This is the complete Together in God’s Word Study Material

Introduction

As God led the people of Israel through the wilderness for forty years, He humbled them, and He tested them to what was in their hearts. He let them know hunger and He fed them with manna so that they might “know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3)

For most people the three most important questions in life are: “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?”  God provided the answers to those questions for His people.  He provided for all their physical needs during those 40 years in the wilderness.  Unfortunately, most people are only concerned for their physical needs.  They neglect to realize that they have spiritual needs as well, and as God provided not only physically but also spiritually for the people of Israel so He does for us.  The food, drink, and clothing that God provided for His people physically sustained them, they were not eternal gifts, and could not provide for their spiritual well-being. In order for them, and for us to be truly spiritually healthy and have our spiritual hunger and thirst satisfied, God has provided His Word and it is that Word that gives eternal life.

Over the next forty days we shall read God’s Word as He inspired Paul to write this letter to Ephesians and we shall, by God’s grace, grow together spiritually as He satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst.  May the Lord bless the time that we spend in His Word and each of us “Grow in God’s Word to Share Christian Love” as our Vision Statement proclaims.

Day 1

June 2, 2019

Ephesians 1:3-6

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

A drill sergeant barked out an order to a bunch of recruits: "All you dumbbells, get moving!" All but one obeyed. Angered by his seeming defiance, the sergeant marched up to him and growled, "Well?" The young recruit replied, "There certainly were a lot of them, Sir!"

That young recruit certainly did feel good about himself.  He would never have thought that he was a dumbbell!  We may not be dumbbells, but we are sinners and that fact may discourage us and it may cause us to doubt our salvation knowing that we are not worthy of salvation and eternal life.  Paul praises God in this passage for choosing us in Christ before the world was even created.   Before God made the world, He was thinking of us and planning for us.  He knew that Adam and Eve would rebel against Him and He knew that their sinfulness would affect all of creation and would cause us to be born sinful and unclean.  So, what did God do?  He chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in His sight.  He did not choose us because we were holy and blameless, rather, He chose us to be holy and blameless.  He chose us, “poor, miserable human beings” to be made righteous through Jesus Christ.  But that was not all that there was to God’s plan.  God, before time existed, chose to adopt us into His family.  He was making us His sons and daughters “in accordance with His pleasure and will.”

Thank you, God, for making us to be Your very own through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross.  May we always praise You for Your love, grace and mercy.

Day 2

June 3, 2019

Ephesians 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

The Mount Morgan gold mine in Queensland, Australia, is one of the richest in the world. For many years, though, the original landowners lived in deep poverty on the mountain's barren surface. Even though the vast wealth was out-of-sight, it was beneath their feet all the time.

Today, I want to return to verse 3.  Many Christians are like those landowners in Queensland-they have no idea how blessed they are.  They do not realize how spiritually wealthy God has made them.  They feel spiritually impoverished.  They do not fully realize that God has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing.”

What does Paul mean by “every spiritual blessing”?  Yesterday we read that God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless before the creation of the world.  We also learned that He “predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ”.  Tomorrow we will read that God has redeemed us through Christ’s blood and forgiven us of all our sins.  He has also lavished on us the riches of His grace and made known to us the mystery of His will in and through Jesus Christ.  On Tuesday, we will read how blessed we are to have heard and believed the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our Salvation, and having been sealed with the Holy Spirit we have an eternal inheritance.

Before today, did you really know how wealthy you are?  Have you experienced the great joy of these blessings?  As we continue to Grow Together in God’s Word our joy will be increased as we grow in wisdom and insight of God’s great plan for us and the people whom He loves.  May our joy be contagious as we speak with one another about what God has done!

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  May we, by Your grace, experience the joy that accompanies these blessings.

Day 3

June 4, 2019

Ephesians 1:7-10

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

During the 1965 World Series Los Angeles Dodger “Sweet Lou” Johnson hit the game winning home run during the seventh and deciding game.  Six years later, in 1971, Johnson traded his World series ring as collateral for cocaine from a drug dealer.  By that time alcohol and drugs had cost him everything from that game: the uniform he wore that day, the glove he used in the field, and the bat that gave the Dodgers the victory.

Many people would have looked down at Johnson in 1971.  His addiction was so strong that he offered his most prized possession to get his fix.  He told the dealer that he would be back later to pay for the drugs but by the time he returned both the ring and the dealer were gone.  Johnson said, “I was at my lowest ebb…It was the only thing I had of value, and now I have given it away.”

Thirty years later Johnson’s ring was up for auction.  Dodger President Bob Graziano placed the winning bid and paid $3,457.00 for the ring and gave it to Johnson.  By this time Johnson had been clean for many years and was back working for the Dodgers in Community Relations.  Graziano had done for Johnson what he could not do for himself.

While, we ourselves, have not given away the most valued of possessions, we have inherited the consequences of Adam and Eve forfeiting their salvation for the forbidden fruit.  They could never pay for what they had done.  We could neither earn, nor pay, for our sins.  But Jesus Christ has done for us what we could not ever do for ourselves.  According to the riches of His grace Jesus paid the price through His blood on the cross.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your love, your sacrifice on the cross and the forgiveness you freely give us so that we may have spiritual peace now and live with you in eternity.

Day 4

June 5, 2019

Ephesians 1:11-14

¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Bruce Hurt tells this story, “One day my friend Arthur Lewis, an expert in biblical Greek, was walking along the streets of Athens. Accompanying him was a professor who teaches Greek. They stopped occasionally to read the signs in shop windows.

As they gazed into a jewelry store, they saw a sign with the word arrabon on it. When they entered and talked to the proprietor, he told them that in modern Greek the word arrabon means “an engagement ring.” The Greek professor thought for a moment, then commented, "How interesting! In the New Testament that's the term for 'a guarantee, a down payment.'"

An engagement ring is meant to be a guarantee that the young man who gives it to his beloved girlfriend upon her acceptance of the proposal will marry her.  When you see an engagement ring think not only of the love of two people for each other and the guarantee made on the day of engagement, but also of the Holy Spirit who is our guarantee of the inheritance that Jesus Christ gave to us by His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.

I am so thankful that God has given us the Word of Truth, the Gospel of Salvation, so that by the riches of His grace we, by faith, know and believe that we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, and that through Baptism God made us His children, Jesus washed away our sins, and the Holy Spirit gave us faith and sealed our inheritance.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for giving us faith and guaranteeing that we shall live eternally.

Day 5

June 6, 2019

Ephesians 1:15-18

¹⁵ For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints

In 1892, John Hyde boarded a ship in New York harbor and set out for India. His goal was to proclaim the gospel to people who had not heard about Jesus. During the next 20 years he earned the nickname "Praying Hyde" because he often spent hours and even many days remembering people in prayer.

On one occasion, Hyde was upset about the spiritual coldness of a pastor, so he began to pray, "O Father, you know how cold—" But it was as if a finger stopped his lips from uttering the man's name.

Hyde was horrified when he realized that he had judged the man harshly. He confessed his critical spirit and then determined not to focus on the shortcomings of others but to focus on what God had done for the pastor and asking that God would revive his faith.  Hyde soon learned that God had answered his prayer and the pastor’s faith was restored.

The Apostle Paul was a man of prayer.  He began many of his letters letting the congregations know that he was keeping them in prayer.  To the Ephesians Paul thanked God for their faith and love of the saints as well as asking that they would know the hope to which they have been called.

May our prayers be filled with praise toward God not only for our faith, but the faith of others, thanking Him for His grace and mercy as we focus on what He has done, is doing, and will do for others.

Thank you, Lord, for the people in our lives.  May they know the riches of your grace.

Day 6

June 7

Ephesians 1:19-23

Paul continues to pray that the Ephesians would know “¹⁹ …what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Who has the most power? Some people would answer it's the U.S. President, others might point to all three branches of the U.S. government. But there are still others who argue that political power is only one area of influence—what about those in business or entertainment? No matter how we define human power, though, it can't compare with what we read in the Bible, and this passage, regarding the omnipotence of God.

