Category Archives: Promises

Bible, Foolishness, God's Will, Promises, Scripture, Understanding

DON’T BE A FOOL

EPHESIANS 5:17

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” 

A quote that is attributed to Abraham Lincoln is “It is better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Charles Spurgeon once had a note placed on the pulpit where he was preaching that simply said, “Fool.” He said to the audience, “Well, I have had many notes and letters written to me that were left unsigned. This is the first one that was signed but had no message.”

No one wants to be considered foolish or to be called a fool. In Galatians, Paul calls them “You foolish Galatians” because they were going back to their former thinking and denying his teachings. Here in Ephesians 5:17, he tells the Ephesians to “not be foolish.” He said instead for them to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” That can be a tall order, can’t it? How many times have you wondered what the Lord’s will was for you? Too many to count, right?

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Does that make you a fool? No, I don’t think so. If we are pursuing His will, we are not being foolish. But to know it and ignore, that is definitely foolish. The word used here for “foolish” means someone who just does not understand cause and effect. They don’t seem to grasp that every decision we make has consequences. They may be good or bad, but they will come. When we pursue God’s will, good things follow. I don’t mean bad things won’t happen. I do mean that the ultimate consequence of our following God’s will is good.

In Luke 11:40, Jesus called the Pharisees “You foolish ones” because they were more concerned in keeping the ceremonial laws than in obeying God. Sometimes we can do a right thing and be miles away from God’s will. That is foolish. Understanding God’s will may take time. He may disclose His will to you in pieces, not all at once. That’s okay.

Do you want to be foolish? I don’t think so. Do you want to understand God’s will? Probably. I say probably because you may not. It may cost you something you are not willing to give up. I am sorry, but that is foolish. What God requires is always better than what we want. Trust Him. Seek Him. His will is not a best kept secret. He wants to reveal it to you. Don’t be a fool!

Lord, forgive my foolishness for not seeking Your will more readily.

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Ascension, Bible, Heaven, Promises, Redemption, Salvation, Scripture

WHERE DID HE GO?

EPHESIANS 4:9

“(Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?”

There is a town in Tennessee called Mountain City. It is appropriately named and is in a beautiful area of the state. The Great Smokey Mountains are breathtaking. This town is most easily accessed by going up from Tennessee into North Carolina and then back to Tennessee. So, you have to go up in order to go down.

Today’s verse has been interpreted in a number of ways. I am not going to go into all those ideas. I agree with those who say Paul was simply saying Jesus went back to heaven after having come down to earth. He ascended and had previously descended. Those two words, “ascended” an “descended,” simply mean what they say.

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But what does that mean for us today? Simply put – Jesus humbled Himself and came to earth for our salvation and once that was done, He returned to prepare a place for us. Go back to Luke 2. What’s that about? It’s about the birth of Lord. He was born in a stable, a very humble place. His birth was first proclaimed to shepherds, a very lowly occupation. Jesus came down in the form of a baby to reach everyone, even the lowest of the low.

And praise God – He accomplished His mission and ascended on high. Acts 1:9-11 give us a picture of this ascension. “9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, 11 and they said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’”

Are you star gazing waiting on Jesus to return or are you serving Him faithfully as you wait? These angels told us that He is coming back. We don’t know when, but He is coming. How will He find you walking with Him? Jesus came down with purpose and returned with purpose. We need to live our lives every day with the same kind of divine purpose.

O Lord, thank You for sending Jesus down to us to rescue and for returning to prepare our heavenly home.

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Access, Appearance, Bible, God's Will, Messages, Mind, Mystery, Presence, Promises, Revelation, Scripture

REVELATION BY THE SPIRIT

EPHESIANS 3:5

“which in other generations was not made known to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;”

Revelations are pretty cool. What do I mean by that? I am not trying to be mystical or anything. Think about your everyday life. Sometimes things just “come” to you, as if the thought just popped out of nowhere. These revelations can be explained in a lot of ways – a subconscious thought, a memory, etc. But there were and still are some revelations that can only be explained by the Spirit.

Paul tells the Ephesians that this revelation he has received concerning the mystery of grace came from God through the Holy Spirit. This revelation, this apokaluptó, shows how this happened. The word means to take the cover off to reveal what has been hidden. The Holy Spirit has uncovered the secrets of grace to Paul and the other apostles and prophets. They have been given the privilege of understanding in order to teach it. It wasn’t their secret to keep. It was meant to be shared.

