QT 22 Sep 10

Eph 2:19 (NIV) Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,

NOTE: It really is hard to understand the depth of our salvation.  I'm not sure that most believers appreciate the significance of having been foreigners and aliens, but now citizens of the kingdom, and members of God's household.  These are glorious honors with fantastic privilege, status, and security.  This is our hope from God.  I am so undeserving of your kindness to me, Lord.  Forgive my lack of gratefulness.  

QT 20 Sep 10

Eph 2:11-13 (NIV) Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

NOTE: Why is it so important to remember where we came from?  I think if we don't realize how undeserving we were of our salvation that we being to take it for granted.  We don’t fully appreciate how lost, helpless, and hopeless we were.  When we don't appreciate, we are not thankful.  When we are not thankful, we live in a manner that reflects our selfish, me-only philosophy of life.  When we are not thankful, we forget God.  When we forget God, we try to live our life in our own power.  Lord, forgive us for our thanklessness and for not remembering all that you have done for us.

QT 16 Sep 10

Eph 2:4-5 (NIV) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.

NOTE: What initiates our salvation is not us, but God himself. It wasn't our seeking him. It wasn't our behavior. It wasn't anything good about us. The phrase "God, who is rich in mercy" highlights the fact that we needed mercy because what we deserved, was anything but salvation. We were spiritually dead because of our sin. And only by grace, which means an undeserved gift, were we saved. Deserving of death and undeserving of life, God saved us. Of course, we had to respond to the gift, and many today refuse to take the offer of salvation. Thank you Lord, for the gift of life. I know that I was undeserving of life.

QT 14 Sep 10

Eph 2:1-3 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

NOTE: The picture is pretty dismal, and a far cry from how most people view themselves. We see good, and for our definition, we are good. In fact, God made us good. What we don't see is how our rebellion that began is the garden so completely mars the person God created. In God's eyes we are no longer good, in fact, only God is good -- a point Jesus subtly tried to communicate to the rich young ruler. It is true, that by our definition, we are not evil, but by God's definition, we are. By God's definition, we are objects of wrath. We will never truly understand the gospel and the riches of the gospel until we see our condition from God's perspective.

QT 6 Sep 10

Eph 1:15-17 (NIV) 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. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

NOTE: The first thing to notice is that Paul did not originate the work in Ephesus ("ever since I heard about your faith…"), although he spent considerable time there teaching (3 years). It was a church that he deeply loved and that cared for him as well. It did not have the same struggles as some of the other churches, and that may be related to less wealth and other previous pagan practices -- that is, while existing, may not have been as extreme.

One of the best aspects of prayers in scripture is that we have a pattern that is biblical. The first thing Paul does is to give thanks. While people do give thanks in corporate prayer, oftentimes our private prayer is entirely needs intensive, and usually those needs are personal needs. Paul's first request for the Ephesians is for wisdom and revelation, to know God better. By far, the most important thing that we can ask for any individual is to know God better. Knowing God changes people. Changes don't make people love God or know him better. Laws do not create a new heart or attitude. That is a spiritual work that is an outflow of a relationship to God.

Application: I need to renew my own prayer time with God