How powerful is God?  We confess in the Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth…”  He is the Almighty.  He is the Creator of heaven and earth.  He is the One who raised Jesus “from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places”.  It is Jesus who is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”  He is in charge of everything that happens. His rule is absolute.

Paul tells us that there is no one more powerful than God and that there is no ruler of the Church other than Jesus Christ.  What great security this gives us.

Sinful humanity may seem as though it is in control, but, thankfully, it is not.  We sinful, Christians are not in control of the Church.  For this we are also thankful, since He rules for the good of His Church and the growth of His Kingdom.  And this is true not only today, but also in the future.  May we be encouraged by God’s power and dominion.

Thank you, Lord, that you are Lord of all, and that everything in under your control.

Day 7

June 8, 2019

Ephesians 2:1-7

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Daily life still doesn't look like an episode from the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons or the 2008 movie Wall-E, but great advancements are being made in Artificial Intelligence. No matter how sophisticated the robot, though, it is useless without its power source—the batteries necessary for any of its motors, sensors, or processors to work. All that technology is worthless if the batteries run down, or the electricity is cut off.

Throughout Chapter 1 Paul wrote of God's call, forgiveness, the Spirit, redemption, resurrection power, Jesus' exalted status, and the church as Christ's body. Today, Paul brings home the reality of God's resurrection as the power source for our own lives.

Although physically we are very much alive and active, Paul tells us that spiritually we had been dead. Corpses can’t move. Dead people can’t do anything; they are totally unable to help themselves. If any of us were inclined to question Paul’s diagnosis regarding our spiritual bankruptcy, he urges to look at our lives and actions.  But God, rich in His love and mercy, “made us alive together with Christ.”

May we always know that true life is in Christ Jesus who has given us spiritual life here on earth and eternal life in heaven.  Without Him we would be dead.

Thank you. Lord, for saving us by Your grace and making us alive in Jesus Christ.

Day 8

June 9, 2019

Ephesians 2:8-10

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

One of the premier furniture makers of the 19^th century was a woodworker named Gustav Stickley. Born in 1858, Stickley founded a design company with his brother. He put great care into each piece of furniture he created, believing that well-designed objects could help make people’s lives better. As the style grew more popular, many imitators flourished and sold pieces that resembled the real thing. Buyers and appraisers need to tell if a piece of furniture is authentic or merely a copy. A true Stickley is identified by a brand or label, usually placed in an unobtrusive spot. Unsigned pieces, while still desirable, are not nearly as valuable as those bearing the maker’s signature.

Isaiah prays in 64:8, “⁸ But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”  God is the one who forms us.  It is He who created us in our mother’s wombs and then began the formation of our faith. The Holy Spirit has worked through God’s Word and Sacraments to created faith in us and then mold that faith so that we would know and appreciate the great gift of salvation through God’s grace.  But His workmanship does not end there.  He gracious work continues to fix the cracks and fill the holes caused by sin.  He also molds and shapes us so that we are able to perform the good works that we were created in Christ to do.

We are not saved because of works, but we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, good works which God prepared beforehand, which he designed before the foundation of the world, and for which he has fashioned us, so that we should continuously walk in them.  Formerly we walked in trespasses and sins in which the devil had trapped us; now we walk in good works by the grace and power of God. These are the marks of our Creator on us.

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace and mercy and the work that you continue to do in us.

Day 9

June 10, 2019

Ephesians 2:13

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

After an explosion sank an offshore oil rig, The Deepwater Horizon, into the Gulf of Mexico, crews attempted to clean up the nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil using a number of methods. One of the more controversial approaches was the use of an unprecedented amount of a dispersant called Corexit. The blend of chemicals allows the oil to more easily blend with water, preventing it from coating elements of the ecosystem. It doesn’t technically remove the oil, but it does clean the surface.

In the Old Testament the blood sacrifices provided cleansing and purity for the people of God. They provided atonement and allowed the High Priest to enter the Most Holy Place once every year. But they did not assuage guilt of their sins from their consciences, and the sacrifices had to be repeated continually.

Jesus did what the High Priests before Him could not do: He entered the tabernacle that is not of this earth.  He didn’t enter only a superior tabernacle as the superior High Priest, but also, He offered the supreme sacrifice. The presentation of His own blood on the cross brought eternal redemption that cleanses us spiritually. His sacrifice needed to be made only once. And there’s an added level of benefit here. Not only are we protected from the penalty of eternal death caused by sin, but our consciences are cleansed, and we are able to live in His presence and serve Him every day.

How often do we forget that there is another world beyond what we see with our eyes? Let today’s devotion remind you that our eternal destination is in a better place because Christ offered the supreme sacrifice to pave the only way to eternal life.

Thank you, Lord, that You have granted us spiritual healing through Your death on the cross. May we always be mindful of Your sacrifice for us and the forgiveness of sins You have won for us by Your suffering and death on the cross.

Day 10

June 11, 2019

Ephesians 2:11-14

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

One mother says the same thing every time her children leave the house to go to a friend’s house to play. “Remember who you belong to,” she urges. Her boys often roll their eyes when she says this. But they understand what she means. She wants them to remember where they came from and what is expected of them.

As we leave our Heavenly Father’s house on Sunday’s mornings, do we hear Him urging us to “Remember who you belong to”?  Paul has been telling us in his letter that “He chose us before the foundation of the world”; “predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ”; “when we were dead in our trespasses He made us alive together with Christ”; “for by grace through faith you have been saved”; and that “we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.” We are God’s masterpieces, carefully created by Him and redeemed by Jesus Christ to live, not according to sin but according to the new life He gave us by His grace in Baptism.

May we remember every day, not just on Sundays as we leave the Sanctuary, that we belong to God, who loves and cares for us every moment of every day.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us peace with our Father through sacrifice on the cross and breaking down the wall that once separated us from You. Grant us the ability to focus on You, and Your great love for us, every day of our lives, appreciating te supreme sacrifice of Jesus.  May we also remember that we are Your “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works^.”  (Ephesians 2:10)

Day 11

June 12, 2019

Ephesians 2:14-19

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God

In 1962, Don and Carol Richardson risked their lives to go as missionaries to the Sawi people of New Guinea. This tribe still lived as if they were in the Stone Age; they were headhunting cannibals known for using their victims’ skulls as pillows. Don and Carol struggled to find a way to communicate the truth of Jesus to this tribe.

They learned of a New Guinea tradition called the Peace Child. When warring tribes of headhunters made peace, they exchanged a child who would grow up in the other tribe. If conflict threatened the tribes again, these children would be sent to negotiate. The Richardsons used this tradition to point the Sawi to the true “Peace Child,” Jesus Christ.

Peace is not some warm fuzzy feeling of goodwill towards others. It is also not simply an absence of war.  True spiritual peace is through Jesus Christ who united us to the Father through His death on the cross.  We who were once enemies of God are now His dear children.

Paul calls our attention to the fact that when God reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to himself, he also laid the foundation for their reconciliation to each other.  His “purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two.” Out of the “two,” that is, Jew and Gentile, Christ purposed to create “one man,” that is, one organic unit, the holy Christian church.

Thank you, Lord, that You have reconciled us to the Father and that You have created the one, Holy Christian Church on earth.  May we live in your peace with each other.

Day 12

June 13, 2019

Ephesians 2:19-22

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Hiawatha was a precolonial First Nations leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha was a follower of the Great Peacemaker, a Huron prophet and spiritual leader who proposed the unification of the Iroquois peoples, who shared common ancestry and similar languages, but he suffered from a severe speech impediment which hindered him from spreading his proposal. Hiawatha was a skilled orator, and he was instrumental in persuading the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk to accept the Great Peacemaker's vision and band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. The Tuscarora people joined the Confederacy in 1722 to become the Sixth Nation.

