T O P I C: Ephesians 4+5+6
OVERVIEW
Every devotional is to help be a starting point for you and your time with The Lord. He^^ loves you and wants to spend intentional time with you in His^^ Word (the Bible) and in everyday life.
Xoxo rooted.core
DAY ONE:
**Read Psalms 31+32**
Read Ephesians 4
Ephesians is such a wonderful book it has so much wisdom and it is a book that shows what life should look like after accepting Jesus into your heart. So often it can be easy to only make church on Sunday a priority but Jesus wants to spend time with us every moment of every day. As we dive into Ephesians 4 we see the theme of unity. It talks about one hope, one faith, one God and the list goes on. How often do we as Christians see division around us? The Lord wants to unify His^^ body. He^^ wants us to be unified but not conformed. Ephesians talks about how we are not to conform but shows us what it looks like when we allow the Gospel and Word of God to change our lives.
Ephesians 4:2
“Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
When we let Jesus change our hearts we will naturally walk in humility, gentleness and patience. When we are walking by His^^ Spirit and spending time with Him^^ the natural response is to reflect what we have been give…. Love.
Ephesians 4:20-24 That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
I absolutely love when it talks about how we are to take off the old so that we can put on the new of Christ. This process can sometimes take a while. We are completely corrupt without Him^^. There are many subconscious systems that we are operating in that take time and perseverance to overcome. Often times we think that the renewing of the mind is all instant at once but though for somethings that can be true a lot of times we have to humble ourselves and be vulnerable in front of the Lord in order to allow Him^^ to change our hearts and minds. Ephesians encourages us that it is possible for our old selves (death) to be transformed to our new selves in Christ (life).
As we read we can see the difference between the believer who has let God transform their heart and who hasn’t. We are all on different parts of our walk. It is so important that we are able to love and encourage everyone around us to follow Christ we are all growing and our hearts are constantly being changed.
QUESTIONS:
What stood out to you the most about this passage? Do you find it hard to let Jesus into the hurtful places of your heart? If we know that Jesus wants to transform our hearts and be made new in our minds what is holding you back from letting Him^^ into those places of your heart?
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you so much for today. You are Holy and blameless apart from You I don’t have peace, I don’t have freedom or even life. Jesus come today and teach me new parts of your heart. Expose places in my heart that are hurting and I pray you would help me learn what it means to be vulnerable in your arms. You are the only thing I need. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. In Jesus precious name Amen.
DAY TWO:
**Read Psalms 33+34**
Read Ephesians 5
Right from the start Jesus refers to us as His^^ dearly loved children. It is so important to know and understand we are His^^ children and He^^ is our Father. For some of us this concept is hard to grasp a good Father because our earthly Fathers have done a, b and c. But as you get to know God as your Father it is important to understand the difference between His^^ fathership and our earthly fathers. He is our perfect Father. God sacrificed Himself in love and asks that we follow in His^^ footsteps as we walk with Him^^.
Ephesians 5:3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
The Lord wants us to look differently that those of the world. This is not because He^^ is a cruel God but because He^^ loves our hearts and wants them to be safe. He^^ created sex and it should only be in marriage. Marriage is a representation of Christ unconditional love for the church thus He^^ gave us marriage to show the bond that He^^ has with His^^ children (us). Jesus says that there should be no compromise!
Ephesians 5:4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
From this verse we can see the difference in the way that a believer lives and the way that someone who hasn’t received Christ lives simply by how they talk. Later it says that you should not be partners with those who are disobedient to Christ. When Jesus says this He^^ wants us to be safe. He^^ gives us a for warning that there is probably more to the story if someone is disobedient to Christ. This is given as a forewarning not to surround yourself with someone like this. Often times we surround ourselves with people who are not on the same path of life that we are. It is not good to abandon everyone who does not walk with Jesus but it is important that we don’t let their decisions affect us and our walk with Christ. It is important to surround yourself with like minded company.
Ephesians 5:15-20 Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the LORD's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the LORD, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ.
How do we understand God’s will? You spend time with Him^^. As Christians we are to only be controlled by the Holy Spirit inside of us. When we get drunk we are now not allowing ourselves to be controlled by the Holy Spirit but by the alcohol.
