Community Compass

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 1:18

Hope in the Bible isn’t just an expressed wish. It’s a rock-solid conviction. The Apostle Paul’s prayer for believers is that the Holy Spirit would flood our understanding with the unshakable knowledge of who we are and what we have in Christ. (“the hope to which he has called you”) In verses 3-13,  Paul has just set forth all of things God has done for us.

John MacArthur states it this way:  “He prays for God to enlighten them about the magnificent truths of election, predestination, adoption, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom and insight, inheritance and sealing and pledge of the Holy Spirit about which he has just been instructing them”  (New Testament Commentary, Ephesians, p. 118)

Then Paul includes in his prayer that we will understand “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.”   Perhaps Paul is talking of the fact that we are God’s treasure.  I believe, in this context,  he is praying that we understand all the of the glorious things that lie before us as believers (see 1:14).

Soon this life will come to an end. God has a special place for a special people. This is all of grace and we can only understand it as the Holy Spirit completely illuminates our minds. Let’s live, as believers,  in such an obedient and attentive way, so that the Lord can open our minds to these great truths.   Too often, our minds are cluttered with the “stuff” of this world so we lose our focus on who we are and what we have.  Take time to thank the Lord for sending  His one and only Son for us.  If you don’t know Him, why not trust him to forgive you and make you a new person?

The preacher, in his Sunday sermon, used “Forgive Your Enemies” as his subject.

After a long sermon, he asked how many were willing to forgive their enemies. About half held up their hands. Not satisfied he harangued for another twenty minutes and repeated his question. This time he received a response of eighty percent. Still unsatisfied, he lectured for fifteen minutes and repeated his question. With all thoughts now on Sunday dinner, all responded except one elderly lady in the rear.

“Ms.Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Ms. Jones, that is very unusual. How old are you?”

“Ninety-three.”

“Ms. Jones, please come down in front and tell the congregation how a person can live to ninety-three and not have an enemy in the world.”

The little sweetheart of a lady teetered down the aisle, very slowly turned around & said: “It’s easy. I just outlived them all!”

source- You Make Me Laugh, www.crosswalk.com

Jill had to grab a cab to get to a meeting uptown. She hailed one down, got in, and told the cabbie the address she needed. The cabbie turned out to be a lunatic driver, and Jill sat in the backseat clutching the door handle wondering if she could expect to survive this trip. The cabdriver sped through the crowded NYC streets, weaving in and out of traffic. Jill watched as one pedestrian after another leapt aside to avoid being run down by her lunatic driver.

Jill looked ahead and saw a truck double parked on the narrow street. Not only did the driver fail to slow down, he actually accelerated as he approached the truck. He slipped his cab through the available space with an inch or two to spare on either side.

“Driver,” Jill screamed, “Are you crazy? Are you trying to get us both killed?”

“Relax, Lady,” he said. “Just do what I do. Close your eyes.”                                                                                – From “You Make Me Laugh” Daily email.

Ephesians 1:15-16  For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  (NIV)

The Apostle Paul had a great love for God’s people and showed this by how he prayed for them.  First, he constantly thanked God for his fellow believers.  He noted their believe in Jesus Christ and their love for all their fellow believers.  Paul often recognized what was right in his fellow believers.

No doubt the Ephesians had their fair share of ugly “warts,” but Paul recognized that which was good in them and he constantly thanked the Lord  for them.   Later on in the Ephesian letter he instructed them to ” Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (4:2)  That meant that they were to put up with each other!
The relational framework by which they were to operate was love.   They were to “speak the truth in love“(4:16)  and live their lives with love as the priority (5:1-2)

Love is not a sloppy “touchy-feely” emotion. Rather, it is placing a priority on the other person and striving to meet their need. That is exactly what God did for us (John 3:16)

What a great lesson for those of us who tend to be a little more critical or cynical by nature. Paul was one who looked at his fellow believers in a positive light and constantly gave thanks for them!  What a great remedy for judgmental criticism.  Next time you’re tempted to be critical of someone, spend time thanking the Lord for them.  It will change the way you think — and live.

That is what my dad said as he held his Bible up. He was preaching my ordination service seventeen years ago. I still reflect on his words. They’re so simple, but rivetingly true. I am looking at the outline in my old KJV Bible. His premise, of course, was that the Bible everything we need for this life and we must commit unswervingly to living it and doing it. Here’s his outline.

1. Meditate on the Word of God – Joshua 1:8

2. Obey the will of God – (I didn’t write the reference here)

3. Yield to the Spirit of God – Ephesians 5:18

4. Be faithful to the work of God – Remember your responsibility.

5. Remember that true success is being in “the will of God”. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 Strive to be faithful in the opinion of God, not “successful” in the opinion of man.

Dad has been with the Lord for 13 years now, but he couldn’t have given our family a better gift than that of steering us in the way of truth! What is your relationship with God’s Word?

Thanks dad. We’ll see you in the morning.

Harold M. Reemtsma (1923-1994)

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13-14   (NIV)

The great difference between the reality of God’s Word and man-made religion lies in the evidence of God’s Presence in our lives.  Not only does God give us great principles by which to live, and great promises by which we may be assured, but He has given us the Holy Spirit Who will always abide with us.

