Paul opens up Ephesians by clearly stating his identity:
โThis letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to Godโs holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.โ โญโญEphesiansโฌ โญ1โฌ:โญ1โฌ
Then – In Ephesians 1:4-10, Paul immediately begins by reminding us of our identity. Our identity in Christ is that we are holy and dearly loved children of God. We get this identity when we receive God’s gift of salvation through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This identity is not based on us, but rather, it is placed on us because we have been adopted into God’s family. Just like when a baby is placed into a family either through birth or adoption, they become a son or a daughter and take that family’s name as their identity. It is the same with our identity in Christ.
This isn’t because of our work, our successes or how good we try to be. We become children of God by grace through faith in Christ.
Paul wants our spiritual identity to frame our minds and thoughts. He desires to help us think rightly so that we may speak and act rightly.
An important truth is that our adoption to the Father is an action of pure love by a God who is not impersonal, but deeply connected and concerned with the objects of His love, you and I! ๐ฅฐ๐ฅฐ๐ฅฐ
I was reminded of this powerful truth this morning – the longer I walk with the Lord sometimes I forget just how broken I was before I surrendered everything to him, and before I understood that my identity comes from him. I grew up in a deeply broken home. My fatherโs hands were representations of pain, hurt, abuse. My mother was so concerned with her own survival that she represented competition, coldness, self centeredness. This all led me to believe I was unworthy of love, safety, I felt as though I had no value.
๏ฟผJust hearing the simple gospel message had the power to begin to change me, it made me spiritually new, but it did not do the deep work ๏ฟผinside of me to change where I found my own identity – only through diligent study of Godโs word and submitting everything to him first before the world – have I been able to come to know and believe that I am my fatherโs daughter.
Friends, let’s not forget that our adoption as children of God comes with an expectation. When we remember and think of the great and glorious truth of being adopted by the King of heaven and earth, and that we share in the inheritance of the King, it should result in a desire to reflect and live up to the standard of the King and His Kingdom. This means instead of just going along with what the world deems acceptable in our thoughts and our words, that we set a higher standard for ourselves to “be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4). To be holy and blameless includes allowing the truth of our adoption to lace the words that come from our mouth and inform every action of our hands and feet. It doesn’t mean we will always do this perfectly, but it does mean that we are daily checking and intentionally redirecting our thoughts and our words to stay in line with God’s instructions. It’s not because we are guilted into it but because we desire to stay free of the entrapments of the enemy that come from thoughts polluted with lies and words tainted with bitterness, slander and harshness.
Adoption means we now have God as our Father. It means that we receive the inheritance that could only legally be given to a son.
โWhen the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear, for that tribe was important in Israel. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction.
Now they continue to sin by making silver idols, images shaped skillfully with human hands. โSacrifice to these,โ they cry, โand kiss the calf idols!โ
Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney. โI have been the Lord your God ever since I brought you out of Egypt. You must acknowledge no God but me, for there is no other savior.
I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. So now I will attack you like a lion, like a leopard that lurks along the road.
Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away, I will tear out your heart. I will devour you like a hungry lioness and mangle you like a wild animal.โ โญโญHoseaโฌ โญ13โฌ:โญ1โฌ-โญ8โฌ โญNLTโฌโฌ
Maybe the idea of carved images and pagan alters built on hillsides can feel far away from the practices of our current day. Maybe weโre tempted to read the prophecy of Hosea as though from a safe distance, believing the problems of Godโs people and Hoseaโs time are unrelated to today- self-centeredness however, is a problem for all people, including you and me.
๏ฟผ In Hoseaโs day the people of God became enamored with and distracted by what Jesus would call โthe cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other thingsโ (Mark 4:19). And the more they forgot God, the more irrational and immoral, their lives became. In Hosea 13:2, we even see that the people were willing to โoffer human sacrificeโ yet โkiss calvesโ made of metal- they valued false gods made by humans more than they valued humans made by God.
It would be remiss of me not to mention abortion here. Abortion is the baal worship of our current day. The self-centerdness of the โmy body my choiceโ movement is nothing less than pride and the forgetfulness of God. Two pre-born human beings are murdered every minute of every day in the United States of America.
Just like in the times of Hosea, we too deserve Godโs wrath but He remains patient.
God is showing you mercy right now, begging you to turn away from your sin and be reconciled to him. I love you and believe that the Lord is not slow about his promise but is patient toward you not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9).
I was once an enemy of God too, but it was his grace that saved me and set me free to follow him. It would be hateful to withhold this truth from you when you have the chance to be washed ๏ฟผclean and reconciled to your Creator. Today is the day of salvation. Godโs judgment will not delay forever.