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What has God revealed to you? Jesus told us in Matthew 10:26, “‘So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.’” He wants to reveal Himself to you fully. He wants you to know as much as you can handle about this wonderful thing called grace. He wants to use you to spread this revelation to others.

This “revealing” by the Spirit is not a one-time thing. God continues to reveal things to you at the right time. Look what Philippians 3:15 says. “Therefore, all who are mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you as well;” He checks your attitude. Now, who doesn’t need that?

I have said it multiple times in my blogs. God does not want to play hide-and-seek with you. He wants you to find Him. He is not hiding. He is standing right out in the open. Just look. Open your eyes and ask Him to show you what you need. He promises to come alongside us and walk with us. You can’t get much more revealing than that.

O Lord, You are a revealing God. Thank You for showing us Yourself in Your Son, Jesus

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AMAZED, Answers, Bible, Insight, Knowledge, Mystery, Promises, Questions, Scripture

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

EPHESIANS 3:4

“By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,”

I really like putting jigsaw puzzles together. There is just something about finding the right piece for the right spot. And then when you put that final piece in, you can step back and admire the finished product. Some people actually frame their finished puzzles. I prefer to tear it all apart and putting it all together again.

Paul uses a Greek word in today’s verse which is translated as “insight.” It’s the Greek word, sunesis, which means putting it all together in your mind. Paul has been given the privilege to gather all the pieces of the grace of God and can now proclaim those to the Ephesians. The mystery of grace is now explained. The Gentiles are welcomed into God’s kingdom along with the Jews who have believed. Paul wants the Ephesians to understand this completely.

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Do you remember the story about the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple. Well, this word, sunesis, is used in Luke 2:47 to explain Jesus’ understanding of the law. “And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” Of course, Jesus had full understanding of the Scriptures. But the people were amazed at his knowledge. As you gain more insights into God’s Word, others may be just as amazed at your understanding. Handle that humbly.

We see sunesis used also in 2 Timothy 2:7 when Paul was encouraging Timothy to be strong. “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” Do you desire a deeper understanding of God’s Word? Do you want to gain more insight in what God is trying to show us? Ask Him. He will give to us as we show the desire.

Back to that jigsaw puzzle. What do you do if you come up one piece short? It’s kind of frustrating. It just isn’t complete without that last piece. God will never withhold that last piece from you. He wants you to be fully informed. He wants to complete you in Christ. No missing pieces!

Thank You, Father, for the completion of Your gift of grace

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Access, Bible, Door, God's Will, Heaven, Introduction, Promises, Scripture

OPEN DOOR

EPHESIANS 2:18

“for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”

I grew up in Southwest Georgia, in a little town called Pelham. I was born in 1960 (you can do the math to see how old I am, lol) when you could sleep with your door unlocked. You could ride your bike all over town with your friends without an armed guard riding shotgun. Even our dogs ran loose and free. It was a different time. Open doors were a common thing.

But in today’s verse, Paul tells us that even today we can walk right into an open door. He uses a word for “access” that shows us exactly what this means. HELPS Word studies defines prosagōgḗ as to “come towards (near); have access (approach), with intimate (face-to-face) interaction (note the prefix pros). All three occasions of 4318 /prosagōgḗ (interactive access) refer to ‘having audience (direct access) with God.’” Now, that’s an invitation to come in, isn’t it?

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The word prosagōgḗ is only used three times in the New Testament. It is used here and later in Ephesians 3:12. We will look at that verse in a few weeks (just keep coming back to my blogsite to catch that). The other time it is used is in Romans 5:2. To get the context we need to back up to verse 1. “1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.” 

This word, prosagōge, not only means “access,” it also means “introduction.” And in this case, introduction and access to God. Hallelujah! Do you know what that means? We can approach the throne boldly, not because of anything we have done but because of Jesus. Like it said in Romans 5:1, it is “through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen? Amen!

I don’t know about you, but as my ole friend Bill Stafford used to say, “That’s shouting ground.” That ought to excite you. That ought to thrill your soul. Because of Jesus, we can just walk right into glory. No ticket is required. We don’t have to push a wheelbarrow full of treasures through the pearly gates. We simply walk in because we are covered in the blood of the Lamb. Praise God!

O God, words cannot express my gratitude for the open door to Glory!

