The Wall is Gone (Ephesians 2:11-22)

Ephesians 2:13-14 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.

By the blood of Christ, we have been set free. Christ did suffer during his crucifixion. It can be overwhelming to look at images of his death and his bloody body. But every drop of blood that poured out of him was for our sins. It was his love pouring out. So that we can be one with God in heaven. He did this for Jew and Gentile. He did this to break down every barrier that separates man (man being mankind, all humans). He tore down the physical wall as well as the spiritual one.

I don’t know why we keep trying to separate people in terms of relationships with God. The wall is gone. We need to stop putting it back up. It doesn’t matter what race, what nationality, ethnicity, language, religion. We all can be close to God through the bloodshed of Jesus. If we believe in his suffering, death, and resurrection, and that he died for our sins, then his death has set us free.

Good Works (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.

The beginning of this chapter fits our world to a T right now. Many are choosing to follow the world, follow the “power of air.” Like a leaf, being blown around to this thought and that thought. Following the wishes of flesh and impulses. God wants everyone to be saved. He gave us his son to die for our sins, so that even those now nearly 2000 years later, could be freed from their sins. But to be free, you have to want to choose Christ. 

For those who choose Christ’s way, we know we have been saved by God. We also know that through his good works we have been saved, and we should live in his good works. Our good works will not give us salvation, as that is only given to us by God. But because we are saved, we should prove our faith with good works. One way is to continue to live as God wants us to live. To show other’s God’s way by emulating Jesus’s teaching. We are called to love, to guide, to protect. 

We need to love others, no matter what they have chosen. Even those who chose to follow the “power of air.” We can’t show them God’s way by denying them the love God intended for them. We need to guide others back to the Word. Talking about God and faith is a great way to do that. We need to protect those who are still young from the desires of the world. Planting seeds of faith in children so they can grow up strong against the wickedness of the worldly desires. We need to be available for questions, keep an eye on what they are seeing, telling them “no” when we know the situation is not good. Just as we are God’s handiwork, so are our children. And they are much more moldable than we are. 

As adults, we have had years to grow shields against the devil, but children are still saturable. Part of our good works as Christian parents is to help our children find God. What is a way you can ensure your children know God’s word? And not just to know it, but to understand, believe, and love it. The Pharisees could repeat Moses law verbatim, but they weren’t living it. We need to show our children how to love, guide, and protect by living Jesus’s Word. God has prepared the way. It won’t always be easy, by He is right alongside us. But we have to choose the right path to walk.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Ephesians 1:18 May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones

Everyday it seems there is some news story of someone somewhere trying to make their opinion heard. Their opinions are not faith based, but they still want to push their agenda. It seems people want what makes them happy, yet they fail to see that true happiness can only be found by following God’s Word. God’s Word is true. It has been true since the beginning. It hasn’t changed just because people’s hearts have.  And when the Church tries to keep her long standing faith steady, we are told we are old-fashioned, outdated, etc. 

Many people have lost sight of God’s Word as they continue to cling to “self-truth” and this “woke” spirit. Their hearts no longer have eyes to see the truth. They are closed off to true knowledge. Whether it is because they truly feel a certain stance is correct, or they don’t want to be put out for not following the trend, I can’t say. We are called to trust in God with all our heart, and not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Paul tells the people in Romans12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

I pray for the leaders of the Church, that their hearts continue to be enlightened, and they may continue to know the truth of God’s Word. That human desire doesn’t cause them to become slack to appease the world today. That we remain solid in the Word, as it was written. That no matter how long since the Word was written, the Church continues to hold truth above all else. Because the Word never changes. It never grows “old-fashioned.”

I pray that the members of the Church continue to love all, even when people allow human desires to change them. The Church cannot withhold God’s love just because someone thinks differently; rather we need to shine brighter to call them back to the Word. Let us be the lighthouse in the storm. Because, if it continues in the manner, it’s about to get really dark. 

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew steadfast spirit within me.

Baptism Promises (Ephesians 1:11-14)

Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit.

“sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” In baptism, we as Christians are sealed by God.  As a visual, imagine a person being baptized in the river. They go under the water and come back up, the water flowing off of them, sealing them in God’s graces. It’s like seals we use in the house. I paint something, and cover it with a waterproof seal so nothing can penetrate and destroy the inside. Same with upholstery, we put waterproof seal so that spilled coffee doesn’t damage the material. Our baptism seals us to help us from being damaged by outside forces. 

Of course, we forget our baptismal promises now and again. And thankfully, we have salvation through Christ’s death. Baptism was just the “first installment” and Jesus sacrifice is another. Through his death and resurrection, we have another seal to protect our souls from Satan’s power. We are forgiven for our sins. Though we should not live our lives knowing that we can just ask for forgiveness later. Let us remember our baptismal promises daily. 

