Ephesians 2:14

Ephesians 2:14

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

So then why is there hostility between various groups of peoples even within the church? It boils down once again to the age old being a doer of the Word vs a hearer only. You see therein lies the challenge. Indeed there are many deeply held animosities and discriminations that find their itinerary meander through various swaths of ignorance, boorishness and eventually finding its origins at the pit of hell itself, for all of this is authored by the father of lies. In Christ we have a way to live together on earth as we will be living in heaven in sweet unity. Under the banner of Christ first, meaning we recognize our humble and pitiful condition at the foot of the cross, there is no room for national pride or any iota of seeing oneself better than another due to the color of skin or the geographical location or even lineage of birth. At the foot of the cross none of that matters, in heaven none of that matters, absolutely none of it. What does matter however is how well we were able to see past our differences and connect the core of our being which is or should be centered on Christ. When Christ is central to your life, I mean front burner, moment by moment, forefront of your mind, walking in step with the Spirit, baptized with power from on High and the fruit of that is gentleness, humility, patience, peace and the like being worn like a garment over your personality then there is not an iota of hostility toward those who are different from ourselves but a striving for unity in the Spirit through the bond of peace. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

application

To be baptized in the Spirit today.

for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:
http://mrsd4him.blogspot.com/2014/06/ephesians-214.html
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Ephesians 2:18

Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

There it is. Access. That is the profound and gleamingly central principle of all of Christianity. Access to God. Think about it in modern terms and you will recognize the enormity of the deal. Consider the near impossible odd of gaining access to an earthly power broker like a president or a CEO of a fortune 500 company. Think of the legion of handlers whose job it is to regulate and administer that access. Think also of those further down the food chain. Like myself, right now I am available to anyone who wanders up to my doorway and knocks, I am accessible. Likewise the God of all the universe is just as accessible, perhaps more so. Since for me you would have to make your way up to Launiupoko above Lahaina on Maui to get to me, all we have to do to access our omnipresent God is to turn our hearts and acknowledge His presence and emote our concern. That my friends is the ultimate access. Use it.

application
To recognize my favored status and access the Almighty today and practice His presence.



for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:

http://mrsd4him.blogspot.com/2014/06/ephesians-218.html

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Ephesians 2:17

Ephesians 2:17
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
The peace Paul is referencing here is peace between God and man. There exists a gulf between the two and Jesus is the bridge that closes that gap for us. The separation between the two is the irreconcilable difference between holiness and sin. Only in Christ is that difference accounted for and satisfied. Apart from Christ there is no peace between God and His creation. Christ’s death on the cross quenched once and for all the enmity between God and man. Therefore Christ is the Prince of Peace.

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the word mediator this way:

MEDIA'TOR, noun One that interposes between parties at variance for the purpose of reconciling them.

1. By way of eminence, Christ is the mediator, the divine intercessor through whom sinners may be reconciled to an offended God.

Christ is a mediator by nature, as partaking of both natures divine and human; and mediator by office, as transacting matters between God and man.

application
Today I will be careful to appreciate the precious gift of reconciliation Christ has paid for me.



for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:

http://mrsd4him.blogspot.com/2014/06/ephesians-217.html

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Ephesians 2:16

Ephesians 2:16
and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

In the same way that Jesus said that if we say to our brother “raca” which loosely translated means ‘jerk’ we are guilty of hatred which is in line with murder. Whoa that is a bit extreme. Indeed it is but these are the fundamental steps of the same ladder. The point being that if two individuals are not in agreement then they are on course toward actual hostility. It may be undercover, it may not be fully developed  but the seeds of hostility are there. When the proverbial cup is shaken it will be proved out. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. This is why it is so important to walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling we have received in that we are to live at peace with all as far as it is within our power to do so. Eph. 4:1, Ro. 12:18. Being reconciled to our fellow man, not having any misgivings under the surface in our relationships, not harboring resentments, not taking the opportunity to clear the air when we perceive that someone has aught against us, or not allowing the sun to go down on our wrath are some of the tools we need to begin to walk in unity with the people in our lives. To keep ourselves off of the first rung of the ladder of hostility in the first place. Then unity in the body will truly become our higher value. Which will fulfill the verse that states:

Psalm 133:1
1How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

application
I will be careful to guard my heart against resentment and to live at peace with all I connect with today.

for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:

http://mrsd4him.blogspot.com/2014/06/ephesians-216.html

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Ephesians 2:13

Ephesians 2:13

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

It is only with the backdrop of the Jewish sacrificial system of drawing near to God that we can begin to comprehend the significance of the value of the precious blood of Christ. As these words were written in the beginning days of the first century, these concepts were common knowledge. But as we go down through the ages and distance ourselves from the familiar and prevalent Jewish rite of acceptance by God through blood sacrifice, we are forced to overlay the singular passageway to God being the blood of Christ into the modern and sanitized culture in which we live. This is our dilemma, our challenge, our trial. Can we allow ourselves to be a living breathing example of how the blood of Christ truly changes our very lives. Even though our changed life  is connected to a mystical relic of a bygone antiquated, savage and brutal long ago forsaken religion. Even the Jews themselves do not practice any form whatsoever of animal sacrifice, yet we hold on to this very thing from this distant antiquated and ancient era as the most important element of all mankind. We see the shedding of the blood of Christ as the pivotal point in all of human history, they see it as an insignificant footnote on a dusty old useless fable. The only way to entice people to break through this thoughtless mindset is to have our lives reflect the glory of God. To live a life of other centeredness, to be gracious, forgiving, generous and joyful even in our most difficult of seasons will enable our very existence be the refutation of all the lies the enemy of our souls has been telling since the day the precious blood of Christ was poured out for the forgiveness of the sins of mankind.

