the format would be. Who are you? You are wrapped up in Christ and because of that, you have every spiritual gift from the Father. We were chosen from before there was a universe to receive these things. Wrap your head around that statement. I bet you can’t. On Wednesday, we looked at a famous chunk of one of Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians. Vs 18-20. Allow your eyes to be opened to the reality of what you have and who you are in Christ, today. Sure, circumstances may look grim in the natural, but you’ve probably made it through worse. Open the eyes of your heart, allow the Holy Spirit to brush the scales off of your spiritual eyes that you might truly see who you are in Christ. You are wealthy. You are powerful. You have authority because it flows from the Head, that is, Christ Jesus. Once you begin to grasp this, your whole life will shift, and you will become like a walking billboard for the power of God working in and through your life. On Friday, we looked at how Jesus is the source and the leader of all we need, and we are His body, filling the world, just as He rules over it after He overcame it through His life, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. He was constantly connected with the Father, doing just what He saw the Father doing and saying what He saw the Father saying in every possible moment. If He is the head, and we are the body, then His honor, his glory, and His power are ours. Let that sink in. All we need to learn to do is operate in relation to that truth. We mist submit to His will and His way. We must empty ourselves of ourselves and simply get out of the way. He was always in that place of authority, but His faithfulness to the Father’s plan cemented that place for Him for eternity and for us who are in Him, as well. As we empty ourselves, take up our crosses daily and follow Him, submitting to Him in each moment, then the authority and power that He has become ours. Thank you, Jesus!

Eph 2:1-3 And his fullness fills you, even though you were once like corpses, dead in your sins and offenses. It wasn’t that long ago that you lived in the religion, customs, and values of this world, obeying the dark ruler of the earthly realm who fills the atmosphere with his authority, and works diligently in the hearts of those who are disobedient to the truth of God. The corruption that was in us from birth was expressed through the deeds and desires of our self-life. We lived by whatever natural cravings and thoughts our minds dictated, living as rebellious children subject to God’s wrath like everyone else. Thank you, Jesus. We are no longer under the powers of this age, the Rulers of this world. Jesus brought us out from that, and part of our identity in Him is that we are tied to him, rather than to those things. We can obey. We are called to obey Him, now. We belong to Him, now. Sin has no power that we do not grant it, any longer. Focus on Him.

Eph 2:12-3 So don’t forget that you were not born as Jews and were uncircumcised (circumcision itself is just a work of man’s hands); you had none of the Jewish covenants and laws; you were foreigners to Israel’s incredible heritage; you were without the covenants and prophetic promises of the Messiah, the promised hope, and without God. Yet look at you now! Everything is new! Although you were once distant and far away from God, now you have been brought delightfully close to him through the sacred blood of Jesus—you have actually been united to Christ! You are new. God has created a new thing in you. Circumcision of the foreskin is nothing, the Holy Spirit circumcises our hearts every day. That is why our consciences stir more often, as believers, because the Holy Spirit is breathing and creating holiness and a desire for holiness in us every day. You are united with Christ Jesus. That is who you are.

Eph 2:19-20 So, you are not foreigners or guests, but rather you are the children of the city of the holy ones, with all the rights as family members of the household of God. You are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple; and your lives have been built up together upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and best of all, you are connected to the Head Cornerstone of the building, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ himself! You are a child of the household of God. Not a red-headed step child, mind you, but a beloved child. You are a fitted stone, like the great stones in the foundation of the Temple, but spiritual. You are connected to one another, but built up upon the Apostles and Prophets, and most importantly, connected to Jesus, the Cornerstone of the great building of the Kingdom. So many metaphors here... Let’s focus on the beloved child image. How does it make you feel to know that you are His beloved child?

