Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 6

 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Eph. 6:16,17

       This group of verses that I have been meditating on deals with our battle in this world is not with unbelievers but rather the power behind them. In Edge of Tomorrow, my favorite Tom Cruise movie, the world was battling drone aliens and losing badly, but thanks to the blood of an alpha being spilled on him as he was dying, the day kept being reset allowing Tom Cruise to become a better fighter and leading him eventually to the Omega alien, the controlling force behind the drones and alphas. His ultimate battle was against the Omega rather than all the others. The same principle was seen in Matrix 3 where if Neo defeated Agent Smith all the other robots would stop their invasion and also in Game of Thrones where if the Night King was defeated, all the white walkers would stop. You see, Hollywood understands this principle that there is an ultimate evil controlling force in this world and it is Satan and our fight is with him rather than people.

      Satan has several plans of attack. We saw previously that if he can get us to be quiet either by isolation or fear of being different, he has neutralized us and he can move on to other targets. If he can destroy us by ruining our righteousness or testimony by succumbing to his temptations to sin, we will become ineffective and our light goes out. If he gets us to believe we have our truth and they have theirs and lets just get along, he has wiped us out.

     In this passage, Satan wants us to lose our faith - to doubt our salvation. If he can do that we won't pray, we won't value the Word of God, we won't witness - in all, we won't be a problem for him. Do you have doubts about the truth of Christianity? Lately it seems teachers are encouraging us saying, "It's OK to doubt. Everyone doubts. Look at Jesus in Gethsemane. Look at Gideon's fleece. Look at the disciples going back to fishing and cowering in a room not believing the women's testimony. Look at the prayer meeting for Peter's release from prison. It's normal to doubt." I'd rather hear preachers quoting Jesus saying to Thomas, "Stop doubting and start believing!", and then addressing these doubts to melt doubts into shields. One original quote I have (to quote myself, ha-ha) "I'm 99% sure that the gospel and Bible are true but I'm 100% sure that the devil put that 1% of doubt in my mind." There is tons of internet content available to help you doubt your doubts from Mike Winger and the Bible Thinker to Cliff Knechtle and his son doing apologetics answering kids on college campuses shoot the same flaming arrows of the devil at them.

      Lastly, how well do you know your Bible? Did you know that Satan can destroy you with God's word? He succeeded with Eve and he failed with Jesus. With Eve he said, "Did God really say?" and he distorted God's words and she bit. With Jesus, he misquoted a Psalm and Jesus didn't fall for it. God's word has power to fight Satan. In the aforementioned Game of Thrones the Night King couldn't be hurt by anything except dragon glass. Everything else was ineffective. In the same way, the Bible is the only weapon that works. It's amazing how little we know it. Satan loves that and even tries to get us to lessen its value by doubting Genesis, authorship, translation errors, relevance of Old Testament, Paul expressing opinions vs. inspiration, etc. I even wonder if 90% of the body coming to Church without a physical Bible but having the App on their electronic device is devaluing the Bible. Am I just showing my age? Maybe - maybe not.

      Are you a force to be reckoned with or are you on the bench sidelined? We need warriors. pick up your Bible and let's go!

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 5

 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; Eph.6:14,15

         A lot of seminars, youth conferences, even kid's figurines made by Christian companies trying to make a buck have dealt with the armor of God. I've always thought that they were making a whole lot of adieux about what was meant to be just an added and word picture emphasis to the previous passage about our battle is with the devil so be ready. As I look again at it, maybe there is more to it than that.

         First of all, we see that if you don't interact with people, if you don't put shoes on and go, you probably won't get attacked a lot. A spectator at a football game doesn't need equipment on. If you only hang out with Christians and don't interact with the world you are not in the game and the devil doesn't need to waste his time on you. If, however, you are interacting with unbelievers at work, on social media, in relationships, you need to put on some armor. Did you see that when you step out with those shoes the reason is to share the gospel. Do your coworkers and friends know you are a Christian. I'm always amazed by going to someone's Facebook profile (yes stalking them) who is supposed to be a Christian and finding nothing that would give me a hint that they are a believer. Are we building bridges in relationships keeping in mind our goal is to win them to Christ, or are we just playing undercover Christian in order to fit in?

