Ephesians 5
(v.1) Those of us who have children, we see that they imitate us. Whether it be acting like they're on the phone, talking in a certain way (hopefully not badly) or any other imitation. They are watching us, and we need to remember that. Paul here is using that model to have us imitate Christ.
(v.3) Paul lists many sins that we have done over our lifetimes, and the purpose is for us to not be in a habit of these things. We will always be sinners on this earth, but we will sin less with the Holy Spirit working in us. If He is working in us, sinning won't be as fun or as enticing.
(v.7) We as parents need to keep track of who our kids play and hang out with. The ideal is for our kids to be friends with other believing children.
(v.8) I always like to use this illustration of what Paul is saying here, by telling my kids that the sun is the light source, and the moon reflects that light in the darkness. God is the sun, and we are the moon...reflecting God's light in the darkness!
(v.11) So many people say, Don't judge me! This is a self-preservation ploy to take the light off their sin. We are to rebuke our family and friends of their sins, but only God judges. But as Paul says here, we are free to identify and expose bad actions and words for what they are...bad. God wants us to be discerning and act accordingly.
(v.16) Redeeming the time...this is like Carpe Diem, the Latin into English, means Seize the day!
We are here at this time in history for a purpose. We have to make the most of what God puts in our paths. That may be just loving and serving our family and friends, or all the way to doing missionary work abroad. Figure out what God has for us to do, and do it!
(v.17) The more we pray and read the Bible, the more we will know what God's will for us is.
(v.22) This is always a sore subject with women, but if they really understand what God is saying here, it makes sense. Jesus is the Groom, and we are the Bride of Christ. We submit to Him, so God has made that template here in marriage. The wives are vital and equal partners in the marriage, but they are to submit to the authority of the husband...like the Church does with Christ.
(v.25) In order for wives to submit, they need to have a husband who is godly. A godly husband will give up his self interests, and love and serve his wife like Christ did for His Bride.
So what we have here, is a reciprocating order, where the Husband gives His life for the Bride, and the Bride loves and submits to the Husband...both are being loved and served at the same time!
(v.32) Back in the Old Testament times, the Church was not seen by the prophets. They wrote of these things, not knowing fully what it meant. God was laying down the Word to show us that He planned to save the whole world...not just the Jews...from sin.
Ephesians 6
(v.1) My kids laugh and smile when I read this to them! They know that they are to obey their parents, but like us parents, we don't always obey our Heavenly Father either! The key is to keep trying and focusing on obedience. When we are walking with God, we have freedom that we never believed was possible!
(v.4) An abusive or domineering father is evil. We are to be firm with our kids, but loving at the same time. Our kids need to see both sides of us.
(v.11) We are at war...the instruments being fought for by God and the devil. In order for us to stay in step with God, we need to do the following:
Gird your waste with truth ~ Know what the Truth is and focus on it
Put on the breastplate of righteousness ~ We have righteousness in our faith in Christ
Shod your feet with the Gospel ~ We are to witness to others the Good News of Christ's work
Take the shield of faith ~ Our faith wards off the devil's attempts to take us away
Take the helmet of salvation ~ We are saved, and we protect ourselves in Christ's work
The Sword of the Spirit ~ The Word of God is a double edged sword, convicting the soul
Praying always ~ It's near impossible to sin when we are praying
If we are going into battle, we need to do these things daily, BEFORE we enter the battle!
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