Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

QT 9/22/2026 Eph 5:8–14, Overwhelming Love

Ephesians 5:8–14 (ESV) —

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,

and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

 

NOTE: Verse 10 says to try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. This verse needs some comment. There are people who choose to go back to the OT regulations on diet using an argument that it is more pleasing to the Lord. Paul has argued strongly against that type of thinking in his letters to the Colossians and to the Corinthians. I think the key is while your actions can please or displease the Lord (this would seem to be clear from the implication of verse 10), you ABSOLUTELY CANNOT INCREASE God's love for the believer in Jesus Christ. That love cannot be measured. It is totally based on what the Son did on the cross. You are adopted into God's family. You are loved beyond understanding. It is a theological error to believe any work or works can increase God's love for you. That cannot change once you are born again. Still, having said all that, it is possible to please the Lord by our works and actions. There also rewards in heaven. But the reason we 'work' for these rewards, is out of a recognition of God's great grace in saving us, and in a very puny way, our only means to express thankfulness.

 

PONDER:

  1. Am I living my life in a way that communicates my enormous thankfulness for salvation?

 

PRAYER: Father, nothing I do can repay salvation. My words fall short. My actions fall short. But, despite that, I intend to live my life in such a way that the actions express my great thankfulness for saving a sinner as I.

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