Prior to the Iroquois Confederacy the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk tribes were separate nations.  They were strangers and aliens to each other. Prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Gentiles were strangers and aliens to God and to the Jews.  They were excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise.  By grace through faith in Christ all that has changed. Now they no longer lack a place in the kingdom of God. They are now fellow citizens with God’s people.  They are not only citizens of the same kingdom, but they are even closer than that. They are members of the same family.  Even today, as the gospel progresses through the world, new believers from different nations and beliefs are added daily to this church by God’s grace

We are also “²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”  We are being built together as a Church, and, also as a congregation able to live in peace with God and with each other.

Thank you, Lord, that we are no longer strangers and aliens, but now members of Your household through Jesus Christ and those who have proclaimed Your truth us.

Day 13

June 14, 2019

Ephesians 3:1-6

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— ² assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³ how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. ⁴ When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. ⁶ This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

On November 26, 1922, Theodore Davis held a candle up to a small opening in an ancient doorway and saw “strange animals, statues and gold, everywhere the glint of gold”—a sight that had remained hidden for 3,200 years. It was one of the greatest discoveries of the modern era, the tomb of Egypt's King Tutankhamun. More than 80 years later, these fabulous treasures continue to captivate viewers wherever they're displayed.

History is filled with remarkable finds, suddenly brought to light after centuries of concealment. But even King Tut's treasures, or the priceless manuscripts found near the Dead Sea in 1947, are nothing compared to the glorious riches of God's purposes for His people that were “hidden for ages and generations, but are now disclosed to the saints”

God calls this treasure a mystery because His redemptive purpose can only be known through the Holy Spirit.  No human being could ever understand the depth of God’s love for His creation or the splendor His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

God never intended for His Church to look like a homogenous social club.  Right at the beginning He included the Gentiles.  Since then He has brought into His family people from every race, tribe, people, language, and social status. We are all co-heirs of the Kingdom and members of the Body of Christ living in His love and loving each other.

Thank you, Lord, for revealing the mystery to us and by Your grace giving us salvation.

Day 14

June 15, 2019

Ephesians 3:7-10

⁷ Of this Gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. ⁸ To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, ¹⁰ so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Greg sat with his mother by the lake and explained why he didn’t feel it was necessary to attend church. He pointed to the sun that had just started to dip below the horizon. “You won’t see anything as beautiful as that in any church,” he said. The two watched it set the sky aflame in hues of orange and yellow. “This is my church!” Greg concluded.

Many people agree with Greg’s point of view. They wonder why church is such a big deal. Why not worship God alone in the woods or by the lake? Yet in today’s passage it is clear that Church, and Divine Service, is important to God.  As the Church gathers together to receive God’s gifts of grace through the Divine Service in His Holy Word and Sacraments, the Church is also participating in what is occurring in the heavenly realm.  Paul tells us that God intends to put the church on display to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

In addition to what occurs in the Divine Service Peter tells us that the angels are interested in the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church.  He writes regarding what has been “announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” (1 Peter 1:12)

We must always remember that God’s plan for His Church is always perfectly on track.  He continues to pour out His blessings to those who are faithful in hearing Him and following the Good Shepherd as He grants them free access to the Father and leads them to carry out His plan of proclaiming the Gospel to all people for the growth of the Kingdom.

Thank you, Lord, for those who have proclaimed the Gospel to us and for the gift of the Divine Service.  Continue to nourish and lead us to proclaim the Gospel to unbelievers.

Day 15

June 16, 2019

Ephesians 3:11-13

¹¹ This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. ¹³ So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Many years ago, a young Midwestern lawyer suffered such deep depression that his friends thought it wise to keep all knives and razors from him.

His problems began when he was 7 years old, his family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them. When he was 9 years old, his mother died. When he was 22 years old, a business he owned failed. When he was 23 years old, he ran for the state legislature and lost. That same year he lost his job and was unable to get into law school.

When he was 24 years old, he borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.

When he was 26 years old, he was engaged to be married, but his sweetheart died, and his heart was broken.

So, at 27 years old, he had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.

During this time, he wrote, “I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not.” He was wrong. He did recover and went up to become one of America’s most-loved presidents, Abraham Lincoln.

We have been through difficult times. For some people it has been severe illness, for others the death of a loved one, it could have been the loss of a job, an unexpected move, the inability to be hired for a job, some sort of failure…  The Lord has been with us through it all. Even though Paul was in prison his joyful confidence in God could not be hampered. He knew God was at work. Just as Paul did, so we also have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Jesus Christ.  By His grace we do not lose heart but trust in Him, and His plan for us and His Kingdom to His glory.

Thank you, Lord, that we always have access to you and know that Your will is done.

Day 16

June 17, 2019

Ephesians 3:14-19

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

We have all seen images of people screaming and surrounding famous people like the Beatles and Elvis.  We may never act in a such a way if find ourselves in the presence of a social icon or some famous person, but chances are that we will have some sort of emotional or physical reaction.  We may stop and stare, we might find ourselves overwhelmed and speechless, or we might respectfully approach him in awe feeling as though we have just had a touch with greatness.  We may even decide to never wash that hand again.

In our passage today Paul as a strong, physical, emotional, and spiritual reaction to being in the presence of greatness.  He is in the presence of God, and there is no one greater. He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  All things are possible though Him.  As such, Paul bows his knees in reverence as he is moved to pray for the Church.

How have you felt in the presence of God?  What has been your reaction to having been Baptized, hearing and reading His Word, and receiving His Body and Blood at the Lord’s Table.  Every time I read the Scriptures, I experience His presence as He speaks to me about Himself and who I am. I a min awe of His love and mercy for me.

Have you ever felt drawn to your knees in prayer because of His greatness and the love that He has for you?  I have felt at times that there is no other position for me before God Almighty.  I go to Him in weakness and He gives me strength.  I go to Him in sorrow, not just over my sins, but over the sins of the world and destruction that they cause.  After I have bowed my knees before Him, it is God who raises me up and gives me the strength to stand in joy and praise of His wonderful works.

Thank you, Lord, for the conversations we are able to have with You through Your Word and our prayers. Thank you for the strength and joy receive by Your grace.  May we always be in awe of who You are and what You have done.

Day 17

June 18, 2019

Ephesians 3:17-19

¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

I have heard that a noted theologian (I do not know who) when asked about the most profound thought that he ever had responded, ‘The most profound thought ever to cross my mind is this: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”’

Throughout Ephesians, and especially in this passage, Paul asks to stop and consider God’s amazing love revealed in Jesus Christ.  As you ponder this love are you able to comprehend the extent of Christ’s love?  How large?  How wide? How long? How high?  How deep?  Take the time to realize that Christ’s love embraces everyone.  It extends to the most wretched of sinners, despised of humans and rejected due to their circumstances.

In Mark 1:40-42 leper approaches Jesus begging Him to make him clean.  Jesus’ response was unthinkable.  Lepers suffered from open sores and wrapped them in filthy bandages.  It was illegal according to Jewish law for anyone to encounter them.  They were banished from society and often stoned.  No one would dare touch a leper, yet that is the first thing that Jesus did.  He could have healed the leper and then touched him, but Jesus knew that what that man needed immediately was for someone to touch him.  Jesus loved that lonely, rejected man so much that He reached out and touched him with no concern of what others would think, say, or do to Him.

How has Jesus’ love for you impacted your life?  Do you ever find yourself in an emotional state after reading/hearing God’s Word?  Hearing that every single one of your sins, even the most wretched one’s are forgiven?  Communing with Jesus at His Table where He has intimately touched you with His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins?  What about if you discovered that no one loves you and then read/heard/remembered that Jesus does love you and is with you no matter what?

Thank you, Lord, for the depth of your love for me and all people.  May I continue to grow in the knowledge of Your love for me and grow in my love for you.

Day 18

June 19, 2019

Ephesians 3:17-19

¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

A young soldier had been tried in military court and sentenced to death. He was to be shot at the "ringing of the curfew bell." His fiancée climbed up into the bell tower several hours before curfew time and tied herself to the bell's huge clapper. At curfew time, when only muted sounds came out of the bell tower, Oliver Cromwell demanded to know why the bell was not ringing. His soldiers went to investigate and found the young woman cut and bleeding from being knocked back and forth against the great bell. They brought her down and Cromwell was so impressed with her willingness to suffer in this way on behalf of someone she loved that he let the soldier go saying, "Curfew shall not ring tonight."