Spiritual Blessings (Ephesians 1:3-10)

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

“Every spiritual blessing in the heavens” God has given us so many blessings so that we can live with him. These blessings are not the physical ones that we get to see. These spiritual blessings are key benefits by living a life connected to Jesus. He made us.  He allows us to become his children. He has given us graces for forgiveness of our sins. He redeemed us through Christ’s resurrection. He has given us wisdom through his Word. He has given us inheritance of the eternal home. These are considered advantages that are ours through Christ, because of our faith. 

We should already be thanking him for the blessings we have on earth, like our home, our family, our health, food, jobs, cars to get us to work, machines to make things easier, etc. We need to add to our praise list all the spiritual blessings God has given us. Because the spiritual blessings are far more important and more eternal than the temporary ones we receive on earth. Like my grandmother always said, “you can’t take [physical things] with you when you leave this place.” This is very valid right after Christmas with all the gifts received. Did any of them bring you closer to Christ? How soon will it be put in a corner and forgotten?  We need to make sure we are focusing on our spiritual blessings, nurturing and growing them, because that is what we take with us when we go to our eternal rest. 

Are you walking with God (Ephesians 1:1-2)

Ephesians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the holy ones who are [in Ephesus] faithful in Christ Jesus: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul here makes a distinction in his address that he is writing to the “holy ones” (the saints in the NKJV). He is separating out the people in the Synagogue who act like they are rightous from those who truly follow Christ’s teachings. 

Grace to you and peace. He wishes graces to those who follow Christ. We must have grace before we can peacefully walk with God. We have every reason to trust in God. We must also trust that when we offer up our sins, he will forgive them. Once we confess our sins to God, and we are forgiven, we must also forgive ourselves. We must not dwell on our sins or let them eat our minds. If we are truly sorry, and truly repent, we are truly forgiven. Letting ourselves continue to think on what we did wrong is letting the devil win, and showing God we don’t truly trust in his love. We mustn’t doubt that we are capable to be forgiven. We are not unworthy of his love. If we begin to think that, then it’s like saying Jesus’s death wasn’t enough.  Jesus suffered, was beaten, and was nailed to a cross. He died in agony for every one of us. He took on every sin committed and every one that will ever be. His death offers every single one of us grace. Accept that grace. Let your heart heal. Let peace in. Then you can be free to walk in peace with God. 

Waiting

In our world today, we can’t wait for the “next thing,” whatever that may be. Right now, it’s obviously holiday season, and this is a great example. People began decorating for Christmas in October, because they couldn’t wait. We have DVRs, so we can skip commercials. We have online shopping and shipping, so we don’t have to wait in lines. People hate waiting behind a slow vehicle, so sometimes they blow their horns, or speed around them. We couldn’t wait until lockdown was over. We wanted a fix immediately. The world seems to be a hurry all the time. But what does it really hurt to wait?

In Luke, we read about the prophetess Anna, in Luke 2:36-38: “There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Anna had been in the temple praying for years waiting. Years! If we assume she married young, because that was the nature then, she was married only 7 years before he passed away, she was potentially praying in the temple for around 60 years at least. Waiting. And praying. Not rushing ahead with life.  Not trying to make things work in her way. Not trying to follow her plan because God’s seemed to be moving too slow. She waited. There was a man named Simeon we read about in Luke 2:25 who also waited. Simeon was a “ righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel.” He was promised not to see death until he saw the Messiah. So he waited. 

Waiting can purify our desires. Instead of first jumping onto what we think we need or want, if we wait, we might truly get a glimpse of what is underneath, what our heart truly longs for. If we become more aware of our hearts during our waiting, we might see attachments in our lives, and realize we are able to surrender those attachments. Once we can do that, we are more able to receive all that God wants to give us. 

With some of our prayers, God has to work a miracle in our lives as well as someone else’s. Just because our hearts are ready, doesn’t mean the other person’s is. They may not be ready to accept change, or be ready to cooperate with his plane. Or we may truly not be ready to accept change that we desire because of our own selfishness, sinfulness, or immaturity. This can become frustrating, especially if you see a similar prayer being answered in someone else’s life.  Do not let yourself become tired and leave the waiting portion to try to make things happen for yourself. Do not let doubt fill your hearts. We need to listen in our hearts as well as our minds. God will provide. 

Because Simeon waited he was granted the gift to see the Messiah. Because Anna waited, she received the gift she was wanting. We can learn so much from Simeon and Anna. They teach us to never leave, to stay still as we wait Keep tight to your faith. God is working. Be still, and wait. Just as the world awaited the coming of the Messiah. Just as each year we should wait and celebrate Jesus’s birth, the light he brought into the world, the true meaning of Christmas.