Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

Today we are continuing our study in Ephesians chapter 5. Right at thebeginning of this chapter, we are told to “be imitators of God as dearchildren.” As believers, we are called to put off the old man—to put offbitterness, anger, and wrath—and to stop living the way we lived before webecame followers of Jesus Christ. Then Paul gives us this clear admonition:“Walk in love.”  Myfriend, as I have been thinking about this, I couldn't help but reflect on thetruth that when we walk in love, we are walking with God. Remember in 1John chapter 4, at least twice—in verse 8 and again in verse 15—the ApostleJohn tells us that God is love. One of the great attributes of God is that Heis love. Everything God does flows out of His love and His goodness, becauseGod is love and God is good. Aswe walk in love as imitators of God, as His dear children, we demonstrate tothe world around us that we truly belong to Him. People see that difference—notjust in what we say, but in the purity of our lives and in the love that ismanifested through us. Remember, Scripture tells us to love our enemies and toovercome evil with good. How do we do that? Naturally speaking, when we areoffended or hurt—when someone strikes us—the human response is to strike back,to get even, to retaliate. But my friend, it is just the opposite for someonewho has experienced the love of God. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessedare the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Romans5:8 tells us: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while wewere still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were still sinners—whilewe were alienated from Him, ignoring Him, blaspheming His name—Christ loved us.He died for us. While we were being mean to Him, rejecting Him, spitting in Hisface, and nailing Him to the cross, He loved us. My friend, that is anunfathomable love, an unlimited love, an unselfish love. That is theunconditional love of God, and that is the love God calls us to walk in. Howdo we do that? First, we must personally experience that love through JesusChrist. As we read at the end of Ephesians chapter 4, “forgiving one another,just as God in Christ forgave you.” Because we have been forgiven, we canforgive others. Years ago, I heard something that helped me greatly. My naturalresponse to offense or hurt has often been to get even—to strike back. I didthat as a teenager and as a young person, and even later in life I have hadthoughts I shouldn't have had when I was hurt. But my friend, our response isnot based on how we feel—it is based on what we have experienced in Christ. Thelove God speaks of here is agape love—God's love. It is not something wemanufacture. God is love, and He has an endless reservoir of love. When I amoffended or hurt, when I am tempted to respond in an unchristlike way, Ipicture reaching into God's reservoir of love. I don't give someone my love,because I don't have it. I give them God's love. I respond with kindness,forgiveness, and goodness. I have had people tell me that I'm being a hypocriteif I'm being nice and kind to someone when I don't feel like it. My response is,“No, I'm not being a hypocrite, I am being a Christian.  AsScripture says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”(Romans 12:21). There is joy in doing that, because we are abiding in His love.Please read 1 John 4:14-19! 1Corinthians 13 tells us that love is not a feeling. It's an action that comesfrom walking with God in His love. Read 1 Corinthians 13 that gives us a description of God's agapelove.  MayGod help us to practice this. As Paul points out here in Ephesians 5:2, we areto walk in love. How do you do that? One step at a time, everyminute of every day, when you are walking with God, you are walking in Hislove. And my friend, His love will be manifest through you to a world around usthat desperately needs to know that love.

Paultells us we must be imitators of God as dear children. That phrase is veryimportant. It is only possible to put off bitterness, malice, anger, andunforgiveness because we are dear children of God. Over the years in mycounseling sessions I have hear many people say, “You don't understand whatso-and-so did to me. You don't understand what happened years ago. There is noway I can forgive or love that person.” And humanly speaking, that may be true.But now that you have been born into God's family, you are called to imitateGod. And God is love. Weespecially read this truth in the book of 1 John, where Scripture reminds usthat God is love. That becomes the foundation for our walk. Remember yesterdaywe mentioned that as believers, Paul gives us three clear instructions in thischapter about how we are to walk. We are to: Walk in love (v. 2), walk aschildren of light (v. 8), and to walk carefully and wisely (v. 15). When we walkin this way, we display to the world around us that there is somethingdifferent about us. That difference is not our personality or our strength—itis the supernatural, divine, godly life of Christ living in us. We live thisway only because Christ is in us and we are children of God. Overthe years, I have seen this truth played out many times at weddings, funerals,and family gatherings. These are moments when families, whether in sorrow or ingreat joy, should be coming together in unity. Yet it is heartbreaking to seethe animosity, hatred, and bitterness that sometimes surface. I have heardpeople say, “If they are going to be there, I'm not going.”  If that person is part of the service, Iwon't be.” “I'm not attending the wedding because so-and-so will be there.” Myfriend, that does not display the heart of God's love. Howdo we overcome that? Peter gives us the answer in 2 Peter 1:2-4: “Grace andpeace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, asHis divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which havebeen given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through theseyou may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption thatis in the world through lust”. He reminds us that we have been called byGod's glory and virtue, and that we have been given exceedingly great andprecious promises, so that through these we may become partakers of the divinenature!  Myfriend, if you are in Christ, you are a partaker of the divine nature. And Godis love. Because of that, we understand that love covers a multitude of sins.In 1 Peter 4:7–10 we read: “But the end of all things is at hand; thereforebe serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent lovefor one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitableto one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister itto one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Read1 John 4:7–11, where we are reminded once again that: “He who does not lovedoes not know God, for God is love. In these verses, we are told that Goddemonstrated His love by sending His only begotten Son into the world, that wemight live through Him. This is love—not that we loved God, but that He lovedus and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”. And then comesthe clear application: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to loveone another.” Thinkon those words today. And may the Lord use these thoughts to encourage you towalk in love—to walk in love as Christ has loved us, and to love oneanother in Christ Jesus. Godbless you. And may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today,we're starting a new chapter in Ephesians 5 which is about Walking Jesus! Remember,when I started this series in Ephesians, I mentioned that years ago I gave eachof the chapters a subject headline. Ephesians 1 was Knowing Christ. Ifwe're going to live for Christ we must know Christ. We must know Him as ourpersonal Savior. We must know Him also as our Lord and the one who fills uswith His Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2 was Living Christ. If we know Christ,then we should live Christ. Ephesians 3 was Loving Christ. What He wantsmore than anything else is that our sacrifice and service for Him is out oflove.  Ephesians4 that we've been looking at was Talking Christ. We are not to talk andwalk and live as the Gentiles live, but we walk in purity. And that means thatwe talk Christ. Our speech should always be seasoned with grace and seasonedwith salt. We are not to speak and let corrupt words come out of our mouths,but we're to speak that which is good and edifying and building up.  Now,Ephesians 5 is Walking Christ. In this chapter, it is interesting tonote that we see at least three walks we are suppose have. In verses 1-2, weread, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, asChrist also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrificeto God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”  We walk in love. In verse 8, we read, “Foryou were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children oflight.” We are to walk in the light. It speaks of this also because aswe noticed in verse 1, we are dear children of the Lord, we should walk inlight. Then in verses 15-16, we read, “See then that you walk circumspectly,not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Weare also to walk “circumspectly. Which means that we walk carefully. In otherwords, we are walk with wisdom.  Theseare three walks we see in the first part of this chapter. We'll be talkingabout them the next several days. It's so important that we do have a walk thatmatches our talk. If our talk is such that we are saying we're Christians, andtelling others that we're followers of Jesus Christ, then our daily walk, ourpractical walk ought to be there. The first aspect of that walk that Paulmentions is that we walk in love because we're imitators of God as His dearchildren. In these first two verses, Paul then gives us several reasons why weshould walk in this love. This is a walk because Christ loved us and gaveHimself for us. 1 John 4:8 tells us that “God is love”. Since He is love, andwe are His children, we're to walk in that love. Therefore,as we've already read in the previous chapters, because we're in Christ, we arenot to be as the Gentiles, living lewd and wicked and evil lives. We're to bedifferent in our daily walk and life. We also now should walk in love as Christloved us. This is Walking Jesus! We'll get into more detail aboutthat in the next couple days.  Thankyou for your prayers. Pray for the team on their way to India today for safetravels and God's blessings to be upon them. Continue to pray for us. And Ipray you also have a wonderful, wonderful day. God bless!

Froma biblical perspective, forgiveness is not a small thing. It is not a sideissue. It is at the very heart of the gospel. Without forgiveness, there is nosalvation, no peace with God, and no real freedom in life. The Bible says in Ephesians1:7,“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness ofsins, according to the riches of His grace.” Forgiveness is God's graciousact of removing our guilt, canceling our debt of sin, and restoring ourrelationship with Him—based entirely on what Jesus Christ has done for us onthe cross.Tobe forgiven means that God no longer holds my sin against me. He no longercondemns me. My record has been cleared, and my relationship with Him has beenrestored. Thatis why David could say in Psalm 32:1–2, “Blessed is he whosetransgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom theLORD does not impute iniquity.” That word blessed means deeplyjoyful, relieved, and at rest. There is no freedom like knowing God is nolonger against you. Now, how do we know we are forgiven? What are some of theevidences of forgiveness in our lives—mentally, spiritually, and emotionally?  First,there is mental evidence. When I am forgiven, I no longer live underconstant condemnation. I may remember my past, but I am no longer crushed byit. I believe God's Word over my feelings. Romans 8:1 tells us, “Thereis therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Godsays in Isaiah 43:25, “I… am He who blots out your transgressions forMy own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” God is not saying Heforgets in the human sense, but that He no longer counts our sins against us.The debt has been paid.  Second,there is spiritual evidence. Forgiveness brings peace with God. Fear isreplaced with confidence. Prayer becomes open and honest. Worship becomesjoyful instead of heavy. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having beenjustified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Forgivenessrestores fellowship with God. We are no longer hiding. We are no longerrunning. We draw near to Him with full assurance of faith. Third,there is emotional evidence. Forgiveness brings relief instead ofconstant guilt. Gratitude replaces shame. Joy begins to return. David prayed inPsalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”Forgivenessdoes not erase all consequences, but it restores joy, peace, and freedom in theheart. Nowlet's talk about forgiveness from another angle—forgiving others. Biblicalforgiveness does not mean forgetting, excusing the sin, or pretending it didnot hurt. Forgiveness is a decision to release someone from the debt they oweyou and to leave justice in God's hands. The Bible says in Romans 12:19,“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves… for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, Iwill repay,' says the Lord.” When I have truly forgiven someone, I am nolonger seeking revenge. I am no longer rehearsing the offense to fuel anger. Ican pray for them sincerely. I desire their good, not their harm. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Love… keeps no record of wrongs.”That is how God forgives us. He does not shame us. He does not hold ourpast over our heads. He restores us to fellowship. Andabove all, we look to Jesus. As He hung on the cross in Luke 23:34,Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.”Forgivenessflows from grace, not from worthiness. Let me close with this thought. To knowthat my sins are forgiven means my past no longer defines me, my present isfilled with peace, and my future is secure in Christ. And when I trulyunderstand how much I have been forgiven, I find the grace to forgive others. Thatis why Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:32,“Be kind to one another,tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” MayGod help us to live in the freedom of His forgiveness—and to extend that samegrace to others. 

Chapter 4 begins with a call to action. Paul tells we are “to walkworthy of the calling by which we have been called (4:1), and laterin verse 17, that “we should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk”.  In other words, we are to walk likeChristians—to walk as Jesus walked in this world. How did Jesus walk? Jesusforgave those who harmed Him. Even while hanging on the cross, He said, “Father,forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He lived with love and gracetoward those who were critical, bitter, and determined to hurt Him or push Himaside. My friend, that is the way Christ walked, and that is how we are calledto walk. When we walk that way, it makes a profound difference in our witnessfor Christ that Jesus told His disciples to be in Acts 1:8. Thissection of the chapter (vs. 17-32), begins with Paul saying, “Don't walk as theGentiles walk.” Instead, walk in purity, walk in love, walk in grace. And nowas Paul brings this chapter to a close, he identifies the main obstacle thatkeeps us from walking in grace—bitterness. We could spend weeks talking aboutbitterness. It is like a seed that gets planted when someone offends us, hurtsus, or does something that deeply wounds us. Our natural response is often adesire to get even. But Jesus told us, “Do unto others as you would havethem do unto you.” When we hurt someone or offend someone, what do we want?We want forgiveness. We want peace. We want restored relationships. RememberRomans 12:17-21, where God tells us to live at peace with all men, and to returngood for evil. Thisis where the victory lies. When someone speaks harshly to you, respond withkindness. When someone tries to hurt you, entrust that hurt to God and say,“Lord, You know. Give me the grace to handle this in a way that honors You.” Bekind to one another. Be tenderhearted. And here is the key—forgiving oneanother. Ibelieve the last words Paul speaks in this chapter are especially important.Often, we remember the final words someone says more than anything else. Paulends with forgiveness. When we forgive, we refuse to let the devil use ourheart as a playground. We refuse to let the seed of bitterness grow. Instead,we say, “God, You know best. You said, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,' saysthe Lord.” When someone hurts us—whether intentionally or unintentionally—andwe choose not to forgive, bitterness begins to take root. Our heart becomes abattleground with Satan. Bitterness causes us to treat others the way Satantreats people. Forgiveness allows us to treat others the way God treats people.And Scripture reminds us that as God has forgiven us in His loving, graciouskindness, we are to forgive others as well. Forgivenessis not only for their sake—it is for ours. It is the secret to a joyful,peaceful Christian life. Remember the motivations Paul has given us throughoutthis chapter to do the right things: We are members of one another. We do notwant to give Satan a foothold and we give instead of stealing. We speak truthinstead of lying. And we do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit of God or grieveour Father in heaven. Think about it this way: when children—especially adultchildren—are fighting and divided, it grieves the heart of their parents.Family gatherings become tense. Relationships are strained. That pain reachesdeeply into a parent's heart. My friend, that is exactly what happens when werefuse to forgive one another. We grieve the Holy Spirit. We grieve JesusChrist, who forgave us. We grieve our Father in heaven. Let'snot do that today. Let us forgive one another “just as God in Christ forgaveus”.  Let us bekind and tenderhearted. And may God help us to show the world what it trulymeans to be Christlike.

As we examine these verses, we are talking about the attitude of bitterness.I have been to the hospital many times with people who were waiting on testresults. I have stood there when the doctor walked into the room and said, “I'msorry to tell you, but you have cancer.” I have received phone calls frompeople who went to the emergency room thinking they had a surface problem, onlyto discover they had pancreatic cancer or some other very serious and dangerousform of cancer. We call it the “C-word.” Nobody wants to hear the C-word. Noone wants to hear the word cancer. Rightnow, I am dealing with sciatic pain. On the surface, it is very painful. Butbeneath that surface pain is a deeper problem—a root cause. In much the sameway, many of the problems we experience in life are surface symptoms of deeperheart issues. Attitudes like bitterness often show themselves through anger,wrath, vengeance, and hatred. These attitudes destroy our lives.Bitternessdefiles and spreads. It not only destroys the person who has it, but it is alsocontagious, destroying others as they become involved in our stories,complaints, and evil talk. My friend, bitterness is a disease of the soul. Itis a disease of the spirit and of the attitude, and it must be dealt with. Onlyby the grace of God can we deal with it.Weneed to realize that many of the surface problems in our relationships, which includelying, stealing, fighting, and other actions which we can visibly identify,come from invisible surface causes of our attitudes that are anger, worry,fear, insecurity and other emotional attitudes. But underneath these attitudesare the root problems that come down to basically three things, which are bitterness,guilt, or misplaced temporal values. Those are three major root problems. Butbeneath all of them is one ultimate root cause—pride.  Pridekeeps us from listening to the Spirit of God. Pride leads us into disobediencewhen God tells us what we must do and we refuse to do it. Pride keeps us fromasking for forgiveness for our guilt, or from not willing to forgive those whohave hurt or offended us. Pride keeps us from receiving the grace of God todeal with the problem. Both James and Peter reminds us that only by humblingourselves can we receive God's grace (James 4:5-7; 1 Peter 5:6-11).Thatis why Paul continues in verses 31–32: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger,clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind toone another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christforgave you.” So what is the answer? The answer is forgiveness—forgiving oneanother, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. Oneof the main reasons we must deal with bitterness is that it grieves the HolySpirit. When we are bitter, we are not listening to Him. We are not payingattention to His voice. We are not obeying His Word—especially the words ofJesus, who taught us to forgive one another, even if we must do it again andagain, up to seventy times seven. Bitterness is often the result of unresolvedconflict. Sometimes it goes all the way back to childhood—something that hurtus deeply, something we never properly dealt with or resolved. That unresolvedpain can still be destroying our lives today. Myfriend, bitterness is the “B-word.” Let's deal with the B-word in our lives bybeing kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. The Holy Spirit is characterized byjoy, love, peace, longsuffering, patience, and kindness—the fruit of theSpirit. When we obey Him, that is what He produces within us, and that is whatboth the Holy Spirit and the Father delight in.