Marriage is such a beautiful gift from God. Read 21-33 and take some time to see how God intended marriage to be. Marriage is between a man and a woman. They become one when they have sexual relations and the Lord creates within that a bond that is to be as strong as death. When we go outside of Gods plan for marriage and have sexual relations it bonds us to people and when that is broken it is painful and parts of us feel broken. God made sex to glorify Him^^. And to create a bond that is not to be broken between man and wife.
QUESTIONS:
What stood out to you the most about this passage? What did you think about when Ephesians talked about marriage and what it is supposed to look like and represent? What parts of marriage have you seen in your life? What parts of the role models you have seen have reflected what marriage is supposed to be and what parts have not reflected it?
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Jesus thank you for being Holy and pure. Thank you for loving me no matter what my past is. I pray you would give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Jesus show me what you are doing that I may be your humble servant. Thank you for today and I pray that I will glorify you in every moment of everyday. You are worth all my life. I love you. In Jesus name Amen.
DAY THREE:
**Read Psalms 35+36**
Read Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6 talks about what it looks like to honor your Father and Mother. It can be so easy to discredit parents because “they don’t understand”.
Ephesians 6:2 "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with a promise.”
Jesus promises that if we listen to our parents (it is a different story if they are abusive or tell us to sin) there is a promise. Our parents are to take us from being parent dependent for our needs to God dependent. A lot of times however, this doesn’t happen healthily. None the less obeying your parents those who are over you does in fact lead us to understand what it looks like to let God lead us and tell us the difference between right and wrong. How often do we ask ourselves what is right and wrong? Being dependent on what we say. We are not God and what we should and shouldn’t do should always be from what He^^ says.
The armor of God is so important. If we go through our lives and do not put on the armor of God how do we expect to win battles? Understanding the word of God and being with Him^^ is how we win our battles because our strength is not our own but it is through Him^^.
As you read the armor this week ask God to give you a deeper understanding as to what each piece means. Knowing the importance of each piece of armor is beautiful. There is so much power when we put on the armor of God. When we submit to His^^ Lordship and His^^ Kingdom we are then able to fight with all His^^ might. There is nothing we can not overcome when we are walking with Him^^ in dependency on Him^^ in those different areas of our lives.
QUESTIONS:
What stood out to you the most about this passage? What piece of the armor stood out and made you think deeper about it? Why is that part of the armor important? What is God trying to teach you through this passage? Why is it hard for some people to put the armor of God on?
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Father thank you so much that you have given us everything we need in every moment. Thank you that you are the one who brings the strength. I thank you for being dependable, that in every moment I am able to trust and lean on you. You are so faithful and worthy of my life. I pray that you would continue to give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation as to what the armor means. Jesus if there is anything in my heart that you want to purify and change I pray that you would do so. In Jesus Holy name Amen.
DAY FOUR:
**Read Psalms 37+38**
Read the chapter of Ephesians that stood out to you the most.
There is so much power in the word of God. When we are in the word of God we are getting the ammo we need to fight the battles around us. What good would it do if you showed up to a battle without the right equipment to fight? As we are in the word of God it is important that we allow it to change our hearts and strengthen us. Ephesians is a great book and an easy read. There is so much truth in the word of God. Let us know if you have any questions.
QUESTIONS:
Why did you choose to re-read this chapter of Ephesians? What stood out to you the first time and what stood out to you the second time? There are always new things to learn. We as believers never grow to old to learn. How can you apply this to your daily lives? What are some of the struggles with applying this to your everyday life?
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Jesus thank you for today thank you that you love me no matter where I am and what I am doing. You are such a good Father. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to stand in your love. I pray that your word would change my heart and set it on fire. You are so faithful to deepen my understanding of your word. I pray that you would guide me today. Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. In Jesus name Amen.
DAY FIVE + SIX + SEVEN:
**Read Psalms 39+ 40 + 41 + 42 + 43 + 44 throughout the three days**
The last three days are for you to be in the word as well as do something you love with Him^^. It is so beautiful that no matter what we are doing He^^ wants to do it with us. Challenge: Write up 100 things you are thankful for and spend time in prayer thanking God for what He^^ has done in your life. He^^ is faithful to show up!
As you spend time with Him^^ this week be intentional. Mark a time and date in your calendar and don’t let life get in the way. As you wouldn’t let anything come in between a date with a friend think of your relationship with Jesus as a date. Intentional time with Him^^ is where we start to understand our identity and His^^ Holiness. Have a blessed week with our sweet Jesus! You are beautifu