EPHESIANS 2

2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. 3 Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of [a]human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind]. 

ALL VERSES FROM THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE

BUT YOU HAVE BEEN WASHED

We are always told to look to the future and that’s so true, but we also have to remember the past.

When my dear and BELOVED brother Peter came over whilst we were in the UK in 2015, we went back to our home where he grew up and where I was born, we met the next door neighbour and she remembered him as the one, who was quite naughty, needless to say.

I do have people who are reading this, one in particular who does remember me, before I was a believer, a mixture of Dennis the menace and the joker (in fact it was no joke to those who met me, rather a nightmare).

As Christians, we need to remember, where we come from, we are now in the light, and that is wonderful, but what were we like.

In verse 2, we were following the world, we were running headlong after Satan and all the world had to offer, we were not interested in God or Jesus, we maybe kept up a veneer in Church attendance, like I did, I was ok to go to church for an hour, but for the rest of the week, I was a devil.

In reality, I fought against God, I was not for him, I was against him, he was irrelevant to me, something and someone, that was for sad and lonely people, who needed something to console themselves with.

I let my fleshly passions run wild, I remember that my father had a big jar where he put coins in, 5p and 1p (for my American friends, that’s a nickel and a dime). He often wondered, why his jar wasn’t getting any fuller, because this little thief, was helping himself to it, this is the reality of a sinful heart running wild and roughshod over any and every law and moral standard set down, it basically sets down it’s own rules, it is only when the Holy Spirit convicts and controls a person, that these passions are crucified and that takes a lifetime.

I was under wrath, God’s hand was upon me, and not in a good way. Now he holds me in his hand, back then, he wanted to throttle me, as many other people did.

So what does this mean to us as Christians, well knowing where we come from, gives us two things:

One is urgency, we see the world, as it is, without hope, people who are trapped in sin, just like we were. The world needs help, people all around us, are under the wrath of God, literally the righteous anger of God, many thousands today in your country and my country will die today.

There is really, no time to waste.

Second is compassion, we no longer, look on people, as those unbelievers, read what Paul says to the Corinthians in Chapter 6 of His first epistle:

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; [d]neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [by perversion], nor [e]those who participate in homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers [whose words are used as weapons to abuse, insult, humiliate, intimidate, or slander], nor swindlers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior].

Such were some of you:

BUT YOU HAVE BEEN WASHED

That’s why we should remember, we were like them, but we have been washed.

We are where we are only because oof the blood of Jesus washing us from all our guilt and sin.

Let us never forget that once:

Such were some of you

God bless you

KK

Ephesians 2

 1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins

THE DIVINE DEFIBRILLATOR

Once I was in a hospital and watched as doctors tried to revive a man, they put the electric charge on his chest and kept charging it, sadly it was to no use.

This is what it was like with us, we were completely dead and trapped in sin, and we try and revive ourselves with all kinds of good works and false religions, which offer us no hope at all.

We are completely oblivious to anything spiritual, nothing can revive us.

The revival of our souls is personal, it is you that he has quickened,  every few seconds somewhere in the world, the Holy Spirit is working, he  is making someone alive that was dead, this is almost too incredible for words.

For those of us, like me and others reading this, this is the most amazing thing, so what does it make us do? It should make us want to share it, after all, it’s not everyday that you can get a new heart, so let’s share it to everyone we can.

Ezekiel in chapter 36 of his book, says these words:

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

And in chapter 37 of his book he says this:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

What does it say in verses 7 and 10 of Ezekiel, so I  prophesied as it was commanded me, I spoke the words of life, we as Christians have the words of life, but we do not speak it, we have the opportunity to speak about Christ and yet we do not speak, I know most of all, it is easy for me in China, I can say ” well I don’t speak the language”, that is no excuse, and it will not hold water when God asks us, why we didn’t speak the words of life Ezekiel chs 3 and 33?

Do you know in America, the land of free speech, many believers have sticking plaster over their mouths, when it comes to witnessing, they only take it off to gossip and slander each other.

God through his Holy Spirit does the circumcision without hands, we have all had a heart operation done without hands, a spiritual operation, that is supernatural.