Fromthe New Testament it is obvious that the members of the church at Ephesus weresincere believers, people who were following Christ and had a powerfultestimony. In fact, according to the book of Acts, through this church all Asiaheard the Word of the Lord (Acts 19:1-10). What an incredible testimony. Yet,at the same time, the believers there still struggled with many of the samesins the lost world struggles with. And it is the same today in our presentchurches. Sometimes the old man shows up more visibly than the new man who ismeant to be ruling our lives. Aswe consider these verses, I want to clarify something I may have impliedyesterday. When Paul says in verse 29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of yourmouth,” I may have given the impression that Christians should instantly beperfect in their speech because I shared that when I was saved, I stoppedcursing immediately. My friend, I realize that this is not the experience ofevery believer. For all Christians, growth in sanctification is a process. Somefind it easier to put off certain sins and old habits than others. God helpssome people quit smoking the moment they are saved, while others struggle withit for years, yet they are sincere believers who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Wecan't make excuses for any kind of sin, but I remind you also that there aresins far worse than smoking, drinking, or cursing—such as bitterness in theheart. Bitterness can destroy not only ourselves, but also other people andeven entire churches. Justbecause I said some things yesterday does not mean a Christian cannot fall backinto sinful speech. Sadly, they can. Look at Peter, who walked with Jesus forthree and a half years, and yet, on the night while Jesus was being triedbefore the high priest, Peter was outside in the courtyard cursing. We allstruggle with the flesh, (Read what Paul wrote in Romans 7.), and old habitscan resurface, especially when we place ourselves under the wrong influences. Theemphasis of verse 29 is not only what we must put off, but what we must put on:speech that builds up, edifies, and ministers grace—speech that flows from alife filled with the Holy Spirit. And this brings us to the final verses ofthis chapter, Ephesians 4:30–32: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath,anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And bekind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God inChrist forgave you.” Theseverses warn us against several sins of the attitude and amplify what Paul wroteabout anger. Bitterness refers to a settled hostility that poisons the wholeinner man. Somebody does something we do not like, so we harbor ill willagainst him. "Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter againstthem" (Col. 3:19). Bitterness leads to wrath, which is the explosion onthe outside of the feelings on the inside. Wrath and anger often lead tobrawling (clamor) or blasphemy (evil speaking). The first is fighting withfists, the second is fighting with words. It is difficult to believe thatChristians would act this way, but they do, and this is why Paul warned us.  Afterthe great faith chapter in Hebrews 11, the writer gives practical instructionin Hebrews 12. In verse 14, we are told to “pursue peace with all people andholiness, without which no one will see the Lord”. Then in verse 15, hewarns us to be diligent “lest any root of bitterness springing up causetrouble, and by this many become defiled.” Bitterness must be dealt with,and it is often rooted in unforgiveness. We will see more about this in ourchat tomorrow. Fortoday, let us be mindful to walk in purity, love, and grace. Let us not grievethe Holy Spirit by allowing bitterness to remain in our hearts toward those whohave hurt us. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today,as we continue in Ephesians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul is dealing with sinsthat can destroy our testimony. The fourth one is: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, butwhat is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to thehearers.” Here,Paul warns us against corrupt speech. We must understand that the mouth and theheart are directly connected. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heartthe mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34). Jesus also said in Mark 7:21: “Forfrom within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, anevil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” Jesus concluded by saying thatall these things come from within and defile a person. They destroy thetestimony of an individual believer and can also destroy the testimony andwitness of a church when these things are allowed to take root. Jesusfurther warned us in Matthew 12:36–37: “But I say to you that for every idleword men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For byyour words you will be justified, and by your words you will becondemned." The apostle Paul certainly understood the power of words.In Romans 3:14, he connects the mouth with cursing and bitterness. But when wetrust Christ, something changes. In Romans 10:9-10, we confess Him with ourmouths and we openly profess that Jesus Christ is Lord. As condemned sinners,our mouths were once stopped before the throne of God (Romans 3:19). But asbelievers, our mouths are opened to praise Him (Romans 15:6). When God changesthe heart, He changes the speech. Thattruth became very real to me personally. I hate to admit it, but before I cameto Christ, I was a cursing, foul-mouthed sinner. I couldn't stop the words thatcame out of my mouth, even when I didn't want to use them. They flowednaturally because I had a dirty, sinful heart. But on February 21, 1971, around4:00 in the afternoon, when Jesus Christ came into my heart and gave me a newheart, the cursing stopped immediately. It stopped. Why? Because I now had aheart that belonged to God, and out of that heart He began to produce goodthings and good words. Paul'sadmonition is clear: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth.”The word corrupt means something that is worthless, rotten, or decaying. Thatkind of speech often shows up as gossip, idle talk, words that tear othersdown, or speech designed to make ourselves look better at someone else'sexpense. Remember what Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us: “These six things the Lordhates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him.” After listing six sins, theseventh is “one who sows discord among brethren.” That is often donewith words. Sowhat is the remedy for corrupt speech? The remedy is a heart that has beencleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ—a heart filled with the love of Christ,the truth of Christ, and the grace of God. When God's Holy Spirit controls theheart, He controls the mouth. This is how God wants us to minister to others.Our words should not tear down or destroy the unity of the church, nor damageour testimony before a watching world. Instead, our words should be a testimonyof God's grace, His love, His forgiveness, His kindness, and His goodness. Jesussaid of false teachers, “By their fruit you shall know them.” (Matthew7:16-20). But the same can be said of true believers. And one of the biggestfruits of the Christian life is the fruit of our speech—the words that come outof our mouths. So today, we should take heed to this admonition: “Let nocorrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessaryedification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”  Today,may the words out of our mouths always build up others and reflect the grace ofGod. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Nowthe third admonition—and its motivation—is found in verse 28: “Let him whostole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what isgood, that he may have something to give to him who has need.” The commandis clear: stop stealing. But Paul doesn't stop there. He says instead, work.Labor with your hands. Why? So that you may have something to give. That is themotivation—not so that you can accumulate more for yourself. Sadly,that seems to be the primary motivation for many people in our culture today.We go to work not so that we can give—to our families, to others, to society,or to those God lays on our hearts—but simply so that we can pay our bills andhave more. Now, it is good and necessary to work to provide for your needs, butit is an even greater motivation to work so that you can give. Iwant you to notice something important in Scripture. When we are firstintroduced to God in the Bible, in Genesis chapter 1, we see that God is aworking God. Over and over again, the text says, “God made.” You do not makesomething without working, and God worked. Then in Genesis 2:1–3, the Biblementions the word work for the first time—at least three times. When God wasmaking, He was working. God is a working God, and when God created us humans Hecreated us in His image. That means He created us to work. Noticeafter creating man, God placed him in the garden in Genesis 2:15. Why? Not tolie around and simply enjoy life, but to tend it and keep it. God gave Adammeaningful, enjoyable work to do—before the curse ever came and that was totake care of God's creation. After Adam sinned, God said that work would nowinvolve sweat, because of the curse of thorns, and thistles (Genesis 3:17-19).Even so, we are still created to work. That is part of being Godlike. But wework not so that we can have more, but so that we can fulfill God's purpose. Oneof the great problems in our culture today is that we have raised generationsof people who believe they are entitled to receive without working. How sadthat is. There is nothing free, my friend—someone always pays the price. Whenwe work, we are fulfilling one of the very purposes for which God created us.God worked. God rested. And He designed us to work six days and rest one—not torest six days and try to work one. God has no place for laziness in theScriptures. Read Proverbs 6: “Go to the ant, you sluggard.” Those are strongwords. God does not use lazy people. InScripture we notice that when God wanted to do a great work, He called peoplewho were already working. He called Moses while he was tending sheep. He calledDavid while he was tending sheep. He called Gideon while he was threshingwheat. He called four disciples who were mending nets and casting them into thesea. God found people who were working and invited them to join Him in Hisgreat work. Why?Not so they could have more—but so they could give. The greatest gift God evergave was His only Son, Jesus Christ. The greatest work God ever accomplishedwas the work of redemption on the cross. And today, the great work of thebeliever is to give—to give the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost world. Thatwork brings great glory to God and great satisfaction to those who labor toplease Him. So Paul says it plainly: “Let him who stole steal no longer, butrather let him labor with his hands…that he may have something to give to himwho has need.” Myfriend, we live in a needy world—one that needs Jesus Christ more than anythingelse. Jesus said in John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me whileit is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” We should be doing thesame because that night of judgment is just around the corner! Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Paul reminds us of the motive behind each of the five admonitionsof sins that we are to “put off”. The admonition “to put off lying”.Why? The motivation is because we are members of one another, and therefore weare to speak the truth to one another. The next admonition is, “Be angry, anddo not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to thedevil.” The motivation is to remember that whenever we allow anger to get thebest of us—when anger turns into bitterness and malice, and then is released inwrath—it brings harm, hurt, and destruction to others and even to ourselves. Atthat point, we have given place to the devil. Itis important to understand that the emotion of anger itself is not sinful.Anger is actually a good thing because it reflects that we have a sense ofjustice, that we all have, because we are created in the image of God, Because Godis a God of justice, He must punish evil. The Bible tells us that God is angrywith the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11). In that sense, our emotion of anger reflectsa God-like concern for what is right and should be rewarded, and what is wrongor evil and should be punished. However, Scripture teaches in both the Old andNew Testaments that we are to let God take care of vengeance. Paulclearly speaks of how as believers we are to responded to evil and offences in Romans12:17-21: “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in thesight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceablywith all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place towrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says theLord.  LetGod take care of the offense or pain you feel in your heart or life. When youdo, you are able to display the character of Christ by forgiving those who harmyou. Stephen did this when he prayed, “Lay not this sin to their charge.” Jesusdid the same when He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what theydo.” We take the hurt, the pain, and the offenses committed against us andchoose to forgive. In doing so, we are like Jesus. We are following Hisexample. We are allowing the light of God and the life of Christ to shinethrough us.Itis very human and very natural to respond in anger when we are hurt, because wedo have a sense of justice. But we must allow God to be the Judge. He is theOne who will take care of the vengeance we feel in our hearts. We are not toget even as the Gentiles do—saying, “I'll pay them back.” No, my friend, youdon't need to pay them back. God will take care of that.Inthe meantime, instead of giving place to the devil and allowing him to ruin andwreck your life, you give place to God. You worship God instead of Satan. Youare saying, “Lord, I want You to rule and reign. I want You to display Yourpower and Your glory in my life.” Remember David in the Old Testament,particularly in the Psalms. He expressed his anger, but he took it to God. ReadPsalm 109. David gave it to the Lord and said, in effect, “Lord, I place this in Yourhands.” Romans 12:21 teaches us. “Do not be overcome by evil,but overcome evil with good.” You have the opportunity to do good to thosewho hurt you and cause you pain. In doing so, you demonstrate that you trulytrust God to handle the justice, the consequences, and whatever needs to bedone in the life of the one who hurt you.Oh,my friend, we have the privilege of walking as Christ walked and living asChrist lived because we have His power—His Holy Spirit—living within us. If itis possible, as much as depends on you—and remember, He lives in you—you simplyyield yourself to Him. Trust Him. Determine to obey His truth. As you yield tothe Holy Spirit, love, joy, and peace will be displayed in your life, and thepeople around you will see Jesus in you—especially when you are hurt. Insteadof giving place to the devil, you give place to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Heis displayed and glorified through your life.

We are looking at Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22through the end of the chapter. In these verses, the apostle Paul isinstructing the believers in Ephesus to put off the old man. Why? Because theyare now in Christ. They have a new man living within them. The Holy Spirit ofthe living God—Christ Himself—lives in us.  Paulbecomes very specific in this section. Beginning in verse 22, he addressesparticular sins that are to be put off. The first sin he deals with islying—put away lying. The second area he addresses is anger, which we havetalked about over the last couple of days. Today, we come to verse 28: “Lethim who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his handswhat is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.” (Ephesians4:28) Thisis an important exhortation. One of the Ten Commandments is “You shall notsteal.” Paul is reiterating a command that goes all the way back to the OldTestament. Now why would a person steal? To steal means to take property orpossessions that do not belong to you but belong to someone else. When God gavethis commandment, He established the principle of private ownership ofproperty. That is a very important principle—even in our own day especiallywhen socialism is taking a strong foothold in our country. Aperson has the right to turn his strength and labor into gain, to keep thatgain, and to use it as he sees fit. God gave specific laws in the Old Testamentto protect property, and these biblical principles became foundational to ourlaws, our Constitution, and even our local laws today. In Deuteronomy chapter8, God makes it very clear that it is He who gives us the power to get wealth.The chapter begins with the promise of blessings it the people of Israel keep God'scommandments. Then in verse 8, God gives a warning to the Israelites on theverge of going into the Promise Land.  “Bewarethat you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments.” Oneof those commandments, of course, is “Do not steal.” Godgoes on to say in verses 16-18, that when you come into blessing—when youinherit land, enjoy prosperity, and have abundance—you may be tempted to say inyour heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.” Butthen He reminds us: “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He whogives you power to get wealth.” If you have anything worth having, it isbecause God gave you the strength and ability to obtain it. Paul'sadmonition to the believers in Ephesus is clear. “Let him who stole steal nolonger.” The culture and that world of that day was such that stealing was almostaccepted as a common thing. We seem to have the same problem today in America withshoplifting and stealing to the extent even of the government stealing hardearned money from taxpayers and giving it to those who refuse to work for it.  Aswe discussed with lying and anger, we must remember the influence of the devil.Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal, and to kill, andto destroy.” The first thing listed here is steal. Satan is the thief, who lies,steals, kills and destroys. He is a murderer from the beginning. We tied thattruth into the subject of anger. When a person harbors anger and bitterness,they are opening the door to the enemy's work. Infact, when you look through Scripture, you see that even one of Jesus'disciples was a thief—Judas. Eve became a thief when she was tempted by Satanand took what God had forbidden her to take. Adam followed and also became athief when he ate from the tree and was cast out of Paradise. And then therewas the thief on the cross, hanging next to the Last Adam, Jesus—yet he becamea believer when he repented and Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Mein paradise.” Jesus took a thief and made him a new person. That is the heartof this passage: “Let him who stole steal no longer.” There istransformation in Christ.

Paul, as he begins to list the sins that weneed to put off that come from the old man within us. The first one was put offlying. Then secondly, he said, “be angry and sin not” because when youdo, you give place to the devil. Let not the sun go down on your wrath. Angerleads to wrath. Wrath leads to malice. Malice leads to murder. We rememberedJohn 8:44. Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil. The lust ofyour father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not inthe truth. Neither is there any truth in him. For he is a liar and the fatherof it." Nowif you go back to verses 31-32, it's where Jesus said to the disciples, “Ifyou abide in My word, then you are My disciples indeed. You shall know thetruth and the truth shall set you free”. Then in verse 36, another veryfamous verse Jesus said, "And if the Son shall make you free, you shallbe free indeed." Now when I begin to put that all together looking atthis devotion for today, I thought back to Genesis chapters 3-4. That is where Satantempted Eve. Remember the very first thing he said to her was a lie. He said, "Didnot God say you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" He lied.God didn't say that. Eve responded, "No, we can eat all the trees in thegarden, but there's one we can't eat, and we've been told we can't eat ofthat."  Thenthe Satan said, "Oh, no." He said, "You shall not surelydie." That was his second lie because God has said, "If youeat of it, you will die." Satan said, "No, you won'tdie." Now my friend, we have a major issue in our country todaybecause we've been feeding lies to our young people, actually for the lastseveral generations, lies that they came from a monkey, that they came fromnothing. They've been told that everything just happened from a big explosionbillions of years ago. As a result, they have no value of life and do not careabout life.  Now,think about what happened with Cain, the first son that's born along with hisbrother Abel, when he gets angry. Look at these verses in Genesis 4:1-6. Put ittogether. Cain gets angry. What does he do? It overwhelms him to the point thathe murders his brother Abel. Then when God shows up and asked Cain, "Hey,where is Abel? I'm looking for him." Cain lies and says, "How do Iknow where he is? I don't know where he is." Look at those verses veryclearly. Did you see what happens when we get angry and give place to the devil?We get caught up in the bondage of lying just like Cain did.  Whenwe're in the bondage of lying, we actually give place to the devil. Don't giveplace to the devil. Don't give the devil opportunity in your life to take holdof you and lead you into worse sins that will cause terrible consequences inyour life and the lives of others. This is so powerful and so important. I wantto encourage you to think about putting all these things together. Remember, asJesus has taught us, you'll know the truth. The truth sets you free. If the Sonsets you free, you're free indeed. Why? You're free from the bondage of lying.You're free from the bondage of Satan.  Knowingthe truth, knowing Jesus, sets you free from the bondage of living a lie and alife of vanity. What was the curse put on Cain? That he would be a vagabond andlive a life of fear and insecurity (Genesis 4:12-14). He would live an emptylife, wandering around, wondering what life was all about. That is the problemin too many of our lives today, in America and for that matter, the world too.When we kick God out of our lives, and we deny Him. When we put His Word on theback burner of our lives, even daily, we headed down the path of living a lieand bowing down to Satan.  RememberJesus said, “If you abide in My words, then what you will know the truth,and if you know the truth you will be free”. Free to enjoy life doing whatyou ought to be doing! God help us to find that freedom in His Word in ourlives as we see Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Todaywe're going back to Ephesians chapter 4, looking at the section toward the endof the chapter where the Apostle Paul instructs us to put off the old man andput on the new man. He tells us that we can be renewed in the spirit of ourminds, and then clothe ourselves in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Christ'slife is now in us. We no longer live for ourselves, but Christ lives in us. Heproduces the fruit of the Spirit within us, and as a result, we experiencelove, joy, and peace instead of anger, malice, and bitterness. That's what Pauladdresses at the end of this chapter. Paulgives us five sins that we are to put off. Back in verse 25, the first sin hementions is lying. At the root of all lies is the devil himself—he is thefather of lies (John 8:44). He plants the thought in our minds to deceiveothers so that we might look better in their eyes. Paul's instruction is clear:put off lying and speak the truth, each one with his neighbor. Thenin verse 26, Paul addresses the second issue: “Be angry, and do not sin.”Now that's interesting. He doesn't say, “Put off anger,” the way hesays, “Put off lying.” Instead, he says, “Be angry, and do not sin.” At first,that sounds like a strange encouragement—especially since so many peoplealready struggle with anger. But God has created us as emotional beings. GodHimself is an emotional God. He has feelings, and He created us with feelingsso that we can experience love, joy, peace, contentment, satisfaction, andsecurity. These are good emotions. However,there are other emotions—like anger, fear, worry, malice, and hatred—that arenot good emotions. Yet God allows us to experience them. Why? Because they actlike a warning bell, an alarm that tells us something isn't right. They alertus that we may be viewing a situation incorrectly or that something needs to beaddressed.  Sois it possible to be angry and not sin? Yes, it is. In itself, anger is not asin. Scripture tells us that God gets angry. We see this in Deuteronomy 9:8 and20, Psalm 2:12. We also see thisillustrated in the life of Jesus when He was angry in the temple, driving outthose who were greedily selling merchandise and exploiting God's people who hadcome to worship and offer sacrifices. Wemust make the choice about what we will do with the anger we feel. Anger isoften compared in Scripture to fire—it is said to “being kindled” (Genesis30:2; Deuteronomy 6:15). It can flare up when someone says something thatwounds us or when something displeases us deeply. At that moment, we have achoice. Will we allow that anger to smolder within us and turn into malice—anintent to hurt or seek vengeance—or will we allow God to transform it intosomething good? Angeris a burst of emotional energy. We can used that energy to attack a person orproperty, or we can use it to attack the problem. That energy can be used toharm and damage others, or it can be used to drive us to God. We can pray,“Lord, help me understand what You are teaching me through this anger. Help mesee this situation through Your eyes.” We don't see the way God sees. Godjudges perfectly and deals justly with every situation. We don't. And that'swhy anger can easily lead us into sin if we're not careful. Paulthen gives us practical wisdom: “do not let the sun go down on your wrath”.While we're feeling that anger, we are to go to God. We are to go to bed harboringand feeding that feeling of anger. Instead we ask God to forgive us for oursins, and then we ask Him to help us forgive those who have hurt us. Otherwise,anger will grow into bitterness. Paul warns us about this later in verse 31,where he says: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speakingbe put away from you, with all malice.” Maythe Lord help us listen carefully to this instruction from Paul—not allowinganger to control our lives or lead us into sin, but instead, let it drive us toGod for the grace we need to respond rightly.

