Daily Inspirations

  Good morning. Paul has said a lot in the book of Ephesians, but now he comes to his third and final closing. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. No matter how good we are or how strong we are, we are helpless and hopeless without God. So how can we do this? Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Sometimes Christians only put on part of the armor of God, and that leaves openings for the devil to attack. You may have seen movies set in days past, in which a group of defenders are waiting for the attack of the enemy. They think that they will be able to withstand the attack of the enemy, but when it comes, they soon panic and flee. They have no confidence in their ability nor in their armor. Remember that it is because we have on the full armor of God that we are able to stand against the attack of the enemy. Father help the reader to put on Your full armor every day and to stand firm agains...

  Good morning. Why did Christ give Himself up for the church? So that He might sanctify her (set her apart as holy unto Himself), having cleansed by the washing of the water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot (no one wants to wear clothes with spots in them, unless it is to work in the yard) or wrinkle (and no one wants to wear clothes that are perfectly clean, but have wrinkles all in them) or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (in 1:4, He chose us to be holy and blameless). He didn’t want us to just have our fire insurance. He wanted a perfect bride for Himself. Similarly: so husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. Jesus laid aside any desires that would be for Himself in order that the church might be made perfect. Even so, husbands should lay aside their selfish desires for the good of their wives. Father thank You that Jesus did all ...

  Good morning. Why did Christ give Himself up for the church? So that He might sanctify her (set her apart as holy unto Himself), having cleansed by the washing of the water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot (no one wants to wear clothes with spots in them, unless it is to work in the yard) or wrinkle (and no one wants to wear clothes that are perfectly clean, but have wrinkles all in them) or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (in 1:4, He chose us to be holy and blameless). He didn’t want us to just have our fire insurance. He wanted a perfect bride for Himself. Similarly: so husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. Jesus laid aside any desires that would be for Himself in order that the church might be made perfect. Even so, husbands should lay aside their selfish desires for the good of their wives. Father thank You that Jesus did all ...

  Good morning. We are filled with the Spirit, giving thanks for all things and… be(ing) subject to one another in the fear of Christ. My Bible says that the grammar indicates that this mutual submission is associated with the filling of the Spirit. We are not going to be subject to one another without that. That does not mean that the others are dictators over us. We willingly decide to allow the group to determine what is best in the Lord for the group. Cover your ears and hide your eyes: wives, be subject   (it is in italics which means that it is not in the Greek – it is added by the translators for clarity) to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Just like being subject to one another does not mean that they are dictators over us, so it is with wives and husbands. Note that it does not say that wives are to obey their husbands – only children are told to obey, and that their parents. Husbands are not to lord it over their wives, just like pastors are not supposed to lord it...

Good morning. So what are the things that we “say“, being filled with the Spirit? Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (you don’t think of those as speaking. If we did this, there would only be edifying words coming from our mouths), singing and making melody with your heart (remember that what is in your heart, comes out of your mouth) to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things (do we give thanks that they happened, or in spite of them happening? Remember: God makes all things work together for our good… There are things that happened to us that seemed bad, but later we realized that if they had not happened, we would not have been in the good place we were in later.), in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Father help us to always have a melody in our hearts, and to share those melodies with those around us.  

  Good morning. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is - that you not say and do those evil things. And (The word translated “and“ can sometimes also be translated as “even“ or “namely, which would mean that the following is the will of the Lord) do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. My Bible says that the Greek present tense is used to indicate that the filling of the Spirit is not a once for all experience. This is not the same thing as being baptized in the Holy Spirit, though it is included when you are the baptized in the Holy Spirit. Remember that I have said before that whenever you see someone being filled with the Holy Spirit, they generally say something immediately afterwards. What follows is a list of things which involve vocal expressions. When people are drunk, they commonly say and do things that they would not normally do when they are not drunk. They may be comical, or they may be downrig...

  Good morning. Paul reiterates: do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. And then a warning to those who think they can do things in the dark and get away with it. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. You may get away with it for a while, but in the end it will be revealed. And since it will be revealed: therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Most Christians act like they have all the time in the world to make changes to their lives. You’ve heard the saying, “practice makes perfect“; but in reality, practice does not make perfect – it makes permanent. Remember that when you do something X number of times (my mathematical background is showing), it becomes a habit. The same thing happens with you’re...