The soldier’s wife knew that she would suffer as the clapper struck the bell repeatedly, yet because of her great love for her husband she willingly suffered so that her husband would not die.  That is love. Jesus willingly suffered for us so that we would not die.

Paul has experienced this love and prays that through the Holy Spirit we may experience Christ’s love and be spiritually strengthened so that Christ may dwell in our hearts.  The Greek word for dwell means to settle down somewhere; to establish permanent residency.  Jesus clearly tied Himself, the Holy Spirit and love together when He spoke to His disciples,

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you…

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:15-17, 23)

Thank you, Lord, for sending us the Holy Spirit to breathe faith into us and so that would know your love and be filled with your fulness.

Day 19

June 20, 2019

Ephesians 3:17-19

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

A friend told me about a neighbor who years ago spent most of his spare time planting trees. The man seldom watered the young trees because he thought that too much watering spoiled them. Pampered trees, he said, made for shallow roots, and deep roots were something to be treasured.

My friend told me that he often walks by the old place and looks at the trees his neighbor planted 25 years earlier. They're rugged, strong, and durable now. Tall and tough.

In Savannah we have some grand old oak trees.  A mighty oak sends sturdy roots down to the water table.  We are deeply rooted and established upon the love that Jesus Christ has for us and has shown to us.  We have experienced His marvelous love in our lives, but we have yet to fully comprehend it.  We need to keep drinking from the source.  We begin to understand the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love when we read and hear His Word, when we hear the words of absolution, and when we receive His Body and Blood.  Paul prays that we would have strength to grasp with all the saints to know the love of Christ.  He mentions “all the saints” here.  That’s the Church!  Trinity is a part of that Church.  It is important that we gather together to speak and hear God’s Word and to love one another as He loves us.  In our gathering together we are able to share and hear stories about how great His love is for us even though we are worthless sinners and unworthy to be saved.

Does your life get messy?  Do you get frustrated?  Do you feel lost at times? Are you ashamed of what you did when you were younger or even what you did just recently?  Have you ever felt that God’s love could never reach you where you are at in your life?  I can answer “Yes” to some of these questions and many others like them.  These are all events and thoughts that could turn us in ourselves and away from God.  While they might do just that, we do not stay there for very long.  Why? Because we are rooted in Christ’s love.  Over the years because of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and other Christians, we have become rugged, strong, and durable knowing that God loves us no matter what.

Thank you, Lord, for rooting us in Your love and basing us in a congregation that loves.

Day 20

June 21, 2019

Ephesians 3:20-21

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

There was a great famine in the land and many were starving.  The prophet Elisha was with 100 other men when “ A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” ⁴³ But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” ⁴⁴ So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 4:42-44)

Regarding your faith and trust in the Lord, Who are you more like?  Elisha? Or his servant?  When we pray do we firmly know and understand that God “is able to do far more abundantly that all that we ask or think”?

In today’s passage Paul calls the Ephesians to remember the power of God.  In His power and authority over all of creation God filled them with faith, He forgave them of their sins, and daily provided all that they needed for their bodies and souls, even if it was in unexpected ways.  With God nothing is impossible. We ask and He abundantly answers our prayers.  We go to Him unable to do the work on our own and He gives us the power to accomplish it.

Armin Panning in The People’s Bible encourages us to pray Paul’s prayer in the first person:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen me with power through his Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that, being rooted and established in love, I may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

With that “Amen” Panning tells us, “This is most certainly true. This is going to happen.”

Day 21

June 22, 2019

Ephesians 4:1-7

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

A new Christian was reading through the Gospels. After she finished, she told a friend she wanted to read a book on church history. When her friend asked why, the woman replied, "I'm curious. I've been wondering when Christians started to become so unlike Christ."
We can understand why this new convert was perplexed. There is a great disparity between the life of Christ and the lives of many who bear His name. In fact, some believers are even imitating the world instead of “walking in a manner worthy of our calling.”

Up until now Paul has taught about who God is- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He has told us about how blessed we are to be God’s dearly beloved children.  He wrote, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5) In His great love God sent the Holy Spirit to breath faith into us through His Holy Word.  He has granted us new life in Christ filled with endless blessings.  Now Paul urges us to live the life that we have been blessed with.

Since Christ lives in us through faith and we are rooted and established in love we are able to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.  The more time that we spend with God in His Word, in the Divine Service, in Sunday School, Bible Study, and with brothers and sisters in Christ who walk by the Spirit we are able to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Paul urges us to live this life and will reveal to us what it looks like.

Thank you, Lord, for saving us by your grace and giving us the new life we enjoy.

Day 22

June 23, 2019

Ephesians 4:1-7

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Willie Stargell was known as "Pops" because of his leadership both on and off the baseball field. In 1979, when Stargell led the Pirates to their second World Series title, the team was nicknamed "The Family" because of their close relationship. "We won, we lived, and we enjoyed as one," Stargell said. "We molded together dozens of different individuals into one working force. We were products of different races, were raised in different income brackets, but in the clubhouse and on the field, we were one."

The saints in heaven sang a new song, ““Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

What does the Church look like?  It consists of people from every tribe, language, people, and nation who have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  All these very different people called and gathered into the true Church who can be one in Christ living with each other in the bond of peace. We are all different at TLC, yet we are one in Christ and gifted to live in humility, gentleness, patience and love with each other

The “unity of the Spirit” is neither created nor dependent on us.  It does not exist because we make every effort to keep the unity.  Paul tells us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  He urges us to neither disrupt nor dissolve by our words or actions the unity that the Holy Spirit establishes.  Unfortunately, all too often we disrupt the peace with each other and within the congregation with our petty quarrels and our inconsiderate words and actions.

The Holy Spirit has created this incredible unity in our congregation, and He binds us together in faith and love.  In our daily sanctified lives, we strive to for unity and peace.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for gathering us together as a congregation. Keep us united.

Day 23

June 24, 2019

Ephesians 4:1-7

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Have you ever worked at a job where you felt a strong bond with your co-workers? Perhaps you were united by a sense of mission, or by a respect for your boss, or by the belief that a prosperous company will benefit everyone financially. The more points of agreement among members of a group, the more they will be unified, the better they will perform, and the less likely they will be to fight among themselves.

The Holy Spirit has created a spirit of unity amongst that enables us to work together as the Body of Christ in serving our Lord and living His mission.  Paul mentions seven “ones” that remind us of the unity and aid us in working together for His Kingdom.  They are: One Body; One Spirit; One Hope; One Lord; One Faith; One Baptism; One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

As members of God’s family each of us shares in these “Ones”.  There are more “Ones” that unite us than there are differences amongst us.  The “Ones” that unite are extremely powerful because they come from the Almighty God.  They are “Ones” that God created for us and gifted unto us.  As such, by His grace, we are united.  As God has declared regarding marriage, ‘What God has joined together let no one separate.”

We may not always agree with each other and there may be some of who are difficult to get along with. But it is not our opinions or personalities that bind us together.  It is God, and it is God who inspires me to love, forgive, and get along with others no matter what.  I think of all the times that I offended God, the times that I ignored Him, and disagreed with Him.  Yet, He never abandoned me.  Jesus Christ remained with me and loved me no matter what I thought, did, or said.  If I am going to be one of His ambassadors, then I should not be a disruptor the unity He created amongst us.  Because He loves and has raised me in His love, I am able to live loved, and also to live loving others.

Thank you, Lord, for loving us and the love we have for each other.  May we remain one.

Day 24

June 25, 2019

Ephesians 4:7-16

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it says, “When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Have you ever watched a pit crew in action at an auto race? In less time than it takes for most of us to put our seatbelt on and adjust the mirror, the crew had changed four tires, filled the gas tank, washed the windshield, given the driver a drink, and made vital adjustments to the car. It happens so quickly and efficiently because each crew member knows his job and does it right.