You'reconcerned about eternal things rather than temporal things. The delight of theLord is in your heart. You meditate in His law day and night. You observe to doall that's written therein. Then as God promised Joshua, you'll make your wayprosperous. You'll have good success (Joshua 1:8). So, it's my prayer you'vestarted already on the most important disciplines. I'm convinced at the verytop of that list is Bible intake and prayer. Remember, Bible intake is readingthe Bible, listening to the Bible, memorizing the Word of God, studying theBible, mainly meditating on it, thinking about it, digesting it spirituallyinto your soul. So that then it guides and directs and renews your mind everyday.  Thenright alongside that is prayer. Prayer and the Bible are close companions. Prayer,Bible reading, Bible study, Bible memorization, and meditation go hand in hand.You won't keep doing the one without the other. If you're not praying, it won'tbe long till you're not reading your Bible. If you're not reading your Bible,it won't be long till you're not praying. My friend, I encourage you topractice these two main disciplines. They will give you the wisdom, thestrength to continue on to live for the Lord in other areas of your life. Ican't help but think of Psalm 19:7-11. This Psalm begins by reminding us that creationspeaks and tells us that there is a God in heaven who created all things.Creation speaks to us loudly that there is a great and awesome and wonderfulGod (vv. 1-6). But then it also reminds us that God not only speaks throughcreation, but He speaks through His Word in verses 7-11.  “Thelaw of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”. Back in the day whenDavid was writing this psalm, the law of the Lord would have been considered the Pentateuch, the firstfive books of the Bible. The stories of the patriarchs, the story of the nationof Israel leaving Egypt and going on their journey to the promised land. They convert, they restore, they renew the soul. That's the firstthing we read it does.  “Thetestimonies of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple”. This would be thestories of these dear people in the Old Testament and how God worked in their livesdespite their sins and failures. Then we find that that makes us wise becausewe don't have to make the same mistakes they made.  “Thenthe statutes of the Lord are right. They rejoice the heart”. That's the principlesof God's word. There are principles in God's word that guide and direct oursteps. You find these principles throughout the Bible and the eight mainprinciples listed in Matthew 5:1-11 in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Each one ofthose represents a principle of living. I wish we had time to go through a listof those. They rejoice the heart.  “Thecommandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eye”. That's thosecommandments that God gives us throughout His Word. Of course, the Great Commandmentis to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.Secondly, and equal to that, is to love your neighbor as yourself. When you dothat, your eyes are looking at God. They're looking at others the way God wantsyou to look at them. Enlightening the eyes.  “Thefear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever”. Why is it clean? Because you have afear of the Lord which means that you have a constant awareness of the presenceof the Lord in your life. You are not going to do things you shouldn't dobecause the Lord is right there. You wouldn't want to displease Him.  Then“the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether”.Otherwise, God is a just God. He punishes evil. He rewards good. He's a justGod. You recognize that. That's what you live for. Then he says in closing, “Moreover,to be desired are they than gold. Yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also thanhoney and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned. Inkeeping them, there is great reward.” 

15 But the free gift isnot like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much morethe grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, JesusChrist, abounded to many. 17 For if by the one man's offense death reignedthrough the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and ofthe gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) But wheresin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned indeath, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal lifethrough Jesus Christ our Lord.Wehave been talking about the spiritual disciplines and how they put us in thepath of God's grace. Notice in the above verses in Romans 5: 15-21 how manytimes the word grace is used. I trust that today's Pastor's Chat will encourageyou to make the choice every day to put yourself in the way of God's graceinstead of putting yourselves in the path of sin. Take a minute to read Psalm 1:1-3.The book of Psalms begins by telling us we should not be walking as the ungodlywalk, sitting and standing with them, but we should be delighting in God'sword. The discipline of walking in truth will put you in the path of God'sgrace.  InRomans 5:15–21, we find one of the great assurances of the Christian life: thegrace of God within the believer is far more powerful than the power of sinthat once ruled us. Grace is not merely God's favor shown to us in the past. Itis God's life-power actively at work in us every day through Jesus Christ. TheApostle Paul makes this unmistakably clear in Romans 5 as he contrasts thedevastating effects of Adam's sin with the overwhelming triumph of Christ'sgrace. Sin brought death, condemnation, and bondage. Grace bringsjustification, righteousness, and life. Paulrepeatedly emphasizes the word grace in these verses. As you look atthem again, you'll notice that Paul says we do not merely survive. My friend, hesays we reign in life. The believer who receives the abundance of grace is notdominated by sin but empowered to live victoriously through Jesus Christ. Sinmay still be present, but it is no longer supreme. Grace is greater. Pauldrives this point home again in Romans 5:20: “Where sin abounded, graceabounded much more.” Myfriend, no failure, no weakness, and no struggle ever outpaces the supply ofGod's grace. Grace always outdistances sin when we are walking in the path ofGod's grace. How do we put ourselves in the path of God's grace? We do thisthrough the spiritual disciplines God has lovingly given us:Readingand studying God's Word, where grace instructs, corrects, and renews our mindsPrayer,as we come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and help. (Hebrews4:16)Worship,where grace lifts our hearts to adore the Giver.Fellowshipwith other believers, where grace is shared, strengthened, and encouraged.Givingunselfishly to God's work, where grace flows through us to othersObedientservice, where grace empowers us to walk in good works prepared by GodThesepractices do not create grace—but they place us where grace freely flows. Ilove what we read in 2 Corinthians 9:6–8: “He who sows sparingly will alsoreap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So leteach one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; forGod loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound towardyou, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have anabundance for every good work.” Didyou notice that language? All grace. All sufficiency. All things. Every goodwork. That'show it happens. As you practice these disciplines daily, you make a deliberatechoice—starting when you get out of bed in the morning—to spend time with Godin His Word and in prayer.  Godbless you and may you have a truly blessed and wonderful, wonderful day!

 Thatis what we have been emphasizing over the past few days: the importance ofliving this kind of life and the necessity of having a daily quiettime—spending time with God. It is God who works in you both to will and to doof His good pleasure as you make yourself available to Him. You put yourself inthe pathway of grace by practicing certain spiritual disciplines, such asreading your Bible and spending time in prayer. Thereis another discipline I began early as a brand-new believer, now some 54 yearsago—and that is memorizing Scripture. Take at least one verse a week. Memorizethat verse throughout the week. That's 52 verses a year. I did much more thanthat over the years, but I want to tell you something: if there is one regret Ihave, it is that I did not memorize even more Scripture. Youcan never memorize too much of God's Word. You may say, “I can't remember thoseverses later.” That doesn't matter. They are inside of you. The Holy Spiritwill bring to your remembrance what you have hidden in your heart. It's there,even if you don't consciously recall it at the moment. God will use it. Anotherdiscipline I have practiced over many years is reading good devotional books.At the top of my list, of course, is Oswald Chambers, ‘My Utmost for HisHighest'. He has several other excellent devotionals, such as ‘Daily Thoughtsfor Disciples'. Over the years, I have probably read 20 or 30 different devotionalbooks, by different authors, sometimes reading several each day for months at atime, simply to ensure that I was walking with wise men. Scripturetells us, “He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion offools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). I thought to myself, who can Iwalk with that is wise? Many of those people don't have time for mepersonally—but I can walk with them through their writings. They left theirlife and wisdom in their books.  Thereare wise men and women such as Oswald Chambers, A. W. Tozer, E. M. Bounds,Andrew Murray, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and Mrs. Charles Cowman, whose book, “Streamsin the Desert' has been a great blessing. I can spend a few minutes with eachof these authors—people who knew God, walked with God, and had God-given wisdomconcerning spiritual life and the world around us. Iwant to make special mention of Henry Blackaby's ‘Experiencing God Day by Day'.I post that devotional on my website, (https://www.pmiministries.org/), and onFacebook every day. Another one I post daily is Dr. Elmer Towns, ‘365 Ways toKnow God'. I strongly encourage you to read it. I wish I had started reading ityears ago. Dr. Towns was my theology professor for four years at LibertyUniversity, back when it was Lynchburg Baptist College. I can tell you, youwill learn about God and come to know Him in a more intimate way. Then you canpractice what you are learning about God. Dr. Towns used to say, “Theology thatdoesn't teach you how to daily live for God is not good theology.” I have neverforgotten that. Ialso recommend Andrew Murray's ‘God's Best Secrets', a book God has usedgreatly in my life, along with works associated with Watchman Nee, such as ‘TheJoyful Heart' and ‘Table in the Wilderness'. E. M. Bounds also has a one-minutedevotional, ‘The Power of Prayer', that is excellent for daily reading—I stilluse it today. Inaddition, I take time to read Robert J. Morgan's ‘On This Day'. It highlightssomething that happened on that particular day in history—often involving agiant of the faith, someone God used mightily, or someone who even gave theirlife as a martyr for Christ. Reading their stories encourages me andstrengthens my faith. Myfriend, we need all the help we can get in a world that is constantlybombarding us with lies. We need the truth. We need time with wise men andwomen—and we can do that through the books they have left behind. They havepoured their lives, their faith, and their thoughts into those pages for us.

Welcometo Pastor's Chat today and a blessed New Year. I trust this year will be ablessed one for you as you keep your eyes on Jesus—as you lay aside everyweight and those sins that so easily beset us, and run with endurance the racethat is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of yourfaith every day (Hebrews 12:1-2). Day by day, you walk with Him. Wehave seen in 1 Timothy 4:7 that we are to discipline ourselves for the purposeof godliness. Of course, godliness has many benefits because it means we becomemore like God. We deal with problems, situations, challenges, and even tragedyin a godly way—knowing that God is almighty, that He is in charge, that Heloves us, that He never makes a mistake, and that He desires to help us inevery area of our lives. When we live a godly life, we live with thatassurance. Noticealso how Paul finishes this statement: “This is a trustworthy statementdeserving full acceptance.” In other words, this is not a suggestion. Thisis a foundational truth for Christian growth and for the Christian life. It isworthy of full acceptance—to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.It is worth doing, knowing what Paul reminds us of that in 1 Corinthians 15:58:“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, alwaysabounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vainin the Lord...” Because of that truth, we persevere, we continue, we do notgive up—we keep going. Why? Because our labor in the Lord is not empty. It isnot fleeting. It does not simply disappear. It is eternal. It accomplishessomething. It makes a difference in the world in which we live. Sowhat are some things we can do? How can we practice these disciplines? First, Iwant to encourage you to set aside time—preferably in the morning, or at leastat some quiet point during the day—when you can get alone with the Lord for afew minutes. I challenge you to make it at least 15 minutes. Spendtime reading your Bible. On our website and in our blog at Pastor Mike ImpactMinistries, you'll find links to the calendars. (https://www.pmiministries.org/) We have twoBible-reading calendars available. One plan allows you to read through theentire Bible in a year in less than 15 minutes a day. If you have more time andwant to read more, you can choose Plan A, which is also available on thewebsite. You can print the calendar as a PDF and use it daily. Thisis important, because as Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, butby every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” That means from Genesis1:1 to the last verse of Revelation. Both of these plans include a dailyreading from the Psalms—helping us with praise, worship, seeking God, andunderstanding who He is. The Psalms guide us in worship before the Lord. I alsoencourage you to read the Proverbs, because Proverbs teaches us how to livewisely and how to relate to the people around us in very practical ways. Second,I want to encourage you to take time to pray. Write down some prayer requests.Pray specifically. Join us in praying for a pastor in India—if you write me,email me, text me, or message me in any way you can contact me, I will send youthe name of an Indian pastor you can pray for. Pray for missionaries. Pray foryour pastor. Pray for people who need to be saved. Pray for your neighbors—andget to know them. Decidethat you are going to be a person of prayer. E.M. Bounds said that you reallycannot rightly call yourself a Christian if you do not pray. So spend timetalking to God. And during that quiet time, listen as well—allow the HolySpirit to speak to you. That is communion with God. This is worship. We do notgo to church on Sunday just to worship once a week. No—we should and can worship24/7. Every day, every moment, should be an act of worship as we put the Lordfirst in our lives, look to Him, and make Him the center of everything.

This is the time of year when we often say, “Merry Christmas”and “Happy New Year.” Christmas has already passed, and now we are preparing tobegin a new year. I'm not so sure that “Happy New Year” is always the bestexpression, because happiness, for the most part, is based on happenings. Ifeverything goes well—if things turn out the way I want them to—then I'm happy.If something happens that I don't like, then I'm unhappy. What we really oughtto say is, “Have a blessed New Year.” Jesustells us what it means to be blessed in Matthew 5. “Blessed are the poor inspirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are thepeacemakers.” He gives us about eight “blesseds.” What He is teaching us isthis: when you are blessed by God—when you do what you ought to do in the powerof the Holy Spirit—you will experience true happiness. You will have joy inyour heart. Why? Because you are trusting the Lord with every area of yourlife. To be truly blessed is to have God's smile on your life and even in thetough and difficult times you know the God has your back and that all thingswill work together for good (Romans 8:28).  Thatkind of life happens as we discipline ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ todo the right things. That is why we are talking about 1 Timothy 4:7, where Paulwrites to Timothy and says, “Have nothing to do with worldly fables fit onlyfor old women.” In other words, don't waste your time with worldly stories,distractions, or ideas that have no lasting value—and often aren't even true.We can get so distracted by what's going on socially, economically, orpolitically. Paul says, Don't give your time and attention to those things. “Onthe other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodilydiscipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for allthings.”We want to talk about what it means to be disciplined for the purpose ofgodliness. As we said yesterday, discipline means that you go to the spiritualgym, so to speak. You put yourself in the pathway of God's grace. You do thethings that build spiritual growth in your life. You establish a foundation forliving each day by doing what you ought to do, rather than simply what you feellike doing. My friend, that takes discipline to be in the Word of God. TheApostle Paul, in 2 Timothy 2:3-6, told Timothy to be a good soldier of JesusChrist. That speaks of the discipline of a soldier. Then he goes on to talkabout an athlete—how an athlete trains and disciplines himself in order to winthe prize. He also speaks of the discipline of a farmer—a hardworking farmerwho gets up early, sows at the right time of year, and does what he may notalways want to do, but must do if he is going to reap a harvest in the fall.  Myfriend, that is description of the Christian life that pleases the Lord. Wedon't do this in our own strength. We do it in the strength and power of theHoly Spirit and by the energy He supplies as we set our hearts on pleasing Himand doing what is right every day. Yes,physical exercise profits a little. It is good to eat right and to exerciseproperly. But my friend, it is far more profitable to pursue godliness.Godliness affects our relationship with God. It shapes our character. Itinfluences our relationships with others. It impacts our peace, our wisdom, andour joy—and ultimately, even our eternity.  Noticethat Paul says godliness holds “promise for the present life and also forthe life to come.” It matters now, and it matters forever. When youdiscipline yourself for this purpose, you are not only living to please theLord today—you are living with eternity in view. Your sights are set on heaven,on the day when you will stand before the Lord and hear, “Well done, thougood and faithful servant.” 