  Good morning Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. What things? All of those evil speaking words and immorality things that Paul just spoke about. Why does he say let no one deceive you with empty words? Apparently someone was telling them that it was OK to say and do the things that they were doing. That’s because they themselves were wanting to say and do those evil things. Therefore do not be partakers with them: for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of the Light. Remember that the Bible talks about Jesus being the Light of the world. The fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth; and so we should be trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Remember that - when the Light shines, the darkness flees. Father help us to let Your Light shine in this dark world.

  Good morning. So we are to imitate God: and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Giving Himself up for us was a result of Him loving us. Walking in love also requires us to sacrifice our will to help fellow believers in need. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as a proper among saints. It’s not just that you can’t do these things; you can’t even talk about them. God knows that if you talk about them enough, you just might want to try them. Watch your mouth - there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For some people, that would mean not saying much at all. Sadly, there are too many Christians whose way of talking is no different from the people of the world. Ask yourself – would you say those exact words if the pastor/Jesus were standing right next to you? Just like when someone see...

  Good morning. Continuing with not grieving the Holy Spirit: let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Among Christians? That would definitely grieve the Holy Spirit. Instead – be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. That’s kind of like “forgive those who trespass against you, just as your trespasses have been forgiven you”. So whatever someone has done that made you angry, forgive them. “Yeah but I won’t forget“. If that is your attitude, did you really forgive them? Therefore (since God has forgiven you) be imitators of God, as beloved children. At least when they’re young, children imitate their parents; and so we are to imitate our heavenly Father. Father help us to put away all of the bad feelings and reactions we have towards others, and to act just like You do towards us.

  Good morning. No unwholesome word should proceed from our mouth - so what kind should be leaving our mouth? Only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. That’s a toughie. I guess that means I won’t be saying much then :) Remember what Thumper’s daddy always said, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all“. He must’ve been reading the book of the Ephesians. We are to build up fellow believers, not tear them down. Another no-no: do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed (we talked about this word in chapter 1) for the day of redemption. How does one grieve the Holy Spirit? By doing the no-no’s just mentioned and the ones that follow. All of these tear down the body of Christ, instead of building it up. My Bible says that the verb “grieved“ demonstrates that the Holy Spirit is a person, not just an influence (as once was/is believed), for only a person can be grieve...

  Good morning. We left off with do not let the sun go down on your anger: neither give the devil an opportunity. When anger festers, whether during the night or not, it allows the devil to create havoc among families and in the body of Christ. You are probably well aware of what happens. All kinds of thoughts of revenge and ways to do it pop into your head. Sometimes the revenge causes more trouble than the original offense. Paul now gives the Ephesians a list of no-no’s. He who steals must steal no longer - in the body of Christ? He must labor… so that he will have something to share with one who has need. It’s not just to take care of yourself, but to help those who are not able to help themselves. And now a no-no that too many of us too many times do: let (elicits the idea that you could stop it from happening) no unwholesome (rotten) word proceed from your mouth. Remember that what is in your heart comes out of your mouth. We will see next time what we should do instead. Fathe...

Good morning. Then what do we do? Therefore (what is it there for? Since we have laid aside the old man; been renewed in the spirit of our mind; and put on the new man is what it is there for), laying aside falsehood (which is what the old man did constantly), speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Another hard thing to do: be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. It seems like it is hardest to not get angry with members of your family; and yet that is what the body of believers is. We expect them to treat us the way we think they should; and when they don’t, we get mad. Of course we also get mad at outsiders, but it seems worse when family does it. Even Jesus got angry, but it was usually with religious leaders not with the disciples. He did get upset with them; but it was usually because of their lack of faith in Him. A key concept which we frequently do not observe: do not let the sun go down on your anger. To...

  Good morning. So what’s next after laying aside the old man - that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Remember that Paul just said a few verses before that the Gentiles walked in the futility of their mind. In Romans it said to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We have to get rid of our stinking thinking. When a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, it doesn’t crawl around thinking like a caterpillar does. The third step is to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. The new self is nothing like the old one – it is like Christ Jesus Himself. It’s kind of like clothes. You put off your old set of clothes, and put on a new set. If you take the rags off of a beggar, and dress the person in an expensive set of clothes, they may look different for a while, but eventually the brand new set of clothes will become rags too. You have to change their way of thinking and acting also. Father help ...