In John 11, we have the story of Lazarus, the grave is exactly, where we are, we are completely dead, we are in our graveclothes, completely dead, with no chance of revival, but Jesus comes and says Lazarus come forth, every single one of us, who has been saved is quickened or made alive by the Holy spirit and brought out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

You have been revived by the divine Defibrillator, you have been given

a new heart and are now made alive by the circumcision without hands, in Colossians 2:11-15, we have a great picture of what Christ has done for us, we are now alive, no longer dead in sin, but alive unto Christ.

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

What a saviour!!!!

Thanks be to God

Amen

KK

EPHESIANS 1

7 according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

LAVISHED GRACE

I love strawberries and cream, I love to pour cream on my strawberries, I love to lavish them with cream.

When God gives something to us, such as forgiveness, such as redemption and grace, he does not hold back.

He gives it to us lavishly, his grace is rich and deep. Can you come to a full understanding of that, I certainly can’t, it is beyond our understanding.

He gives it to us, knowing all about us, knowing all about us, but he still gives it.

But again, he can only give it to us because he had to see his beloved son suffer on Calvary, he can only give grace, because he gave up his son to be the scapegoat for our sin. He punished his son, so that he could lavish his grace and his love on us.

What a glorious salvation

True, Total, Rich and Lavished upon us

God blesses you

KK

Ephesians 1

9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

MYSTERY AND MAJESTY

All through the Old testament, we have pictures of redemption, through the series of sacrifices and feasts, the old testament writers wrote about grace, they earnestly and fervently wrote about him, but we see the fulfillment, in 1 Peter1,we read this:

10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

But in these days, Christ is revealed to us, in Hebrews 1, we read this:

1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Now he has been pleased to reveal Christ in all his fullness… to us.

We get the benefit of this, but in a recurring theme, he does it for his good pleasure and his glory, God does everything according to his purposes and for his good pleasure.

He also reveals Christ, to draw all the strings of history together, the cross and resurrection are the central point of history, he brings everyone and everything together in Christ, he brings different people from different nations together in Christ.

We are together in Christ, we are redeemed in Christ, we are one in Him. In the fullness of time, he has brought true salvation to all men.

People through history have longed to look at these things, David, Moses and Isaiah wrote about these things, but we can see them, we have the benefit.

What a wonderful joy to be In Christ.

God bless you

KK

CHAPTER 1

7 In him we have redemption through his blood,

TRUE REDEMPTION

We often hear the word redemption, maybe a sports team that has suffered a horrible defeat in a final, won the next year, they will say, it is redemption for them, to use the word in that context is not true.

Redemption means to buy back, the analogy to use is that of a slave being bought back from slavery. The children of Israel were a redeemed people, they had been bought back from slavery in Egypt.

The bible is the story of redemption, man was with God, then because of his sin, he lost his relationship with God, he was under the grip of sin, he was a slave to sin, but because of the shed blood of Jesus, we were bought back, we were redeemed.

Let us never forget the terrible price that was paid to buy us back, it was the precious blood of Jesus.

William Cowper puts it like this:

1. There is a fountain filled with blood,
   Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
   And sinners plunged beneath that flood
   Lose all their guilty stains:
   Lose all their guilty stains,
   Lose all their guilty stains;
   And sinners plunged beneath that flood
   Lose all their guilty stains.
2. The dying thief rejoiced to see
   That fountain in His day;
   And there have I, though vile as he,
   Washed all my sins away:
   Washed all my sins away,
   Washed all my sins away;
   And there have I, though vile as he,
   Washed all my sins away.

Oh, the precious blood of Jesus, that has earned my redemption, as every true believer can say, it is only by the precious blood that I am redeemed.

I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Hallelujah

God blesses you

KK

7 the forgiveness of our trespasses

TOTAL FORGIVENESS

Not only are we bought back, but all of our sins, all our trespasses are forgiven.

We often think, how can God forgive every single sin, I’ve ever done.

Just imagine in a day, we commit ten sins every day and let’s say, we live for seventy years, that’s 255,000 individua sins and that’s not counting the sins in our mind and our thought life, but God forgives every single one.

Forgiveness is total and complete, once God forgives our sins, he does not bring them up again, he completely forgets them.

Psalm 103, is a great place to go to remember these things

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so, the Lord shows compassion to those who fear

We are forgiven, all our sins are under the blood, all of our past guilt is washed away.

In a world that is full of guilt, the believer, can know the great fact that God has forgiven all his trespasses. everyone.. amen

God blesses you

kk

Ephesians 1

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 

12 to the praise of his glory.

14   to the praise of his glory.