Aswe turn to this passage of Scripture in 1 Timothy chapter 4, we arereminded—especially as we enter a new year—that we have tremendousresponsibilities as believers. We are called to be a light in the world, tolive a godly life, a life that is different. We have been talking about this inEphesians chapter 4. As we close out one year and begin another, I want toencourage you, as best I can, to discipline yourself for the purpose ofgodliness. Hereis what Paul told Timothy: “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fitonly for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose ofgodliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness isprofitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and alsofor the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.”(1 Timothy 4:7–9) Paulsays, in effect, This is trustworthy. This is something you need to do. And bythe grace of God, it is something you can do as you humble yourself andsurrender yourself to the will of God. This is more than just a commitment—itis a surrender. I remind you, as I have said so often, quoting Oswald Chambers,“The only right you have is the right to give up the right to yourself.” Thatis something you do daily. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31, “I die daily.”Yes, we die to the flesh, and we live to the Spirit. Romans 8:1 says, “Thereis therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do notwalk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” And then Paulgoes on to say, “that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has setme free from the law of sin and death”. You and I have been set free inChrist Jesus—something we have been talking about extensively in Ephesianschapter 4. Thismatter of discipline is very important. The word discipline comes from theworld of athletics and training. It speaks of intentional, consistenteffort—not occasional inspiration. I remember when I was in high school, I wasasked to play on a summer baseball team, and I did quite well. As a result, Iwas invited to play on the high school baseball team at Princeton High Schoolin North Cincinnati. We had a really good team, and it looked like we weregoing to win a state championship. I worked my way up to being the leadoffbatter. I'lltell you, I started thinking I might play Major League Baseball. Because ofthat, I made some decisions. I determined that I was not going to eat things Ishouldn't eat. I wasn't going to drink alcohol, party, or put drugs into mybody. I disciplined my body for the sake of becoming the best baseball player Icould be, with the goal of playing in the major leagues. I also have a grandsonwho is training with the goal of becoming a Navy SEAL. Just the other day, Ilearned that he ran 50 miles on the beach—20 miles in the soft sand and 30miles in the hard sand. All the time, I see him training, running, and exercising.Why? So that he can fulfill his goal of becoming a SEAL one day. And I believehe is going to make it, based on his discipline. That'swhat an athlete does. That's what a soldier does. Paul told Timothy to “be agood soldier of Jesus Christ.” (Read 2 Timothy 2:3-5).  Over the next few days, I want to encourageyou with some spiritual disciplines—things we will talk about together—that youcan practice. These are disciplines I learned as a young believer so that Icould grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and be all that God wanted meto be. Godbless you as we prepare for a new year. We are living in a time of crisis inthis world, and God knows we must do all we can and be all we can be for Hisglory. By His grace we can make a difference in this world before Jesus comesagain. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today is an especially exciting Pastor's Chat because we havereached a significant milestone. Five and a half years ago, during COVID, Ibegan these Pastor's Chats to encourage people—many of whom were stuck athome—to stay in God's Word every day. Today marks the 2,000th Pastor's Chat. Ican hardly believe how quickly the Lord has brought us to this point. Thank youso much for being a part of these five-minute devotionals from God's Word, dayafter day, as we seek to grow together in our walk with the Lord. Iam convinced that we are at a crossroads in America—and really, at a crossroadsin the world. We are living in a time unlike anything we have ever experiencedbefore, with artificial intelligence, global unrest, and rapid cultural change.I believe, as never before, that we are living in the end times. We are in thefinal days of this church age. Jesus is coming again, and it is essential thatwe do all we can and be all we can for the glory of God. Becauseof that, it is necessary—absolutely necessary—for every believer to be growingin their faith.That has been the theme of what we've been studying. The ApostlePaul speaks clearly about this in Ephesians 4:15, where he says: “Butspeaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto Him who is thehead—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by whatevery joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every partdoes its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself inlove.” Twicein that passage Paul speaks of growth—spiritual growth. As we've said over thepast several weeks, spiritual maturity is not a destination; it is a daily,progressive journey, moving in the right direction toward Christlikeness. Now,the Apostle Paul also wrote to his young protégé Timothy, encouraging him inhis ministry. In 1 Timothy 4:7–9, he writes: “But have nothing to do with oldwives' fables. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose ofgodliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness isprofitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of thatwhich is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.” Thatphrase—“discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness”—is what wewant to focus on over the next several days. What does that really mean? Remember,Paul was writing to Timothy, a young pastor living in a culture filled withfalse ideas, distractions, and spiritual noise—much like the world we live intoday. We are surrounded by social media, sports, constant news, and endlessinformation. As someone has wisely said, we are living in a day not of weaponsof mass destruction, but of weapons of mass distractions. We are easilydistracted from the very things that produce spiritual growth. May the Lordhelp us with that. Paultells Timothy to reject these worldly fables—empty stories, myths, andteachings that sound spiritual but have no power to change a life. They wastetime, stir emotions, and distract believers from what truly matters. Then Paulgives a clear command: “On the other hand, discipline yourself for thepurpose of godliness.”  What does itmean to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness? Over the nextseveral days, I want to share with you some things I have practiced over thelast 54 years of my Christian life—things I have tried to do daily todiscipline myself for godliness, because godliness impacts every area of my lifeand eternity. Thankyou again for being a part of these 2,000 Pastor's Chats—some of you from thevery beginning. My prayer is that in the days ahead, as the Lord tarries Hiscoming, we will do those things that truly please Him, exercising ourselves forthe sake and ministry of godliness in our lives. Godbless! And may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today, there are just four days left—including today—until abrand-new year. I've been talking with you about preparing for a new year,about making sure we are living a life that is different from the world aroundus (Ephesians 4:17). A life of significance, not just trying to survive anotherday. The way we live that kind of life is by being focused on eternity—lookingat the things that are eternal rather than the things that are temporal (2Corinthians 4:16-18). We intentionally take time to think on things that arelovely, kind, of good report, and virtuous. We take time to meditate onJesus—thanking Him for who He is, for what He has done for us, for thesalvation He has granted us, and for the fact that He is ever-present with us. Whenyou meditate on the good things of God, you develop an attitude of gratitudeand thankfulness. That kind of heart enables you to face each day withconfidence instead of fear, worry, and anger—three emotions that can destroyyour life and damage the lives of those around you, especially therelationships that should be the dearest to you. So I encourage you: take timewith God every day. In fact, don't just make God a priority—make Him the centerof every aspect of your life (Matthew 6:33). TheBible tells us that to fear the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13). But whatdoes that really mean? It means you live with confidence and assurance. You believeand trust that His presence is with you at all times. You're continually awareof His nearness. He is there to help you, to guide you, to warn you, toencourage you, to lift you up, and to give you grace. These are things that arevitally important to the Christian life. We experience this wonderful presenceof the Lord by taking intentional, special time to be alone with Him every day! Thinkabout it this way: if you didn't take time to spend alone with your wife, yourchildren, or other relationships that are dear to you, those relationshipswould deteriorate. They would lose their influence, and you would lose theinfluence you should have on them. In the same way, our relationship with theLord requires time and attention. So,my friend, take time with the Lord in His Word. I encourage you to do thatfaithfully. We produce two Bible reading calendars—Plan A and Plan B—that makeit possible to read through the Bible at least once a year by taking just 15minutes a day. (Plan A takes a little longer). You can listen to Scripturewhile driving to work, while getting ready in the morning, or by sittingquietly with your Bible open as someone reads God's Word aloud. There are somany Bible-reading apps available today that you can download right to your phone—manyof them don't even require an internet connection. Iwant to encourage you to make a commitment to read the entire Bible in 2026, bythe grace of God. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by everyword that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). But not only readthe Word—meditate on it. Take a verse or a thought from the passage you readand let it settle into your heart. Myfriend, I encourage you this year: have a plan. Our Bible reading calendars areavailable on the Pastor Mike Impact Ministry website. Get into God's Word—andlet God's Word get into you. Some people say, “I don't feel like I get anythingout of it when I read it that way.” But I'm convinced, my friend, that it'sgetting something out of you. Water running through a strainer doesn't stay inthe strainer, but it sure cleans what's inside. In the same way, the Word ofGod cleanses us daily. Jesus even said, “Now you are clean through the Wordwhich I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). The psalmist said, “Thy word haveI hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). 

Paulhighlights five specific sins that must be put away from our lives. Even asbelievers, we still have to deal with these tendencies—these sins—that candestroy unity in our families, unity in our churches, unity in our communities,and even unity in our nation. We see these sins rampant all around us today. Thefirst sin Paul addresses is lying. He tells us plainly to put off lying and tospeak the truth to one another. We live in a country today that is saturatedwith lies. It almost seems as if people breathe them out. Proverbs speaks ofthis more than once, where Solomon says that the wicked “breathe out lies.”When I read that in the ESV, it paints a vivid picture—it's as though theycannot even breathe without a lie coming from their mouth. Myfriend, that should never be said of believers. Believers speak the truthbecause we know the truth. We live in the truth. We walk in the truth, as FirstJohn and Second John tell us. Truth is foundational to the Christian life. Thattruth is found in Jesus Christ and in a life committed to Him. Thisbecomes especially important as we prepare for a new year. As believers, wemust ask the Lord to give us hearts that truly seek after Him. Scripture tellsus to seek the Lord with all our heart, to lean not on our own understanding,and that we will find Him when we search for Him with all our heart (Read Proverbs2:1-5; 3:1-5; Jeremiah 29:13). That means intentionally setting aside time eachday to seek God. Iwas thinking again about something we mentioned yesterday—the tyranny of theurgent. Urgent things demand immediate attention: taking the children toschool, picking them up, getting meals prepared, making phone calls, changingdiapers, washing dishes, cleaning the house, getting ready for work, mowing thegrass, fixing the plumbing, paying the bills, and a host of other things. Theseare important responsibilities—but they are not the most important thing. It isso sad that so many of us will spend a lifetime staying busy doing the urgentthings and then realize that we never took care of the important things.Usually this is because the urgent things demand immediate attention while theimportant things can be put off till tomorrow! Myfriend, I remind you that the most important thing we should be doing every dayis seeking and knowing the Lord and His righteousness (Read Matthew 6:24-34).We do this by daily spending time with God, placing value on the people aroundus, encouraging them, and living a life that truly makes a difference in theworld. The only way we can live that way daily is by being filled with the HolySpirit. And when we are filled with God's Word, we will also be filled withGod's Holy Spirit. Aswe approach a new year, I cannot encourage you enough to take at least 15minutes a day to get alone with the Lord. Wake up 15 minutes earlier. Find aquiet place. Spend time asking God for direction for your day. Read Scripture.Use a devotional. We post devotionals on our Facebook page and on our website (https://www.pmiministries.org/),along with a daily Bible reading calendar. Even while driving to work, you canlisten to Scripture through your phone—there are so many ways available today.  Asyou fill your mind with God's Word, it replaces other voices, other influences,and you begin to walk in the truth and speak the truth to yourself and others. Sofirst, Paul tells us to put off lying. Instead, we are to speak the truth,because the truth lives in us through the Word of God. That's my encouragementto you today.  Godbless you as you prepare for a New Year in 2026—as you walk in the truth, asyou live the truth, and as you seek after God through His Word and throughprayer.

Thefirst of the five sins Paul tells us to put off is lying. We must always beaware of the danger of lying. Lying is rooted in the deceitful nature of Satanhimself. He uses lies to lead us astray, to make us believe that the wrong pathis the right path. Jesus warned us that “broad is the way that leads todestruction, and many go in by it.” My friend, the devil is a liar. Jesussaid in John 8:44 that Satan is a liar and the father of lies. He also said inJohn 10 that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy—and the primary way thedevil does this is through lies. He lies by placing deceptive thoughts into ourminds. I am convinced that the fiery darts of the devil mentioned in Ephesians6 are his lies. That is why we are told to take up the shield of faith, whichof course, is the Word of God that we have in our hearts and can quote back to thedevil's lies like Jesus did in Matthew 4 when He was tempted. Inthe end times, 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, tells us that the Antichrist will comewith lying wonders, deceiving those who reject the truth because they takepleasure in unrighteousness. They will believe the lie. My friend, we arealready seeing how lies work all around us—how they deceive people and leadthem into destructive paths. As Jesus said in John 10:10, “the thief (thedevil) has come to steal, to kill and to destroy”. That is why we see suchviolence, chaos, and brokenness in our world today. People are believing thelie when what they desperately need is the truth. Thisis it is so important to Speak the Truth! It is no accident that Paul lists lying first. Lyingdestroys. Truth builds up. If we want to live a life that honors God, we mustlearn how to build truth into our lives. Weonly have a few days left before we begin a new year. This is often the timewhen people make New Year's resolutions. But instead of resolutions, I want toencourage you to make a commitment—a complete surrender to the will of God tobe the person He wants you to be. How do you do that? We all desperately dailyneed God's grace to do what we ought to do. The best way I know receive God'sgrace is to put yourself in the path of God's grace by getting into God's Word andHis Truth that sets us free on a daily basis. The truth is Jesus. The Truth isfound in His Word. Living in the Truth means abiding in Christ (John 15). Thelie of the devil is that you don't have time for God's Word—that you are toobusy, that other things are more urgent. My friend, that is the tyranny of theurgent, where immediate demands crowd out the most important thing: time alonewith the Lord in His Word and prayer. And we must discipline ourselves spirituallyto do that! Years ago, by the grace of God, I made a determination todiscipline myself for godliness, as Paul instructed Timothy (1 Timothy 4:7-9).The only way to do that is to commit to a daily quiet time with the Lord. Thedevil will whisper his lies into your ears and mind: “You don't need to pray. Youdon't need to read through the Bible. You don't need every Word of God.” Theseare his lies! That is why I do everything I can through this Pastor's Chat andthrough my website to encourage believers to stay in the Word. I post dailydevotionals such as Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, ExperiencingGod by Henry Blackaby, and Dr. Elmer Towns' 365 Ways to Know God. I personally alsoread other devotionals by Andrew Murray and others. These help me focus eachday on God's truth instead of Satan's lies. Forover 50 years now I have read five Psalms a day, and I post them on my websiteso you can read or listen along if you wish. We also provide Bible readingschedules—two different plans—to help you stay disciplined in God's Word. Todaywill you make the decision by God's grace to say: “I am not going to try. I amgoing to do this.” My friend, if you will do this, you will find that next yearwill be a completely different year.

“The Little Things inthe Christmas Story” MerryChristmas, and welcome to Pastor's Chat. On this Christmas morning, I want totake a few moments to remind us that God often works through what the worldconsiders small, insignificant, and unnoticed. Years ago, I preached a messagetitled “The Little Things in the Christmas Story.” And the more I reflect onthe birth of Christ, the more I am convinced that Christmas is a story filledwith little things that reveal a very big God.Theworld looks for greatness in power, position, and prominence. But God revealsHis glory through humility, obedience, and faith. Notice these “Little Things”associated with the Christmas story. ALittle Town — BethlehemTheprophet Micah tells us: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be littleamong the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me thatis to be ruler in Israel.” (Micah 5:2) Bethlehem was a small, obscurevillage—hardly the place one would expect a King to be born. Yet God chose alittle town to bring forth the Savior of the world. God is never limited bylocation. He delights in working through places the world overlooks. ALittle Virgin Girl — MaryLuketells us that God chose a young virgin named Mary (Luke 1:27). She was notfamous, powerful, or influential—just a humble young woman willing to say yesto God. Her simple response still echoes through history: “Be it unto meaccording to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) One surrendered heart can change thecourse of history. ALittle Stable and a Little MangerLukechapter 2 reminds us there was no room in the inn, so Jesus was born in a lowlyplace and laid in a manger. The King of glory was not born in a palace but in astable. The Bread of Life was laid in a feeding trough. God entered the worldquietly, humbly, and without earthly applause. Christmas reminds us that Godcame down to where we are. ALittle Baby“Untoyou is born this day in the city of David a Savior.” (Luke 2:11) Theeternal Son of God came as a helpless infant. Almighty God wrapped Himself inhuman flesh. Omnipotence came in weakness. Eternity stepped into time. Neverunderestimate what God can do through something that looks small. ALittle Group of ShepherdsThefirst people to hear the announcement of Christ's birth were shepherds—ordinarymen doing ordinary work. “And there were in the same country shepherdsabiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8) Godchose faithful, watchful men—not kings or scholars—to receive the good newsfirst. Heaven still reveals truth to the humble and attentive. ALittle StarMatthewtells us that wise men were guided by a star (Matthew 2:2). One small light ledsincere seekers to the Savior. God still uses light—the light of His Word, ofHis truth, and of His Son—to guide hearts that are genuinely seeking Him. ALittle Response of FaithMarybelieved. Joseph obeyed. The shepherds went. The wise men followed. Christmasreminds us that God's greatest work often begins with simple obedience. ABig God at Work Through Little ThingsChristmasteaches us this powerful truth: God specializes in using little things toaccomplish eternal purposes.Littleplaces. Little people. Little acts of faith.Andthrough them all, God brought us the greatest gift of all—Jesus Christ.“ForGod so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) ThisChristmas morning, may we not overlook the small things. May we surrender whatwe have, where we are, and who we are to the Lord. The Lord can use us andwhatever we yield to Him for the glory of God! MayGod bless you, and may you have a truly merry Christmas.

Wehave been studying Ephesians chapter 4, where the Apostle Paul teaches that weare to live differently than we once did. Why? Because a new man has enteredour lives. That new man is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, living in usthrough the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit now dwellswithin us, giving us a new life—a life that can walk in righteousness and dothe things that please God. Paulbecomes very practical in this section, telling us what it means to put off theold man. In Ephesians 4:25, he begins by saying: “Therefore, putting awaylying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for weare members of one another.”  Here,Paul emphasizes the importance of truth. Youmay remember the moment when Pilate stood before Jesus and asked, “What istruth?” Just before that question, Jesus had declared in John 18:37: “Pilatetherefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered,"You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for thiscause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." That brings to mind Johnchapter 10, where Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, andthey follow me.” To follow Jesus is to follow truth. To know the truth, wemust have a personal relationship with the truth—because Jesus is the truth. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Wordwas with God, and the Word was God… All things were made by him.” “And the Word was made flesh,and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begottenof the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Hereis John—a simple fisherman from the region of the Sea of Galilee—testifying, “Wehave met the truth. We have seen His glory.” He echoes this again in 1 Johnchapter 1, declaring that they had heard, seen, and touched the Word of life. Thistruth is none other than Jesus Christ—God in the flesh. John tells us that Hisglory was full of grace and truth. God reveals Himself as the source of alltruth. Jesus later said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and thelife.” When Pilate asked, “What is truth?” the answer, Jesus Christ,Truth Himself was standing right in front of him. TheBible teaches that we are born speaking lies. Psalm 58:3 says, “The wickedare estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speakinglies.” Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is deceitful above all thingsand desperately wicked. Our natural hearts are part of the old man, the oldnature, and “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew12:34). So how can you tell the difference between someone who follows Jesusand someone who does not? A follower of Jesus speaks the truth, believes thetruth, and loves the truth. Where is truth found? Truth is found in JesusChrist. Where is Christ found? In the Word of God.  Thegreatest lie ever told was spoken by Satan in the Garden of Eden, when he toldEve, “You shall not surely die… you shall be like God, knowing good andevil.” In other words, “Follow your heart.”  You hear that message everywhere today, but itis not biblical. The Bible does not say, “Follow your heart.” Jesus said,“Follow me.” And when you follow Jesus, you follow the truth. Satan is still whisperingthis lie in our ears today. “You can decide what is right or wrong. Do what makesyou feel good. You don't need God”.   Thatis why Jesus said He was born, “to bear witness to the truth”. When you knowthe truth—when you know Jesus—you can speak the truth to your neighbor. Truthbuilds up; lies tear down. Truth strengthens fellowship; lies destroy it. MayGod help us understand this: Jesus is the Truth. Let us love Him, live for Him,and speak His Truth. When you speak the truth, you bear witness to JesusChrist! And if you have never received Him into your life, I encourage you todo so this Christmas Eve.

