by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,
The new law of love is the basis of western civilization. The natural law is brutal. Survival of the fittest, whoever has might is right. However the law of love is one which is contrary to our natural inclinations. It says to the weak, we will make a way for you, for the poor is says we will help. When you visit cultures not influenced by the great law of love you find abject poverty with no one even working on a solution. Except the Mother Theresa type who are transplanted. The law of love will always prevail. For it provides a better life. It is not our democratic form of government which was informed by this great law, nor is it capitalism which enables our society to tower above all others economically. Fact: US economy - 14 trillion per year, our next closest competitor is less than 5 trillion. There is something about this law of love that has been proved through the ages and now through our politics that indeed the societies which are influenced by this law have created a better life for it's inhabitants. Pardon me for being politically incorrect but the facts are the facts.
APPLICATION
To humbly rest in the occurence that I am a blessed individual to have been born into this great nation.
Welcome
One of the most effective ways to allow the Word of God to affect your life is to study it inductively. That is what this blog is all about. Typically one verse per day will be mined for insight and then followed up with how I plan to implement that insight practically. My prayer is that in some way you find this useful in your journey and that it may impact you positively. -G
Monday, February 14, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Ephesians 2:14 - The Keys to the Heart
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
Consciously or unconsciously before we know Christ there is a proverbial wall, a barrier between us and God. Some liken it to running from God. Others vehemently disavowing His existence. Nonetheless we are alienated from Him one way or another. Once the believer settles down and begins to learn of the true gentle character of God, the ultimate irony befalls the believer. That God's primary intent for us is to bless us, with the riches of such magnitude that we could never fathom ourselves.
That is when we realize the foolishness of our running. As He lavishes His blessings on us we begin to recognize the barriers that we used to have are all the more present in the lives of those around us who have not stopped to learn who He really is.
APPLICATION
To have the patience and grace to bear with those who are blinded by their barrier to God and to seek Him for the keys to their hearts.
Consciously or unconsciously before we know Christ there is a proverbial wall, a barrier between us and God. Some liken it to running from God. Others vehemently disavowing His existence. Nonetheless we are alienated from Him one way or another. Once the believer settles down and begins to learn of the true gentle character of God, the ultimate irony befalls the believer. That God's primary intent for us is to bless us, with the riches of such magnitude that we could never fathom ourselves.
That is when we realize the foolishness of our running. As He lavishes His blessings on us we begin to recognize the barriers that we used to have are all the more present in the lives of those around us who have not stopped to learn who He really is.
APPLICATION
To have the patience and grace to bear with those who are blinded by their barrier to God and to seek Him for the keys to their hearts.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Ephesians 2:13 - The Greatest Love of All
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The outstretched arm of our Savior willingly placed upon that cross was done as a proposal, inviting all who would come to Him to be known as His. In the same way that a young man on bended knee proposes to the girl of his dreams, our Jesus makes his proposal a blood covenant. The parallels are amazing. When a marriage proposal is made there are many important questions wrapped up in that one decision. For example, everything that belongs to the groom will become the shared property of the bride as well. The groom is proposing that their friendship would be above all other relationships. The triumphs and tragedies of life would be henceforth shared and experienced together. Lastly but more than all the rest is that the bride would become a new person in regards to identity, she will no longer be known as her maiden name but will take on the name of her husband. In the same way, when we accept the proposal that Christ makes toward us from the cross, he is proposing that all that is His will be ours, He wants to give us His Spirit and to crown us with His mind, to be intimate with us even in our own thoughts. A friend that sticks closer than a brother. Then also once we agree with this amazing proposal we are known by His Name: Christian.
That is how we are drawn near to God by the blood of Christ. It is a most extreme , that demonstrates the greatest love of all.
APPLICATION
To be mindful of who I belong to and to remember that His care and love for me is that of a perfect, compassionate loving husband over his cherished bride.
The outstretched arm of our Savior willingly placed upon that cross was done as a proposal, inviting all who would come to Him to be known as His. In the same way that a young man on bended knee proposes to the girl of his dreams, our Jesus makes his proposal a blood covenant. The parallels are amazing. When a marriage proposal is made there are many important questions wrapped up in that one decision. For example, everything that belongs to the groom will become the shared property of the bride as well. The groom is proposing that their friendship would be above all other relationships. The triumphs and tragedies of life would be henceforth shared and experienced together. Lastly but more than all the rest is that the bride would become a new person in regards to identity, she will no longer be known as her maiden name but will take on the name of her husband. In the same way, when we accept the proposal that Christ makes toward us from the cross, he is proposing that all that is His will be ours, He wants to give us His Spirit and to crown us with His mind, to be intimate with us even in our own thoughts. A friend that sticks closer than a brother. Then also once we agree with this amazing proposal we are known by His Name: Christian.
That is how we are drawn near to God by the blood of Christ. It is a most extreme , that demonstrates the greatest love of all.
APPLICATION
To be mindful of who I belong to and to remember that His care and love for me is that of a perfect, compassionate loving husband over his cherished bride.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Ephesians 2:12 - Spiritual Zombies
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.