Speaking at a chapel service before a race, chaplain Max Helton said to the drivers and their crews, "Imagine all the people it takes to put on a race. What if they all wanted to drive? It would be chaos." It's the same with the crew. If everyone wanted to change tires and no one wanted to fill the gas tank, the car wouldn't have a very long ride.

Likewise, in the Body of Christ, and in Trinity Lutheran Church, we all have been equipped with different skills to do certain tasks. We can't all be pastors or teachers. Some of us must "change the tires" and "wash the windshield." And each job is as important as the other.  Each ministry is able to work properly when each member contributes according to his/her gifts and the calling he/she has received.  For Trinity to fulfill her purpose, we each need to recognize the gift(s) that the Spirit has given to us and be willing to use them in the congregation’s ministry to the glory of God so that His Mission for us can be completely accomplished.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the gifts that you have given to TLC and to each of us.

Day 25

June 26, 2019

Ephesians 4:11-16

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

When someone gives us a gift that we don’t really want or need we remind ourselves, “It’s the thought that counts.” But when it comes to Jesus Christ and the gifts He gives the church, the thought always matches the need. God only gives good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11).

The gifts listed in today’s passage are manifestations of the grace of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Everyone who belongs to Christ has the Holy Spirit living in them, but not everyone has the same spiritual gifts (Rom. 8:9). A wonderful diversity of gifts is given to the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:11). The gifts included in this list, one of several in the New Testament, are given to individuals so that they can bless the church as a whole.

All spiritual gifts have been given for “the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). But some gifts are more specialized than others. The ministry of apostles and prophets was to lay the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20). Other gifts mentioned by Paul are dedicated to the ongoing equipping of the church.

 Every one of us has been gifted by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for works of service. Those who have been equipped exercise their own ministries and as a result the body of Christ is built up. Ministry is something in which all the congregation’s members need to participate in so that we are able “to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for every member of Trinity and the gifts that you have graciously given to them.  May each of us discern what they are and how we should use them so that Trinity would grow spiritually, and Christ’s love would be made know through us.

Day 26

June 27, 2019

Ephesians 4:17-24

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—  assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

In 1520, one person stepped off a Spanish ship in Mexico and caused the deaths of thousands of people. The man was a soldier under the leadership of Pánfilo de Narváez, and he had smallpox. The soldier didn't know it, but wherever he went he exposed the citizens to a new disease. As a result of the ensuing smallpox epidemic, many thousands of Mexican citizens died.

The Gentile world, and still the world today is infected with a deadly disease.  This disease is causing the death of most people in our nation.  It is the disease of sin.  Their thinking is all messed up.  They are ignorant of the true God and darkened of their understanding due to their separation from Him.  Humanity lusts for sensuality and impurity but is never satisfied.  Having previously held to pagan beliefs and still living amongst pagans the new Christians were very susceptible to the deadly disease.

We are susceptible to the sinful influences of the world.  We spend our living with unbelievers, watching programs that are written and produced by unbelievers who seek to satisfy the immoral cravings the flesh.  We hear and see how sinful people treat each other and if we are not on guard, we might do the same.  We may even bring the culture with us into the congregation.

Paul does not advocate the idea that we must be holy in order to gain favor with God or improve our standing before Him.  Christ has done that and by God’s grace we are new creation, living in His light and knowing the truth of His Word and should live according to it.

Thank you, Lord, for redeeming us.  Grant us strength and the will to reject sinful passions and the influences of the world. Forgive us when we fail and protect us from the traps of Satan who desires to lure us and Trinity away from You.

Day 27

June 28, 2019

Ephesians 4:17-24

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Have you noticed that society is whirling out of control and the standards by which we are influenced to live are constantly changing? Compare television shows of 50 years ago with those of today.  What happened to TGIF when I could tune in for the evening and know that the shows were family friendly?  Every season it gets more and more difficult to find a show that does not contain some profanity, sexual innuendo and immorality.

Why is this happening?  The answer is, Spiritual Warfare.  Paul will write more about this in Chapter 6, for now we need to know that Satan is behind this. He first engaged God in battle while he was an angel in heaven.  He then engaged God’s people in the Garden of Eden by deceiving Adam and Eve to rebel against God and has been engaging and deceiving the world and God’s people ever since.

Satan is a deceiver and he offers deceitful desires to humanity.  He makes promises to people that he will never fulfill.  He promises people that it will be enjoyable, but never reveals the consequences; it will be profitable, but never tells people what they will lose; the world accepts it, why don’t you, but never tells people that the world and its beliefs are on the path to destruction.

We cannot resist Satan, the world, and our own desires.  We need God and His Word to tell us the truth and show us the Way.  Paul urges us “to put off your old self, which…is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” The new self has been created by God through His means of Grace.

Thank you, Lord, for creating in us clean hearts and new and rights spirits.

Day 28

June 29, 2019

Ephesians 4:25-32

²⁵ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Dr. Buscaglia, a best-selling author and motivational speaker, once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a 4-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who recently had lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

Paul tells us to “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  Satan wants us to lie, to be angry, to steal, to curse, and anything else that will tear down the Body of Christ and cause unbelievers to continue to reject God and His Word.  The Lord, however, not only calls upon us to live a sanctified (holy/set apart from the world) life, but He has also gifted us to live such a life through His Word and Sacraments.

Instead of being angry and bitter, even if we feel as though it is deserved, Paul urges us to be imitators of God.  God wants us to be kind, compassionate and forgiving to all people.  As we do so we imitate God’s action toward us and toward others.  He tells us to live our lives “just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

In a world that is so angry, and so difficult to trust people, God that has gifted us with the truth and with love so that others may experience love and by God’s grace believe the Truth.

Thank you, Lord, for your love, grace and mercy.  May we live as imitators of You in this dark, fallen world, building people us rather than tearing them down.

Day 29

June 30, 2019

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

On Oct. 2, 2006, a heavily armed milk truck driver, Charles Carl Roberts IV, burst into the West Nickel Mines School shortly after recess shooting 10 Amish girls, killing five and wounding five others, before turning the gun on himself. The most severely injured girl is the youngest survivor, Rosanna King is in a wheelchair and does not walk or talk.

The families immediately forgave Roberts and reached out to his family even in their grief, an act that impressed the world.  Nicki Weisensee Egan, a senior writer for People Magazine who covered the Nickel Mines shootings, said the nation was captivated by the Amish gesture of forgiveness.  “The way that they were able to (reach out to the killer’s family) so quickly and hold on to their faith captured people’s hearts, including mine,” she said. “I think it’s extraordinary.”

“Simply stated, the Lord’s Prayer as it is taught is very important to us,” said a local Amish church leader who has walked alongside the families since that horrific first day.

The Amish community developed a close bond with Chuck and Terri Roberts, the parents of Charlie Roberts.  Every week, Mrs. Roberts travels to Rosanna King's home, to help care for the little girl for several hours, singing to her and reading Bible stories and books such as "Anne of Green Gables."

Many people struggle with forgiveness.  They may not be able to forgive themselves or they be unable to forgive others.  Few understand the love and forgiveness that the Amish live every day, especially as they live it toward the murderer of their children and his family.

How are we able to forgive?  God has forgiven us.  Our sins are great but God’s loves for us is greater.  God’s love and the faith granted to us enable us to have compassion and forgive others instead of holding grudges and expressing rage. In a divided world love and forgiveness unite us and keep us united.  As sinners experience love and forgiveness from us they are drawn to us and the Holy Spirit uses that experience to open them up to hearing the love God through His Word.

Thank you, Lord, for Your love and forgiveness.  Help us to be compassionate and forgive others

Day 30

July 1, 2019

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

When a child looks or acts like a parent, people say, “The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” It is reasonable to expect children to resemble their parents. The same is true in the spiritual realm.

It is said that we are a three generational emotional unit.  We are who we are in the flesh because we have learned how to live and react from our grandparents and parents.  We learned to imitate them in thoughts, words, actions, and reactions.

