Ephesians 4:7-16;

To each of us, Grace was given, according to the measure of Christ' gift.
Okay, first and foremost, God has gifted everyone! There is no Christian, that God has not gifted. I mean, I hear some people say all the time, that they are not talented, when a lot of times, they are amazing!

The measure of Christ' gift. Christ is our inheritance. We are His portion and we are His prize, born to redemption by the Grace in His eyes! (How He Loves; David Crowder Band, or John Mark McMillan... no, not me.)
We have been given gifts according to that measure... think about it for yourself.

Verses 9 and 10 touch on something that I briefly spoke about. I will tell you, I honestly believe, that while Christ was on the cross He was in Hell. It says that God turned His back to Christ, and that is what Hell is, separation from God. Not to mention, a mere physical death is not enough to pay for our sins. Because if that was the case, we could all be killed and be perfectly fine.

To some, God gave to be Apostles. I believe that Apostles were people who had seen Christ.
Prophets...prophesied...
Others to be Evangelists, or to put it another way; a Missionary.
To others Pastors or Teachers. They teach, they pastor those they are over.
He gave people these gifts so that they would be equipped against the teachings of the world. So that we speak the truth in love, so as to mature, in Christ in all things. That is why we have been gifted, for growth in the Church. So the body functions fully.

So yeah,

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Satan's battle plan:

If demons spoke to us in the common stereotypical "voice of the devil," who then would they deceive when their goal is to make us unaware of their presence? Instead, they try to make us believe that their voice, is our thoughts of reason. Or better yet, to make us believe that their voices are that of Angel's, by using the Bible to justify our wrongs. "And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an Angel of Light." (2 Corinthians 11:14.)

And Satan being the King of lies, then why would he tell us in truth who he is?

We are only as good at things as our experience sharpens us to it. The more experience you have, the better you are at it, no matter what. Satan is ruled by the same thing.

If you notice, when Satan began to tempt Eve, he tempted her with the exact thing he was throne from heaven for! Wanting to be like God.
Genesis 3:5;
"For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
In truth, when Satan began tempting mankind he kept to what he knew best. In his indirect temptations, he changed his tactics, ever so slightly. You see, many people don't always notice--I was one of those people, I learned this from the book Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge--that yes, Adam did fall after Eve, he was right there when she was being tempted. And he didn't help her.
Towards the end of verse 6 still in chapter 3, it says; "She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
But still, he may have changed, but not by much. Where as with Eve he tempted her to give up God to be like God. He tempted Adam into leaving God, not necessarily to be like God, but instead to be with Eve. God took Adam's rib to make Eve, thus Adam felt incomplete with her. So Eve is what Adam replaced God with. In our day, Satan has changed tactics and replaced God with material items such as drugs and alcohol. Even video games, clothing for girls, or whatever girls are in to.

Satan is not foolish in his attacks, that is why he must disguise himself. If we always knew exactly who it was when we were attacked, it would be of no avail for him to come at us. Just as if he attacked us at our strongest points, what help would that be?? We need to narrow down our Spiritual weaknesses, the places we are frequently attacked, and the places that we fall most. And we need to start fighting back.

Our side of Spiritual Warfare is just doing what our General commands.
Jesus on the cross, in a personal way, is almost like a fierce battle at a very important hill. When the battle is won, the General stands on top of the hill, with us by His side.

I love the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. But I like to pinpoint Biblical references that Tolkien so strategically placed in that story. One that I noticed is when Frodo and Sam are on the slops of Mount Doom. Frodo rolls over on his back, and Sam asks him if he remembers the shire. Frodo replies, that he cannot feel a thing, all there is for him is darkness, his is cold and naked in the presence and at the mercy of his enemy. So Sam replies: "Then let us be rid of it! Once and for all! Come on Mr. Frodo! I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!"

You see, there are things, that God does not do. He does not take certain things from us, such as emotions. He lets us experience those, so that we are still human. He cannot carry that pain for us, but He can carry us.

Beware of Satan, trust in God. That sums it up!

Thanks for reading.

John Mark,

Ephesians 3:14- 4:1-6;

Paul prayed for the Ephesians, praying that; God will grant that they be strengthened in Might through His Spirit in the inner man.