It is a funny thing that before we know Christ we are not aware of our lifeless spirituality. We tend to try to fill that God shaped hole in our hearts with various and sundry myths, movements and mantras. Eventually concluding that none of that satisfies in the long run. In the short run however we can distract ourselves with all kinds of things like sports, business, relationships, addictions, materialism etc. in between "reaching out" spiritually and for many we can live a lifetime away from God skipping along from one issue to another, one mess to the next, situation after situation always unsatisfied and eventually if we are not sedated, finally seeking the truth with an open heart. Enter the Savior stage right. If our hearts are open He will always reveal Himself. No matter how far we run from Him He is always one step behind if we turn in earnest seeking the truth.
APPLICATION
To be grateful that my spirit is alive in Him and .to be on the lookout for spiritual zombies, who are looking for Jesus yet do not yet know it.
It is a funny thing that before we know Christ we are not aware of our lifeless spirituality. We tend to try to fill that God shaped hole in our hearts with various and sundry myths, movements and mantras. Eventually concluding that none of that satisfies in the long run. In the short run however we can distract ourselves with all kinds of things like sports, business, relationships, addictions, materialism etc. in between "reaching out" spiritually and for many we can live a lifetime away from God skipping along from one issue to another, one mess to the next, situation after situation always unsatisfied and eventually if we are not sedated, finally seeking the truth with an open heart. Enter the Savior stage right. If our hearts are open He will always reveal Himself. No matter how far we run from Him He is always one step behind if we turn in earnest seeking the truth.
APPLICATION
To be grateful that my spirit is alive in Him and .to be on the lookout for spiritual zombies, who are looking for Jesus yet do not yet know it.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Ephesians 2:11 - Clarify the Intents
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
The pitfall of every believer is to demonstrate an outward appearance of holiness yet inwardly be far from God. The old "talk the talk and not walk the walk". The difficulty lies in the fact that there is pressure to "look the part" and that is the visible and most obvious aspect that gets "judged". Yet inwardly only our own spirit and the Spirit of God knows what is really going on. The key is to begin working on our thoughts and motivations, then it will spill out into our words and then our deeds will follow. So test yourself to see if indeed you are in the faith as Paul admonished his disciples.
APPLICATION
To be careful today of my thoughts and intentions. To clarify that I am indeed in tune with God's Spirit.
The pitfall of every believer is to demonstrate an outward appearance of holiness yet inwardly be far from God. The old "talk the talk and not walk the walk". The difficulty lies in the fact that there is pressure to "look the part" and that is the visible and most obvious aspect that gets "judged". Yet inwardly only our own spirit and the Spirit of God knows what is really going on. The key is to begin working on our thoughts and motivations, then it will spill out into our words and then our deeds will follow. So test yourself to see if indeed you are in the faith as Paul admonished his disciples.
APPLICATION
To be careful today of my thoughts and intentions. To clarify that I am indeed in tune with God's Spirit.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Ephesians 2:10 - The Lord's Piece de Resistance
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
piece de resistance - the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection, collector's item highlight in a collection or showpiece.
Humankind is the ultimate crown of God's creation. Being made in His image we have the complexities of self awareness and most importantly the capacity of free will, which sets us totally apart from all other created beings. With that free will the most astounding ability we posess is that we are capable of loving one another. This is why the whole of the law and the prophets is summed up in the golden command to love one another because we alone have this capacity, and as we do we reflect God's most intrinsic characteristic, love.
APPLICATION
To find ways to be more loving today, to seek God for His Spirit to be this.
piece de resistance - the outstanding item (the prize piece or main exhibit) in a collection, collector's item highlight in a collection or showpiece.
Humankind is the ultimate crown of God's creation. Being made in His image we have the complexities of self awareness and most importantly the capacity of free will, which sets us totally apart from all other created beings. With that free will the most astounding ability we posess is that we are capable of loving one another. This is why the whole of the law and the prophets is summed up in the golden command to love one another because we alone have this capacity, and as we do we reflect God's most intrinsic characteristic, love.
APPLICATION
To find ways to be more loving today, to seek God for His Spirit to be this.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Ephesians 2:9 - Do The Right Thing For The Right Reason
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Have you ever had a situation where once a certain thing was established or in place then everything else just "clicked"? Well the principle in this verse is one of those. Our good works, the things we do for God, or to further the Kingdom are not to be done to earn God's favor or to buy our way into heaven. In fact in Isaiah he states that our good works are as valuable as filthy rags, so don't go getting all puffed up about them. Conversely the proper motivation to do good works should only be out of gratitude of what God has already done done for us, or as we walk with Him and our will becomes more and more in tune with His then we will do the things that He would do, just like Jesus. He said "I only do what the Father tells me to do" When we get this right then all the rest will fall into place and we will be led by the Spirit and find that to do His will is like food for the Christian.
APPLICATION
To get my self out of the way so that I can be in tune with His Spirit today and accomplish what He has for me.
Have you ever had a situation where once a certain thing was established or in place then everything else just "clicked"? Well the principle in this verse is one of those. Our good works, the things we do for God, or to further the Kingdom are not to be done to earn God's favor or to buy our way into heaven. In fact in Isaiah he states that our good works are as valuable as filthy rags, so don't go getting all puffed up about them. Conversely the proper motivation to do good works should only be out of gratitude of what God has already done done for us, or as we walk with Him and our will becomes more and more in tune with His then we will do the things that He would do, just like Jesus. He said "I only do what the Father tells me to do" When we get this right then all the rest will fall into place and we will be led by the Spirit and find that to do His will is like food for the Christian.
APPLICATION
To get my self out of the way so that I can be in tune with His Spirit today and accomplish what He has for me.
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