Who Are You? Ephesians 2 Father, We ask that you would send the Holy Spirit to make these passages come alive for us today as we review the last week’s memesplanations from Ephesians 2. Help us to learn Who we are In Jesus from these brief words. In Jesus’ name, Amen. On Monday we were reminded that we are alive in Jesus, not dead to God any more, we are no longer subject to the powers of this world, but to our loving Lord. Sin no longer has power over us, we are not bound to any pattern of pride which would keep us trapped doing the same old nonsense, but expecting different results. We are now able to choose love over pride, humility over fear. This was a thought loosely based on Ephesians 2:1-3. On Wednesday, we gentiles were shown how we are now heirs of all of the promises given to Abraham in Genesis. In Jesus, we are new. We have been remade, old covenant circumcision is no thing, as when we are living in submission to the Holy Spirit, He removes the callous from our hearts every day. We are united with Christ, and that is why this is all available to us. So we are new because we have been united with Christ Jesus, that is who we are. This was a thought from Ephesians 2:12-13. On Friday, we finished our sprint through Ephesians 2, with a look at Ephesians 2:19-20. Who are you? You are God’s beloved child. You are children of heaven, adopted as though you were natural born offspring. You get all the benefits, inheritance, close relationship, and access to the Father whenever you need it. The whole nine yards. Not only that, but you are the living stones which make up God’s temple, set upon the foundation of those who have come before you in the faith, and directly connected to Jesus, the cornerstone. So, based on these passages from Ephesians 2, who are you? You are alive in Jesus, free from slavery to sin, which is ultimately pride. You are able to make good choices. You are an heir of all the Father has, at the same level of rights as Jesus. You have been remade. You are united with Jesus. You are God’s beloved child. You get to raid the fridge whenever you feel like it. You get to sit on the Father’s lap whenever you want to. You are a living stone, built upon the foundation of those who have gone before you in the faith of Jesus, and you are connected to Him. That is allot. Let that sink in. Let His liquid love pour into and all over you. Pick one of these things that are a part of your reality in Jesus and meditate on that today.

Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you. Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen! Because we are in Christ, we get to fully experience the fullness of the Love of God. That is what the power, here is working out in us, and why, as we become more fully one with Him, and our desires begin to shift toward being in alignment with His, then we will begin to receive super-abundantly more than we could ever ask or even dare to imagine. That is the key: emptying ourselves and asking to be filled and overfilled with Him.

Father, Thank you that you have knit us and are knitting us into one body, the body of Christ. Help us to remember this when we are tempted to shred another member of the Body. Help us to grow in maturity rather than dependence on our pastors and teachers. Help us to love you better, today. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Who are you? You are part of one body, and have one spirit, the Holy Spirit. That is who you are. Why do we not see this in most gatherings of believers? Why have we allowed incorrect emphases to dominate our minds and hearts and destroy t hat reality? We have a shared divine calling and a high rank, thus we need to live and operate differently than we have in the past. Wake up. We have slumbered, lulled to sleep by fluffy, happy motivational speeches disguised as sermons, many of us for years. This passage reminds me of a few others in Paul’s letters; in the Pastorals, we see him advising Timothy and others to put out those who are stuck on genealogies and other controversial things, in Galatians, he bashes the Galatian gatherings for adopting the ways of the judaizers. Where have we missed the memo? When did the Body of Christ become Bodies of Christ? On Wednesday, we learned that the helpers in the Body, meant to raise it up to full maturity, fall into 5 primary groups: apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors. It is not who you are, but these are things that many of us have been called to participate in and do. These offices are still very vital and active (not just the last 3). We are to experience the fullness of knowing Jesus, oneness in the faith of Christ, and fully spiritually mature people. I do not see that in many corners of the Body of Christ, I do not claim to have attained to this, yet, either. However, I want to get there, so cutting myself off from some of these offices, which are all meant to help me in that maturing process, does not make sense. On Friday, we were reminded that we are holy. That is, called to act differently from the world around us. We do not walk in spiritual apathy because we know the Truth, and He has set us free. We have purer logic than the world, as it has been adjusted by being in Christ. Our consciences are actually functional to help us be different. That is who we are, we are a holy people. We are each holy as individuals as well. This holiness is meant to be a relational, love-based response to the love of God. Think about how you find yourself responding to people who genuinely love you vs those who just put up with you for the most part. Do you find yourself wanting to be with, much less focus effort on pleasing people who just put up with you? What about those who really love you? You want to do what you can to encourage those people to stick around, don’t you? That is the foundation of holiness which is in view here, not simply following rules just to follow rules. If you really look at the Old Testament, though, that is the core of it there, as well, just most people couldn’t see that, so it became rote repetition of Torah in order to be blessed by YHWH, because like so many now, the people of Israel could not see through to the reality that God would or could even want to have a relationship with them. So, what did we learn about ourselves from Ephesians 4 this week? There is one Body of Christ, and if we are in Him, we are it. Maturity comes through the faithful operation of the 5-fold ministry: apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher, and pastor. These 5 roles will stay with the Body until all members are fully mature in the Lord, and as far as I can tell, we are nowhere near that place. I certainly am not. We are holy because God says we are, and we are called to grow into a holiness that is based on love, not obligation or rule-keeping, just for the sake of keeping rules.

