More And More Like Christ

Meditations on the Book of Ephesians

May 29, 2020

More And More Like Christ

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:16

Read: Ephesians 4:11-16

Natural Church Development (NCD) is a movement seeking to renew the churches of Jesus Christ. NCD identified eight components of the church that govern its healthy development and growth: Empowering Leadership; Gift-Oriented Ministry; Passionate Spirituality; Functional Structures; Inspiring Worship Services; Holistic Small Groups; Need-Oriented Evangelism; and Loving Relationships. These components are used by Jesus to make “the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16).

As the strength of a chain is measured by its weakest link, so the strength of a church is measured by its weakest functioning component. Christ has given the gift of five-fold leadership to the local church to equip the congregation members to fully develop each component as they build one another up in love. (Five-fold ministry – Ephesians 4:11 apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.) Jesus intends our church membership to be some of the hardest work we will ever undertake. When each church member accepts their assignment from Jesus, we will grow to that place envisioned by Paul where “we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church” (Ephesians 4:15).

My Takeaway: G. K. Chesterton noted, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” I recalled that quote as I read today’s passage. Unfortunately, we haven’t made it to the place Paul envisioned because church membership is very hard work. However, there is hope. When more and more members of the church submit their lives to Christ and to growing in every way more and more like Christ, the church will move closer to Paul’s vision for the church.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You Have Been Called By God

Meditations on the Book of Ephesians

May 28, 2020

You Have Been Called By God

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

Ephesians 4:3-4

Read: Ephesians 4:1-10

How good is your memory? Paul begins and ends Chapter 4 by urging us to remember who we are. When Paul reminds us that we have been called by God, he is not just referring to those called for the particular roles within the church. Paul is referring to how each of us have been called to believe in Jesus as the risen Lord, and to give Jesus our complete allegiance for the rest of our lives.

Because our Lord won a victory over sin and death, all people who are in Christ, who give Christ their faithful allegiance, will also win this victory over sin and death. This is our Christian hope. This is the calling Paul urges us to live up to. In every moment, of every day, our loyalty to Jesus, our allegiance to his Kingdom, takes priority over everything else. We are empowered to live up to our calling by remembering God, through Christ, has forgiven our sins, and by remembering Jesus has now identified us as his own.

Paul also emphasizes the importance of always striving to maintain unity within the church. Regardless of where we are, or what role we may have in the church, we are all bound together because “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all” (Ephesians 4:5-6).

My Takeaway: The next time you are in small group meeting or Bible Study, or just in the company of other believers, (whether in person or a ZOOM meeting) take a few moments to contemplate what you have in common with the others: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Pray To The Father

Meditations on the Book of Ephesians

May 27, 2020

Pray To The Father

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.

Ephesians 3:17

Read: Ephesians 3:14-21

I believe Paul’s prayer here is rivaled only by the Lord’s Prayer as perhaps the greatest prayer in the Bible. Before you read the prayer again, take a moment to imagine the Apostle Paul in a small, cramped, dimly-lit jail cell. All of his personal concerns that could have been at the top of his prayer list are cast aside so that he can pray for his friends in Ephesus. And how he prayed!

(1) (God) will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit;

(2) Christ will make his home in your hearts;

(3) Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong;

(4) And may you have the power to understand how wide, how long,

how high, and how deep his love is;

(5) May you experience the love of Christ;

(6) you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

(Ephesians 3:16-19)

Which one of these six petitions appeals the most to your soul? Write that petition on a slip of paper and keep it with you for the next week. Pray the petition often and allow God to do a work in your life by bringing you into a full and complete understanding of the truth of that petition in your life.

My Takeaway: I believe at the end of the week you will join your voice with Paul in his beautiful doxology: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.