The inner man is the spirit of man, it is what makes us unique from all else of creation. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but when that Spirit, that man, or woman, is angered, roused, becomes passionate about something. It is an amazing thing, as long as it is in the bounds of what God commands. Have you ever seen someone on fire for God? Where He is their passion and desire?? They are amazing to see, and truly inspiring.

Christ dwelling in our hearts, ever present in our words and actions through faith. Christ in us. Is Christ in you? Truly living in you? Is your life evidence of that? We could be the only Bible that some people ever read.
So that when we are well grounded, solidly rooted in His word, we may know the Love of Christ.
And when we know this, when we are rooted, Paul prays that "they be filled with God."
I want to be filled with God, to give Him my all. To live for Christ all the way.
To God be the glory, our Great God who is able to do more than we could ever ask or think. According to the power that works in us.

That is interesting to me. According to the power that works in us. What if God means, that whatever we ask, we will only receive if His power is working in us? Something to think about...
So, does that power work in you?

I beseech you to walk worthy of the calling of which we are called. To be humble, patient, enduring in/with love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit of the bond of Peace.

First, walk worthy as to the name we bear. (CHRISTian.) Live as Christ so as to be Jesus to the world. And Paul listed attributes of living worthy.

We fight to keep peace because we are one Body. And we answer to one GOD.

And He is in us!

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ephesians 3:8-13;

To Paul was given this grace. The grace of God, so that Paul could know the mystery of the Gospel, so that he could speak to Gentiles the truth. To make all see the mystery of the Fellowship, so that all can understand Christianity.

Paul keeps retracing, that God hid this mystery in Christ. God had this all planned, totally and completely planned, to one day reveal this mystery of everything that He was up to, in Jesus.
God's plan, and purpose in Christ, was that we could have a direct relationship with Him. As we were created.

Then he says that his trials for them, are for their glory. Paul is such an optimist!

That's all I have, sorry.

John Mark,

Ephesians 3:1-7;

Paul starts, naming himself a prisoner of Christ. Many people believe that Paul was in prison when he wrote this, and they might be right, but that is not what I am focusing on entirely. If I were to focus on him actually being in prison, I would commend his viewpoint. I am not a prisoner of kings, princes, governors, emperors, or any other power of man, instead I am a prisoner of Christ.

To put it in my words, I am a prisoner of Christ. Christ loves me so much, that I am a prisoner to Him. Free from sin, slave to Him.

God through His grace gave Paul knowledge of Christ' mystery, the mystery of Christ, is a mystery. I know that does not help you any, but bear with me, I don't fully understand it either. I guess to explain it the best I can, is to retrace the first two chapters. Jesus came and died, so that we may have eternal life, chapter one tells us why He did it. Bringing us to Him, brings Him pleasure.
Chapter two tells us how, in more detail, He freed us from sins. He broke the barrier between God and man, and made peace... simply put.

To Paul was made known the mystery of Christ, my best guess of when is the Damascus road. It was made known to him, for the purpose that he would understand it and share it with the Gentiles. This mystery, is the same mystery that all of the Prophets wish that they had known. Who knows, maybe God told a few of them, that is not for me to declare. Though I will say that Isaiah did speak a lot of the Messiah, so he may have known something.

But otherwise, this Mystery, which is our bases of Faith, has been revealed to us, but was not revealed to generations before. How blessed are we!!

This revelation, was revealed to the Apostles, that we, the gentiles may know Christ. That we could be fellow heirs with not only God's chosen people, but with Christ Himself!

Paul finishes by saying that he was made a minister. And that is perfect for how I plan to end this.
As I was writing some of this, I was talking to a guy, about something that he was worried about. He was worried about the people in his school, and how their actions now could seriously harm them later in life. So I asked him; "What are you going to do about it?" And his simple answer, was to pray. Which is right, prayer is always the right thing to turn to.
But I asked him if he had reached out to them and tried to witness, he said no, because they didn't know him.

I encouraged him, by telling him, that if they don't know HIM they will die. And that it is up to him, because he is a minister of Christ, as a part of the body of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says that "We are ambassador's for Christ..."

We all need to be actively witnessing, because this world is dying and doomed. I'll admit, I don't witness like I should, but that is not an excuse. We all must try and bring Christ to everyone we meet.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,