As a prisoner of the Lord, I plead with you to walk holy, in a way that is suitable to your high rank, given to you in your divine calling. With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience. Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among you in the bonds of peace, being one body and one spirit, as you were all called into the same glorious hope of divine destiny. We are one body, and have one spirit, the Holy Spirit. That is who we are. Why do we not see this in most gatherings of believers? Why have we allowed incorrect emphases to dominate our minds and hearts and destroy that reality? We have a shared divine calling and a high rank, thus we need to live and operate differently than we have in the past. Wake up. You have slumbered, lulled to sleep by fluffy, happy motivational speeches disguised as sermons, many of us for years.

And he has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ. These grace ministries will function until we all attain oneness into the faith, until we all experience the fullness of what it means to know the Son of God, and finally we become one into a perfect man with the full dimensions of spiritual maturity and fully developed into the abundance of Christ. The 5-fold ministry: apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher, pastor. It is not who you are, but these are things that many of us have been called to participate in and do. These offices are still very vital and active (not just the last 3). We are to experience the fullness of knowing Jesus, oneness in the faith of Christ, and fully spiritually mature people. I do not see that in many corners of the Body of Christ, I do not claim to have attained to this, yet, either. However, I want to get there, so cutting myself off from some of these offices, which are all meant to help me in that maturing process, does not make sense.

So with the wisdom given to me from the Lord I say: You should not live like the unbelievers around you who walk in their empty delusions. Their corrupted logic has been clouded because their hearts are so far from God—their blinded understanding and deep-seated moral darkness keeps them from the true knowledge of God. Because of spiritual apathy, they surrender their lives to lewdness, impurity, and sexual obsession. We act differently from the world around us. That is how we are holy. We do not walk in spiritual apathy because we know the Truth, and He has set us free. We have purer logic than the world, as it has been adjusted by being in Christ. Our consciences are actually functional to help us be different. That is who we are, we are a holy people. We are each holy as individuals as well.

Father, Thank you that you explain what it means to live as your children, your ambassadors, here. Help me, as a man, to choose to sacrifice myself rather than to demand more than I give. Help me to live loved, so that I can be free from the ways of the world. In Jesus’name, Amen. On Monday, we were reminded that we are beloved children of God, which also makes us ambassadors of the Kingdom. Like any child, we should aspire to be like our Papa. As we spend more time with Him, and learn of and from Him, forsaking the ways we used to live should get easier. This makes it easier to represent Him and be a good ambassador here on earth, as that is what you are, in Christ: an ambassador of the Kingdom of God. How can we represent a holy God if we are not holy ourselves. We talked a little bit about holiness the week before last, but in short, it is this desire to be like our Father, a response of love to the love that we receive on a daily basis. On Wednesday, we described the holiness that we are to aspire to, the difference in our lives that should be emblematic for us. This passage refers back to the previous section about ones who live according to the world: sexually immoral, greedy, impure, and idolatrous. Don’t listen to one who lives like this, no matter how impressive their words may sound. Live in Light, not darkness. You are unified with Christ and have His light in you. Therefore, you are to live in light and holiness not the darkness of sin, which only hurts you and those around you in the long run. On Friday, we learned how we are to related to one another. Men, we are servant-leaders. Women, you are to be devoted to your men as the Church is devoted to Jesus. Men, we are to sacrifice ourselves for our wives and families as Jesus did for us. These are lofty pinnacles which we are told to aim for. Notice the words servant and sacrifice, men. They give us the right to ask certain things, but only if our lives reflect this ideal. This is not a ticket to be able to simply make demands of our wives, we need to be re-formed in Christ, so that we are not complete jerks. Women, respond in love to your men, even if he does not treat you properly. That doesn’t mean that you need to be a doormat, however, you are called to love the one you are married to, not to be some sort of butterfly flitting from man to man, either. So, who are we, this week? We are holy ambassadors of the Holy King. We are His dearly loved children, so moved by the love He gives us that we start to emulate it in our daily lives, rather than living as the world does. This extends to how husbands and wives are designed to complement one another: the man is to image Jesus by laying his life down for his bride, rather than being a conceited jerk (like a typical Roman Pater Familias) and sitting around ordering the family about. Our service to our families is what confers authority to us, not merely being the sperm donor. Women (wives), respond in faithful love to your husband, honor your vows to him. This is a general rule, not meant to apply in situations of neglect or abuse or infidelity. At the same time, you shouldn’t be buzzing from man to man thinking that the grass is always greener outside the bounds of her marriage. If a man is busy sacrificing himself for his wife and family, then he won’t have time or energy to add a different “Yes” to the “Yes” he already spoke to his bride on their wedding day.

Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as his beloved sons and daughters. And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for he surrendered his life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God, like an aroma of adoration—a sweet healing fragrance. Like any child, we should aspire to be like our Papa. As we spend more time with Him, and learn of and from Him, forsaking the ways we used to live should get easier. This makes it easier to represent Him and be a good ambassador here on earth, as that is what you are, in Christ: an ambassador of the Kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:6-8 Don’t be fooled by those who speak their empty words and deceptive teachings telling you otherwise. This is what brings God’s anger upon the rebellious! Don’t listen to them or live like them at all. Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him. Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light! This refers back to the previous section about ones who live according to the world: sexually immoral, greedy, impure, and idolatrous. Don’t listen to one who lives like this, no matter how impressive their words may sound. Live in Light, not darkness. You are unified with Christ and have His light in you.

Ephesians 5:21-26 And out of your reverence for Christ be supportive of each other in love. For wives, this means being devoted to your husbands like you are tenderly devoted to our Lord, for the husband provides leadership for the wife, just as Christ provides leadership for his church, as the Savior and Reviver of the body. In the same way the church is devoted to Christ, let the wives be devoted to their husbands in everything. And to the husbands, you are to demonstrate love for your wives with the same tender devotion that Christ demonstrated to us, his bride. For he died for us, sacrificing himself to make us holy and pure, cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of the Word of God. Men, we are servant-leaders. Women, you are to be devoted to your men as the Church is devoted to Jesus. Men, we are to sacrifice ourselves for our wives and families as Jesus did for us. These are lofty pinnacles which we are told to aim for. Notice the words servant and sacrifice, men. This is not a ticket to be able to simply make demands of our wives, we need to be re-formed in Christ, so that we are not complete jerks. Women, respond in love to your men, even if he does not treat you properly. That doesn’t mean that you need to be a doormat, however, you are called to love the one you are married to, not to be some sort of butterfly flitting from man to man, either.

