But God …! Ephesians 1-3

Ephesians 2:1-4a (ESV)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, .. 

Throughout the beginning words of Ephesians, Paul is bringing to the minds of the church at Ephesus what they were without Christ and what they now are, in Christ.   The above passage being one of the most powerful of all those statements.  

Before God intervened in their lives (and ours) they were: 

1. Dead in trespasses and sin
2. Walked in trespasses and sin
3. Following the course of the world 
4. Following the prince of the air
5. Following the spirit of the sons of disobedience
6. Living in the passions of our flesh
7. Carrying out the desires of the body
8. Carrying out the desires of the mind
9. Were by nature children of wrath
10. Just like the rest of mankind

But God ...!  This is the most marvelous statement to follow that list of evilness.   God intervened in our lives and now calls us the Sons’ of God.   We are now children of God.  We once were not but now are His! This is the Gospel message.  This is what God saved us from.  

Stay Awake - Luke 11-12

Luke 12:54-56 (ESV)

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

When it comes to the end times, Paul added this:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Jesus is warning us to pay attention to the signs.   The early church thought Christ was coming immediately.   As He has delayed His coming (in human terms) we get more and more mellow about the end.   Yet, the New Testament writers used Christ’s return as a motivation for living a pure life.  

1 John 3:3 (ESV)

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

James 5:7 (ESV)

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

James 5:8 (ESV)

You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

2 Peter 1:16 (ESV)

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

We have allowed ourselves to fall asleep.   Yet, on numerous occasions Jesus told us to stay awake for His coming:

Matthew 24:42 (ESV)

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

Mark 13:35 (ESV)

Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—

Luke 21:36 (ESV)

But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

The rhythm of the world is meant to cast us into deep sleep.  Wake up!  He is coming!! 

Remember how the Bible ends:

Revelation 1:7-8 (ESV)

BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Rev 3:11

[Indeed] I am coming soon.

Rev 16:15

Indeed, I am coming like a thief.

Rev 22:7

Indeed, I am coming soon.

Rev 22:12

Indeed, I am coming soon

Revelation 22:20 (ESV)

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Disobedience to God Brings Discipline by God - Ezekiel 1-6

Ezekiel 5:5-8 (ESV)

“Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.

There was no secret as to what God was going to do with Israel.  Ezekiel was to carry the message of doom and destruction.   His message would be rejected by them, but he was still obligated and empowered by God to give it.  This was all because they failed to obey God’s commands.   Disobedience to God’s commands will always bring judgment by God.  This was true then and it is true now. Somehow we think we can walk out of step with God and we will still find God’s favor.   Although positionally we might be saved as New Testament believers, our obedience to His word is still paramount.   The Bible is full of those who disobeyed God and suffered the consequences.   There is no escaping disobedience.   Ezekiel’s entire mission was centered around this thought.  Keeping others in the way of obedience ought to be all of our goal. 

Romans 15:1-2 (ESV)

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Galatians 6:1 (ESV)

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

James 5:19-20 (ESV)

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Guard Your Speech by Guarding Your Heart - Proverbs 4

Proverbs 4:24 (ESV)

Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

The mouth of a person is a gateway to their heart.  You know a lot about a person by listening to their speech and their talk.   Solomon is warning us in this proverb that those who have a deceitful mouth and devious speech should be avoided ... why?  Because their tongue is simply a billboard for their heart.   A deceitful tongue reveals a deceitful heart.   Devious speech betrays a devious heart.   What does Solomon say we should do when we find ourselves in the midst of such talk and such hearts?  He tells us to "put away" those who are such and to put them "far from you."   We are not to engage in a discussion with them in hopes of changing their way of life.  When we find they are devious we are to separate ourselves.   And, we are not to separate ourselves a little ... but put them "far" from us.   When we fail to do so we are allowing their speech ... their hearts ... to draw us into their corrupt world.   We don't keep ourselves pure by mixing with such language.  We keep ourselves pure by avoiding and separating form such language.   A deceitful tongue is to be avoided at all cost.   Don't try to mingle with it and be with it ... the tongue is simply revealing a heart that is bound to corrupt.  See how Paul uses this "put away" phrase in his writings:

Colossians 3:5

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:8-9

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. 

If we don’t “put away” those who speak devious to us, we will soon be walking the same path they follow.   

Who To Call When We Are In Trouble - Psalms 69-71

Psalms 69:1-3 (ESV)

TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO LILIES. OF DAVID.

Save me, O God!

For the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in deep mire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood sweeps over me.

I am weary with my crying out;

my throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim

with waiting for my God.

We have no idea where David was when he wrote this plasm, or what circumstances he was facing.  It is obvious from these opening lines that he was in a dire spot.  It could be any time he was being hunted by Saul. It could be when he was pushed out of Jerusalem by his son Absalom.   We just have no idea.  

What we do know is that David is in dire straights.  We have no idea if the words he uses to describe his condition are to be read literally or metaphorically.   We don’t know if he is in mire up to his neck, or feels like he is in mire up to his neck.   Throughout Psalm 69 we read where David is in a bad spot.   Note: 

Psalms 69:14-15 (ESV)

Deliver me

from sinking in the mire;

let me be delivered from my enemies

and from the deep waters.

Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or the pit close its mouth over me.

The key to the entire song/prayer, however, is the opening line of the psalm.  It simply reads:

Save me, O God!

That is the place we all are to go when we are either literally or metaphorically sinking in the mire of life.   We ought not to turn to any other sources for our salvation.  God is the one who saves.  It is not a matter if we will ever be in the mire or feel like we are in the mire of life.   It is a matter only about who we call upon when we get there.   David called upon God.   So ought we.  

Psalms 69:13 (ESV)

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.

At an acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

Don’t Reject Truth or Those Who Speak Truth - 1 Kings 10-13

1 Kings 13:33-34 (ESV)

After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

In chapter 13 we read about a man of God confronting Jeroboam for his false worship.  The man of God himself succumbs to disobedience and loses his life.   This opens the door for the above verse.  When Jeroboam was confronted by truth there was hope that he would repent and restore proper worship to Israel.  But when the man of God also fell into disobedience, that brought what we read above.   Absent truth we return to our old way of thinking and living.   Jeroboam needed truth.  But he rejected it and fell into deeper and long lasting sin.  One of the worse things we can do for our lives is to cut God’s spokesman or His word out of our lives.  It is through God’s word, spoken by His messengers, that corrects behavior.   Jeroboam failed in this regard and God took the kingdom from him.   Solomon failed in this regard and God took the kingdom from him.  There is no way to escape this truth.   

Psalms 119:9 (ESV)

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Give God Our Best - Leviticus 1-3

Leviticus 3:17 (ESV)

It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”

At the conclusion of these sacrifices being described in the first three chapter of Leviticus, we come to the above verse.  This was a clarifying command so that all Israel understood the importance of what was just said.   No matter what happens in the nation, no matter where they are, no matter free or in captivity, they are not to eat the blood or the fat of the animal.   This indicates several things for us today:

1. The blood is sacred.  Jesus had to shed blood to give us remission for our sins.   The blood contains life.   His bleeding on the cross was His giving us life through His shedding of blood. 

2. The fat was the choices part of the animal.  We are to give God the choices parts of our lives.  We are not to give Him our left over time, money, talents, etc.   God demands that give Him our best.   

3. These are not temporary statues.  Yes, from a dietary point of view and from a worship point of view, we do not observe these rules.  But in spirit and in principle we can never violate these commands.   We are to give God our best and allow His blood to cleanse us from our worst.