As God’s dearly beloved children we have God as our Father who has revealed Himself to us through Jesus Christ and showed us how we ought to live.  Paul tells us to “be imitators of God.” The Greek word means to “copy exactly”.  Do as our Heavenly Father has done for us.  He tells us to forgive one another “just as in Christ God forgave you.” He urges us to live a life of love “just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

We are unable by nature to imitate God.  We are only able to be imitators of God as the Holy Spirit breathes faith and spiritual life into us transforming us and empowering us to experience God’s love and enabling us to live lives of love and forgiveness.

Having been transformed and empowered Paul urges us to walk, or live, in love.  As God loves us and sacrificed His only Son on our behalf, so we are to show sacrificial love. Psychologists tell us that a person can only show love, if he or she has been shown love. Since God demonstrated His love to us in the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can also make sacrifices in showing our love. We also learn something of the essence of love. Love is not only pretty words and super-sentimental songs. Love is acting in a sacrificial manner towards someone else.  It is being “All In” for that other person, just as Jesus was “All In” for us on the cross and continues to be “All In” for us into eternity.

Thank You, Lord, for your limitless love and forgiveness.  Thank you that by Your grace we are able to be Your dear children.  May we be inspired to live lives that imitate You.

Day 31

July 2, 2019

Ephesians 5:3-10

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them; ⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

St. Augustine’s close friend, Alypius, was often urged by his friends to go to the arena.

He refused to do so because he abhorred the brutality until one day, they forced him into the amphitheater against his will. Determined not to witness the gory spectacle, Alypius kept his eyes tightly closed. But a piercing cry aroused his curiosity so much that he peeked just as one of the fighters received a fatal wound.

J. N. Norton wrote, “No sooner had Alypius discovered the bloody stream issuing from the victim’s side, than his finer sensibilities were blunted, and he joined in the shouts and exclamations of the noisy mob about him. From that moment he was a changed man—changed for the worse; not only attending such sports himself but urging others to do likewise.” Even though Alypius had entered the arena against his will, his exposure to evil and eventual addiction suggests what can happen to Christians when they get one small taste of lustful pleasures. They develop a liking for what they once abhorred.

There is a huge temptation for us to follow our own desires also.  We may fight against it, but when we are surrounded by people who live according to their desires and are encouraging us to join them, or when we are bombarded by media that imitates the world, we may find ourselves accepting, and maybe even participating those behaviors that are disobedient to God and His will for us.

Does it really matter how we live?  God tells us, Yes.  Paul has previously told us to imitate God and live according to His Word, being alive in Christ and dead to worldly impurities that would lead us into darkness and away from Christ.

Thank You, Lord, for telling us how to live righteously.  Give us the strength and conviction to resist those people and things that would lead us away from You.

Day 32

July 3, 2019

Ephesians 5:8b-10

Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

The Greek word used here is phos. We see it in many English words. ‘Phosphorous’ is a combination of two Greek words meaning ‘light-bearing’, and it refers in English to a substance which glows in the dark. A ‘photoelectric’ cell is a device which is triggered into action by light. Perhaps the most common use is ‘photograph’, where an image is imprinted (‘written’) on paper made sensitive to light.

Due to God’s grace and our faith in Christ, who is “the light of the world”, we are able to “walk as children of light.”  Light requires fuel, or a source of power.  If a lamp is disconnected from the power source, then the light does not shine.  If we disconnect ourselves from Christ by living according to fleshly desires, or disconnecting ourselves from Him, His Word, and Sacraments, then our light will not shine.  We must continue to be connected to the source of spiritual light and life.

Light is the basis of our existence.  God’s first creative work was to create light.  It provides illumination so that we are able to see our surroundings and stay away from things that would slow us down, harm, or stop us. 

The “fruit of light” is evident in the ways that we think, speak, and live.  In a dark, evil world Christians stand out as bright lights.  We are known for our love and forgiveness, as well as people who can be trusted to be honest.  We are known as people who desire to do what is “good and right and true”. These are things that please God and shine forth His light.

In verse 10, the NIV tells us to “try and discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”  The word “try” does not appear in the Greek text and the word translated as “discern” would be better translated as “approving; ratifying; certifying; confirming”.  Paul is thus telling us to “Walk as children of light…and confirm what is pleasing to the Lord.”  Christians are to be a Godly influence on the world showing those who live in darkness what is “good and right and true” in God’s eyes.

Thank You, Lord, for granting us life in the Light.  Continue to be our source of true light and strength and may we be lights to those live in darkness.  May the darkness of this world never overcome us.

Day 33

July 4, 2019

Ephesians 5:11-14

¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

In 1993, Sherron Watkins joined the Enron Corporation as a financial auditor. Enron was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas and recognized as one of the world’s most innovative companies.

In August 2001, she was able to ascertain that Enron's reported financial condition was sustained by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. Many of Enron's recorded assets and profits were inflated or even wholly fraudulent and nonexistent.

She warned Enron's then-CEO Kenneth Lay about the fraud, but he did not take any action.

The company filed for bankruptcy a few months later. At the beginning of 2002, Sherron testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, primarily about her warnings to Lay about accounting irregularities, lies and fraud in the financial statements.

When anything is exposed by light it becomes visible.  Darkness hides the ugly realities of evil; the light makes them visible. Then evil is seen for what it is without any possibility of concealment.  The light of the Gospel, the light of Christ, and the light of a Christian’s life can have a positive affect on others.  It can be evangelistic.  By God’s grace and the Holy Spirit is can bring people to see the ugliness of sin, convict them of their sin, and move them to repentance.

The light also shows us where sin is in our own lives and will bring us to confess the sin, turn away from it, receive forgiveness from Jesus Christ, and give us the courage to walk in the light of Jesus Christ.

Thank You, Lord, for the light that reveals the darkness not only in the lives of others but also in our own sinful lives.  May Your light bring others and us to confession so that we and them may turn away from evil and walk in the light of Christ.

Day 34

July 5, 2019

Ephesians 5:15-21

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Neither the stress of failing eyesight nor the threat of a debtor's prison hanging over him deterred composer George F. Handel from composing his masterpiece, The Messiah. In an inspired flurry of musical creativity, Handel completed the entire oratorio in approximately three weeks. Handel said later that as he wrote, he felt as if his heart would burst with joy at what he was hearing in his mind and heart.

For more than two hundred years since, the hearts of countless believers have burst with joy at performances of The Messiah. The glorious music stirs us, and the words are almost entirely from Scripture.

“Do not get drunk…but be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant.  In Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ exposition of Ephesians 5:18–6:9, Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home and Work he writes, “it depresses first and foremost the highest centres of all in the brain … They control everything that gives a man self-control, wisdom, understanding, discrimination, judgment, balance, the power to assess everything; in other words, everything that makes a man behave at his very best and highest.”  In contrast, the Holy Spirit not only gives us faith, but stimulates our faith.  AS He stimulates us spiritually, He also stimulates our hearts, minds, and wills. 

The Holy Spirit and our faith stimulate us to address “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”.  As we speak to each other spiritually joy wells up within us.  As we speak and sing God’s Word with each other we are reminded of the blessings that God has poured out upon us in Jesus Christ.  This joyfulness moves us to “sing and make music to the Lord.”  All of this occurs in the Divine Service as we joyfully gather together to speak, sing and hear the Word of God.

Thank You, Lord, for the joy we experience as we speak, sing, and hear Your Word with each other.  May we always direct our devotion toward You in our songs.

Day 35

July 6, 2019

Ephesians 5:18b-21

be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Clarence E. McCartney writes in his autobiography, “Two men were passing through a field in the country when they were charged by an enraged bull. They started for the nearest fence, but it was soon apparent that they couldn't make it before the animal reached them. One said to the other, ‘Put up a prayer, John. We're in for it!’ But John answered, ‘I can't. I never made a public prayer in my life.’ ‘But you must,’ said his companion, ‘the bull will soon be upon us.’ ‘All right,’ panted John, ‘I'll give you the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: `O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful!' " This story makes us laugh but it is true that no matter what trials we may face, or how deep the waters through which we must pass, we should give thanks "always for all things."