Todaywe are moving into a new section of Ephesians 4:25-32. In these verses, theApostle Paul gives us very practical applications for how to live out what hehas already taught in the earlier part of the chapter. That is why verse 25begins with the word “therefore.” This is the fourth “therefore” in thischapter. Paul follows a familiar pattern: he establishes a spiritual principle,reminds us of our position in Christ, and then says, because of this, here ishow you are now to live. Since we are no longer to walk as the Gentiles walk,and since we have been taught to put off the old man and put on the new man inverses 20 through 24, Paul now shows us what that looks like in everyday life. Paulalways applies truth to specific areas where the power of the Word and Truthmust be worked out. And in this passage, he is not afraid to name sins—specificsins. Can you imagine a pastor or preacher naming sins that people in thecongregation might actually be committing? Paul was not afraid to do that, andneither was God. These things are in Scripture for our instruction. InEphesians 4:25–32, Paul identifies five specific sins: Lying, Anger, Stealing, CorruptSpeech, and Bitterness. These are serious sins because they destroy unity,damage fellowship, and ruin a church's witness. Paul names them plainly becausethey must be dealt with honestly. Thefirst sin he addresses is lying and is found in verse 25: “Therefore,putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with hisneighbor," for we are members of one another.” Now, what is a lie? Alie is a statement that is contrary to fact and is spoken with the intent todeceive. Some people lie so regularly that all you have to do is see their lipsmoving to know deception is taking place. In some cases, people believe theirown lies because they themselves have been deceived by the evil one. Letme give you an example. If I tell you it is noon, and later discover that mywatch was wrong, I did not lie—I was mistaken. But if I tell you the wrong timebecause I want to deceive you, perhaps to make you late for a meeting so itbenefits me, then I have told a lie. The difference is intent. My friend, Satanis a liar. In John 8:44, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are of yourfather the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murdererfrom the beginning, and abode not in the truth… for he is a liar, and thefather of it.” Whatis interesting is that Satan wants us to believe that God is the liar. The veryfirst lie in the Bible appears in Genesis chapter 3, when Satan said to Eve,“Yea, hath God said?” He implied that God did not really mean what He said andwas holding something back. Satan was saying, in effect, “God is the liar, notme.” That was a lie. And Satan continues to deceive people into believing thatGod cannot be trusted. Wheneverwe speak the truth—to others or even to ourselves—the Holy Spirit is at work.But whenever we speak a lie, Satan goes to work, using that deception to leadpeople into sin and destruction. Sometimes people think they are helping othersby lying, but that is never true. The consequences may not show up immediately,but they will come. Deception always leads to trouble. That is why it is soimportant that we know—and live—the truth. Yearsago, I read a helpful book titled “Telling Yourself the Truth” by WilliamBackus. He later wrote another companion book called “Telling Each Other theTruth”. Both emphasize the importance of truth grounded in the Word of God. Itall begins with telling ourselves the truth as God defines it. Oh,my friend, when you know the truth—who is Jesus Christ—and when you live thattruth, it makes all the difference in the world. We will continue our study onlying tomorrow, because there are many powerful Scriptures that go along withthis subject. Until then, God bless you and may you have a wonderful day as youlive in the truth of God's Word. Godbless!

Philippians 4:8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things arelovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and ifthere be any praise, think on these things. Todaywe are looking at Ephesians 4:20–24. In these verses, Paul is speaking aboutputting off the old man and putting on the new man. He encourages us not towalk as the Gentiles—or the lost world—walks around us, but to live a new life,a different life, a life that reflects the glory of God in our speech, ourattitudes, and in everything we say and do. These verses are so important thatI feel we need to pause here for another day, especially verse 23, where Paultells us how we can live this kind of life daily, moment by moment. That versesays we are to “be renewed in the spirit of our mind”. We talked aboutthis yesterday, but today I want to make it more practical. AsI considered this verse, my thoughts went to Philippians 4. Paul says in verse4, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” Then he adds,“Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” He goeson to say that we are not to worry, fret, or be anxious about anything.Instead, “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving letyour requests be made known unto God.” Paul then gives this promise: “Andthe peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts andminds through Christ Jesus.” Thatpassage takes me back to Isaiah 26:3, which says, “Thou wilt keep him inperfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.”Then verse 4 says, “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in YAH, the LORD iseverlasting strength.”  When yourmind is stayed on the Lord, it means that you remember who Yahweh Jehovahis—the personal God who loves you, cares for you, and keeps His promises. Whenyou know that, you have His everlasting strength to face whatever comes yourway in life. Nowlet's return to Philippians 4:8 where Paul continues by saying, "think on these things.” He then adds in verse 9, “Thosethings, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Thatis exactly what we need in our lives today. Instead of worry, fretting, fear,and dwelling on things we should not be thinking about, we are to think on theright things so that we will live the right way. Let me say it this way: whenyou are thinking what you should be thinking, you cannot be thinking what youshould not be thinking. That is why Paul says, “Think on these things.”Thinking is a choice we make every day. Remember this simple principle: garbagein, garbage out. What are you spending time taking into your mind? What are youwatching on TV, social media, YouTube? What are you reading on Facebook, innovels? What are you listening to on the radio or from friends? Are youattending church faithfully? Are you spending time in the Word of God? Weare about to finish one year and begin another, and I want to encourage you tocommit yourself by God's grace to daily Bible reading. Make time to read theScriptures. Consider reading through the entire Bible at least once in 2026.Meditate on what you read. Think about it. Perhaps memorize one verse eachweek. By the end of the year, you will have fifty-two verses hidden in yourheart. Listento godly music. Listen to biblical teaching as you travel, rather than allowingyour mind to wander toward everything that is wrong, discouraging, or painful,or toward people who have hurt you in the past. Paul tells us to think on thesethings—the truths of God's Word and the person of Jesus Christ. When we yieldourselves in obedience to the Word of God, and we are filled and guided by theHoly Spirit, He helps us think rightly and live faithfully. And you will be “renewedin the spirit of your mind”. (Read Romans 8:1-16).

Todaywe are looking at Ephesians 4:21 through 24, where the Apostle Paul teaches usabout putting off the old man and putting on the new man. I will neverforget a little chorus I learned years and years ago. It goes something likethis:“Well,the best thing in my life I ever did do, Was take off the old robe and put on the new.The old robe was dirty, all tattered and torn;The new robe was spotless and had never been worn.Yes, the best thing in my life I ever did doWas take off the old robe and put on the new.”Thislittle chorus fits perfectly with the verses we are studying today. First,we must recognize the importance of hearing and responding to the Truth. In verse21, Paul says, “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, asthe truth is in Jesus.” In other words, if you have truly heard Jesus—ifyou have truly met Him, listened to Him, and embraced the truth that is inHim—and if you are determined by God's grace to do His will, then you will knowthe truth and live it. Jesus Himself said that if anyone is willing to do God'swill, he will know whether the teaching is from God. Hearing the truth leads toobedience when the heart is surrendered.  Thenwe can begin to understand what it means to “put off the old man”. Paul says inverse 22: “That you put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man,which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.”Thisis a call to deliberately lay aside the old way of living—the former conductthat is corrupted by deceitful desires. And then, in verse 24, he says: “Andthat you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness andtrue holiness.” Oneof the best illustrations of this truth is found in the story of Lazarus inJohn chapter 11. You remember that Lazarus had been dead for four days, lyingin a tomb. When Jesus arrived, He called out, “Lazarus, come forth!” AndLazarus came out of the grave—still bound in his grave clothes. Then Jesus saidin John 11:44, “Loose him, and let him go.” In other words, take off theold grave clothes. You've been made alive—now live like it. Put on the graceclothes. Live like someone who has been changed by the grace of God. That isexactly what Paul is teaching here. The truth we have heard in Christ Jesusdemands a new way of living. Now,there is something very important in verse 23: “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” So how do youtake off the old robe—the dirty, deceitful, corrupt way of living—and put onthe new way of life? How do you live truthfully, proclaim truthfully, and walktruthfully before a watching world? You do it by being renewed in the spiritof your mind. Conversion is a crisis experience that leads to a lifelongprocess. Through Jesus Christ, we have once and for all become new creatures inHim. But now, day by day, we need the Word of God to renew our minds as wecontinually surrender ourselves to Him. Thisbrings us again to Romans 12:1–2, which we discussed yesterday. Because we havebeen saved by the mercies of God, Paul urges us to present our bodies as a livingsacrifice. You know, anybody can take a bullet and die for Jesus. But, myfriend, to live sacrificially every single day—by the grace of God, for thewill of God, and for the glory of God—that is where the real challenge lies. Weare swimming upstream against the corrupt, deceptive schemes of the devil. Andto live faithfully for Jesus in this world requires daily surrender andrenewal. Jesusprayed in John 17:17: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” Oneof the best passages that ties into this—and we will talk about it tomorrow—is Philippians4:8-9, where Paul instructs us to think on things that are true, honest, just,pure, lovely, and of good report. You'veheard the saying, “You are what you eat.” That is true physically. Butspiritually, my friend, you are what you think. That is why being renewed inthe spirit of your mind is so vitally important. Godbless!

Todaywe are continuing our study in Ephesians chapter 4, focusing specifically onverses 22 through 24. The Apostle Paul has been explaining that because we nowhave a new position in Christ as believers, we should no longer walk the way weonce did—or the way the Gentiles around us walk. In other words, the worldwalks one way, but we are called to walk differently. As believers in Christ,we should live differently, speak differently, and have a different attitude.Why? Because we are now in Christ. Paulexplains it this way in verse 22: We are to put off our former conduct—the oldman—which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts. Then, in verse 23, we areto be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Finally, in verse 24, we are to puton the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness andholiness. Whatdoes this mean? To put off the old man means that, as believers, weintentionally reject the sinful nature we inherited from Adam. The old self iscorrupted by deceitful desires, as Paul describes here in Ephesians. This isnot merely about changing bad habits; it is about our core identity beforeChrist. Prior to salvation, we were enslaved to sin. InColossians 3:1–11, Paul gives specific examples of the old life—immorality,greed, anger, and lying. These practices once defined us, but they lead tospiritual death and bring about God's wrath. Spiritually speaking, putting offthe old man is like taking off filthy clothes after a long, grimy day. It is adecisive act of faith. When we trusted Christ, our old self was crucified withHim. Paul teaches this clearly in Romans chapter 6. We do not reform the oldman—we put him off, because in God's eyes he is already dead. This truth bringsreal freedom as we choose righteousness. I encourage you to read Romans 6,because it reminds us that we are no longer enslaved to sin. We are now free tolive a righteous life as followers of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:11-18). Conversely,when we put off the old man, we are also called to put on the new man. Thismeans we actively embrace our new identity in Christ. The new self is createdin Christ's likeness and is renewed in mind, spirit, and life. Ephesians tellsus this new man is characterized by true righteousness and holiness. The bookof Colossians adds that this new self is renewed in the image of our Creator,where divisions such as race, background, or status fade away—because Christ isall and in all. As Paul says, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew,circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christis all and in all.” (Colossians 3:9-11). Spiritually,putting off the old man is like taking off dirty clothes, and putting on thenew man is like being clothed with something entirely new. We do thisconsciously—daily, even moment by moment—remembering that Christ is our lifeand our all in all. When we practice this as we should, it becomes a lifestyleof godliness. As Brother Lawrence spoke of practicing the presence of God, wemight also say we are practicing holiness—choosing Christ over the flesh, overthe old ways. We choose to read the Word of God, to follow Him, to love Him, tolive for Him, and to witness for Him. Oh,my friend, when this becomes our reality, we are truly free—free to do what weought to do: to love the Lord and to live a life of holiness and righteousnessbefore Him. That is exactly what Paul is teaching us here: put off the old man,put on the new man, and live in freedom for the glory of God. MayGod bless you as you dedicate and consecrate your life to Him. As Romans 12:1–2reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by therenewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable andperfect will of God.” Godbless!

Todaywe're continuing our study in Ephesians 4:20–24. These powerful verses remindus that we are no longer to walk as the Gentiles walk, or as the lost worldwalks. Paulsays in verse 20, “But ye have not so learned Christ.” Then he goes onto say, “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, asthe truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21). My friend, everything changes whentruth is being absorbed into your mind and into your heart. For many years—overfifty years of counseling and talking with people as a pastor—I have observedthat the core problem in most lives is this: people have listened to the liesof the devil. They have listened to the lies and philosophies of the worldwhile trying to figure out what to do about life, about problems, and aboutdifficult decisions. As a result, they make choices based on deception,thinking they are making good decisions when in reality they are being ledastray by a lie. My role as a pastor is to bring people back to the truth ofGod's Word so they can make decisions based on truth. Whatis the truth? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John14:6). The truth is found in God's Word. Jesus also prayed, “Sanctify themthrough thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). The Word of God is thetruth of God revealed to us—in the person of Jesus Christ and in the Scripturesof the Bible. That is why Paul says, “If indeed ye have heard him, and havebeen taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.” Have you heard Him? WhenJesus speaks, He calls us by name. In John 10, we are told that the Shepherdknows His sheep and calls them by name. And what is the evidence of thatrelationship? We hear His voice. When He calls us, we follow Him. We are notforced to follow Him—we desire to follow Him. Why? Because we are His sheep,and we belong to His fold. Jesus cares for His sheep. That's why we can trulysay, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). He leadsus in paths of righteousness—that is, paths that are right, paths that pleaseGod, paths that align with the principles and truths of God's Word. Those pathslead to life, and to life more abundantly (John 10:10), a life that isdistinctly different from the world around us. Iget excited when I think about this truth—that we have been taught by Him. Notonly does He speak to us and call us, but He also teaches us. And the truth Heteaches is found in Himself. Then in Ephesians 4:22–24, Paul tells us what thattruth looks like in daily living: “That ye put off concerning the formerconversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Andbe renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, whichafter God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”  Throughoutthe New Testament, Paul explains this process in his letters to the churches atEphesus, Colosse, and Rome. In Romans 5 through 8, he teaches us that, becauseof our salvation in Jesus Christ, we now have a new identity. We can livedifferently—because we are different. We have been made new creatures.We have put off the old man. Like Lazarus, we have been raised from the dead.The spiritual death that once consumed us, condemned us, and weighed us downwith guilt no longer has power over us. We were once condemned to eternity in aplace called hell, but now we have been set free. Weare alive in Christ. Because He lives, we live. And because of that, we canlive a different life. Oh, I encourage you today—study these verses carefully.We will come back to this truth of putting off the old man and putting on thenew man in the days ahead. But I trust you will be encouraged today to knowthat you have life in Christ. You learn the truth in Him and from Him. Hespeaks to you. He walks with you. He is your friend, and He desires to walkwith you every day. Today,will you let Him walk with you? That choice is up to you. Godbless!

Todaywe've been looking at Ephesians 4:17–19, and now we're going to move on toverses 20–24. In these verses, the Apostle Paul follows up on his admonitionnot to walk as the Gentiles walk, but instead to walk in a way that pleasesGod. Paul describes the lost world as walking in futility—emptiness and vanityof mind. Their hearts are darkened. They lack spiritual understanding, and theydo not even know what they are stumbling over. Paul says, in essence, “Don't gothat direction. Don't live that way.” Thenhe gives us a powerful contrast in verse 20: “But ye have not so learnedChrist.” There is something fundamentally different about the believer. Youhave learned Christ. Many people may learn about Jesus, but they nevertruly learn Jesus Christ. Paul's argument is that genuine believers haveentered into a personal relationship with Him. Jesus Himself extended thisinvitation in Matthew 11:28–29: “Come unto me, all you that labor and areheavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn ofme; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto yoursouls.” To“learn Christ” means to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Ican know about historical figures—such as Abraham Lincoln. I can readbiographies and learn what he did and what he accomplished. But I don't knowhim personally. He is dead and gone. My friend, Jesus Christ is alive. He is aliving Savior. He lives today—first in my heart, and also in the Word of God.Sohow do we learn Christ? We learn Christ by spending time with Him—in the Wordof God and in prayer.Youwill never grow spiritually mature, never grow as you should as a believer, andnever dig deep down to the Rock unless you get into God's Word. We must hearHis Word, read His Word, study His Word, memorize His Word, and meditate on HisWord. I love Psalm 1:2–3, which says: “But his delight is in the law of theLORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like atree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in hisseason; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Whydoes that person prosper? Because they are planted by the river of livingwater—Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Living Water. He is the Word. He is theTruth. He is the Way. He is the Life. When you take time in the Word of God,you are fellowshipping with Christ. And when you add prayer, you are buildingan intimate relationship with Him. But learning Christ is not only aboutreading His Word—it is also about experiencing Him in prayer. Prayer is talkingto Him, but prayer also involves listening. Through the Holy Spirit, God speaksto us as we pray. Overthe years, I have learned how wonderful this is. Whether I am praying privatelyin my office, driving, walking through my house, or doing prayer walks throughmy neighborhood, I find that God speaks to me as I speak to Him—if I will taketime to be still and listen. Sometimes He says, “You need to do this. You needto write that letter. You need to call that person. You need to pray for thisindividual.” He places these things on your heart. You know it is Him. You hearHis voice. Other times, you may be discouraged and in need of comfort. As youmeditate on His Word and yield your fears and burdens to Him, He speaks to yourheart. He gives comfort. He gives courage. He gives exactly what you need inyour time of need. That is why Scripture tells us we can come boldly to thethrone of grace with confidence.  Ephesians4:20, “But you have not so learned Christ.” In other words, you nolonger live like the unsaved Gentiles because you have learned Christ. Becauseyou have learned Christ, your life is different. You have a different walk, adifferent talk, a different outlook, and a different attitude. You now seekthings from God's perspective rather than from the world's philosophies andopinions.  Itrust that you will have a heart to learn Christ—to truly know Him.

