July 5-Go Well

Journey through Ephesians

Ephesians 6.1-3 “that it may go well with you”

Focus Verse-Ephesians 6.3

“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

Insight-As a dad, I have discovered that my kids really appreciate it when I can give them a reason for why they should do something.  That’s why I appreciate the fact that we are given a great reason to obey our parents-because if we do, Paul says that the result is that you will live the best life possible.  Paul says that obedience to our parents causes things to go well with us and that we will enjoy a long life on this earth.  The idea is more than longevity, it is a quality of life.

So how does this work?  When we obey our parents, we learn self-discipline and self-control which obviously benefit us profoundly as we grow older.  But perhaps, it also helps us as we grow in our relationship with God.  Can we really say that we obey God, who we can’t see if we can’t obey the parents that we do see?  So I guess it starts at home, doesn’t it?

Active Response-Today, I will seek to first of all, as a father, to lead my children into the best life possible.  I will also seek to honor my parents with my thoughts and actions. And I will seek to honor my parents in everything thing I do, as I represent them, with my life.

Father thank you for parents that love me and have honored you with their lives.  Help me to live in a way that honors them and also honors you.  Amen.

July 4-For Her

Journey through Ephesians

Ephesians 5.25-33 “as Christ loved the church”

Focus Verse-Ephesians 5.25

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”

Insight-Why is it that when the idea of wives submitting to husbands comes up, we very seldom go to verse 25?  Why is this such a difficult concept for men to grasp?  Paul keeps it simple: love your wife.  And in case that is confusing, here’s a visual: like Jesus loves the church.  And if that is still fuzzy, here’s the cliff’s notes: he gave himself up for her.  So husbands, our role is to love our wives by giving ourselves up for them.  We are called to love sacrificially, to give generously of ourselves to them, to set our agendas, our pride, our preferences, our fears, etc. aside in order to elevate them.  Imagine the effect that this would have on our marriages if we took it seriously?

Maybe this is difficult because we don’t really understand how Jesus loves us.  Funny how it always has to go back to that, huh?  Perhaps once again, we need to go back to the start and ask Jesus to remind us of how he loves us and then actually let him love us.

Active Response-Today, I will take time to really think about the reality of God’s love for me and how that translates to me loving my wife in the same way.  I will surrender my life, my agendas, my preferences, my pride, etc. to God today and I won’t try to reclaim those things when it comes to the people around me-especially my wife.

Jesus, thank you for your incomparable love that gives everything for me, not because of who I am, but because of who you are.  Help me to let you love me so that I can love others.  Amen.

July 3-follow the leader

Journey through Ephesians

Ephesians 5.22-24 “as to the Lord”

Focus Verse-Ephesians 5.22

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.”

Insight-I love being able to think about this (that’s kind of a joke).  This is such a touchy subject, as we mentioned yesterday, and this is where it get’s complicated-and it doesn’t have to be that way.  Another way of reading this verse might be, “Wives, let your husbands lead you just like you let Jesus lead you.”  Ok, here’s the first question: are you letting Jesus lead you?  Apparantly, the way you let Jesus lead you and the way you let your husband lead you are connected.  Interesting.  I will let the women explore that one on their own.

Of course, this is a question for all of us-am I letting Jesus lead me?  That’s hard, because it is hard to wrap our minds and hearts around the idea that he is the most trustworthy leader we will ever find.  So, all I am going to do is encourage you to take some time to think about it and if you’re ready, ask God to show you that it’s the truest thing you would ever know.

Active Response-I am going to trust Jesus to lead me in every area of my life.  If I don’t know how to follow, then I don’t really know how to lead.

Jesus, take the reins.  Help me to trust your love and leadership, because that is what I need more than anything else. Amen.

July 2-You First

Journey through Ephesians

Ephesians 5.21-”submit to one another”

Focus Verse-Ephesians 5.21

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Insight-Submission is quite the hot button topic, in and out of Christian circles.  Which is really unfortunate, since it is actually a really beautiful thing, if you understand it and experience it.  Here’s what submission is: “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden”.  Now, in our relationships, doesn’t that actually seem like something that would be quite beneficial for all?  What would happen if, in all of our relationships, we decided to cooperate with each other, assume responsibility for each other and to carry each others’ burdens?  What an incredible picture of loving relationships!  As Americans especially, this hits on our incessant need to protect our rights.  And we have some rather interesting “rights” don’t we-the right to be right, the right to comfort, the right to ease, the right to do it our way, the right to be in charge or in control, the right to build our own kingdoms, etc.  Submission puts those rights aside.

And check out the motivation for this-out of reverence for Christ.  Our motivation is a deep awe and respect for Jesus, the one who we find did this for all of us.  Jesus, the one who had every right to exalt himself above us and to force us to submit to him, submitted himself-he cooperated with us, gave himself up for us, assumed responsibility for us and our failures and carried our burdens!  When you think of Jesus life of submission, how can you not want to respond in the same way, with deep awe and respect!

Active Response-Today I will follow the example of Jesus and choose to live in cooperation and surrender.  I will assume responsibility for the well-being of those around me and I will voluntarily carry their burdens.  I will do so, because that’s what Jesus did and does for me.

Jesus, thank you for never asking me to do something that you wouldn’t do.  Thank you for the gift of grace that your submission brought to me!  Help me to live in accordance with you and your example.  Amen.

July 1-Every Opportunity

Journey through Ephesians

Ephesians 5.15-20 “making the most of every opportunity”

Focus Verse-Ephesians 5.15-16

^“15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Insight-We are all trying to live the best life possible, aren’t we?  This is the idea of Paul’s thought here, to live wise means to live the best life possible.  He tells us that in order to do this, we must be careful, this is the idea of living with our eyes open, looking around to see what is happening all around us and discerning what is best, what is light and what is darkness.  LIfe is short, so Paul tells us that in our effort to live the best life possible, we should make the most of every opportunity.

How much of life do we actually waste?  So much time is spent trying to preserve our own tiny little kingdoms, often at the expense of someone else.  We are encouraged to seize every moment and to embrace it as Jesus would, to follow God’s will in it.  Well that opens a can of worms-what is God’s will in any particular moment?  I would suggest that God’s will is that in every moment, our trust would be placed squarely in him, not ourselves or anyone else and that we would be expressions of his love for people and all of creation in those moments.  The moments that we choose to neglect those two things are wasted, yet when we choose to embrace every moment as an opportunity to trust God and to be an expression of his love, well that’s the best life possible.

Active Response-Today, i will live with my eyes open, looking for every moment to be an opportunity to actively trust God and to actively love others.

Faithful God, thank you for never wasting a moment with me and for sharing those moments with me!  Help me to make the most of every opportunity as occasions to trust you and to love others.  Amen.