          Secondly did you see that it is called the gospel of peace? At first I thought, well that means we don't need to rile people up but share in such a way that it's peaceful. That's not entirely true. Jesus said He came to bring division and a sword that cuts through even families. Currently I've shared with a lot of people in Memphis at the University Medical Center, but it's frankly been in a way that is peaceful and maybe not effective? It's like, "Here is what I believe", and comes across maybe as you do you and I'll do me and non-confrontational. It's not coming across as mine is true and yours is a lie which would definitely not bring peace. I'm not sure it is even making them question their beliefs. I'm praying that God would guide me through this. Maybe the "gospel of peace" means recognizing that no unbelievers are truly at peace but have restless souls as they struggle with meaning, purpose, mortality, anxiety, worth, insecurity, failure and all other issues that a relationship with Jesus would cure. Is it possible that we need to share the gospel as my Church would say "helping people find Christ at their point of need" which for everyone is the lack of peace. Maybe lead out, "Do you have peace in your life?" I don't know - maybe try it.

         Third, it's important to be righteous. We live in a time where so much garbage is coming out about Christians in the public eye. It's like when Jesus said, "You are the salt of the Earth. If the salt loses its saltiness, it's good for nothing but being trampled on as it's spread on the road." If you have obvious sins in your life, sharing the gospel may actually hurt the cause. Live a life that doesn't negate the gospel. Live a life where people see a difference and that it does make an effect, at least on you.

         Lastly, as I alluded to earlier, don't apologize - you have the truth. Be assured of that, know the truth, and share it as truth. Be prepared to share why it's true when people question it. Read some apologetics. Can you answer, "Why should I believe the Bible is true?", With all the religions in the world, why do you think yours is true?" We have the truth, lets put those gospel shoes on and get out there and live it and share it as something that will bring peace to a troubled soul.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 4

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.   Eph 6:10-13

        Is it possible to hate the Cubs without hating its players? I mean, any given year any player on the Cubs could be traded to my team and then I'd love him. It's not like they are Cubs; they are just playing for the Cubs. (unless it's Ernie Banks but who in their right mind hates him). Paul would say in the same way, don't hate the players on the devil's team, it's not like they are devils. Hate the devil. I mean, Lord willing, all those on the devil's team would come play for our team. (unless it's the Antichrist and who doesn't hate him)

       Therefore, remember when you get angry at the next person who responds to your post as if Satan himself wrote it, he probably did just use that person. Don't get mad at that person. Get mad at Satan or his demons that are putting thoughts into their mind. Pray for that person and try to get them playing for your team. Respond as Christ would with love and care. Ask if they want to meet over coffee and discuss it. Maybe respond with a Bible verse to show them where you are coming from. Satan hates scripture - look at Jesus' responses when He dealt with Satan.

      I had one episode in my life when I was fully aware of demonic presence. I was open air sharing the gospel in Honduras before we gave out jars of peanut butter to literally starving people and a lady with a low voice and angry face came up to me and said, "I hate Jesus" in English!  That was the only English I heard in those 2 weeks in that impoverished, rural, uneducated part of the country. I guess demons are multilingual! I've heard missionaries tell many more dramatic stories, but it doesn't have to be overt to realize that Satan is alive and active in our present world. The Lord's prayer even instructs us to pray for deliverance from his wily temptation and Paul here is in agreement. Be aware. It will help you identify and resist and help you to hate the team, not the player.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 3

  knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

 Obviously, I don't have any slaves in my household, but there are people under me in regard to positions of authority and I am under people in the same way. What does Paul tell us about both of these stations in life? Previously I looked at those under authority and how we should respond in that place in life and now we will look at some principles on our responsibilities when we are the ones in authority.