Todaywe're continuing our study of Ephesians 4:17–19. In these verses, the ApostlePaul shows us the difference between a saved person and a lost person—betweensomeone who is on their way to heaven and someone who is still on the path tocondemnation and an eternity without Jesus Christ, a terrible place calledhell. There is a difference, and that difference should be evident in ourlives. Thatis why Paul, after describing the wonderful blessings we have as believers inChrist in chapters 1 through 3 and the first part of chapter 4, now says, “Thatye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk” (Ephesians 4:17). He issaying, “Don't live the way you used to live. Walk and live differently,because now you can think differently.” Remember in verses 17 through 19, Paulfocused on the mind. He explains that the lost person's “understanding [is]darkened” and that they are “alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians4:18). Asbelievers, we now think differently because we have been enlightened by thegospel of Jesus Christ. We have come to know the truth of who Jesus really is.We now see life from a completely different perspective, and our desire is nolonger to please self or Satan, but to please the Lord. Paul goes on to saythat the lost person walks “in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians4:17). Their life is empty and without purpose. It is vain—lacking truemeaning. Theirunderstanding is darkened. Proverbs 4:19 says, “The way of the wicked is asdarkness: they know not at what they stumble.” What a tragedy that is—towalk through life in darkness, never realizing what you're stumbling over. Paulexplains that this condition exists “because of the ignorance that is inthem” (Ephesians 4:18). The lost person cannot see the truth. They areblind to the Word of God because they are still living in spiritual darkness. Jesusaddressed this clearly in John 3. He said, “Except a man be born again, hecannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Then He went on to say: “Andthis is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loveddarkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one thatdoeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds shouldbe reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may bemade manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:19–21). Inother words, the lost person lives in darkness. He is spiritually blind. 2Corinthians 4:4 tells us, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded theminds of them which believe not.” It is not that they cannot believe—it isthat they choose not to believe. They choose self, the world, the flesh, andsin over what God desires for them. Their hearts do not desire to do whatpleases God. So we see the terrible condition of a lost person. Theirunderstanding is darkened. They are alienated from the life of God. Because ofthe ignorance that is in them, they have no true knowledge of spiritualtruth—they cannot see it. Itis the hardness of the heart that keeps a person from opening their eyes to seewho God really is. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure inheart: for they shall see God.” When we live without God, our hearts areblinded by sin and by Satan. We walk in darkness, not realizing what we stumbleover. We begin to value what doesn't truly matter. We focus on things that aretemporal and passing away. We simply don't understand—until we are born againand our lives are changed. Jesussaid it plainly: those who are born again can now see the kingdom of God. TheBible opens up. Spiritual truth becomes clear. Everything is different. Myfriend, this is what God desires for you and for me. I trust that today youreyes have been opened to see who Jesus really is—and that you are no longerwalking as the Gentiles walk, no longer living as the lost live, but livingdifferently. Godbless!

Todaywe are looking at Ephesians 4:17–19. Here, the Apostle Paul explains thatbecause we have now trusted Christ—because He has saved us, changed us,transformed us, and seated us in the heavenly places, and because we havereceived the Holy Spirit—we are called to live differently. Hebegins explaining this in verse 17, where he gives a strong warning. He tellsbelievers not to live the way the lost world lives—the unconverted, those whohave never been regenerated. Their lives are described as empty in theirthinking, darkened in understanding, separated from the life of God, and drivenby ignorance and spiritual blindness. This way of life ultimately leads tomoral insensitivity, impurity, and greed. Paulbegins with a negative instruction: do not walk in that direction. Do notfollow the pattern of the lost world. He speaks with authority, testifying inthe Lord, reminding us that Jesus Himself has taught us how to walk inrighteousness—pursuing what is good, holy, just, and pure. This is the kind oflife Jesus described in Matthew chapter 5 through the Beatitudes, which revealthe attitudes that should mark a believer's life. Oneof the first things we notice in this passage is that Christians are different.How are we different? We no longer think the way unsaved people think. There isa strong emphasis on the mind in verses 17 and 18—the futility of themind, darkened understanding, and spiritual ignorance. But asbelievers, “we have learned Christ” (v. 20). Remember Jesus invited usto “come and learn of me” in Matthew 11:29:  Learning Christ meanswalking with Him—following His Word, embracing His truth, and moving in thesame direction He walked. And that direction is one of continual obedience tothe will of God and sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paulreminds us in Philippians 2:5-8, that we are to have the same mind that was inChrist Jesus. What kind of mind was that? A mind of obedience, sacrifice,humility, and devotion to the Father's will. Jesus lived for the glory andpleasure of the Father. He said that He must be about His Father's business.This kind of mindset changes everything. As a result, we no longer walk as theGentiles walk, in the futility of their minds. That word futility speaks ofemptiness—a life without purpose. When Christ comes into our lives, we live alife of repentance, which means a changed mind. We change our mind about God.We change our mind about sin. We no longer seek the pleasure of sin; instead,we desire the pleasure of God. Ourvalues change. Our goals change. Our entire view of life changes. When Christcomes in, everything becomes new, just as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:17.“Old things pass away, and new life begins”. Pauldescribes the mindset of the unconverted person in Romans 1:21-23: “Because,although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, butbecame futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professingto be wise, they became fools, This is a life marked by empty thinking, darkened hearts,and self-deception. This is the futility of the mind. It is a life without truepurpose, without eternal focus. That is why we see so much violence, despair,and hopelessness in the world today. People fail to respect life because theydo not recognize God as the Creator and Giver of life. Butas believers, we are different. Our focus is no longer on temporary things orpersonal feelings alone, but on eternal realities and the life that only Godcan give through Jesus Christ. We think differently because; “… we do notlook at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Forthe things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen areeternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18). ThankGod for that difference. May the Lord bless you today as you think on thesethings (Philippians 4:8).

Todaywe are moving into the final section of Ephesians chapter 4:17–32. In theseverses, we learn that the Christian—the believer in Jesus Christ—is not onlycalled to walk in unity within the body of Christ (vv. 1-16), but also to walkdifferently from the world around us, from those who are unsaved. Paul refersto these unbelievers as “the Gentiles”—those who do not know God, who do notfollow Jesus Christ, and who have never been spiritually regenerated. Inthe first part of this section, verses 17–19, which we will be looking at overthe next few days, Paul gives a vivid description of how the Gentiles walk—howthey live. And his message is clear: as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to bedifferent. In verse 17, Paul exhorts believers not to walk as the Gentileswalk. He describes their lives as empty in their thinking, darkened inunderstanding, alienated from the life of God because of ignorance andspiritual blindness. He goes on to describe a lifestyle marked by moralinsensitivity, impurity, and greed. (Read the above verses again.) Myfriend, that is a very apt description of much of America today. Many peoplehave little understanding of spiritual truth—of the Bible, of God, or of livinga life marked by respect and responsibility. Instead, they live selfishly,seeking only to please themselves, always wanting more—more possessions, morestatus, more of the newest and the best. That is exactly what Paul isdescribing. And he makes it clear that as believers, we should be different.Yes, we are to walk in unity as a body of believers, but we are not to walk asthe Gentiles walk. Ibelieve the Bible is a book written to be obeyed, not merely studied ormemorized. That is why we repeatedly encounter words like “therefore” and“wherefore.” In fact, between Ephesians 4:1 and Ephesians 5:24, those wordsappear at least eight times. Paul is essentially saying that because of whatChrist has done for us—especially in the first three chapters and the firsthalf of chapter 4—there is now a clear responsibility for how we are to liveand walk for Jesus Christ. TheApostle James reminds us of this truth in James 1:22-25, where he tells us tobe doers of the Word and not hearers only. Otherwise, we are like someone wholooks in a mirror, notices what needs to be fixed, and then walks away withoutdoing anything about it. That is not how God intends us to live. Jesus Himselfwarned that hearing the Word without obeying it is like building a house onsand (Matthew 7:24-27). Our lives should be different. Thefact that we have been called in Christ (Ephesians 1:18) should motivate us towalk in unity (Ephesians 4:1–16). The fact that we have been raised fromspiritual death (Ephesians 2:1–10) should motivate us to walk in purity(Ephesians 4:17–5:7). Paul also reminds us in Romans 6:4, that because we havebeen identified with Christ in His death, we are now called to walk in newnessof life. It is a different life altogether. Weare alive in Christ. We are no longer dead in our sins. Therefore, we are toput off the old self and put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22-24). Just as Jesuscommand that Lazarus have his grave clothes removed (John 11:44), we too are totake off the old grave clothes of our former life and put on the grace clothesof our new life in Christ. We are to walk in God's wonderful and marvelousgrace. AsPaul begins this section of Scripture in verses 17–19, it comes as a strongwarning—a negative admonition. We are no longer to walk as the Gentiles walk.We will be exploring this more in the coming days. Itrust that today you will determine with all your heart to be a follower ofJesus Christ who lives a different life. Godbless!

Todaywe continue our study of Ephesians 4:11–16. We have spent a significant amountof time on these verses because they are vitally important for every member ofthe body of Christ—every believer, every follower of Jesus Christ—to understandexactly what their purpose and role is within the body. Up to this point, thisentire chapter has focused on that very theme: the unity of the Spirit and theunity of the body—one body working together for one purpose.We'vediscussed that when the work of the ministry is being carried out,Christlikeness will be evident in the lives of believers. Each believer will begrowing into the likeness of Christ. Along with that growth comesstability. We will “no longer be like children”—arguing, actingselfishly, seeking positions of prominence, competing with one another, orpromoting ourselves. That kind of behavior is childish. We are no longerchildren. Additionally, we will not be easily swayed by false doctrine ordeceptive teaching, whether it comes from within the church, the surroundingculture, or the internet. Anothervital outcome of this passage is what we might call cooperation—workingtogether as one body. This is emphasized in verse 16: “From whom the wholebody, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to theeffective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the bodyfor the edifying of itself in love.”  Whenevery member is functioning according to the spiritual gifts they have beengiven, actively exercising those gifts within the local church, the body isknit together in love. It builds itself up. It is strengthened and edified.What a beautiful picture that is. And once again, we see the purpose beingfulfilled. Whatis that purpose? The saints are being equipped “for the work of theministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ”. We have beengiven spiritual gifts not for self-importance, not for personal praise orrecognition, but so that the entire body—every joint, every member—can becomeall that God intends it to be. Every part matters. Every member is important.In God's sight, every believer who faithfully serves is a hero, fulfilling thework of the ministry. Nowremember what the work of the ministry is. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:6,that “God has made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant—not of theletter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul continues by saying that because we have received thisministry, we do not lose heart. We do not quit. Even though Satan has blindedthe minds of unbelievers, even though we may be knocked down, afflicted, orpersecuted, we get back up. Why? So that the message of Jesus Christ and theglorious gospel might be made known—even through our physical bodies—as welabor together. This does not mean everything will be easy or perfect, but itdoes mean the work is worth it. ThenPaul clearly defines this ministry in 2 Corinthians 5:18: “Now all thingsare of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and hasgiven us the ministry of reconciliation.” There it is. As the body ofChrist, we work together to tell the world who Jesus Christ truly is.  Throughour Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. And as believers workingtogether within the body of Christ—the church—we fulfill the work of theministry by proclaiming reconciliation. We tell the world that they can comeback to God. They can have a personal, real relationship with Him. Their sinscan be forgiven. They can experience wholeness, peace, joy, and the life Godcreated them to live. That is reconciliation—restored fellowship with God. Areyou exercising your spiritual gift in the work of ministry, theministry of reconciliation, and the building up of the body of JesusChrist for the glory of God? 

Thefirst thing that we see as an evidence of spiritual maturity and spiritualgrowth is that we are Christlike in our attitude, actions and speech. Jesus wasalways submitted to the will of His Father. Read the Gospels. Jesus always didHis Father's will. This quote from Psalms is most descriptive of Jesus: “Ihad delight to do Thy will. Oh my God. Thy law is written within my heart” (Psalm40:8). That was the heart and mind of Jesus, my friend. That's what happens tous when we're submitted in obedience to the will of God. As Oswalt Chamberssaid in one of his writings.  We'vebeen perfectly adjusted to the fact that Christ lives in us, and we now know andlive in His righteousness. We're robed in that righteousness, and we want towalk with Him with all of our heart. It's a surrendered life, as Andrew Murrayput it. Thenwe see the second evidence of our spiritual growth is stability. We're nolonger children tossed to and fro. Today, we looking at the third evidence of our spiritual growth that wefind in verse 15: “But speaking the truth in love may grow up in allthings unto Him who is the head Christ”. The third evidence of spiritualmaturity is that we consistently “speak the truth in love”. Someonehas said that truth without love is brutality, but love without truth ishypocrisy. We somehow another, by the grace of God, can combine the two. Youmust have truth expressed in love. I love that verse in Psalm 85:10 where itsays, "Love and truth and mercy have met. Righteousness and peace havekissed." I believe this happened at the cross of Calvary. It was therethe truth of God, that we're sinners that our sin must be punished, met withthe love and mercy of God, as Christ died in our place for our sins. We now canbe set free from our sin and experience peace along with God's righteousness! Nowwe can speak truth out of a heart of love to those around us because we'veexperienced the love of God. 1 John 4:7-11 tells us where this love comes from:"Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone wholoves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God. ForGod is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God hassent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Inthis is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to bethe propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to loveone another." Evidencethat we have spiritual maturity is that we can love, but we love in truth. We speakthe truth in love. We don't speak the truth to hurt, to condemn, todestroy, to tear down. We speak it in love to build up, to encourage, to help aperson get back on track. We speak the truth in love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8tells us the kind of love that God has and that we should have. “Lovesuffers long. Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. Isnot puffed up. Does not behave rudely. Does not seek its own. Is not provoked.Thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, rejoices in the truth, love bearsall things.” Whenwe have a heart that is surrendered and obedient to the will of the Lord GodAlmighty, we will have the mind of Christ, and we will speak the truth withlove. It will be evidence that there is something in our heart that's differentthan when the natural man is in control of our lives and tearing down anddestroying the lives of those around us as we see so often in Christian circles.God help us to have this mark of spiritual maturity, and spiritual growth, andthat is “speaking the truth in love”. Godbless!

These verses are vitallyimportant to the unity of the church, to the growth of the believer, and to thewitness of the church in the community. That's why we're taking so longcontinuing to look at this passage of Scripture. Remember the leaders of thechurch are told to lead and teach the people to grow in their Christianmaturity, to grow in faith, and to understand how that as a body of believersthat are diverse, that have different opinions, have different ideas, maybeeven different cultural backgrounds, that it is vitally important that they loveone another, and care for one another.  Readthe New Testament. Read the book of First John. Read all the Epistles. Almostall of them speak about this love for one another. Jesus, in His last words inthe upper room were that His disciples might be one. His prayer was that theywould be one (John 17). That they would be one in Christ, one in unity, one inlove, caring for one another. Then they would be a witness to the world aroundthem. That's why this passage in Ephesians 4 is so important. Now,one of the things that will happen whenever God's at work, you can rest assuredthat the devil is also at work and he has his angels, agents of false teachersto lead people astray. Today, my friend, the internet and churches are full offalse teachers who would cause people to follow after them with false doctrines.That's why Paul, Peter and others writers of the New Testament wrote aboutthese people. Even in the first century church, Jude wrote about them. John, warnedof them in his epistles of 1st and 2nd John. Almost everyNew Testament Apostle, teacher, leader warned about these false teachers. Evenhere in Ephesians 4, where Paul is saying to build up the people in the unityof the faith he goes on to say in verse 14 that we should “no longer bechildren tossed to and fro”. Tossed to and fro by what? Because we would be“carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and cunningcraftiness of deceitful plotting”, by the false teachers. In Acts 20:28-31,Paul in his last visit to the church at Ephesus, warned the elders: “Thereforetake heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit hasmade you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with Hisown blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come inamong you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up,speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.  In2 Peter 2:1-3, Peter warned the believers he's writing to about these false teachers:“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will befalse teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, evendenying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. Andmany will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth willbe blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words…”.  Like Paul, he is warning us not to be deceivedby false teachers with their false doctrine. Acharacteristic of a Christlike Christian is that he is not only bathed in thetruth, living in the truth, walking in the truth, but he is stable. He issteadfast. He's not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Everybody thatcomes along with some new teaching about this or that or especially about theLord Jesus Christ and who He is. My friend, you must be careful what you'relistening to and make sure you look at everything in light of the context ofthe entire word of God. Then listen to faithful teachers and preachers who havestayed the course over many many years. Again,these are very important words because the devil is at work to destroy theunity of the church with false teachers. We must be aware of them. They'reeverywhere. So be aware, don't be children about this danger. Grow up, listento the truth, and walk in the truth. 

The giftsand offices to the early church in order that the people of the church, thebelievers, would grow to spiritual maturity and display to the world what itreally means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Acts11:26 tells us that the believers, the disciples, were “first calledChristians at Antioch” of Syria. Remember that this was a church made up believersfrom various nationalities and backgrounds. There were Gentile believers. Therewere Jewish believers. And no doubt, some were there from other nationalities. Itwas a mixed group of believers but we find that these people worked together insuch a way they were called Christians, which means they were Christlike. Thespiritual life is not a destination that we finally arrive at, and we are now spirituallymature. No, my friend, the real spiritual mature believer's life is a journey,it is a daily walk in the right direction. Yesterday we talked about the wascalled “a perfect man” in these verses. What it means to be “perfect”.Christ tells us that we should be perfect even as our Father in heaven isperfect. That means we are like Christ. Which means that we are in a placewhere we are being obedient to the Lord and the Holy Spirit's leading and doingand living out the will of God moment by moment in our daily lives.  Ilike what Oswald Chambers says about this. When we really have grown to a placeof spiritual maturity, on our journey, “we are walking by faith, not by sight”.He said, that it is not a matter of trying to figure out and doing the will ofGod, but “we are the will of God”.  Wesee that in these verses. We're not like children any longer, walking accordingto the lust of the flesh, walking according to the desires of our heart, doingwhat we want to do. No, we're living in the Holy Spirit, walking by faith, inthe Word of God. Again notice, that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastorsand teachers were given for the equipping of the saints for the work of theministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. Paul,as awesome as he was as an Apostle and disciple and follower of Christ andchurch planter, he said, "I've not yet arrived. I still reach forth."(Philippians 3:12-14).  We're alwaysreaching forth. We are still every day coming to the knowledge that I have somuch more to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's a growthevery day. It is a daily going in the right direction!The“work of the ministry” also includes the edifying of the body of Christ. Thisproduces unity in the church. That's why they were called Christians first atAntioch. There was that unity of believers despite their background, despitetheir culture, despite where they came from, rich and poor, etc. They worktogether in love displaying the characteristics of Christlikeness in theiractions and attitudes. Paulgoes on to say that we have come to the “unity of the faith”. Which is based onthat body of truth concerning the person of Jesus. What do you believe aboutJesus. That's why he goes on to say and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Whois Jesus? If someone doesn't believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, Godin the flesh, He is deity, and that He is divine, the apostle John and otherwriters of the New Testament make it very clear, they are antichrist. They are nota true follower of Christ. (Read 1 and 2 John). TheChristian life is a walk of faith. “We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Corinthians5:7). And “We are no longer children tossed to and fro” (v. 14).Children are selfish. Children live on their emotions. They feel good and theyshow in their attitude and actions that they feel good. But then when they feelbad, in their actions and attitude they act bad and they treat others wrong. Theylive by their feelings. There are too many people in the church like that. Godwants us to always be growing spiritually where we're displaying thecharacteristics of Jesus Christ in our attitude and in everything we say and do. 

