Ephesians 5:14-16

Therefore He says:

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

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Encouraging Words

Before we know Christ, we are dark, living in the dark. Christ recreates us as light 
and brings us into His Kingdom of light. We must awake from our earthly and temporal slumbers. We must arise from the dead and live in the light. We are to walk circumspectly and as the wise, redeeming the time in these evils. And Jesus gives us the power and ability to do this. Glory be to God!

Ephesians 5:8-10

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Personal Challenge

I remember when my children were young, especially my son, that they reached and age where they would imitate me. On good days they would try to do what I did, whether it was wash the car, mow the lawn, or do some carpentry. They wanted the same tools and wanted to be right there with me, mimicking what I was doing. On bad days, they would repeat that word that came out of my mouth which was not appropriate or imitate my angry or bad mood. Paul is telling us to be imitators of God. We do this by following our Lord around, watching what He does, listening to what He says, and then doing our best to do the same. This is our sweet-smelling sacrifice and offering to Him.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Personal Challenge

“Be kind to one another”. What has happened to our Christian ethic of loving and caring for our fellow human being? Have we become so weary of doing good on our own accord that we have became bitter, wrathful, angry, clamoring, speaking evil, and full of malice? If so, then it is time to get back to the basics, like Mary did differently than Martha, and sit at our Lord’s feet soaking in His love, His mercy, His teaching, His presence. Sometimes we have to step away from all the “godly” things that we are doing and spend time with our Lord. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Personal Challenge

We have come to a place where our culture and our society have devolved to a state where people have no problem belittling, bullying, and minimizing people around them. The advent of social media has made it possible for people to do this hiding behind a persona that appears loving and caring but speaks unedifying words. As practicing Christians, our charge is not to have corrupt words, come out of our mouths. We are to speak, or type on our keyboards, words the edify others and imparts grace toward others. It is bad enough that our culture embraces the opposite of this charge, but when we, the members of the body of Christ, behave this way, then we have abandoned our Lord, Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Ephesians 4:26-27

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Personal Challenge

Is there such a thing as righteous anger? It appears, based on this verse that there is. There is a fine line, however, between righteous anger and sin. We can be angry at those things that are wrong, evil, and unrighteous, but it is what we do with that anger that can turn it into a sin. If we dwell upon it and let it fester in our hearts and minds, it will infect us and lead us to sin. If we lash out and seek to hunt those whom we are angry at, we sin against them. The challenge is to process that anger, determine the godly response to it, and respond accordingly in a loving way. Often that response will be difficult, but will lead to closure and reconciliation. In order to do this we need to include our Lord in our actions by doing them for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Personal Challenge

Paul is reminding us that we have been called to follow Jesus and walk worthy of that calling. We are to do this with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. This is absolutely necessary in the universal church of our Lord, His bride, that all who follow Him are members of. We are blessed to have local expressions of His bride, the churches that we worship at. It is important the we strive to follow Paul’s admonition in these bodies as well. Sometimes, however, it may mean that in order to keep this unity and peace, we separate ourselves from that body due to local conflicts or changes of direction and purpose. This is always a difficult challenge and one that requires much prayer and soul searching. If our desire is unity and peace then personal sacrifice is always necessary. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Encouraging Words

Paul ends his letter to the Ephesians with a plea to God for them to be blessed. What are these blessings that he wants bestowed upon them, and ultimately us? To be strengthened with might through His spirit in our inner man or woman. That Christ will dwell in our hearts through faith. That we being rooted and grounded in love be able to comprehend with all the saints the width, length, depth, and height of His love for us through Christ. That we might be filled with all the fullness of God. These are the rich blessings of our Father bestowed on His children. Glory be to God!