Ephesians 5:1-14;

In verse 1 it says to be imitators of God as dear children. He says "as dear children" because a child will act like the people around them him or her until it molds who they are. So to imitate God is to take on His attributes until we are transformed into His image.

And walk in Love. Love is our greatest command from Christ. (See Matt 22:35-39.)
And to love as Christ loved us is to love to the point of dying because you love them so much.

Foolish talking. We talk so much, especially me. And we say things that are foolish, we say coarse jokes. And I'll even admit, about a year ago, I would, with no guilt at all, say sexual jokes and think they were hilarious. But they are wrong, literally, taking what God made sacred and making it a joke. But instead of these things, we should be giving thanks. And praising God with our words.

And know this; that no person who is a fornicator, unclean person,nor a covetous man, who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom God.

And  don't be decieved, because people who claim Christianity will try to justify themselves. And God's wrath is coming.  So do not be partakers with them.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as Children of light-finding out what is acceptable to God. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful to even speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But the things that are exposed are made manufest by the light ffor whatever makes manifest is light. Therefor He says.

Awake you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light,

We need to be careful how we act and speak, we are the church. We need to represent Christ, and do that well.


Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ephesians 4:25-32;

Paul addresses spoken words here. Put away lying, and speak truth, for we are members of one another. We are a family, we are the Body of Christ.

Be angry and do not sin. It is not wrong to be angry, if you read through the Bible there are many times that God Himself gets angry. But we are not to sin in our anger, nor are we to hold on to it. Don't give place to Satan. If you get angry, big deal, address the problem immediately and then get over it.
Let him who stole, steal no longer. Learn to work for yourself, labor with your own back for your own bread, and the bread of those who have none. Let no word proceed out of your mouth, except that which brings grace to the hearers... Perhaps that means that any word that offends someone is profanity. Don't grieve the Spirit. I don't know exactly what Paul meant, but I would guess that he meant not to wallow in unhappiness. Lift your head high, trust God, and be happy that you are able to take your next breath. Let anger, wrath, clamor, and slander/evil speaking be put away from you. Don't make a big fuss over things, don't anger linger, you are going to get angry, just let it go. Don't put people down, it's worthless. The Paul tells us to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave us. In that last verse, Paul tells us to do a few things, that line up with the attributes of love.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ephesians 4:17-24;

The new man. Before I start talking about the new man let me first give you a picture of the Old man.

Picture, a zombie, I'm serious. Rotting flesh, foul smells, bugs crawling through it. Remember, it doesn't fully decompose... is just... stinks. It walks around mumbling little groans that no one can understand. Just think about it, now on the side of the old man being dead in his sins, and how repulsive he would be... that's the best picture I can give. Now the conscious statement of them being dead, I can give two; Recall when God created man, He formed Adam from dust... At this point, Adam is just a pile of dirt. Now, imagine yourself going up to Adam and trying to witness to him... How is that going for you? The fact is, that until God breathes the breath of Life into Adam... Adam is just a pile. So is the same spiritual state of Adam... Until God opens Adams eyes to the truth... Adam is dirt. Example two; A drunk man, or a mentally unstable person. Someone that has no control over themselves and are lenient towards violence.

Now you have a picture of the Old man. So, what about the new man?
To put it simply, the exact opposite of the old dude. Paul tells the Ephesians not to act like the gentiles.
Paul tells them, that if they have heard Christ and have been taught by Him--or His teachings--then they should not live as the Gentiles. Sometimes, we cut Christianity a little short. No, as Christians we are to abstain from sexual relationships outside of marriage. But somehow, it is okay to say jokes like that and to watch movies and TV shows that contain a lot of that. How does that make sense?? And we do it with other things too. Paul says to put on the new man, which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. True righteousness and holiness. In that true righteousness and holiness, which is God, we should act like we are that new man. Sometimes it is hard to, and yeah, we'll stumble. But we have got to keep running. Got nothing else holding out for us but God, so we have to strive after Him, and to shine for Him.

Sorry, I don't have much for today.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,