Ephesians (Program #47) – Living in the Relationship Between Wife and Husband

If you’ve been to any weddings lately, you very likely may have heard this passage quoted from Ephesians Chapter 5, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord; For a husband is head of the wife as also Christ is Head of the church,… Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

Yes, this is the exaltation that nearly every Christian couple begins their married life with. Yet as good as these verses are, they neglect one important thing.  How can we do it? How can wives submit? How can husbands love to such a degree? If we don’t offer couples these verses in the context of Chapter 5, including verse 18, we may not be serving them faithfully, in fact we may be setting them up for failure.

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Ephesians (Program #46) – Living by Being Filled in Spirit

Have you ever picked up the Bible hoping, wishing even praying that it would just tell you in plain language what God’s will is for you?  Well, in truth probably all of us have this experience or something similar.  But in fact there is a very clear word in Ephesians 5:17 and it says “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” and it goes on in verse 18 to tell us, “And do not be drunk with wine, …. but be filled in spirit,”  That’s it! God;’s will is clear. for you and me – be filled in spirit. But what it is to be filled in our spirit?

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #12) – The History Concerning Saul (4)

After been established as king over Israel, God enabled Saul to defeat three successive enemies that were plaguing Israel. But during the course of these campaigns, it gradually become more and more clear what Saul was seeking in his own heart was not God’s kingdom, but rather to build up a kingdom or a monarchy for himself. The third of these enemies, the Amalekites had bothered the children of Israel many years before when they were traveling in the wilderness on their way to good land after leaving Egypt. After Joshua defeated them the Lord told Moses that He would war with the Amalekites from generation to generation. Because in typology, the Amalekites signified the most difficult of all of God’s enemies that is the flesh of mankind. Though king Saul may have outward success his battle against the Amalekites, inwardly he was defeated by his own compulsion to serve God according to his own flesh.

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Ephesians (Program #45) – Living in Love and Light

Human beings are very good imitators.  We all tend to copy the behavior of the others that we esteem highly. We teach our children to imitate. And even society as a whole is all the time encouraging positive role models.

The apostle Paul tells us that we should imitate his pattern. But he goes further in Ephesians 5 where he commands us not just to imitate him or even other apostles but to imitate God. Ephesians 5:1 “Be therefore imitators of God.”

Well, much as we may want to as mortal man we simply cannot do it. Even as Christians is beyond our reach. But there must be a way or else the word of God would not command us to do it. The key lays in the second half of the verse. Listen carefully, “…Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.”

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #11) – The History Concerning Saul (3)

The children of Israel were in a low condition.  Their enemies were closing in.  They had strayed far from the Lord  both in their hearts and in their deeds.  And they feared that He would no longer look after them and protect them. Their reaction was understandable; they asked the prophet Samuel to give them a king just as all the other nations had to protect them. Reluctantly Samuel sought Jehovah in the matter and the Lord granted the people their request and instructed Samuel to anoint Saul as the first king over Israel. In the beginning it appeared that the Lord was with king Saul. And he was victorious in defeating the Ammonites, Israel’s enemy. But as time went on it became more and more evident that what was filling Saul’s heart was not so much to establish God’s kingdom but rather to build up a monarchy or a kingdom of his own within God’s kingdom.

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Ephesians (Program #44) – A Summary of Learning Christ

The Gospel of John begins in a marvelous way with God Himself been incarnated as the man, Jesus Christ.  1:14 “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.”

In Ephesians, Paul also refers to Grace and Truth, only with the order reversed, exhorting us to learn Christ as the truth is in Jesus and then bringing us to the reality of the details of the life we’re learning through grace.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #10) – The History Concerning Saul (2)

During every period of history it is important to realize God is operating behind the scenes for the accomplishment of His eternal purpose.  When Israel’s first king, Saul was anointed by the priest Samuel, he was confronted with three enemies that were troubling Israel. Jehovah was there working behind the scenes.  And He gave Saul specific instructions how to deal with each of these enemies.  How Saul carried out these instructions gives us a clear window into what was in Saul’s heart, and what kind of king he would turned out to be for Israel.  The first enemy Saul confronted were the Ammonites.

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Ephesians (Program #43) – A Living that Does not Grieve the Holy Spirit of God

The Gospel of John promises that the Holy Spirit would come and would abide in us forever, never to leave and all genuine believers should live with and in this assurance. But though He never leaves us, it is possible for us to grieve Him. And the apostle Paul admonishes us not to do so in Ephesians 4. Listen “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.”  If we do grieve Him, we loose His presence, the satisfaction and enjoyment that only He can bring. These are the manifestation of grace. But more than loosing these, we loose the capacity for living a life that expresses Him.  Learning to live Christ by not grieving the Spirit is our focus today.

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1 & 2 Samuel (Program #9) – Samuel—A Man According to God

Through out the history of Israel only two men had ever been identified been raised up by God in three critical aspects, as priest, as prophet and as judge over Israel.  These two are Moses and Samuel. Samuel like Moses before him was unique and having such a position before Jehovah.  In many ways he was God’s representative on the earth and there were none that were higher than he.  Yet it is interesting that when the Lord instructed him in I Samuel chapter 9, to anoint a king over Israel with his status already intact as priest, prophet and judge we can see it would been easy for him to say at least in his heart “how can God ask me to anoint anyone to be above me?”  Yet in Samuel God had found a man who care nothing for his own position but who only care for what was on God’s heart.

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Ephesians (Program #42) – Learning Christ as the Truth is in Jesus

Chapter 4 of the book of Ephesians begins with a strong exaltation by the apostle Paul regarding our walk. “I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called.”

In the verses that follow verse 1, he goes on to develop just what this walk details.  Finally in verse 17, he contrast our walk of that of the unbelievers. “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind.”  And then verse 20, After detailing the darken condition of the mind of the unbelieving world, he added this marvelous exclamation,  “But you did not so 1alearn Christ.”  Notice he does not say, you did not so learn about Christ.  What is it to learn Christ?

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