Monthly Archives: July 2022

Ephesians – Sun – 22-07-31

Daily Spark

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I’m sure you change out of dirty clothes, right? At least I hope you do. I have to change out of the clothes I wear to mow the yard. Even though I mow in the morning, the heat of summer leaves me drenched in sweat. Sometimes, I have to do yard work as well. I built a retaining wall earlier this summer. Besides sweat, dirt stained my jeans and crusted my socks.

So, when I finish the yard work, I take off the dirty, sweaty clothes, grab a shower and put on fresh clothes. Please note that I don’t take a shower and then put the same dirty clothes back on. My momma taught me better than that.

Paul uses the illustration of changing out of dirty clothes to describe the effort we must take to match our new life in Christ. In Ephesians 4:25 he says, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” (NIV)

After Jesus has saved us, we must rid ourselves of any deceit and falsehood. We must speak truthfully to others. Otherwise, we do the spiritual equivalent of taking a shower and putting back on filthy clothes. That’s not good for us, or our neighbors. Nor does it reflect the reality of our new life in Christ.

Remember, put off falsehood and put on speaking the truth.

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Ephesians – Sat – 22-07-30

Daily Spark

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I had a teacher many years ago who said two important questions exist. The first is “what’s so?” In other words, what is the truth? What is the reality? The second questions is “So, what?” If you know the truth, what difference should it make in how you live? The bible answers both the question “what’s so?” and the question “so, what?” It tells us the truth and also tells us how to live because of the truth.

In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul explained the truth —  God saved us by grace through faith and formed us into one church. In Ephesians 4 Paul shifts to the second question. Verse 17 says, “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.”(NIV) After describing the ignorance and hard hearted sensuality of the non-Christians, Paul said in verses 22-24, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (NIV)

Today, take off the way our culture thinks, and put on a new attitude. An attitude seeking to be holy and righteous, like God.

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Ephesians – Fri – 22-07-29

Daily Spark

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Would you say we live in a deeply divided nation? It seems that way, doesn’t it? People shout down those who disagree with them, whether on a college campus or in the street. No one wants to discuss or debate anymore. Many never seek to persuade others, just silence them. Others simple avoid the rancor and try to go about their daily lives.

The division is often between the political left and the right. But it also exists between those running the country and the country. The priorities of those in power do not overlap with the priorities of the common people. Many of the experts in power don’t even listen to the common people, vainly believing they know what’s best. Politicians motivate others to action through division and anger. The media pumps conflict and division, knowing it sells clicks and grabs attention.

And what about Christians? Do we approach each other with the same spirit of division that sours our culture? We’d bettered not. Listen to Ephesians 4:3-6, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (NIV)

Today, make every effort to preserve unity with other believers.

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Ephesians – Thu – 22-07-28

Daily Spark

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Do you have a wild imagination? Do you think up outlandish things? Do you have vivid and colorful dreams? Many people do. I am often amazed at the imagination of artists and authors. They sometimes dream up entire worlds and stretch our imaginations by their work. Science fiction does that for me. It is one of my favorite genres.  I guess it started by watching Star Trek when I was a youngster. My brother and I would pretend to be the crew of the Enterprise. That love of sci-fi has lasted my life. In the last couple of decades, sci-fi novels displaced westerns and thrillers as my favorite books. Oh, I know science fiction is fiction. But traveling throughout the cosmos to explore sounds like tremendous fun.

Why all this talk about imagination? Because our imagination is mentioned in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (NIV)

You see, God is not limited. He exists without limitation of space and time. He is all powerful, eternal, present everywhere and holy. And, do you know another thing he is not limited by? Your imagination. You can’t measure how much more God can do than in your wildest imagination. And his power is at work in us.

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Ephesians – Wed – 22-07-27

Daily Spark

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During my years in business, I travelled to a few different countries. From the moment I landed, I knew I was a foreigner. I went through the passport control line marked for non-citizens. Road signs were different and sometimes they drove on the opposite side of the road. In some countries, English was spoken, but the local accents and idioms separated me. In other countries, hardly any English was spoken. I was also careful about walking on the streets alone, since I didn’t know which neighborhoods were safe and which were not. Although repeated trips to the same location made them more familiar, I still knew I was a foreigner. After a week or two, I was more than ready to go home.

The same is true in a spiritual sense. We are alienated from God until we follow Jesus.  Then the words of Ephesians 2:19-22 come true. It says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (NIV)

Doesn’t it feel good to be at home in the Lord?

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Ephesians – Tue – 22-07-26

Daily Spark

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I don’t know how many times I’ve gone through the house to find something I’ve misplaced. I look high and low, upstairs and down. I search, but don’t find it. Then my wife looks for it and finds it in short order. I bet this has happen to you, right? Why is it that when we are searching for something we often overlook it?

We can also overlook things we are not searching for. We just don’t notice. I understand how that happens. I focus on something so much I overlook other things. That’s the way I usually shop for groceries. I hunt through the store to get the items on the list and miss a great deal on something I would have enjoyed.

This also happens when we read scripture. What do you overlook in Ephesians 2:8-10? It reads, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)

Most people refer to this passage to highlight our salvation by grace through faith. They may overlook the last two phrases. God saves us for a purpose – to do good works. And God prepared those for us before we followed Jesus. What has God prepared for you to do today?