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Abiding, Bible, Blessing, Choices, Estrangement, Promises, Purpose, Scripture, Separation

SEPARATE FROM CHRIST

EPHESIANS 2:12

“remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

Separation from those you love is hard. Whether it is due to death, a move across the country or world or estrangement, it’s hard to deal with. Why? Because our love doesn’t stop just because the person(s) is out of our sight. We continue to love them, but now we can’t touch them (hug, kiss). We miss them. Our heart aches for them. If you have experienced this, you know the deep longing that is with you every day.

Paul reminds us in today’s verse that we were once separate from Christ. We had no part in Him. Most of us never even realized we were separate from Him. We were going on our merry way as if everything was fine. But we weren’t fine. Paul says we were “excluded” for God’s people, we were “strangers” to God’s promises and we had “no hope” because we lacked God’s purpose. No people, no promise, no purpose. That’s separation from God.

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Paul uses a Greek word in this verse for “excluded” which can be defined as “estranged.” The word is apallotrioó, which is only used two other times in the New Testament. Later in this letter (4:18) and in Colossians 1:21. All three times it refers to an alienation or exclusion from Christ before we were saved. What does that mean for us as believers? It means we should be grateful for what we have now. Amen? We should occasionally lookback and give God praise for all He has done for us.

Sometimes our exclusion, our estrangement is of our own doing. We decided to move away from Christ. We don’t live as if He has any part of us. We are actually shunning the Spirit of God that is in us as believers. Listen, beloved, that is dangerous territory. That puts you outside the umbrella of His protection. As for me, I choose to stay under that protection.

Paul says we are “strangers.” That Greek word is xenos.It is where we get “xenophobia” -the fear of people. I don’t want to be a stranger to Christ. I want to be family. Don’t you? We all want our families to be close. We all want to be able to share our love with one another. Christ desires the same with us. He is drawing you close today. Do you feel that tug? It’s Him!

O Father, thank You for drawing me into Your family so I am no longer an alien or stranger.

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Abundance, Belief, Bible, Blessing, Eternal Life, Eternity, Pledge, Promises, Scripture, Trustworthy

FIRST INSTALLMENT

EPHESIANS 1:14

“who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

I currently have one installment loan that I am responsible for. When I moved to Knoxville, TN back in March, my wife and I had to borrow money to buy our home. That loan is an installment loan. Any type of loan you borrow all at once and repay in smaller increments is an installment loan. I will be paying on this house until I go to heaven or Jesus returns (whichever comes first, lol).

Paul uses this word three times in his letters – here, 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5. Only he uses it in the New Testament. I love how Albert Barnes explains this Greek Word, arrabón. “God thus gives to his people the assurance that they shall be saved; and by this “pledge” makes their title to eternal life sure.” The installment payment God made was His Holy Spirit. We have a little taste of heaven by being indwelt with His Spirit.

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Let’s look at the other two occurrences of that word. 2 Corinthians 1:22 says, “who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” In the same letter, Paul says this in 5:5, “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.” This word was a common term used in business transactions. It was a promise of future payment. This pledge or first payment was meant to show you were good for the rest.

Aren’t you glad we know our God is good for the rest? His promises are sure. He will never fail us. He has promised us so much, but the best is an eternity with Him. Can you imagine? No more alarm clocks waking you up to go to work. No more bills to pay. No more aches and pains. No more…you fill in the blank. We will have a lot of “no mores,” but we will also have a lot of “so much mores.”

Take a minute and thank God for His gift of the Holy Spirit in your life as a believer. Thank Him for convicting you of sin.  Thank Him for uttering our deepest pains when we can’t find the words. Thank Him for His guidance through difficult situations. Thank for this pledge of our inheritance.

Father, You have promised us so much and given us this pledge as a reminder.

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Belief, Bible, Holy Spirit, Promises, Scripture, Sealed

SEALED

EPHESIANS 1:13

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,”

Marking something that belongs to you is pretty customary. Ranchers brand their livestock to identify them as belonging to them. Libraries stamp books. Notaries put their seal on a document signifying that they have legitimized it. There are all sorts of seals that we use today. None is more important than the seal we are going to see today in verse 13 of Ephesians 1.

Paul sets out an order of things in this verse. First you listen to the message of truth (the gospel), then you believe and then and only then are you sealed with the Holy Spirit (of promise). We could stay on this verse for a month and not teach everything in it. Don’t worry, we won’t do that. Let’s concentrate on the sealing that Paul talks about here.

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You are sealed when you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Greek word used here is sphragizo. It means “to seal (affix) with a signet ring or other instrument to stamp (a roller or seal), i.e. to attest ownership, authorizing (validating) what is sealed.” (HELPS Word-studies). What is important about this word is how it is used. It is in the Aorist tense which implies a one-time act. It is in the Passive voice which means it was done to you by someone else. God sealed you with His Spirit. You did not seal yourself.