ITS ALL ABOUT HIM

Why does God do things?

Why does he save us?

We get so many benefits, surely it’s for our benefit

Well, no it’s to show forth the glory of his grace.

It’s so that his grace, would show forth his glory and that his glory would be seen in his grace.

So many times, we hear testimonies and it’s all about that person,  what happened to them, how they changed etc.

But in truth, it isn’t and shouldn’t be about them, it’s all about God, it’s all about what he has done for us, remember that we are dead in our sins, we cannot help ourselves, left to ourselves, we would never move towards God, it is he who draws us, it is he who gives us the faith to believe, it is the precious Holy spirit who convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgement.

Next time you tell your testimony or share with another person, make sure, it’s all about Jesus and not about you.

Remember, you are only saved to show forth the glory of his grace.

Are you doing that on a daily basis?

God bless you

Keith

Ephesians 1

TRUE ACCEPTANCE

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

In Matthew 3:17, Jesus is being baptized by John the Baptist, the Spirit of God descends on him and the Father says this:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

So many people, don’t feel accepted in society today.

They crave to be accepted, if they are not accepted by this or that person, then they feel let down and take drastic measures, they try to change their appearance, some even change gender and some sadly commit suicide.

True acceptance comes through Christ.

How can we be acceptable to God, through the beloved, God’s son.

We are accepted because of him, because of his atoning death on the cross.

These are truths to cling onto, these are defining truths for your life.

We are accepted because we are in the beloved, we are in Christ. He is in us and we are in him, because we have that relationship, we can know true acceptance.

When people won’t or can’t accept you as you are, know thus, that God in Christ, has accepted you, because you are in Christ.. HIS BELOVED SON.

Matthew Henry says this:

The next spiritual blessing the apostle takes notice of is acceptance with God through Jesus Christ: Wherein, or by which grace, he hath made us accepted in the beloved, v. 6. Jesus Christ is the beloved of his Father (Matt 3 17), as well as of angels and saints. It is our great privilege to be accepted of God, which implies his love to us and his taking us under his care and into his family. We cannot be thus accepted of God, but in and through Jesus Christ. He loves his people for the sake of the beloved. 

God bless you

Keith

EPHESIANS 1

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

GOD’S CHOSEN ONE

As, I start to write about these wonderful truths, I am like the psalmist, these things are too wonderful for me, they may me too wonderful for me, but if you are truly born again, they are a reality for you as they are for me

When I was at school, and we played football, we had to pick teams, this was something I dreaded, because I knew that I would be left to last, ever felt, like that?

Well, it’s not the case with God.. amen.

He chooses us.. yes, he choose me and he choose you.

In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul says GOD chooses the foolish things, the things that the world thinks are useless and unworthy, how amazing。 We might not be anything in the world’s eyes, but we are everything in God’s eyes.

I can’t fully comprehend all this, truly it is beyond my understanding. 

God the Father made a conscious choice to choose me and you, if you are truly born again. it shows surely that we have no part in our salvation it is God who takes the initiative, it is God who draws us to himself, it is God who loves us. 1 John 4:19

Why did he choose us?

So, we could be holy and blameless before him, we were tainted by sin, but now because of the cross, we can be blameless.

​

What motivated or constrained him?  Love, pure and beautiful love. He had no need of us, he knew that we would reject him, but still he chooses us, still he loved us and now praise God, he has you and me, for his very own.. amen.

Matthew Henry writes on this verse:

We have here the date of this act of love: it was before the foundation of the world; not only before God’s people had a being, but before the world had a beginning; for they were chosen in the counsel of God from all eternity. It magnifies these blessings to a high degree that they are the products of eternal counsel. The alms which you give to beggars at your doors proceed from a sudden resolve; but the provision which a parent makes for his children is the result of many thoughts, and is put into his last will and testament with a great deal of solemnity. 

GOD BLESS YOU

KK

Chapter 1 verse 5

5 he predestined us[b] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

ADOPTED AS ONE OF HIS OWN

We can get tied up with the doctrines of election and predestination and yes I completely believe in them, but we need to focus on this fact, that we are adopted into God’s family as sons of the most high God.

Why did he do this?

Remember that God didn’t have to do this, he didn’t and in my case, I have no idea, why he did it.