Before I get into these verses, let me just mention that I'll be going toIndia from January the 15th through the 25th 2026, with a team fromGlobal Partners in Peace and Development. First, I'm asking for your prayersfor our team and myself as we go on this trip to India. We're going to be ableto do so many different things such as meet and speak to pastors, participatein dedicating a number of freshwater wells, and distribute gifts given through theGPPD gift catalog to the widows and Indian children. Also we'll be providinganimals for different folks to help provide food for them. We will be able toimpact and bless many precious Indian people and influence them for Christ. So pleasepray, pray, for safety and strength for this trip.  Alsosecondly, if you would like to financially help me cover the expenses for thetrip and with taking some gifts and money to give to pastors, simply donate itto “Mission Travel Support” through the PayPal donate button on our website: https://www.pmiministries.org/  Or you can send a gift to the address listed onour website where I have my office. Thank you in advance for your prayers andsupport. We're so blessed to have friends like you who've supported us over theyears and have helped us continue to do this wonderful ministry. Now,back to Ephesians 4:11-16. I want to share something that I noticed yesterdayin my devotional time, that I believe will speak to your heart, too.  Remember the Apostle Paul in this chapter has alreadytalked about the grace of unity, the ground of unity, and the gifts of unity, inverses 1-11. Now he's talking about the growth of unity (vv. 11-16).  When we have true spiritual growth in ourpersonal and individual lives, we will also experience growth in our churches. Paultells us that the offices and gifts of the apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors,and the teachers are given to the church for the perfecting of the saint forthe saint to grow to spiritual maturity. He describes this as, “To a perfectman”, (or “woman”). Yesterdayin my devotion time, while reading a devotion by Oswald Chambers, he spoke ofwhat it means to “be perfect”.  Thinkingabout it, I remembered back in Matthew 5:48, Jesus had said in His Sermon onthe Mount, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father inheaven is perfect." Then in Matthew 19, a rich young ruler came toJesus asking, "What can I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answeredand told him, "If you would be perfect…." Now, what does itmean to be perfect?  OswaldChambers tells us, "Beware of mental quibbling over the word ‘perfect'. Perfectiondoes not mean the full maturity and consummation of a man's power. But perfectfitness for doing the will of God (Philippians 3:12-15). Supposing Jesus Christcan perfectly adjust me to God, to put me so perfectly right that I shall be onthe footing where I can do the will of God, do I really want Him to do it? Do Iwant God at all cost to make me perfect?” (From his book, “It Thou Wilt bePerfect”, page 116) Thequestion for you and me today is, do I really want to be the person that'sspiritually mature to the place where I will be willing to yield my life sofully to God so that I'm always “about my Father's business”. Am I doingthe will of God right now? The first characteristic of spiritual maturity is “Christlikeness”. Godbless!

Tomorrow I will be in Roanoke, Virginiaparticipating and speaking at a celebration of life service for a dear, dearsaint of God, Nancy Young. I'll tell you more about Nancy's and her life thatwas, “A Life Well Lived”, later in this blog. Matterof fact her life “measured up to the stature of the fullness of Christ”, thatPaul desired for every believer here in Ephesians 4. Today we begin looking atthis next section of the chapter where we learn about the “growth of unity” inthe local church. From verse 11 we are told this growth takes after, “HeHimself gives some apostles, and some prophets, some evangelists, and somepastors and teachers.” He does this for the purpose which we find in verses12-16. Thisis a very special passage of scripture that gives us exactly what the pastorsand leaders of the church should be doing. That is equipping the saints for thework of the ministry and for the spiritual growth and maturity of theindividual members.  Overmy 50 plus years as a pastor, if I ever knew someone that was a part of comingto the fullness of unity in Christ, coming to a place of full maturity in thebody of Christ and building up the body of Christ, and doing their part to makesure the church of Christ, the body of Christ, was the kind of church it shouldbe, it was Nancy Young. I've had the privilege of being her pastor for the pastthirty-some years now. As I think about the ministry we had together in thelocal church there at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church, of which she was a faithfulmember for the last 40 years, I watched as the Lord used Nancy in a wonderfulway to touch the lives of so many people. Manyof you probably didn't know that Nancy grew up in Africa with her parents, whowent there in 1945 when she was 3 years old. They were first missionaries inthe Congo, and then in Burundi, where during their ministry, there was aterrible genocide taking place. In her personal eight-page typed testimony thatshe recently wrote for her RFBC Sunday School class, she said from birth shewas taught the Word of God by her parents and had memorized Psalm 23 by thetime she was one year old. How amazing is that!!!!  Nancygrew up in Africa up to the time, when as a teenager she went to WheatonCollege back in the states. It was at Wheaton College that she developed apassion to teach children God's word. Not long after college, that she gotinvolved in WRE, (Weekly Religious Education). Now for over 55 plus years,every week you could find her teaching children the Bible in the public schoolsystem, usually meeting in a small trailer across the street from the school,like she did at Colonial Elementary School near where I lived. Ijust am so thankful for her faithful dedication to this ministry because manyof my grandchildren sat under her Bible teaching. Nancy actually taught mydaughters-in-law, Crystal Floyd Grooms when she was a girl. Remember Crystal,(and she won't mind that I say this), today is in her 40s. Yet when she was alittle girl at Colonial Elementary, she sat under Nancy's teaching. Nancyis a wonderful example of someone who loved the Lord, loved her husband, lovedher family, loved ministry, loved teaching God's Word, and had a grasp of the Wordof God in its entirety. She truly was an example of a mature believer who livedin the fullness of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing it has been to be herpastor. We're celebrating her homegoing tomorrow (Tuesday) with her family.We're excited about how God's going to speak to the lives of many even in theservice.  Itrust you have been encouraged by her testimony that I have shared in today'schat. I trust that you are being equipped for the work of the ministry likeNancy Young was. May the Lord also use you to affect and influence the lives ofhundreds of others as He blesses and leads you.  Godbless!

Wesee the gifts of the Spirit are given so that the whole body of Christ mightprofit as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:7. Now we notice that Paul is keying inon four specific offices that are vitally necessary for the leading, theoversight, and the feeding of the church. He mentions those here in verse 11.He gave some Apostles. Those were the initial twelve men that Jesus Himselfcalled. Then alongside these Apostles, with the next gift and office were the prophets.Together these two callings, gifting and offices, laid the foundation of the church(Ephesians 2:20).  Thenwe notice the next office and gifting was, “some evangelists”. Of course, theseare the ones who spread the word of God with a special gifting as they traveledand as they ministered in different locations. They most likely were the churchplanters. Like Peter, when they would preach people would respond to the gospelunder conviction of sin and come to know Christ as their Savior. This officeand gifting is especially exercised for the growth and expansion of the church. ThenPaul gives the last office, and He uses two names that indicates two specificgiftings. “Some pastors and teachers”. The fact that the word"some" is not repeated indicates that we have here one office withtwo ministries. The word pastor means shepherd. A shepherd is someone who caresfor the sheep. Two other words are used for the same office in the NewTestament, which are elder and bishop. We see them in 1 Timothy 3 and also in 1Peter 5.  In1 Peter 5:1-4, Peter had a specific message for the elders as leaders in thechurch.  “The elders who are among youI exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock ofGod which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly,not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted toyou, but being examples to the flock; Notice he toldthem to fulfill the role of shepherds as pastors.  Ibelieve one of the special callings that God revealed to me as a young believer,along with a special gift that goes along with, was to be a pastor shepherd to theflock of God, and to care for His sheep. To be a shepherd means you love thesheep. Remember Psalm 23 where David writes, “The Lord is my shepherd, Ishall not want”. What example do we have from the Lord Jesus Christ? Hecared for the sheep. He leads the sheep. He leads them by example and He gaveHis life for the sheep.  No doubt Peter isthinking of this in 1 Peter 5. Again the “good shepherd, cares for the sheep, feedsthe sheep the Word of God, leads the sheep, and protects the sheep from falseteachers and doctrines (Acts 20:28-30). That'swhy the companion gift of teaching has to be in the life of a pastor. When Paulgave the instructions for the elders in the early church, they had to be ableto teach God's word, understand God's word, have the knowledge of what God's Wordrepresented, stood for, and how it should be proclaimed. This is all verycrucial for the church, the flock of God, to be healthy and productive. So,pastors and teachers, these are gifted people who help care for the flock,protect the flock, lead the flock, and they take time to visit the orphans andthe widows, as we read in James 1:27. “Pure religion and undefiled beforeGod and the father is this. To visit the fatherless, the orphans and the widowsin their affliction and to keep themselves unspotted from the world”.  Apastor does this by example as he cares, protects, teaches, feeds, and leadsthe flock of God. Pray for your pastor today as he fulfills this wonderfulministry to the church! And pastors, we would do well to take heed to Paul'sparting words to young pastor Timothy, “But you be watchful in all things,endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2Timothy 4:5). Godbless!

Alreadywe talked about the office of apostleship. Thespiritual gift and office of evangelists means that these are those in thechurch who “bear the good news”. That's what evangelist means. “Evangel”, “Abearer of good news”. Someone who takes the good news of the salvation that'savailable through Jesus Christ to the world that's lost and dying and on itsway into an endless eternity to a terrible place called hell. This gift iscrucial to the outreach and expansion of the church.  As I have looked at this passage and thoughtabout the spiritual gifting of the church, I want to remind you every gift, those17 gifts that were given to the baby church, that listed in Romans 12, 1Corinthians 12-14, and here in Ephesians 4, were all necessary for the localchurch, so that it could be a healthy and growing church that fellowships, thatworships, that evangelizes, that disciples, that builds up one another,ministers and cares for one another and changes the culture and the world inwhich it's placed. Oh, how awesome that is.  Ipersonally believe that every believer has at least one primary gift. I believethese primary gifts are the seven that are listed in Romans 12. You have atleast one of those as your primary gift. But in some since we call all practicethe gift of serving, the gift of giving, the gift of ministering. We all canpractice most of the gifts, but we have that one primary gift.  Ithas also been very interesting to me that the way we look at things in thechurch, and respond to challenges that the church might have, will be based onthe spiritual giftedness that God has given to each one of us. But all thegifts are necessary. They are very necessary for the church to be a healthychurch. Every member exercising their particular gift. When you're exercisingyour gift, instead of wearing you out, there's something that energizes you,that frees you, that gives you fulfillment and contentment, and a sense ofpurpose in the church. It is vitally necessary and very important for you toknow your spiritual gift.  Whenwe look at spiritual gift and office of the evangelist, we might think ofpeople like Peter who on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, who preached and 3,000souls are saved. He is the main spokesman for the church in the early chaptersof Acts. He is sent to Cornelius in Acts 10 and wins the first Gentile to the Lord.We even think the Apostle Paul had must have had this gift of evangelism. Laterhe would write to the church at Corinth how, “some plant and some water, butGod gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:7-8).  Paultold Timothy, who I believe had the gift of pastor, serving in the office ofpastor in many of the churches that Paul planted, and yet he told him do thework of an evangelist. In other words, all of us can be witnesses for JesusChrist. At the same time understanding and exercising our individual Spiritual gifts. Ithink of men in days past, like my dad, J. O. Grooms, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday,Baily Smith, and Billy Graham, and today men like Rick Via and Steeven Kumar, whoobviously have that Spiritual gift, and fulfilled the office of evangelist, andhave been used to spread the Gospel around the world. We need these wonderfulmen of God as they go forth, and they bring new believers into the Kingdom.Then the pastors and teachers come in, and disciple and grow them. What awonderful thing it is to see God functioning and working through the localchurch of believers to glorify His son Jesus Christ.  Whata wonderful passage of scripture reminding us that each of us has a place inthe church. May the Lord help us to discover our spiritual gifts, and then alsoexercise them today in the body of Christ. Godbless!

Yesterdaywe talked about what it means to be apostle. Those were the 12 that Jesusoriginally chose (Matthew 10:1-4). Specifically, these Apostles had to be a witnessof Jesus life and ministry since His baptism and also His resurrection (Acts1:21-22). These were specially chosen men we read about in the Book of Actsthat laid the foundation of the church. But also other special group thatassisted in laying the foundation of the church in the first century were menwho were called the prophets. Nowwe usually think of a prophet in the Old Testament of someone that predicts thefuture. God gave these men special revelation and insight to talk about thingsto come. But in the New Testament, the prophet was someone who forthtold theword of God. Remember in the first century New Testament church in the book ofActs, they did not have a New Testament. Most of the believers did not havecopies of the Old Testament. Those were on scrolls and these were in thesynagogues. Therefore, they needed the office of a prophet who also laid thefoundation of the church along with the apostles.  Thesepeople were gifted by the Holy Spirit with special knowledge and wisdom. Weread in 1 Corinthians 13:2, "Though I have the gift of prophecy andunderstand all mysteries and all knowledge…." This gift and officegave them special insight to God's truths. They could proclaim to the localchurch a direct revelation from God that would help the early believers to knowand understand the truth and will of God concerning the mystery and ministry ofthe church along with specific application of God's Word concerning theirlives. At the same time many of these gifted men, like Paul, also gave revelationabout future events concerning the future of the church in the last days asthey were inspired to write letters to the churches. Inthe book of Romans 12:4-8 we find that there are seven spiritual gifts that arementioned. The first one that is mentioned in Romans 12:6 is prophesy alongwith instruction on how to exercise the gift. I believe that as important andnecessary as it was for all the spiritual gifts to be exercised in the localchurch that it also appears that these gifts are listed in order of theirimportance as far as their use in the church. Here in Ephesians 4:11 the giftand office of Apostleship is of course the first one. And as far as this giftand office is concerned, it was for very a specific purpose and for a veryspecific time period at the beginning and foundation of the church. Nextin importance would be the gift of prophecy.  In 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul writes: “Pursuelove, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy”. Thenhe goes on to explain what the purpose of prophecy is in verses 2-5: “But he who prophesies speaksedification and exhortation and comfort to men. Sothis spiritual gift of prophecy was given to the men to come alongside the menwho had the gift of Apostleship to specially lay the foundation. You see thisin Ephesians 2:20: “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles andprophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone”. So they preached JesusChrist. They taught that Jesus was the head of the body, the chief cornerstone. Ibelieve that today it is possible the gift of prophecy is still able to beexercised, but it has to do with a person who is able to lead the church insuch a way that he understands and has special discernment of what is right andwrong in a specific way and is able to call out evil. Still, other Biblescholars believe the gift of prophecy expired with the early church when the NewTestament was completed. What matters today is that we still have love andunity and make the name and salvation of Jesus known to everyone we can! Godbless!

Todaywe continue to look at Ephesians 4:7-11. Weneed to understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the unity of the church isvitally important to sharing this great message of the Gospel of Christ to theworld around us. God has chosen the church today to do this. The New Testament churchcan best be describes as a local body of baptized believers, under thediscipline of the Word of God, being led by the Holy Spirit, exercising thegifts of the Spirit, organized under spiritual leadership for the purpose ofworship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and ministry, and fulfilling theordinances of the church—the Lord's Supper and baptism. That is the localchurch. Inthat church God has placed people with various spiritual gifts to make surethat body functions properly in such a way that they are able to fulfill,complete, and carry out God's great commission. That is the purpose of thespiritual gifts. We see that specifically as we look at the passage here inEphesians chapter 4, verses 7-11.It says in verse 11, “And He Himself gavesome to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors andteachers.” Interesting,as you look at all three passages in the New Testament speaking specificallyabout spiritual gifts, you will find that in Romans 12, and also 1 Corinthians12-14, that Paul lists many gifts. Some people estimate up to 18 differentspiritual gifts were given to the church initially. But here in Ephesians 4:7,it appears that Paul is talking not so much about the gifts of the Spirit as heis talking about some of the offices that are being fulfilled because of thegift of the Spirit that were given to particular people in his day. Thefirst one Paul mentions was the Apostles. “He gave some to be apostles”.The word apostle means one who is sent with a commission. Jesus had manydisciples—even one time 70 disciples are mentioned—but we know that He onlyselected 12 apostles (Matthew 10:1-4). The disciple is a learner, a follower.But an apostle is a divinely appointed representative. For someone to be anapostle, he had to have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts1:21-22). In Acts 1, when they were replacing Judas as one of the twelveapostles, they prayed about it, sought God's will about it, and particularlychose one person, Matthias, to become that twelfth Apostle (Acts 1:26). Today,there are no apostles in the strictest New Testament sense. These apostles laidthe foundation of the church along with the prophets as we are told in Ephesians2:19-20, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, butfellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, havingbeen built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himselfbeing the chief corner stone.”  Oncethe foundation of the church, the New Testament church, was laid, there was nolonger a need for apostles. Today when I hear someone saying, “I'm an apostle,”I hope they mean that they are one who is sent with a commission. Because allof us as believers are sent. As Jesus said to the disciples and to theapostles, “As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you.” Every believer inthat sense is sent. We are sent with a commission to share the good news ofJesus Christ. Butthere were only twelve who laid the foundation of the church in the NewTestament. That is very important to know. Today we should not claim to be anapostle. We should claim to be a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ. We havebeen sent even as an Apostle was sent, but we are not apostles because we didnot physically witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was thequalification given in Acts 1. Aswe study these four offices of the church that are mentioned by Paul here, theyshould encourage us to be what God wants us to be with our spiritual gift inthe church so the body of Christ can function as it should. Godbless!