Who Are You? Week 6 On Monday, we learned how we are to relate with our employers. We are to honor them as though they were the Lord Himself. Work hard and go above & beyond what you are required to do, whether they are watching or not. Don’t be George Costanza. It honors the Lord when you do your best, whether you’re being directly supervised or not. Whether they treat you well or not, treat them how you want to be treated. If you were in their shoes, would you want to receive shoddy work? How does that honor the Lord? Serve your boss well, even if your job is redundant. It is that simple, seek to do your job to the best of your ability, no matter if your boss is undeserving or not. We are quality workpeople in Christ. On Wedensday, we started talking about spiritual warfare. In Christ, you are God’s warrior. Be aware that you are in a battle. The enemy is coming at you, no matter what. You are unified with Christ, and that is why the enemy has a giant “Kick Me” sign on your back. Remember that fellow humans are not your target, the elemental powers and demonic strongholds are. Protect yourself with the armor of God so it is harder for them to get to you. Learn to discern the powers behind each person who presents as an enemy in your life, that way you can pray for them to be set free, seeing that they are pawns or puppets for those dark entities, rather than reacting in a desire for vengeance. It only perpetuates the set of problems which led them to being willing partners with the enemy when you personally seek vengeance. On Friday, we chatted briefly about the Armor of God to protect us in that battle. So, if we are unified with Christ, then what do we have to protect ourselves in this spiritual warfare? The armor of God. Truth, holiness, peace, faith, salvation, and the spoken Word of God. We also need to pray constantly in the Spirit. That is how we use the armor effectively; how we use truth, appropriate holiness, share peace in the Lord, live in faith, walk in progressively more full deliverance, and discern which parts of the Word of God ought to be spoken in a given situation. We fight (figuratively) on our knees. God has already done the fighting for us, we need to stand in His victory through prayer and support one another in love. So, who are we in Christ, according to Ephesians 6? We are good workers and warriors in the Kingdom of God. We are to serve our employers well, whether they are watching or not, whether they are good bosses or not. This honors the Lord. How are we warriors? Well, the truth is that if you’re alive, you are a fighter, whether consciously for the Kingdom or unconsciously for the enemy. There is no neutral in this war, no bendu. (Star Wars Rebels reference) The Force, in Star Wars, is said to have two sides, right? The Light and The Dark, and most sentients are drawn to one or the other naturally, or through the way that they were brought up. You wind up, if you are Force-sensitive, falling into one of two camps: Jedi or Sith. The Bendu is a being who inhabited the gray area in the middle. Not particularly drawn to either side of the force. I digress, though. My point is that by merely existing, we are pieces on the cosmic chessboard. We need to be aware of that reality and choose the side of Light, then stand firm in the armor of God.

Ephesians 6:5-8 Those who are employed should listen to their employers and obey their instructions with great respect and honor. Serve them with humility in your hearts as though you were working for the Master. Always do what is right and not only when others are watching, so that you may please Christ as his servants by doing his will. Serve your employers wholeheartedly and with love, as though you were serving Christ and not men. Be assured that anything you do that is beautiful and excellent will be repaid by our Lord, whether you are an employee or an employer. We are to honor our employers, treat them how we would want to be treated, would you want to receive shoddy work? How does that honor the Lord? Serve your boss well, even if your job is redundant. It is that simple, seek to do your job to the best of your ability, no matter if your boss is undeserving or not. We are quality workpeople in Christ.

Ephesians 6:10-13 Now my beloved ones, I have saved these most important truths for last: Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. Put on God’s complete set of armor provided for us, so that you will be protected as you fight against the evil strategies of the accuser! Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage. Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you’re protected as you confront the slanderer, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious. Be aware that you are in a battle. The enemy is coming at you, no matter what. You are unified with Christ, and that is why the enemy has a giant “Kick Me” sign on your back. Remember that fellow humans are not your target, the elemental powers and demonic strongholds are. Protect yourself with the armor of God so it is harder for them to get to you.

Ephesians 6:14-20 Put on truth as a belt to strengthen you to stand in triumph. Put on holiness as the protective armor that covers your heart. Stand on your feet alert, then you’ll always be ready to share the blessings of peace. In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming at you from the evil one! Embrace the power of salvation’s full deliverance, like a helmet to protect your thoughts from lies. And take the mighty razor-sharp Spirit-sword of the spoken word of God. Pray passionately in the Spirit, as you constantly intercede with every form of prayer at all times. Pray the blessings of God upon all his believers. And pray also that God’s revelation would be released through me every time I preach the wonderful mystery of the hope-filled gospel. Yes, pray that I may preach the wonderful news of God’s kingdom with bold freedom at every opportunity. Even though I am chained as a prisoner, I am his ambassador. So, if we are unified with Christ, then what do we have to protect ourselves in this spiritual warfare? The armor of God. Truth, holiness, peace, faith, salvation, and the spoken Word of God. We also need to pray constantly in the Spirit. That is how we use the armor effectively; how we use truth, appropriate holiness, share peace in the Lord, live in faith, walk in full deliverance, and discern which parts of the Word of God ought to be spoken in a given situation. We fight (figuratively) on our knees. God has already done the fighting for us, we need to stand in His victory through prayer, and support one another in love.