Adoption is one of the great doctrines of the bible, we don’t have to understand it it fully, we just have to embrace the fact that we are adopted. So many believers are insecure in their faith, they wonder if God truly loves them. If they got a grip of the magnificent doctrine of adoption and the fact that God is their father and they are his son, and that he/she has done nothing to deserve that, then they would feel completely reassured and live in confident faith.

God adopted us to himself, we are his child, he is our Father. He adopts us in a personal way, to himself, once adopted, we are linked to Him, he is our father, we are his child.

He did it through Jesus Christ, all that the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has we have, we have access to the Father, free and unlimited access, we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness.

Again, adoption is a sovereign gift, all the things, we will talk about, are love gift from the Father, through the Son and applied by the Spirit.

Being a child of God, you are chosen, you are predestined to be sons of the Lord of the universe.

There is no higher privilege than that.. amen

Matthew Henry says this:

Predestination has respect to the blessings they are designed for; particularly the adoption of children, it being the purpose of God that in due time we should become his adopted children, and so have a right to all the privileges and to the inheritance of children

God bless you

Keith

EPHESIANS 1

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFTS

We all love receiving gifts, especially at Christmas and on our birthdays. amen.

But as Christians, we have received gifts that are beyond measure, we are totally blessed.

What have we received:

Firstly

Grace- simply unmerited favour, we do not deserve anything God gives us. What we have is God’s gracious gift to us, he doesn’t have to give us anything, but he does, that’s why it’s grace.

Secondly

Peace-with God and with others. We are now at peace with God, Paul outlines this much more in chapter 2, peace with people and most importantly God

Finally- where do these gifts come from, they are personal gifts to us, given by God the Father, because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

They are personal to us; they are HIS love gifts to us. 

In the following devotions, we will open some of these beautiful love gifts.

Praise his name

God bless you

KK

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places

WE HAVE IT ALL

We often complain that we are lacking this or that in our lives, but spiritually speaking, we have it all.

Every single spiritual blessing we could ever dream of is ours.. amen

God has blessed us, these are of course applied to every true believer, they are personal gifts from the Lord to us. 

They come to us, because of Christ, his work on the cross and resurrection, it is nothing to do with us, grace gives every gift listed in the following verses. We have these blessings because of Christ’s finished work, not to boast about ourselves,​ but to show God’s glory.

These are not ordinary gifts, they are heavenly gifts, we cannot find these gifts anywhere on earth, they are given by God the Father, because of the finished work of Christ and applied to us by the blessed Holy Spirit.

Every true and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights, he has given you these love gifts,

No wonder the first word in this awesome passage is of praise, BLESSED. Oh, he is to be blessed, who else can give gifts, ones that we don’t deserve. BUT GOD

As a Christian, you truly

HAVE IT ALL.. AMEN

God bless you

KK

Introduction;

I am stepping out in faith, am going to write a series of devotions on the book of Ephesians. I hope you will follow along, as we go through this great book.

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God

WHAT A CALLING

Why are we Christians at all?

Why are we in the place we are?

Why for example, am I in China?

We are Christians, because God has chosen and called us, he has called us to serve him and to be his children.

The reason is his will.

Paul was a Pharisee, he was an educated man, who didn’t ever imagine, he would be a preacher of the gospel.

But he became an apostle, by the WILL OF GOD.

We are, what we are, because of the will of God.

Praise God that he has set you apart and placed you in a unique place.

To be called a child of God and called into his service, is the highest privilege in the world.

Let’s never complain of who we are and where we are, because it is by the will of God.

Thanks

KK

1 To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus

SET APART ONE

In the first devotion, we saw that we are, what we are, because of the will of God.

So, what are we:

We are saints, literally, set apart ones. God has set us apart for himself, he has personally chosen us. That is so amazing.

They are in Ephesus, of all the places to start a church, this must have been one of the most difficult, full of idol worship, black magic and the like, but in that place, God set apart some to be saints, as he does in every place.

Despite persecution, which you can read about in the book of Acts, this little group of saints are faithful, that is what we are called to do, wherever we are.. amen.

These believers are grounded in Christ Jesus, they are not faithful to a creed or a theory, they are faithful to a person, CHRIST JESUS.

Why can we be faithful to HIM? Because he is always faithful to us.

It is all about a relationship, a relationship based on HIM, although we are sometimes unfaithful, he never is.

Glory in the fact, that you are his set apart one and that you are and always will be:

HIS SET APART ONE

Thanks

God bless you