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Ephesians – Mon – 22-07-25

Daily Spark

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Did you shoot off fireworks during the 4th of July weekend? Many people did. We usually picture fireworks as aerial blooms of sparkling fire in the night sky. But fireworks also include firecrackers. They make more noise than light. They’re also good at blowing up things. I admit that I blew up old models and toy army men as a teen. One small firecracker has the power to blow off a finger or destroy an eye.

The most powerful manmade explosions come from nuclear weapons. Thankfully, only two have ever been used in warfare. But there is something more powerful. Every second, our sun releases energy equivalent to nearly 92 billion tons of high explosives.* Every second. But that is nothing compared to the creative power of God. He gives life to the dead.

In Ephesians 1:19-20, Paul prays that his readers would know three things, “the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” (NIV)

Did you catch the important word? It is only three letters. God’s incomparably great power is for us who believe. Thinking about that will bolster our confidence today.

*”Nuclear Fusion in the Sun Explained Perfectly by Science,” UniverSavvy, https://universavvy.com/nuclear-fusion-in-sun

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Ephesians – Sun – 22-07-24

Daily Spark

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As I record this, I’m wearing a t-shirt that has the word every emblazoned across the chest. It is tan and the word appears in lower case letters. Below the word a scripture reference appears in smaller letters. It reads “Ephesians 1:3.” A few weeks ago I wore the shirt into a cell phone store. The person helping me asked what “every” was all about. I explained the shirt announced the 2022 theme for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She said she’d have to look up the verse later.

See if you understand the word “every” as you hear Ephesians 1:3-4, “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. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (NIV)

Did you catch it? God blesses us with every spiritual blessing. The following verses list many of the blessings, but the one mentioned first is God choosing us to be holy and blameless. A choice he made before time began.

The word every means that God gives us all possible spiritual blessings. Nothing is withheld. We receive blessings to the greatest degree possible. Stop for a moment and think about the blessings of God. He has given you and me every spiritual blessing in Christ.

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Jude – Sat – 22-07-23

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Have you ever been around a campfire and dropped something right on the edge of it? If it was a toasted marshmallow, you probably shrugged and let it burn. Much easier to toast another. But if you dropped your phone, you’d quickly snatch it from the flames, right? Or kick it to safety. Your phone is important enough to risk a burn.

Jude 1:23 tells us one way to watch out for others. It says, “snatch others from the fire and save them.” (NIV) In other words, when a follower of Jesus falls, we need to quickly reach out to restore them. We can’t just shrug as if they were a marshmallow. They are far too valuable.

The verse continues and says, “to others show mercy, mixed with fear–hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” (NIV) To understand this, picture a virulent disease. People need help, but you must be careful. All the clothing and bed clothes are contaminated and highly infectious. You must take precautions. The same is true in a spiritual sense. People who struggle with powerful issues need our help. But we must be vigilant to avoid falling ourselves.

Jude urges us to contend for the faith. We need to fight for the truth. But we also need to care for each other, assisting those who doubt, snatching some to safety and carefully helping those with powerful problems.

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Jude – Fri – 22-07-22

Daily Spark

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In boxing, a challenger for the title with potential to win is called a contender. They enter the ring to battle for the championship. The word is used in other sports as well, describing teams good enough to vie for the championship. It is even used to describe competitors in business.

The book of Jude uses the word as well. We are told to contend for the faith. One way we do this is by watching out for each other. Jude 1:21 says “keep yourselves in God’s love” or “watch over yourselves in God’s love.” Then Jude gives some specific ways to care for each other. Verse 22 says “Be merciful to those who doubt.” (NIV)

Two words provide the meaning to this verse. First is the word doubt. It describes one who hesitates or is uncertain. Many followers of Jesus have a few doubts or are uncertain about some items of the faith. How do we treat them?

Well, the second word shows the way. It is translated “be merciful.” It can also mean “to be kind” and “to assist.” It is the word used of God’s action toward us. His mercy assisted us by providing Jesus to secure our forgiveness. So, we too must be kind to those followers with doubts. We must assist them to answer their questions and strengthen the certainty of their faith. This is one way to contend for the faith once for all delivered to us.

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Jude – Thu – 22-07-21

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A week or so ago Elaine and I visited a friend. She was babysitting her new grandchild. She said she’d be keeping the baby most of the week. Did you hear the word keep? She did not mean the child would stay at her house 24/7. She used the word keep to mean “watch” the child while the mother worked. Several of our other friends also have grandchildren. They use the words keep and watch interchangeably to describe babysitting. The words stress the protective nature of the care provided.

Keep this in mind when hearing Jude 1:21, which says, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (NIV) What does it mean to “keep yourselves in God’s love”? Well it doesn’t mean that our efforts are more important than God’s grace. Did you notice the plural? “Keep yourselves” carries the connotation of Christians watching over each other, of being on guard to protect each other and care for one another.

But there’s more to this story. The same word is used of Jesus keeping us in Jude 1:1, “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.” (NIV) Just like loving grandparents watch over their grandchildren, Jesus watches over us. And we should also watch over each other.

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Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

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