application

To be mindful today that God is making His appeal to the unsaved world through my holy behavior and my life giving words of encouragement and grace.

for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:
http://mrsd4him.blogspot.com/2014/06/ephesians-213.html

Ephesians 2:12

Ephesians 2:12

remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

How interesting it is to consider how the people of this era were lied to, led astray, manipulated and let down time and time again by all the previous false gods and their nefarious and various charlatan snake oil sales teams. Consider that they were told that the asherah pole was god, then the Molech “sacrifice your infant” was god, then the Baal worshippers and the temple prostitutes all extracting various goods from the people be it money, devotion even their own children again and again turning up the reality that these “gods” were nothing. All the while these very same people looked on at the children of Israel and saw the most amazing protection and provision by a Real God who was not only benevolent but willing to be personal. Beginning with the plagues in Egypt and the parting of the red sea to the pillars of cloud and fire to the bringing down the walls of Jericho, these were not mere legends but actual accounts that were witnessed, then discussed and contemplated and thereto compared to the emptiness of the bogus, fictitious and delusive gods of the prince of the power of the air.

So now as Paul is reminding them of their former vacuous existence without hope and without God in the world he is seriously getting their attention.

application

To be mindful that I serve the one singular and true God, and to also be reminded that all else are beguilingly untrue and lead to nothing.

for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:
http://mrsd4him.blogspot.com/2014/06/ephesians-212.html

Ephesians 2:11

Ephesians 2:11

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—

The age old tension between “us and them” is part and parcel of the fallen human condition. Let’s face it we just feel more comfortable around people like ourselves. However when this tension becomes fully vented it transforms away from a sense of comfort to outright hatred of others who are different. Hence racism. I am pleased to see this current younger millennial generation seem to have a healthy grasp on the color blind society dreamed about exactly 50 years ago by the famed Dr. Martin Luther King. We also are easily beset by the previous generations’ vestiges of lawful segregation and culturally acceptable intolerance. These are the growing pains of a culture that is indeed growing in the right direction.

application

Today I want to be mindful of my snap judgements of others based on outward appearances and to deliberately cast aside any intolerant thoughts or impulses. I will make an effort to engage people to learn who they are beyond who they appear to be.  

for further insight into this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here:
MrsDforHim


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Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In the NKJV the word for handiwork is transcribed as workmanship, in the NLT it is masterpiece, the original Greek word that all of these derive from is poema, where we get our english word for poem. In any event The Lord has artistically made us for his purposes. We are his implement of choice, prepared to accomplish His will by doing the things we have been created and prepared to do.  Like any creator who invents a tool to do a specific task it is fashioned with all thought and consideration for the task at hand. Well for us, as the crowning treasure of His creation, after all He created the earth and the stars, day and night, the oceans and the plants and animals He finally in a masterstroke of ultimate genus created man. In all of mans complexities he has a nature far above all of creation, here is why mankind is referred to as His masterpiece, Man has the capacity to love and to forgive and also to create for we are made in the image of God Himself. For an all knowing and all loving God to accomplish His will with man being the device of choice, it only makes sense that we would need to be created with the capacities to love and forgive and to create as well.

application

As I am reminded of my place in His creation, I need to live up to my calling and be His well prepared instrument of grace and creativity today.

For further insight on this verse see my wife Margaret's blog here-
MrsD4Him

Ephesians 2:9

Ephesians 2:9

not by works, so that no one can boast.

I appreciate how deeply the Scriptures possess and master the plight of our common human frailties. Of course we are all susceptible boast about something we have done that we consider to be good. It is in our dna. It begins with make a potty and the parents cheer, “yay” and applaud. to watch me jump in the pool, watch me… , “yay”- you did it good. We are trained to bring home that test with that red star on it and seek out the - “yay”, aren’t we? So at the end of the age as we come to the final sentence of the final page of the final chapter of our frail human existence our training and nature will reflexively bring us to point at the things we have done which we consider to be good and expect with all certainty a hardy “yay” from the Heavenly Father. Only one thing is wrong with this picture, in that highly pivotal and greatly anticipated moment in time there is in actuality a greater preeminent and superlative good work being pointed to that we do not want to distract from with our cute little potty thingy. No in that moment all of our attention will be focused directly on the Christ of the Living God and the Great work He accomplished for us and the recognition and gratitude and tribute that will accompany that revelation will be the “Yay of Yays” in fact it will be the “YAY!” to end all “Yays.”

application

to be content with all that I have and to walk humbly with God.