Being filled with the Holy Spirit not only enables us to address “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” but also to give “thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. What blessing it is to know that God’s plan is being worked out in our lives, even during the most difficult of times.  We may not always know or understand the plan, but we are able to be thankful to God for what He doing at that time and in that place.  Throughout the Old Testament we see how God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ is being worked out on earth through His people and even through those who do not believe in Him.  Throughout the New Testament we see how God is using world events as well as events in the lives of His people to spread the message of the Gospel to the world.

The Apostles and many Christians during the time of the writing of this letter suffered persecution, yet they were able to be filled with joy because God was with them and they were able to be thankful to the Lord because they knew that God loves them and has given them eternal life.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the moment of suffering that we fail to realize that it is only temporary, part of God’s plan, and we should be thankful that He has given us the greatest gift of all- eternal life.

Thank You, Lord, for everything, especially the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Day 36

July 7, 2019

Ephesians 5:18b-21

²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body. ³¹ “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

During the funeral services for Ronald Reagan, former President George Bush shared a story illustrating Reagan's humility. Bush described him in the hospital after he was shot in an assassination attempt: “Days after being shot, weak from wounds, he spilled water from a sink, and entering the hospital room aides saw him on his hands and knees wiping water from the floor. He worried that his nurse would get in trouble.”

What makes a good marriage?  If you do not know then read this passage again.  Paul is telling us that humility, sacrifice, and submission makes a great marriage.  So many people misunderstand this passage and so miss the point. May we never!

Marriage is a team project and God is showing us how is can be the most harmonious and function with the greatest blessing.  Yes, the Lord tells wives to submit to their husbands (and this is where all the trouble starts), but they are to do so out of reverence to Christ and accepting that God has gifted them with the spiritual leadership of their husband.  All too often people stop with 5:24 and husbands fail to understand what their role truly is.  It is not to be a selfish dictator, but rather first to love his wife with the same agape love that Christ loves us- complete unselfish love.  Christ revealed that love but what He did for the Church- He sacrificed His life.  Husbands are called upon to live a sacrificial life for their wives, willing to even give their lives up for the one’s they truly love.

Ronald Reagan was more concerned for the nurse than he was for himself.  Christ certainly was greatly more concerned for us that He was for His own life the suffering that He would endure.  Husbands in the same way are to be more concerned about their wives than they are about themselves.

Husbands and wives are a team.  As members of the same team they are to be “All In” for each other. That means that for wives to submit to their husbands that must be 100% in for them and willing offer 100% of themselves for their husbands.  It also means that husbands are to 100% in for their wives and willing to sacrifice 100% of themselves for their wives just as Christ did for His Church.  Marriage is not 50-50, it 100-100.  If it is 50-50, I am only giving half of myself to my wife and she is only giving half of herself to me.  We are holding back from each 50% of who we are and what we have to offer.  We are being selfish if we are not giving 100% of ourselves to our spouses.

A Godly marriage is one in which Christ is the true Head of the marriage.  He is at the center of their life together.  They are as a couple to submit to Him and His Headship over themselves and their relationship.  They are to look to Him for forgiveness and they are to forgive each other just as Christ has forgiven them.

Christ not only sacrificed His life for the Church He also purchased her for Himself with His own life and shed blood.  He “cleansed her by the washing with water through the word.” Through the means of grace, Word and Sacrament, he cleansed her of her many sins, quieted her conscience, gave her peace with God, and assured her of security in his protecting hand.

Thank You, Lord, for bringing husbands and wives together in love.  May You be at the center of their marriage and may they trust in You in all things.  In love for You and their husbands may wives submit to their husbands and in love for their wives may husbands sacrifice for their wives as they love, honor and respect You and each other.

Day 37

July 8, 2019

Ephesians 6:1-4

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), ³ “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” ⁴ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

When your child was young did he/she ever want to help you with something that you thought they were not able to do correctly or safely and so told them “You can’t help with that.”  It is interesting that preschoolers want to help their mom’s wash the dishes, or sons want to help their fathers by using power tools.  I remember, though, that it was not Will but Laruen who wanted to help me with small repairs and projects.  I said no to the power tools, but we did buy her a real tool set made for children. Then when Lauren became a teenager, she no longer had a desire to work with tools just as many teenagers who once wanted to wash the dishes no longer ask to do so but must be told to do so.

Those young children want to learn from their parents and please them.  When they are able to help their parents, they are forming a bond, expressing their love, and I think beginning to find meaning and purpose.

As children grow, they learn many things from their parents.  Children learn proper behavior, skills that they need at that time and will need in the future.  They also learn to obey their parents and honor their fathers and mothers.  More importantly, if they are raised by Christian parents they learn to love, honor and obey God.

Years ago, an apprenticeship often began while the learner was still a young person. He moved right in with his teacher and lived as he lived. He was with the master carpenter or blacksmith 24 hours a day, watching his every move and following his careful and sometimes harsh instruction. He learned the skill, but he learned much more than a profession. He was being taught a whole way of life.

Paul tells Fathers to “raise their children to maturity by training them in proper behavior and providing them instruction in proper belief of the Lord” (my translation of the Greek text).  The total life concept of early apprenticeship is built into Paul’s encouragement to train and instruct.  The expectation is that by teaching the Word of God and through their own words and personal examples parents will nurture their children and teach them what it means to “be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Children learn a lot about God in Sunday school. But only from their parents will they see what it means to walk with Jesus in a total-life way.  It should be said of all Christian fathers that they spiritually nurture their children daily by their example and by reading to them God’s Holy Word of truth, love, compassion, forgiveness, and salvation. 

Martin Luther wrote at the beginning of each part of his Small Catechism, “As the Head of the Family Should Teach It in the Simplest Way to His Household.”  Our Lord called my Dad from this earthly life unto Himself when I was 6 years old and so I do not have a recollection of him heeding Luther but I do remember my Mom every week asking me about the Sunday School lesson and then reviewing it me and my brother as well helping us to remember The Six Chief Parts of the Small Catechism.  I also remember how she set the example for both us of what it means to walk with Jesus.

Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Godly parents.  May they by Your grace, Your Word and Sacraments, live lives imitating You, living in Your love, and able to “raise their children to maturity by training them in proper behavior and providing them instruction in proper belief of the Lord.”

Day 38

July 9, 2019

Ephesians 6:10-13

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

As a young man in the late 1600s, Edward Teach joined the crew of a British ship that was headed to the Caribbean. Much later in his nautical career, he managed to capture a merchant vessel and turn it into a 40-gun warship. Teach soon became known as Blackbeard—the most feared pirate in the hemisphere.

Blackbeard had some success as a pirate, but his “career” abruptly ended when he encountered a contingent of the British Royal Navy. In a desperate battle, he and his fellow pirates were killed, putting an end to their terrorizing exploits.

Long ago in the heavenly places, an angel fell into spiritual piracy. Lucifer was a cherub who stood in the radiant glory of God (Ezekiel 28:11-15). But his own self-love replaced love for his Creator. Desiring to be like the Most High, he led a rebellion and was cast out of heaven (Is 14:12-15). Today he and his demons are doing whatever they can to

Deceive humanity by taking “away the Word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12).

We’re often inclined to think that our problems and opposition come from perverse people. Evil people, however, are in reality only agents and instruments of the devil. They’re part of Satan’s scheme against believers. Paul says it plainly: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

All too often Christians fighting the wrong war.  They are battling against flesh and blood, they get angry with people and fight against them without realizing that the true war is not against humanity, or a single person, but rather spiritual forces of darkness bent on doing us harm, destroying our relationship with God, with others, and if possible, destroying a congregation.

Our adversary, Satan, "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1Peter 5:8).  He continues to try to bring down our faith, take over our hearts, and stop the spread of the gospel.  Satan also desires to undermine our confidence in God and His Word, sap our spiritual strength, so that we would be discouraged.  But being strong in the Lord and putting on the whole armor of God we are able to have clarity, self-control, and be ready, alert, and vigilant when the devil strikes.