Paul assured the Ephesian (Gentiles) believers that they too, along with the Jews had received the inheritance of God (11).  The proof of this to the believers is the fact that they are “marked” (sealed) as accepted and genuine sons of God — we are his own.  Even in our modern culture, a “seal” on a package or letter demonstrates its authenticity and it’s ownership or origin. The fact that we have the Holy Spirit demonstrates the reality of our relationship with God — even if we ourselves aren’t aware of it!

Another great truth is that the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, is the guarantee that inheritance we have already received.  All of the wonderful things that come with being sons and daughters of God (1:5) are our present possessions! (1 Peter 1:4)  The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives actively assures us that this is true.

We don’t have a dead “go nowhere” religion, but a vital and ongoing fellowship with the Maker of the universe and the Savior of those who believe. That’s AWESOME!  The presence of the Holy Spirit is the “down payment” or “guarantee” of our future glory and blessings that are to come!

Romans 8:16 tells us that the Spirit bears witness to us that we are “children of God”  Therefore, For Christians it is essential to

…live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Gal 5:16
…not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Eph. 4:30

Do you want assurance of the great promises of God? Read the words of an old gospel song:

Trust and obey,  For there’s no other way,                                                                                       to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

Okay, don’t groan too loudly!

* I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

* Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

* Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He’s all right now.

* The roundest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference.

* To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

* When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

* A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

* A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

* Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.

* We’ll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.

* When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U C L A.

* The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.

* The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

* The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

* If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

* A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

* A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired.

* The optometrist fell into his lens grinder and made a spectacle of himself.
[That's a story that lens itself.]

* Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

* A backward poet writes inverse.

* In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.

* A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

* With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

* Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I’ll show you A -flat miner.

* When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

* The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

* A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

* You are stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.

* He broke into song because he couldn’t find the key.

* A boiled egg is hard to beat.

* He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

* His parents thought he was a budding genius, but he turned out to be a blooming idiot.

* A plateau is a high form of flattery.

* When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.

* When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she’d dye.

* Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

* Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses.

* Acupuncture: a jab well done

It’s so easy to get caught up in the things that are of no eternal consequence. Keeping focused on biblical priorities is, sometimes, a difficult task. Both the pains and the pleasures of life can easily get our gaze.

James tells us that our lives are as a “vapor” that appears and then quickly vanishes. God’s Word reminds us that we are as a “tale that is told” and as “grass” that soon withers. Days, then weeks, then months, and soon, years quickly go by. I’m told that this seems much more apparent the older you get.

Thank God for the direction he gives us in his Word. We don’t have to squander time, but we are able to “do” His revealed will. Proverbs 3:5-6 states:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (New International Version)

He’ll make our life pathway straight. For what more could we ask? Our pathway may seem confusing and difficult at times, but the Great Shepherd of Psalm 23 is there to lead us. If we, as believers, follow his leading by being obedient to His Word and sensitive to His voice, we will be able to sing with the song writer:

Jesus led me all the way, Led me step by step each day                                                                 I will tell the saints and angels as I lay my burdens down                                                           Jesus led me all the way

- John W. Peterson (1921-2006)

8. that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Ephesian 1:7-10 (from New International Version)

Ephesians 1:8 tells us that God has lavished His grace upon us and given us wisdom and understanding. (v.9) This wisdom and understanding enables believers to comprehend the marvelous plan that He has. When God revealed the “mystery” of His will, it wasn’t a revelation of something “mysterious” or “spooky.” The mystery was a plan that He had that we would never have found out on our own. This plan is centered in the One who redeemed us: Christ (v. 10) God’s revealed plan is that one day, Christ will rule and reign on this earth and all created things in the universe will be directly under His sovereign rule. Philppians 2:9-11 tells us that one day, every created being will bow before our matchless Lord.

After Christ comes back to earth, He will rule for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6). It is a time of peace. It is a time when all of mankind nature will live in harmony (Isaiah 2:4; 11:6,7). No wonder the Lord told us to pray “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven! (Matthew 6:10).

The wonderful old Christmas carol, “Joy to the World” speaks of this great time:

“No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground, He comes to make His blessings known, far as the curse is found.”

The once- cursed earth will be set free. All of Mankind will see the Messiah.  As believers, we can rejoice today — God revealed the His Son! We look forward to His coming! That’s enough to really brighten our outlook today! Even so come quickly Lord, Jesus!

The New Testament word “Redemption,” according to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), means “a releasing effected by payment of ransom 1a) redemption, deliverance 1b) liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.” That is what Christ did for us when He died to pay the price for our sin. However, it can ONLY be true for each of us if we have accepted his free gift of salvation.

Look up Ephesians 1:7 in your Bible. Below is a little outline that might help you remember some great truths found in this small verse.

The Possession of our forgiveness– We are having redemption.

    Redemption is ours NOW. We don’t have to wait until we die to find out!

The Person of our redemption – in Whom (Christ) we are having redemption

    Not through religion or self-effort (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The Price of our redemption – through His blood

    Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission – Hebrews 9:22

The Pardon through redemption – the forgiveness of sins

    Our sins are taken away — forever (Psalm 103:12)

One more thing – It’s the richness of God’s grace that provides this wonderful redemption. Verse 7 says all of what we received is “in accordance with the riches of His grace” (NIV). Verse eight states that we’ve not only experienced His grace, but we’ve “been lavished upon” by it. What a great Savior!