Ephesians 5:15-33;

Live your life circumspectly. For those of you who do not now, circumcision was a ceremony dedicating a male to God. So to walk circumspectly is to live a life dedicated to God; "Not as fools but as wise." Anyone who seeks after God is wise.

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Christ is redemption, so to redeem the time is to Christ to this day and age.

Therefore be wise, and understand the will of the Lord. And don't be drunk but be filled with God. If we are filled with God then it will show in the way we treat each other. So, we should speak to each other in Psalms, hymns, and Spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of the Son, Jesus. Submitting one another in fear of God.

These last verses of chapter 5 are about marriage, since I am not married I am going to leave them alone. But please look at verse 29, and think about it for yourself.

Sorry I have been slacking, I have no excuse, but I am trying to keep writing.


Thanks for reading!

John Mark,

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 4:7-16;

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,

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,

Ephesians 2:11-22;

Paul says something here, that we need to hear:

Those people on the streets, those people on those shows, singing that music, in that bar, in that night club, that teenager with the child... You were there once. You have only one difference from them, you have Jesus. Why do I like this little bit? Because it is humbling, we realize, we are not above them. But, we have been brought near to Christ' blood.

Now, where Paul says that Christ is our peace, in this context he does not mean peace in troubled times (though Christ is our comfort and peace in those times).
At the fall, peace between God and man was destroyed, the Priest had to go to God for us. In fact, in the temple there was a physical barrier that separated where the Priest' could go and where "commoners" could not.
Christ restored this peace, broke that middle wall, and gave us direct relation to God. Christ is our peace, with Christ, we are "cool" with God.

 To God, we are no longer strangers and foreigners, we are citizens and Saints... in the house of God. And we, in our faith have been built by the Apostles, Prophets, with Christ as our cornerstone.

Christ is our cornerstone, we are built, like a house, in our faith, with the Gospel (the Apostles and Prophets)
 as the materials, so that we can be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ehpesians 2:1-10;

I love the beginning words, for every Christian these are like gold!

And He made you ALIVE.
You are alive, you are a living creature, you are not some machine having to be pushed to and fro, you have a choice. You are alive and kickin'! You may not be kicking very high, but at least you are kicking!

Then he goes on to say, exactly what God took you from, and what your former death really looked like. Remember just a bit ago, how I said that you were not a machine being pushed to and fro?? Well, that is what your former death was like. You had no choice, at first, Satan told you to do something, and you did it. Afterwards, it was natural, he barely had to nudge you. You saw sin, and you knew nothing but that sin, so to it you went. So he mentions all of these things that we as Christians were, and it looks pretty bad.

But, God jumps in. God, He who is rich in mercy because of His love. Not just any love. His GREAT Love. Now, where Paul says that He made us alive with Christ. I don't know if that is simbolisiom, or if he meant that when Christ rose from the dead that the Sacrifice had come to completion. So, we were made alive with Christ. I honestly don't have any other theories on that. Let me know what you think!

God raised us up, we are, in truth, vile disgusting people. But God raised us up, and made us righteous in His eyes. He did this, as we saw in the last chapter, because it brings Him pleasure. He wants to show us His grace, and how far it abounds. For we have been saved by Grace, and NOT by works. Because if we could have achieved Righteousness by works, then why in the world, would we even care about Jesus???

I love this next verse:

For we are, HIS WORKMANSHIP. We are His, He made us! We are His masterpeice, the pinnicale of creation. We are His image bearers. We were created for good works.

So, here is my challenge to you, and myself. Start living your life, striving for those good works. Not to earn your way to heaven, please no! But because it pleases God. We are His image, and if we let that image become more vivid, then more people might come to Him.

As David Platt said in His book Radical, bringing someone to Christ is "A cause worth living for, and a cause worth dying for."

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ephesians 1:15-23

Now, before I begin again, you must know that I do not claim to be some great Bible Scholar, I am not super wise and what not. In all truth, what I write, is just what runs through my head as I read.

I love how Paul begins, and when he talks about the first time he heard of their faith; he doesn't just say: I did give thanks. He says; "I still do! I give thanks and always pray for you."
Then he gets more specific.

When he makes mention of them he asks God to give them wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
The eyes of our understanding. When you look at the Scriptures, do you always understand everything?? I do not, I look at it sometimes and it blows me away. I just don't get it sometimes, that is what Paul was praying about. That the Christians in Ephesus would have more understanding, of God and His word.
The Hope of God's calling, the hope that not only is Christ coming back as King of ALL. But also, that He is going to bring us home. To Him in heaven, and not tossed aside, as trash. (If you want, I'll elaborate on this in a later post.)
Not only the hope of His calling, of our reward, but of His power! Exceeding power which He demonstrated, when He raised Christ from the dead. He raised Him from the dead. Jesus had been dead for 3 days, where was He while He was in the grave???? I have no idea. I have heard it said before that during those three days He was in hell, I will not say yes or no to that, for I do not know.

But He raised Him from the dead, and this, this next part is our hope! He placed Christ above all things! Above Satan, above the Demons, above the world, above all that beats us down! God is in control!

How do we know this? The scriptures, that is exactly what Paul prayed, that these people, would understand this, so that they may have hope. But how can they understand, if they don't read?

Here's my prayer, that each of us, would not only read, but that we would understand. And that through reading, and understanding, that we come closer to Christ, and we set our hearts to fulfill His mission!

Ezra 7:10;
"For the Lord had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel."

Pray to God to prepare your heart to seek His law. And when you seek it, do it. After you do it, teach it.

That verse is something I need to work at. Seeking after God. There are somethings I need to do differently, and that is my goal. To grow more in Christ this year than last year. And last year was Spiritually the best year of my life. God can outdo that, He is God.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,

Ephesians 1:4--14;

This is pretty much what goes through my mind as I read these verses:

He chose us, He chose us before the foundation of the world. This passage is mostly on Predestination, for me it can be a very edgy subject. It says that He chose us.

Here is how Salvation works: We are all born in condemnation. We are headed to hell, yes for our sin, but more specifically, for our rejection of God. We all know God. A common question is; Will people who have never had the chance to hear the Gospel, will they go to hell? The answer, yes.

Harsh? No, they are receiving the same punishment, for the same thing that everyone that goes to hell is being punished for. Rejecting God. But how can they reject a God of whom they have not known of? Well, in Romans 1:19--20, Paul nails that. Of course they have heard, God reveals Himself in creation, these things he has made known to us that we may have no excuse. We have rejected God! We have no excuse, all who are created, have a knowledge of God, and have rejected God.

So that is the second step to Salvation, first we are born condemed but God reveals Himself to us.

The third step is our choice. You see, God, in all of His infinite wisdom and power, has predestined that He would show Himself to us, but in all of this predestination, He gives us the choice, to accept or reject. Accept God, through Christ, or Reject God and Christ.

In the debate of freewill versus complete predestination, I am in the middle. There are certainly several things predestined, but how God made love, love is a choice. And Jesus said that we must love Him with all our heart, love cannot be forced, but, it can be inspired.

So He chose us, He chose to save us.
He chose to save us because pleased Him, it brought Him pleasure. It glorifies Him, because of His grace, and it is because of His grace that we are redeemed. It's His blood that washes us, It doesn't paint over our sins in order to hide them, It washes us!
We have been predestined us, according to His purpose, so that we could live lives that bring praise to Him.

After we have heard, we accept, and we are sealed, and that glorifies God.

So, we are born sinners, God has revealed Himself to us, we hear, and we either accept or reject.

Romans 10:14--15;

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,