The same word is used over in 2 Corinthians 1:22. Let’s look at that verse in context. “21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” The Holy Spirit is proof that we have been identified as belonging to God. Now, understand something. Why is a seal important? Because you want others to see it. Others should see the mark of God on us.

Are you showing God’s seal today? Do your lost friends see the Spirit’s influence in your life by how you live? They should. The seal of the Spirit should be very apparent. We should wear that seal proudly. Make your seal known. Let others be drawn to God through the Spirit of God that dwells within you. Let’s keep “branding” others for Jesus.

Father, I am proud to wear Your seal of the Holy Spirit on my heart.

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Abiding, Belief, Bible, Choices, Decisions, God's Will, Hope, Messiah, Promises, Scripture, Trust

FIRST TO HOPE

EPHESIANS 1:12

“to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

Some people are eternal optimists. They have hope when all else fails. They seem to look at the world through rose-colored glasses, as the saying goes. It seems nothing gets them down. When things are at their lowest, they will say, “Well, it could be worse.” Don’t you just hate those people, lol? Seriously, we could use more people like that in the world, couldn’t we?

Paul uses a phrase in today’s verse which has many scholars disagreeing. “We who were the first to hope in the Christ” could refer to the Jews, who first hoped in a Messiah. It could refer to the first Christians, Jews and Gentiles. No one is sure who Paul was referring to here. We’ll have to ask him one day, won’t we? However he meant it, these people “would be to the praise of His glory.”

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The Greek word for “first to hope” is proelpizó, which comes from two Greek words, pro, meaning before, and elpizo, which means “actively waiting for God’s fulfillment about the faith He has inbirthed through the power of His love.” (HELPS Word-studies). Are you still with me? This word is only used right here in Ephesians 1:12. From the definition, I personally believe he is referring to the Jewish believers who had held a hope for the Messiah and then responded when He arrived.

But how does this apply to us today? Jesus has already come and gone. He came to give us access to the Father (John 14:6). Now we hope in His return. When will that be? Nobody knows. But we have been told how. Acts 1:9-11 says, “9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, 11 and they said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’”

Are you gazing intently? Are you watching for His return? It could be any day. Prophecies have been fulfilled. We are at the threshold of heaven. Are you ready? He is coming. We can hope in that. Give someone else that hope today. Share the good news of Jesus with a lost friend or family member. Then they too can hope in Christ.

Lord, You are returning. I stand today gazing at the sky hoping it is today.

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Abiding, Answers, Asking, Belief, Bible, Boldness, Decisions, Encouragement, God's Will, Promises, Scripture, Seeking

TIRED OF WAITING

GALATIANS 4:28

“And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.”

My wife and I have been waiting on something for well over a year. Every day we pray about this, asking God to do whatever He needs to do to resolve the situation. Waiting is hard. Asking for the same thing over and over is challenging. But I am reminded of the story told in Luke 18 where Jesus taught the disciples about prayer. Verse 1 says, “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged,” I’ll let you read the next several verses later to see the parable He told them.

Why mention waiting? Because Paul mentions Isaac today in verse 28 of chapter 4. He was the child promised to Abraham and Sarah. Sarah didn’t get pregnant right away. God waited 25 years. Abraham was 75 when God gave him that promise, and Isaac was born when he was 100 (Sarah was 90). Why would God do that? Don’t you know Abraham asked Sarah a hundred times if she was pregnant, and every time she would tell him “Not this time.” Annoying, right?

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Sometimes God moves swiftly. We just moved and the process happened so quickly. We prayed for the right buyer and the right house for us on the other end. From listing our house to a contract signed took seven days. Then we found a house and had a contract in two days. So, we know He can move fast when it is His plan. The danger we face is getting ahead of God. I am sure you have never done that.

In 1 Samuel 13:8-9 we see a story about Saul when he did not wait as instructed. “8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, ‘Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.” And we know what happened as a result. The kingdom which had been promised to him was torn away and given to David. Waiting is important.

I want to encourage you today (as I encourage myself) to wait on God. He has a plan for your life. Listen to Him. Wait on Him. His timing is always perfect even though we don’t think so sometime. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it (I keep reminding myself of that).

Lord, Your promises are always true and will be fulfilled. Help me wait on You instead of kicking in doors myself.

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