  Good morning. But you did not learn Christ in this way (giving yourself over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness), if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him (I thought these were Christians and certainly would have heard Him and been taught in Him), just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit. That is step number one, and is probably the hardest thing to do. You have been doing and thinking the same way all of your life. It is like driving to some place that you frequent. You don’t even have to think about which way to turn – it is automatic. That is the way it was before Christ. We didn’t have to think about what to say or do – it was automatic. It takes time to not automatically respond the way we have all of our lives before Christ. We will see next time what the next steps are. Father help us to lay as...

  Good morning. So what is the result of us being all together as one? That you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. Today “elevation in thought“ is of prime importance in the world. They believe that they can come up with some logical explanation that will refute Christianity. The greater the contradiction to true Christianity that they can come up with, that will receive the greater acclaim from all of their peers. And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. How do you get a callous? By something constantly rubbing a particular spot on your body over and over again until it becomes hardened to protect itself from whatever is rubbing against it. That is what has happened to the people of the world. The t...

  Good morning. So, we are to not be carried about by every wind of doctrine, but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. Some people speak truth, but not in love. Their goal is not to help the person they’re speaking to, but to verbally destroy them. We are speaking the truth to help others to grow up into Christ. From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. The phrase “being fitted and held together“ to me brings up the image of a dovetail joint. Everything is fitted together perfectly for strength and endurance. It says that the proper working of each individual part is what causes the growth of the body – that it builds up itself in love. Of course without God none of this would happen. Father thank You that we are working together to build up Your body ...

  Good morning. Surely the time has passed for all of these ministry gifts, such as apostles and prophets, right? No, it was until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Absolutely not! A few verses before, we were to preserve the unity of the Spirit; now it is attaining to the unity of the faith. Without the unity of the Spirit, there would be no unity of the faith. As a result we are no longer to be children (we no longer partake only of the milk of the Word as mentioned in Hebrews), tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming. The word translated “trickery“ actually means cube, as in dice, alluding to cheating at the game. Father help us to attain to that unity of the faith and of the knowledge of Your Son; to become mature to...

  Good morning. He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things. Now here comes what are known as the ministry gifts – and the gifts are people. He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. When we looked at this in First Corinthians, Paul stated it as: God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, etc. Because each of these offices in Ephesians has the word “some” in front of it except for the word teachers, some people believe that the office of pastor and teacher are one and the same, not two separate offices. What are they for, the glory of the persons holding the offices? No, they for the equipping of all of the believers, so that they can do the work of the service, and to build up the body of Christ. We will continue this next ti...

  Good morning. From yesterday we saw that there was one of everything. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Paul will explain more about that in a few verses, but first he digresses. Therefore it says (from Psalm 68), when He ascended on high He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men. We will see in a little while that the gifts He gave were actually men themselves. Now this expression, He ascended, what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? Some say that this meant He descended into hell; but that is not necessarily so. Remember the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. Perhaps He went to Abraham’s bosom to speak the gospel to those righteous people who had died previously. In Luke 23:43, Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “truly I say to you, this day you shall be with Me in Paradise“. He would have then led captive a host of captives. But all of this is speculation. We will f...

  Good morning. In Paul’s day, he had to contend with some groups saying “there is a church of Jews that have been converted and still obey Jewish laws, and there’s another church of Gentiles (and by the way, they should also observe Jewish laws). Today we have groups of many different denominations, and some that are not a part of any denomination. But Paul says: there is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. Christ’s body has not been divided, and God’s Spirit has not been divided either. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. There is only One, and only one way to Him. Man, not God, has divided Christianity into many different groups. There is more than one way of expressing our Christianity. In the beginning, it was the gospel, along with Jewish laws. If the church had remained rigid, it would be the same way today. When there is one way of thinking/doing things, that i...