       It's theoretically possible to never be in a position of authority but highly unlikely. If that happens get a dog. I would say a cat but I'm pretty sure they are in charge, but if you have a child, if you are in charge of people at work, if you are a husband then God has put you in a place of authority. How should we respond. First of all, our goal should be to bring good to them and God in return will bring good back to us. Our employees, for example, should flourish financially and improve their skill sets to the point where another employer would snatch them up in a heartbeat not back at ground level but as a skilled worker. If that takes extra training classes at our expense, their skill and appreciation will reward us in the long run. If they quit and go elsewhere for a better job with more flourishing, we shouldn't be upset but glad for them and proud that we did our job as a person in authority.

     Verse 9, I must say, is a bit perplexing when it comes to not threatening those under your authority. I must say that I have threatened my children with spankings or restrictions if they continued misbehaving and I'm not sure there was any other option. I have threatened my employees with firing if certain behaviors persisted and even followed through. I'm not sure that I had another choice. What could this mean? I think the hint may be in the word "forbear" before it. To me that means last resort. Bear with or be longsuffering with people. Do your best to solve it other ways. With kids misbehaving, say fighting with their siblings, try changing the environment that's leading to it before lashing out. In other words we shouldn't be known as a mean teacher, a grouchy parent, a boss that everyone is afraid of. That doesn't reflect who Jesus is.

        The underlying principle is that we are all equal in Christ and frankly, not even in Christ. We are equal on the basis of being human beings created by God. Paul said, consider others in humility as more important than you. If we are in a position of authority and don't follow the above principles, we are more concerned about ourselves than others. If we pay minimally, if we want to keep our employees thinking they are dependent on us for their survival, if we want to keep watching our television show without the noise of our kids fighting, if we just want our students to behave and not bother us, we are focusing on ourselves and being unloving, prideful and selfish. We've all known parents (not necessarily our own), teachers, bosses like that. Let's in Christ, rise above that.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 2

 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ; 6 not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men,  Eph.6:5-7

          Obviously, I don't have any slaves in my household, but there are people under me in regard to positions of authority and I am under people in the same way. What does Paul tell us about both of these stations in life?

       First of all if you are under someone's authority as a child, student, or employee for example there are several principles to follow. First, remember that God sees everything. You might think you are getting away with stealing, cheating, slacking when the boss isn't looking but God is. It's easy to justify all those behaviors and believe me I have. You think, they are treating me unfairly, they don't pay me enough, everyone else is doing it, they are making so much money off me etc. but remember - you operate on a higher standard than everyone else and there is an authority above that authority that you answer to and He sees everything.

        Another principle that's like the first is that in everything we do, we are serving Christ, so if we are working a job, we are supposed to pretend our boss is Jesus. What would Jesus require of us - our best. Just as I respect, honor, revere, fear God, so I should project that onto my authorities and treat them the same way. Just as I live to hear "well done my good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in the little things let me put you in charge of more...", so also, we should long for and strive for that praise from our authorities. We may not get it, but we know we will receive it someday if not in this life but the life to come. Also, we look to expand God's kingdom here on Earth and likewise we should be such good and effective "underlings" that our authority's kingdom flourishes. If our boss is making so much money off of us - isn't that a good thing? If our teachers are getting bonuses because of our success in the classroom - isn't that what we want?

        This passage says we should be serving out of good will. This is how we serve the Lord, right? We serve Him out of love not because we have to. In the same way, serving our authorities should be not because "I got to" but rather "I get to". If you went to work or school today with that attitude you would blow everyone away. Everyone around you would flourish and it could even become contagious. Why not try it!