Satan is indeed an extremely dangerous enemy, never to be underestimated, but like Blackbeard he is not invincible.  He is defeated!  His fate was sealed when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.  Jesus said, “I will be with you always” and has given unto us the Holy Spirit to be with us, give us faith and strengthen our faith through the means of grace.  God has, in addition, given us all that we to withstand the devils attacks when He gave us the Full Armor of God.

Nobody is temptation-proof. Even mature Christians have weaknesses in their spiritual armor that make them vulnerable to a wounding attack by the enemy of their souls. Our pride can provide the very opening needed for the sharp thrust of a satanic dart. So can the love of money, a quick temper, a critical tongue, or chronic impatience.  We are all too often tempted to think, say, or do something contrary to God's holy will. It may be a weak impulse or a powerful urge. It's anything that's against what God approves or desires for us, but God in His mercy sent into the world the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  No matter how many times that we fail to resist the devil, the world, and our own flesh, Jesus forgives us and continues to give us the confidence that we will one day be free of evil and temptation when we reside in heaven in robes that have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)

Thank You, Lord, that You have armed us with Your armor and that Jesus came into this world to battle sin, death, and the devil, defeating them through His own death and resurrection.
 

Day 39

July 10, 2019

Ephesians 6:14-17

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Visitors to the Art Institute in Chicago can walk through a long gallery filled with suits of armor from centuries ago. They can see the progression of armor protection such as chain mail and sophisticated helmet visors. As impressive as this display is, however, not one of these suits of armor would be helpful on a modern-day battlefield. It would be the wrong weapon at the wrong time.

Paul is describing us as the Church Militant, Christian soldiers. We do not fight this battle alone. Paul has described us as the body of Christ which is made of many individual members who all work together for the body's good (Ephesians 4:1-16), Paul here refers to the many members as if we are one soldier, one new man, equipped to fight against God's enemies.  We, the many members of the body, must put on the one belt of truth, the one breastplate of righteousness, and the one helmet of salvation. We bear the one shield of faith and wield the one sword of the Spirit. We do not stand against the powers and authorities as individuals.

Much of the armor that Paul says to “put on” comes from Old Testament descriptions of the promised Messiah who will arise and bring light to the dark earth (Isa. 11:4-5, 52:7, 59:16-60:3). As the body of the Messiah, it is not surprising to find Paul here telling the church to put on the armor of God's Messiah—truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Spirit.

Notice that our strength and power for warfare are found in the Lord and in the armor that He provides for us.

The belt of truth pictures the belt that held all the pieces of a Roman soldier's armor together. We have the power that God's truth that has been given to us to defend and protect us. Since lies are Satan's weapon of choice, the truth of God's Word is indispensable in our spiritual warfare.

The breastplate protected a soldier's heart. Because we are covered in the righteousness of Christ, no flaming arrow of the enemy can attack our relationship with Him. Our hearts are secure in Christ!

The third piece of armor we need to put on is footwear that gets us ready for travel. In Romans 10:15 Paul talks about the beautiful feet of those who bring the gospel to others (Isa. 52:7).

The fourth piece of armor is the shield of faith.  With all the pieces of armor mentioned above, the soldier needed to also carry extra protection in the form of a shield.  The shield could be made of made of wood and leather, often with an iron frame. Sometimes the leather would be soaked in water to help extinguish flaming arrows.  For Christians, this shield is faith—complete reliance on God.  It is not something we put on for a show for others. It means believing in His promises even though we don’t see those promises materializing yet. God gives faith to protect us (Ephesians 2:8).

The fifth piece of armor is the helmet of salvation.  The helmet protected the soldier’s head. No sword could pierce a good helmet. Isaiah 59:17 describes God wearing a helmet of salvation. The soldier would take his helmet and sword from an armor bearer. In the same way, we are to receive this helmet of salvation, for it is handed to us by God Himself. First Thessalonians 5:8 calls believers to put on “the hope of salvation as a helmet.” This “hope” is a certainty—believers have complete assurance that God will do all that he has promised. Our salvation already accomplished by Jesus Christ.

God has not only given us defensive armor, He has given us one offensive weapon- the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  Armed with this, we not only can defend ourselves but go on the offensive as well, for that Word is “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow” (Hebrews 4:12).

Using God’s Word, we can rout any of the “powers of this dark world” or the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It only remains for us to be faithful in our use of the Word and regularly to turn to the almighty Lord in prayer.

Thank You, Lord, that You have equipped us with the Armor of God.  Remind us to daily put on the armor and so knowing that You are with us, be able to defend ourselves against the evil forces of this dark world.

Day 40

July 11, 2019

Ephesians 6:18-20

¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹ and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Irina Ratushinskaya's childhood quest for God often left wondering if God did not exist why did her teachers spend so much teaching against Him.  Why would they be so afraid of God if He did not exist? During this time the Holy Spirit led her to a deep and unflinching faith. Her poetry expressed that faith and brought inspiration and hope to

believers all over Russia.

It also brought her to the attention of the KGB. At age 28, Irina was arrested and sentenced to 7 years hard labor in the Bareshevo labor camp. There she was subjected to relentless interrogations, chilling cold, starvation, hard labor, and months of solitary confinement.

Irina's faith did not break. During the lonely nights, huddled against the cold wall of her cell, she composed poetry in her head about God. When Irina was finally released, she credited the prayers of believers for sustaining her.

The fact that these cosmic forces are spiritual and not made of flesh and blood means that our natural defenses are useless in defending against them. With enemies like this, only spiritual defenses will do. Fortunately, God in His grace has provided us with a complete suit of armor that enables us to stand against these powers of evil. Truth, righteousness, faith, and the Word of God equip us to defend ourselves and will protect us against the onslaught of the enemy. Although we may seem to lose an occasional skirmish, the fact that God has already provided us with salvation guarantees that we will ultimately win the war. Satan can oppose us but he will never be able to defeat us.

Paul concludes that this conflict is carried forward through prayer, as we pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (v. 18). We pray not only for ourselves but for others who are engaged in the struggle. This is a war that we wage on our knees.

Thank You, Lord, that You hear our prayers and the prayers of Your people on our behalf.  May Your will continue to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Conclusion

Ephesians 6:21-24

²¹ So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. ²² I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. ²³ Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

The sponsors of a large Christian conference put up a “graffiti wall” for participants to write on. Someone penned this question: “Did Paul know he was writing the Scriptures?” Just below it someone else wrote: “Did Barnabas know he wasn’t?”

This humorous exchange underscores an important principle. Ministry is a team effort. The apostle Paul is the author of this epistle, but he was not the only one responsible for the success of his ministry. In the concluding verses of Ephesians he pays tribute to Tychicus, “the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord” (v. 21). Tychicus was probably already known to many of the readers of this epistle. He was from Asia and was a colleague of Trophimus who was from Ephesus (see Acts 20:4; 21:29).

Tychicus carried this letter from Paul to Ephesus, and he often served as a messenger. He delivered the letter to the Colossians (Col. 4:7–9), and was selected to be one of those who accompanied the collection gathered for the poor to Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:19). When Paul sent the slave Onesimus back to his master Philemon, Tychicus accompanied him with Paul’s personal letter requesting his freedom. Tychicus was also one of those Paul regarded as competent enough to stand in for him in Crete.

Without the aid of servants like Tychicus, who were willing to stand in Paul’s place and act as his eyes and ears, the Apostle’s ministry would have been severely curtailed. We, the members of Trinity Lutheran Church have been gathered together into one body by the Holy Spirit, granting each of us gifts that He desires us to use for the success of the ministry of TLC.  He has placed us together to be a team, working together in ministry so that God’s name would be glorified, and His Gospel would proclaimed in our area.

If Tychicus had not been a “dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord”, the letter might never had reach Ephesus.  What might not be happening because we are not serving the Lord and His Church as He has called and gifted us to do.

Thank You, Lord, for our dear brothers and sisters in Christ who serve with us.