Author Archive: joe

Confusing? Okay, this is week two, day two, and homing in on Ephesians -chapter 3 and 4.

Having said where my reading took me today, it's interesting that verse 1 of chapter 5 kind of sounds like it belongs to this reading. More about that later.

It was interesting how you find Paul referring to himself in verse 2 and does not say how important he is, but rather "I got this gift (grace) and it made me fit for you – the gift was so I could be the messenger for you. (v2). How different from so many who come with self-help or "get rich" philosophies. Those kind of people usually come boasting about how great they are and how we (the lesser people) ought to try to be like them.

Paul makes clear in chapter 3, verse 7 [more]that he is not the important one when he says "I became a servant of this Gospel." In the minds of the Ephesians, it was clear that Paul was saying "Don't look at me as the great one – I am your servant!" To them that was a clear picture. They understood what a servant was – how they acted, how they spoke to those around them. He was a messenger.

Then he tries to make sure that they understand that this Christ, the one who by grace set them free, was giving them power. His words were that God's intent was to use the church (the body of Christ), and they were to be bold in proclaiming the Gospel. Constantly, he encouraged them to not be discouraged or worry about him in prison – in effect, don't get side-tracked.

Paul, in verse 17-19 paints a picture that gets very difficult to imagine. It's as though he says to them, "Close your eyes, and think of the deepest hole you have ever seen, or the darkest place you have ever been. Remember how far it was to the horizon – you thought you'd never get where you were going." It was a "You ain't seen nothing yet!" moment. The imagery was to remind them that God was and is bigger than anything they have encountered or could imagine. It was a clear message that God's love knows no limits. It is not bound by borders or knowledge or anything measurable.

In other words, God's love cannot be stopped!

Now, he starts on the work of unity – how believers need to be helping one another. Building up rather than tearing down. There are his words that "speaking the truth in love" we can and will grow to be more and more like Christ. We, the body, the Church, builds itself in love.

It's interesting that he speaks again about how we should talk to one another. And before you growl back at me, this was a letter to believers. He was not talking to the all the people of Ephesus, but rather, the church in Ephesus. This was about brothers and sisters in Christ. Don't but this load on your non-Jesus-following friends or neighbors!

As Paul closes chapter 4, he tells us to watch our mouths. He leaves a big question for us without really saying it. One of those "Are you doing this?" moments in life. You have to listen to what you are saying even before you say it. Think about what you are going to say and then apply the words in verse 29.

Wait a minute Paul! You can't mean verse 32 about how I should treat them!

If this chapter just ended with verse 32 we might be able to sneak something by, but smack up against the first verse in chapter 5, we got a problem.

The problem is the imitation of Christ, and the fact that we are supposed to do that, living a life of love and giving ourselves up.

If that's true, then…

Ever get the feeling that you could have started differently? There is a little of that in the two week challenge for me. Having started in Amos last week, and working my way through to the one and only chapter of Obadiah.

It's a new week, and there was nothing to continue with. I wrestled with where to start – Old or New, easy or hard. Finally felt led to Ephesians, and will continue with Philippians to end the week. That will be a total of ten chapters, but I'm not just going for the two-a-day.

Even though Pastor Dave's challenge was to read two-a-day, it's like once I get started, the reading just goes [more]on and on, like a good book. Maybe the reason is that reading so much and then trying to capture the essence of two chapters adds deeper meaning to what I have read.

Enough drivel Joe!

First of all, Paul seems to lay heavily on the fact that the body of Christ is built on unity. After all, he points out, it is in one Christ, we have (as believers) been redeemed. And that not by the work (good deeds) that anyone of us has done. It is through that "grace (which) He has freely given us" that we become his children.

That puts some pressure on us.

Although Paul wrote to and prayed for the church in Ephesus, the letter remains as a strong call to us. His prayer was that God give you "wisdom and understanding (1:17)" so that they and we might know Him better.

If you have ever taken a test, you know the sinking feeling you get when you have only skimmed over the assignment or study guide. We wait until the night before to read the book (more like skim) and drift off to sleep while "studying." Or we get distracted by things we think are more important. Then before we know it, the test paper is in front of us.

Life is kind of like that. We can either pay attention and gain wisdom or understanding, or fool around and miss the important stuff.

Having laid out a little logic for paying attention, Paul gets down to unity in chapter two. He says to both factions in the early church, that you are made equals by what Christ did! God, through Christ redeemed both His chosen people and the non-Jew. He broke down the wall that divided them.

It was through the cross that He, God reconciles you (us) so that we might become one body.

There is a great picture at the end of chapter two of the temple being rebuilt. Many people then would have known how the temple at Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Roman Empire. Paul says though, we (believers) from wherever we come are to become that building.

We are the church – the temple! We are to be the place where God dwells!

Maybe we ought to sweep the place out and dust a little…

Not quite fitting the two chapters per day rule with this one. Right up against the book of Amos is Obadiah. In the Bible that I am using for these two weeks, there wasn't even a blank or title page. For a few minutes, I was searching other Bibles, checking to make sure the printer did not make a mistake.

No mistake!

The shortest book in the Old Testament. All of one chapter and that only 21 verses. But, [more]looking closely, it is filled with challenge.

While it has not been able to accurately date the book of Obadiah, it is clear that what he speaks of could have been any of six possible invasions, spread over about 200 years. Close enough, but to some they would want accuracy.

Having accuracy for a date when Obadiah lived or the events he foretold would (should) not make any difference. Knowing exactly when they happened is not going to change the fact that they did happen. If you followed that logic, then you understand it is the events happening that are important.

Obadiah spoke to a nation, Edom that was next to the Israelites. The message was clear – you can hide and have some amazing defenses, but you will fall. The promise to that country was that they would be destroyed.

What was their mistake in life? Simple. And a simple message to us today. They stood by and mocked their neighbors (Judah) while they were being destroyed.

It wasn't just that they would be destroyed, "you will be utterly dispised." They thought themselves too good, too well defended to ever face defeat. Obadiah's message was that what would happen to them would be worse than someone who comes to rob and steal – they usually leave a little something, but the coming destruction will be complete. There will be nothing left!

And all because they allowed their brother's in Judah to be taken captive. They stood silently by. God, through Obadiah said "when all that was happening to them, you stood by like one of the enemy."

What a message for us today! "Don't look down on your brother or sister when they are having a bad day (12)." It's interesting that we think of "Do unto others" as something from the New Testament. But, here it is in Obadiah as he lays the charge out. "As you have done, so it will be done to you. It will come back on your head."

But the message does not end with death and destruction. God's promise remains. His people will return to possess the land again.

How different our lives would be if we only remembered to do what we are asked to do by our Lord. If we lived as though we were truly His. Again and Again, the people turned and walked their own way and were destroyed. Is it that we refuse to look back and learn? Is it that we too, like the people of Edom, are deceived by our pride?

We can change that you know.