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 1

  Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.  Eph. 6:4

           When I think of exasperating your kids, I think of this clip of Anthony Perkins playing Jimmy Piersall in the 1957 movie Fear Strikes Out where he hits an inside the park homerun and climbs the backstop screaming at his dad played by Carl Malden, "Is that good enough, is that good enough?" Fear Strikes Out - Jimmy Piersall meltdown

       Most other versions besides the NIV translate "exasperate" as "provoke your children to wrath." The Greek word is paraorgizo - para meaning moving toward the point of and orgizo meaning anger, irritation resentment or rage.

       It makes me wonder why Paul relates this to this relationship of fathers to sons. Why not husbands and wives and vice-versa? My wife, after 46 years of knowing each other knows exactly which buttons to push to make me respond in a sinful way and I know her buttons. Fathers, do you know your children well enough to know what triggers them? Might I suggest a few. First, expecting them to excel at areas they aren't gifted in. Second, which is probably related to the first, wanting them to have the same interests as you. Third, which is probably related to the first two, wanting them to succeed in areas you did or didn't quite succeed in. These are easy areas to self-evaluate or have others help you see what you are doing.

     The area where it's hard is when you know your child is under-achieving due to personality flaws like lack of self-discipline or laziness. When you have to keep calling them out on these it's easy to provoke them to anger. Let's say a child has been playing video games for an hour and has schoolwork to do. A good way to provoke them into a sinful response is to turn off the game or say, "stop right now!" Dads, don't you know that they were in the middle of a game or achieving heights they have never reached before and you are ruining it? Rather say, "after this round" or "in 5 minutes I want you to quit". Another wrong thing to say would be, "I wish you were as good at school as you are on the Play Station."

      Another way to provoke them to anger or exasperate them is to focus on shortcomings rather than praise them for accomplishments. I remember telling my dad that I witnessed to someone, and he told me what I should have said. I was thinking, "Aren't you proud of me for witnessing?" Or mowing the lawn and telling me that I didn't get close enough to the trees rather than complimenting me for mowing and how good it looked. Maybe I'm just doing self-analysis, but I've made it a point to always overcompensate on praising - at least I think I have. Fathers, children want you to be proud of them and make sure they know that you are.

      Parenting is difficult but when your child grows up to be a well-adjusted adult who is following Jesus and raising a Godly family, there's nothing better!

        

Thoughts From Ephesians 5 - Part 4

  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing  her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Eph.5:21-6:3

             How do I become a man that my wife will respect and submit to? First, I cannot be a person that is self-centered. If I act like I'm superior to everyone and put my needs above everyone else's, that kind of man is demanding rather than commanding respect. Verse 22 says that I should revere Christ or live under submission to Christ. What did He do? Phil.2 says that He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped or pursued. In other words, even though He was equal to the Father, He willingly said, "not my will but yours be done." Therefore, I too, even though I'm equal to everyone by nature of our common creation by God, submit to the requests of others rather than demanding my own way. Men, do we always demand our own way when it comes to eating out, watching shows on TV, activities on weekends, vacation destinations, surplus spending, etc.? How about letting others make choices. That's not a sign of weakness but rather meekness which is a trait worthy of respect. I know so many guys who struggle financially and the first windfall they get they go out and buy the truck of their dreams. That's not love and that's not worthy of respect.

        Secondly is to be the spiritual leader in my house. Am I concerned about my wife's spiritual growth? This starts before marriage. If you have sex with your wife before marriage violating God's word, how do you expect her to follow you spiritually when she already knows you only follow God's word when it suits you? Is she the one pushing you and the family to go to church? To do devotions before bed? Do you want respect - then take charge of the family's spiritual growth.

          Lastly, have you truly "left" your parents and set up your own life with your wife. I'm not saying to abandon them or not honor, listen to, or care for them in their aging years but rather I'm saying are you still relying on them for decision making and or finances? Have you left behind the baggage of birth order and are you forging ahead as an adult breaking the chains of your family's idiosyncrasies? Don't project your undealt with anger with your birth family onto your wife and kids. Leave all that behind and start fresh with a new family knowing that you get a chance to do it right. Your wife will respect you for it.