   Good morning. Yes we are to be self-confident, but… with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Too many times when people have something greater than other people that they had nothing to do with obtaining, like inherited money, looks, etc., they look down on others, even though they were born that way and did not do anything to earn it. We did not do anything to “earn“ all of this greatness within us. Therefore we should not look down on others because they don’t have the greatness of God within them. We should be tolerant towards other believers and should be so with an attitude of love. That does not mean, however, that we put up with sinful actions by other believers. Notice it says to preserve the unity of the Spirit. It is not up to us to create the unity of the Spirit – that’s God‘s job – it is our job to make sure that as far as it has to do with...

   Good morning. If you could have your druthers, ask anything you could dream of, what would you ask of God? Well, it pales in comparison with what He can do. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. This power that He uses is the same power that works within us. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Therefore (there’s that word again - because of what Paul just said about us) I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. We have all of this great stuff working inside of us. We should act like it. You’ve seen the way that people that are full of self-confidence walk – we should walk the same way. Just like self-confidence can turn into arrogance, so it can also be with those having self-confidence spiritually. We have to remember that our self-confidence is in Jesus, and...

   Good morning. Why are we strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man – so that Christ may dwell (that has the idea of being at home, not just visiting) in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded (expresses the idea of being immovable) in love, may be able to comprehend (more than just knowing a bunch of facts; it has the idea of understanding them) with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. We are to not just know about the love of God, but also to experience it. We will see in Colossians that in Jesus all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form. We however, are not Deity. Father thank You that we can know the love of Christ, and be filled up with You through Him.

   Good morning. Remember that I said the other day that Paul was going to go on for a dozen or so verses before completing his thought - for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles... therefore (I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “when you see the word therefore, find out what it is there for”) I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf (which he just talked about for a dozen verses), for they are your glory. Paul was saying that it was no sweat all the things he went through for their (the Gentiles’) sake. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. The way that we derive true strength is through His Spirit; and this strength is not in our physical body, but in our spiritual one. Father thank You for strengthening us throug...

Good morning. Continuing with “bringing to light what is the administration of the mystery… “ So that the manifold (variegated or multifaceted like a diamond reflects and enhances its beauty) wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. There was no way that anyone looking through the old testament could have foreseen the church. There was only the temple and the laws of Moses to guide the people. There was no collective body throughout the world that would take forth the good news of salvation to the world. If the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places had foreseen the church, they would’ve done even more to prevent it’s coming into existence. They were concerned about Jesus, not the ragtag crew that followed Him. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence access through faith in Him. We don’t come groveling into the t...

  Good morning. Continuing with the mystery of Christ: to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. This is what Paul and Barnabas talked about when the two of them went up to Jerusalem and spoke to James, Peter, and all the other elders. Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. Instead of going around bragging about all this Paul said, “to me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ”. Even if God uses us greatly, we need to keep the same attitude in ourselves. And to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things. It was there from the beginning, but it was hidden in plain sight. It was revealed, as always, at just the right time. Father tha...

  Good morning. We are growing into a holy temple of the Lord – in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. This idea of the church being a temple for God is also in the book of Revelation. Not only as individuals, but also as a collective body, we have God dwelling in us. For this reason (what he just mentioned in the previous verses) I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles - Paul then takes about a dozen verses to explain his personal situation before he completes his thought. First he talks about: the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. As I said before in Acts, second Corinthians, and Galatians, I believe he received this revelation after he was stoned and left for dead, when he went up to the third heaven. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in ...

  Good morning. What is the result of all of this? So then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. As Gentiles, we were strangers to God and His promises; but as Christians, we are part of the family of God. Later when we see the list of God’s ministry gifts to men, apostles are listed first and prophets second. That is because they lay a foundation upon which all the other ministries build. Now in this building, Jesus is the “chief“ cornerstone. Isaiah says about this costly corner stone for the foundation, that the one who believes in it (Him) will not be disappointed. The building depends upon the foundation, as mentioned in Matthew, and the foundation depends on the corner stone. We, the building, are bein...

  Good morning. We were separate from Christ: but now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Some groups downplay the crucifixion as being too graphic. But it is only through the blood of Christ that we can come near to God. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the law of Commandments, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace… for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. Spiritually we were enemies. It took the cross of Christ to bring us together into one in God. Father thank You for the cross of Christ. Help us to realize that we are no longer separated from You because of it.