Interestingly, when you come to the subject of spiritual gifts in the NewTestament and in the church today it can be a matter of division rather thanunity. People have so many different opinions and ideas and biblical teachingsthat they're given about spiritual gifts that there's division in the churchover the gifts. That happened in the church of Corinth. It is apparent that inthis early church some believers thought because they had certain spiritualcharismatic type gifts that they were more spiritual than other people. Theywere puffed up about it. No doubt that's why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13, wherehe talked about love. Basically, he writes and tells us that the exercise ofthe gifts of the Spirit without the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, whichis love, the gift “profits nothing”.  Weshould practice and exercise our spiritual gifts that we have been individuallygiven in the spirit and motivation of love to glorify God. When we do that, webuild up the body of Jesus Christ, encourage and comfort, and edify one anotheras we read in the three passages of scriptures that have to do especially withspiritual gifts. Remember the three main passages in the New Testament on thissubject are Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 and here in Ephesians 4.Itis important to remember as we look at the subject of Spiritual gifts that thereare difference of opinions. I personally teach that the gifts can be dividedinto three categories which are, the speaking gifts, the service gifts, and thesign gifts. For examples, in the early church the speaking gifts, would haveincluded teaching, exhortation, and prophecy. The service gifts would have includedadministration, giving, ministering, and mercy. The sign gifts would haveincluded healing, miracles, tongues and interpretation of tongues.  Whenit comes to the giving and exercising of the sign gifts, I personally believe, (andrealize that many Bible teachers and others, and some of my best friends woulddisagree with me when it comes to this particular category of gifts), that thesign gifts ceased with the completion of the New Testament being written. Thesegifts were only for the baby church. Remember in 1 Corinthians 13 when Paulwrote, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, butwhen I became a man, I put away childish things”. , I believe, Paul isindicating that when we have a complete Bible that we did not need the signedgifts. Nowthis doesn't mean that today somebody couldn't speak miraculously speak in anotherlanguage and share the gospel to someone else. It doesn't mean that someonecouldn't pray and experience a healing for themselves or for someone else. Itdoesn't mean that someone can't pray for a miracle and a miracle takes place. Ibelieve all those things are still possible. But as far as a gift to aparticular person who could walk into hospital and empty it because he or she hasthe gift of healing. I just have never met that person today. I don't believeit's necessary because we have the complete Word of God and we don't need signs. Again,this is my opinion, and I have great fellowship with pastors and friends whofeel and believe differently about this particular subject, because we love oneanother and agree the main thing is that lost people need to experience salvationthrough Jesus Christ.  Itrust this has not confused you today but that we focus on exercising our Spiritualgifts for the purpose of edifying, encouraging, and exhorting one another inthe body of Christ with love and unity, and most of all glorify the Lord JesusChrist! Godbless!

Todaywill continue to look at Ephesians 4:7-11. These verses are about the Spiritualgifts that God gives “to each one of us” for unity in the church.These gifts can either be used to build us up or used to tear us down. God hasalready given us the Gift of the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation. Atthat time, we were baptized into the body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit cameto dwell within us. This great truth is taught throughout the Epistles in theNew Testament.  Butalong with the Gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit,also imparted Spiritual gifts into our life. These gifts are many and you willfind them listed in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14 and also in Ephesians 4. Weneed to also understand that these Spiritual gifts are not the naturalabilities that we're born with, such as mechanical ability, musical ability,athletic ability, or artistic ability. No, those are natural abilities anddifferent people have different natural abilities.  Butthese are Spiritual gifts and this gifting is very important for us tounderstand as believers. I'm convinced, we will not find real fulfillment,satisfaction, and real contentment in our lives unless we're fulfilling thepurpose for which God created us. Remember in Ephesians 2:8-10 we learned that Godsaved us by His grace, not just so we could go to heaven when we died, butbecause, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, whichGod prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” He saves us to do “goodworks” for Him through the abilities we have from our Spiritual gifts.  Godknew exactly what gifts the body needed in that particular local church and He “preparedbeforehand” and gifted every believer that became a part of that localchurch with specific spiritual gifts to build up that body of Jesus Christwhich builds up the whole body of Christ around the world. So these arepowerful verses to understand and make sure we begin to comprehend and apply to“each” of our lives as we see in verse 7: “But to each one of us,grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift”.  Paulsaid something similar in Romans 12:4-6: "For aswe have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the samefunction. So we being many are one body in Christ and individually members ofone another." Having then gifts differing according to the grace that isgiven to us, let us use them”. We should make sure we're exercising thosespiritual gifts that God has given us. Thenin verses 8-10, we read something very interesting. These are wonderful versesreminding us that Jesus Christ first descended that He might ascend. And He ledcaptivity captive. I believe the meaning of this is that just as we werecaptive to Satan by sin before salvation, Jesus Christ because He wasvictorious over death and sin and hell and the grave, He now takes us captivefor His glory, and gives the Spiritual gifts that we need to serve Him. “Jesusdescended that He might ascend”. He descended in obedience to “death of thecross and for that God has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name that isabove every name…” (Philippians 2:8-11).  Jesus“descended to the lower parts of the earth”. I believe that this couldmean that Jesus took there those in paradise previous to the cross and He ledthem up to the third heaven. And Jesus also delivered us from our captivity tosin and Satan and made us His captives to be free to live holy and Godly livesand gave us the Spiritual gifts to serve Him.  Ohmy friend, aren't you so thankful that Jesus “though He was rich, He becamepoor that we through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Wehave the riches of Christ, and the Spiritual gifts that He's given “toeach one of us”, the wealth of Christ Himself living within “eachone of us” today.  Doyou know your Spiritual gifts? Are you using them for the glory of God and thebuilding up of the body of Jesus Christ?

Nowwe are looking at the unity that especially needs to be there because of thegifts of the Spirit which differ for individuals in the church. In the body ofChrist, the Church, we have different gifts, but we should still have unitybecause we need each other, with each other's Spiritual gifts to be built up inthe body of Jesus Christ. We're going to see that this is what Paul is talkingabout in these verses.  So,in these verses 7-11, Paul moves on from what all Christians have in common tohow Christians differ from each other. He's discussing the variety andindividuality within the unity of the Spirit because God has given eachbeliever at least two to three gifts. You find this taught in 1 Corinthians12:4-11: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And thereare differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there arediversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Butthe manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal…..Butall these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every manseverally as He will.” Didyou notice that the “Holy Spirit gives to each man severally as Hewills." I believe that's speaking of at least maybe two to threegifts. I believe we have one primary spiritual gift along with a few others. Ialso believe we can still all practice many of the Spiritual gifts such asserving, giving, faith, and so on. You find these Spiritual gifts listed inthree main passages in the New Testament: Romans 12; here in Ephesians 4, andalso in more detail in chapters 12 through 14 in 1 Corinthians. There you'llfind the list and the discussion of Spiritual gifts by the Apostle Paul tothese three churches: The church at Rome, the church at Ephesus and the churchat Corinth.  Rememberthat the church at Corinth was having major divisions over the use and purposeof Spiritual gifts. It is also very important that we understand from 1Corinthians 12 and from this Ephesians 4 passage of Scripture that the HolySpirit gave the gifts for the unity and the building up of the body. One of thebest definitions of a Spiritual gift I have found is that: A Spiritual Gift is aGod-given ability to serve God and other members in the church in such a waythat Christ is glorified and believers are edified. Which means when the giftsare being exercised properly in the Church, they build up the others as theybuild up the body of Christ.  Thisis what Paul really keys in on here in this passage before us. We'll be lookingat these verses the next few days and how we have a wonderful Christ Who hasgiven these gifts because He's “ascended”. The Holy Spirit has beengiven to the church. He is the “gift of the Spirit” (Acts 2:38-39). Youreceive this “Gift” at the moment of your salvation. But then there are the differentgifts of the Spirit that build up the body of Christ. You personally also receiveyour specific particular gifts at the moment of your salvation even though youmight discover them at a later time. This is what we will be studying overthese next few days.  Today,do you know what your Spiritual gifts are? Godbless!

In the Gospel of John, Jesusused the word “Father” 126 times when He spoke of His relationship withGod. The last of the seven spiritual realities that Paul speaks of, that is theground of our unity, is “one God and Father of all who isabove all and through all and in you all” (v. 6). Nowinteresting Paul basically said the same thing to the church at  Corinth in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: “... yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are allthings, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things,and through whom we live”. Paul often used this word Father when he referredto God. (Over 46 times in his epistles). Many times, Paul said, “God theFather”. He also said, “God and Father”. Then Paul would often say “Godour Father”.  “Godour Father”.That the God of the universe, the God who created all things. In a sense, theFather of everything that is in this world came and emanated from our CreatorGod. Yet, that truth doesn't make every one of us today one of His children.Because, as you know, we're told in Ephesians 2, that we are born “childrenof wrath, children of disobedience”. That means we are under the control ofour old nature, of Satan himself in a sense. We are alienated in our minds ourby our wicked works against a holy God (Colossians 1:21).  ButGod loves us so much (John 3:16). He wants us to be in His family. That's whyJohn 1:12 says, "But as many as receive Him, to them He gives thepower, the authority to become the children of God." Then in the bookof 1 John 3:1-2, John again reminds us of this awesome relationship we can havewith God with these words: “Behold what manner of love the Father hasbestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! … Beloved, now we arechildren of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we knowthat when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is”.Wow! What love and what a great promise!!!! This is the truth of thespiritual reality that anyone, anywhere, can experience when they believe andtrust the Lord Jesus Christ to be their personal Lord and Savior! Paulin Romans 8:14-17, puts it this way: “For as many as are led by the Spiritof God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondageagain to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,"Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit thatwe are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and jointheirs with Christ…”  Inour despair and pain we can “cry Abba Father, dear Father, daddy Father”. Weare close to Him. He is a Father who cares for us, who loves us, who draws usnear to His bosom, who holds us close. “He is Father of mercies and the God ofall comfort," (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).Oh, what an awesome Father God that you and I have who cares for us so deeplythat He would send His Son, His only Son. He's the Father of our Lord JesusChrist in the trinity. He is Father of us as we trust Him to be our Lord andSavior. Oh my friend, you can call Him, “my Father”. The Lord's prayerteaches us to pray “Our Father who art in heaven”. Why? Because againit's speaking of the unity of believers.  So,in these seven spiritual realities that Paul points out, we have the purity ofour doctrine. Oh my friend, that's who weneed to worship. The true, the living God, the God who sent His Son, JesusChrist. Be encouraged today if you're a believer. Despite what else ishappening around you, what's going on that might be bad or tragic in your life,God can be your Father today. He loves you. He cares for you. He yearns for youto come to Him with all your needs, with all your hurts, with all your pain.He's ready to heal them through His Holy Spirit and through the blood of JesusChrist He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Would you come to Himtoday? He's waiting for you just as the father waited for the prodigal sonthere in Luke 15.

Todaywill continue to look at Ephesians 4:4-6 where we talk about the ground of ourunity. Remember in verses 1-3, Paul was talking about the grace of our unity.We have longsuffering, gentleness, and humility. We bear with one another inlove. That's the grace of our unity and now we need the basis of our unity.What gives us unity? Oneness in Jesus Christ. Oneness in our church. Unitywhere there's diversity and yet we have a unity of love and kindness and gracewith each other.  Theworld should see this love and oneness that Jesus prayed about in John 17 becausewe are one with Christ and in Christ. Because we are one with God we can loveone another despite our differences. Oh, my friend, how the church needs thatunity today. The local body of Jesus Christ caring for one another, praying forone another, working together as we serve the one Lord and God of our Father ofour Lord Jesus Christ.  SoPaul writes about the seven spiritual realities that we in verses 4-6. Thefirst five being: one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith. Now, thelast two of these spiritual realities are one baptism and one God and Father inverses five and six.  “Onebaptism”.I believe the baptism here that the Apostle Paul is writing about is thebaptism that takes place at the moment of our salvation. In 1 Corinthians 12:13Paul wrote, "For by one Spirit we are baptized into one body."For sure there is a difference of opinions when it comes to the teaching of thebaptism of the Spirit in the New Testament. I personally believe that there wasan initial, unique, one time in history experience, that took place when the120 disciples in the upper room praying in one accord (Acts 2:1-3).  Thishappened on the day of Pentecost, (that's 50 days after Passover), when theHoly Spirit came down on these disciples with tongues of fire and they werebaptized into the body of Christ and the church was birthed. Jesus had toldthem to: "Tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father, theHoly Spirit", in Acts 1. For 10 days they had waited and prayedtogether. Then on that tenth day, a one-time historical event took place as the120 were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Laterthat day, when Peter preached, 3,000 souls were saved. At the moment of eachsalvation of those 3,000 people, each one individually was baptized into thebody of Christ. If you want to read details about this, read Acts 1-2. Anotherpassage that speaks of this spiritual experience that takes place in the lifeof each believer when they get saved, is 1 Corinthians 12. Paul speaks of the diversityof gifts but “the same Spirit”. There are differences of ministry orservice but “the same Lord”. In verse 6, he says there's diversities ofactivities, but “the same God” who works all in all.  Youwill see this theme throughout this chapter, one spirit, same God, one God, oneLord Jesus Christ. And remember Paul is writing to the church at Corinth that'shaving tremendous divisions amongst themselves. He's reminding them when onebody, one spirit, one God, one Father. And now he is doing the same with thechurch at Ephesus.  Sotoday, we need to remember this baptism he is speaking of in Ephesians 4:5 isnot a second experience, third, fourth, fifth, sixth experience of baptism.This baptism only takes place at the moment of your salvation. You're baptizedat that moment into the body of Christ. Read Romans 6:3, where Paul speaks ofwhat takes place at this baptism of the Spirit. "Don't you know that asmany of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, we were baptized into Hisdeath?"  Again, this takes placeat our salvation.  So,there is only “one baptism”, and you don't need to look for asecond, third, or fourth, or fifth baptism. It's already taken place. Surely, aswe dwell on these things and think about what God has done for us in Christ, wecan have true unity one with another. Godbless!

Happy Thanksgiving Psalm 100 & 145 Make a joyful shout tothe LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presencewith singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and notwe ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into Hisgates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, andbless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth enduresto all generations.  HappyThanksgiving!!!!! Iprerecorded my chat for today knowing I would be in Virginia with family for Thanksgiving.Myfamily is taking advantage of this special day to also get together for a very specialfamily reunion in Lynchburg at Thomas Terrace Baptist Church where my brother Markis pastor. My youngest sister, Janet Baldis, flew in from Slovakia with her husbandCharles. My middle sister, Beverly Riggins, drove down from Pennsylvania withher husband Ronnie.  Ibelieve almost all of our children, and all their children will be able toattend, along with all of the grandchildren. Cousins will see each other forthe first time in years. Some of the grandchildren will be meeting and seeingeach other for the first time ever. This is our first family get together sincemy mother passed away in October 2018.  Notonly will we celebrate Thanksgiving, but we are also taking advantage of this timetogether to have a celebration of life and memorial service for our oldestsister, Lynda Smith, who went to be with Lord earlier this month on November 6in Denver Colorado. This service in the TTBC sanctuary will give us theopportunity as a family to celebrate her life and honor her memory. Despiteall the difficulties, hardships, disappointments, and challenges over the manyyears that we have faced as a family, we still have so so much to be gratefuland thankful for. Our parents left us a powerful and wonderful legacy andwitness of living the blessed life of total dedication and surrender to the LordJesus. Lynda is now a beautiful part of the legacy! God has been so good to allof us! Today,I trust you will take the time to reflect and remember the blessings andgoodness of the Lord in your life on this special day of Thanksgiving. I feltimpressed to read both Psalm 100 and 145 for today's chat to help us lift upour praise and thankfulness to the LORD for His love, truth, mercy and graceover the many years! All these blessings are wonderfully and beautifully foundin the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ!!!! Godbless!

Todaywe're looking specifically at Ephesians 4:5 where we read of the fifthspiritual reality, “One faith”. Sofar in verse 4, Paul has already mentioned one body, one Spirit, one hope. Andyesterday we talked about one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is Lord overall. Now today we're talking about the next word, one faith. One faith. Nowit's important that we remember we're talking about unity. What brings aboutunity in the local body of Christ amongst believers is found in this essentialspiritual reality that is called “one faith”. Now the word “faith”here is not speaking of a personal faith that we have. Like when we say, I haveput my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I put my faith in His resurrectionpower. I have faith to believe that God's going to do this or that. No, thisword here is not speaking of that kind of faith. That's a personal faith.  The“One Faith” here, is speaking of an objective faith. This “onefaith" transcends mere personal conviction or subjectivetrust; it represents the objective, divinely revealed body of doctrine thatforms the bedrock of Christianity. This “one faith” is speakingof the body of truth were find in the Word of God that you and I hold dear toour hearts we're not going to let change. So, it's “one faith”.There are not many paths to God. There is only one path to God. That path isthrough the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not “two faiths”, “five faiths”, or “tenfaiths”. It's “one faith”, one body of truth that brings us into arevelation, a knowledge of who God really is through His son Jesus Christ.  Wecan't miss the importance of this truth! We live in a day of apostasy. We livein a day when the Gospel message has been watered down. We have a good God, a gooddevil, a good everybody. Be good. Do your best. Go to church. Try to keep theten commandments the best you can do, and God will understand in the end. Butmy friend, that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible gives us one faith, onebody of truth that guarantees us an eternal salvation through our faith inChrist, in Christ alone. So, we have “one faith”.  Theessentials of this faith include the Lordship of Jesus Christ and His deity. Heis God manifest in the flesh! I believe a great verse that speaks of this isJude 1:3. Jude writing to the believers says, "Beloved, while I wasvery diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found itnecessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faithwhich was once for all delivered to all the saints. For certain men have creptin unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly menwho have turned the grace of our God into lewdness deny the only Lord God ourLord Jesus Christ." Sothe faith that he's speaking of here is this body of truth, this original bodyof truth that the apostles have delivered to us once for all, it's unchanging.It's not negotiable. It has been always the same. My friend, Jesus Christ isthe same yesterday, today, and forever. “One faith”. This includes Jesus Christ'svirgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, Hisascension into heaven where He's seated at the right hand of the Father rightnow. This includes salvation by grace through faith alone, not works. Thisspeaks of the Trinity, God in three persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Thisspeaks of the authority of the Holy Scriptures as inspired and infallible. Thisspeaks of moral ethical living, holiness, love, and avoidance of sin in ourlives.  This“one faith” speaks of the hope of Jesus Christ and His bodily returnone day and eternal life that is through Him alone. My friend, that's the “onefaith” we must hold dear in our hearts and “earnestly contend for” eventoday.  Godbless!