โSubmit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.โ โญโญJamesโฌ โญ4โฌ:โญ7โฌ-โญ10โฌ โญESVโฌโฌ
These verses in James gives us an action plan for turning from our sin and living out our faith in God:
First we submit to God (4:7a). This means we acknowledge Godโs wisdom is wiser than the ways of the world. We also recognize His rightful authority to direct our lives according to His wisdom.
Submitting is what we do – but practically HOW do we do it? James goes onโฆ
We resist the devil (4:7b). The implication of the Greek word translated โresistโ is โto stand againstโ or โwithstandโ. This infers a promise that whatever power Satan may have, we are ABLE to overcome him by Godโs GRACE.
We draw near to God (4:8a). James appears to have Hosea 12:6 in mind: โso you by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.โ James commands and promises were written to believers in Jesus. But rather than love and justice, these believers had demonstrated selfish ambition and partiality. James was not necessarily talking about drawing near to God for salvation here but he was referring to what repentance from sin looks like for Christ followers.
We wash our hands and purify our hearts (4:8b). This alludes to how Israelite priests prepared to minister before the Lord in the OT, reminding us that we are called to a high standard of behavior as Christโs people. He washes us clean through the Gospel of His sacrificial death and resurrection, which we receive through the Word and which is how we draw near to Him. (Eph. 5:25b-27).
Finally, we grieve and mourn and wail over our sin (4:9). When we draw near to God, we become saddened over our inability to fully follow the Lordโs commands โฆ but our weeping turns to exhalation as we experience Godโs forgiveness of our sins through Christ (James 4:10).
All of these intentional choices result in our recognition of our deep spiritual need for our Savior.
Thanks be to God that Jesus has rescued us and promises to present us, the Church, before Godโs throne as His beautiful bride.
โNow to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,โ โญโญJudeโฌ โญ1โฌ:โญ24โฌ โญESVโฌโฌ
Rather than trying to work our way into positions of power, recognition, or status, we can humbly sit in the presence of God. He positions us for purpose and purifies our hearts. As we acknowledge our desperation for His deliverance, He will forgive and exalt us.
I started a study on the book of Hebrews at the beginning of January. I am currently a few months in and rounding out the last two chapters. Hebrews is such a theologically rich book that it has caused me to overlook or under-consider (is under-consider a word?) the books presentation of:
Jesus is enough and Jesus is always the answer
The last two months I have had some things come up that have given me a fresh comfort of this truth. This book has been a major balm to my soul and has increased my ability to abide in my relationship with Christ. When condemnation has came knocking on the doors of my memories and anxiety of the unknown has tried to shake meโฆ these truths overcome!
โFor because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.โ โญโญHebrewsโฌ โญ2โฌ:โญ18โฌ โญESVโฌ
โFor we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.โ โญโญHebrewsโฌ โญ4โฌ:โญ15โฌ โญESVโฌโฌ
Earlier this month I had a scare with some unexpected blood lossโฆ I go to the doctor and get a referral to surgery, which I am waiting to be scheduled currently. At that same appointment, unexpectedly, the doctor found a large lump on each of my breasts. This month made exactly one year since my last breast cancer scare in which my faithful church family anointed and prayed for me.
โIs anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.โ โญโญJamesโฌ โญ5โฌ:โญ14โฌ-โญ15โฌ โญESVโฌโฌ
So now I wait on another mammogram and diagnostic imaging but I wait knowing God has been faithful in the past and I can trust He will be faithful again. Because I can trust Him, and know He is never changing, I can have peace in this messy place and I know if I suffer well – I will be rewarded in this trial.
Suffering for the Christian always presents the opportunity for discipline and growth.
โAnd have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? โMy son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.โโ โญโญHebrewsโฌ โญ12โฌ:โญ5โฌ-โญ6โฌ โญESVโฌโฌ
This month I also had someone reach out to me relaying that my earthly dad would like my address so he can write to me. This is a person who I have had zero contact with for over 14 years. This person was abusive in every way possible and in the past has denied any contact with me, even contact for me to relay I had forgiven him and would always continue to pray for him. In an act of grace and mercy, I said yes and sent my address. I cannot know if this persons heart has changed or what their intention isโฆ but I can have faith in trusting the Lord to see me through whatever may be on the other side of this.
And I can know that I continue to pray with faith that my dad would confess his sins to the Lord, be forgiven, become a changed man, and one day join the Saints in Heaven.
Jesus endured the suffering of this world because He knew the outcome was worth it. You were worth it, friend and I was worth it. Jesus willingly obeyed God by coming to this world and in turn, it resulted in the restoration and reunion of God’s children. Jesus knew there was eternal salvation waiting beyond the suffering of this life! The same is true for us.
Eternity with Jesus awaits us. So what about this suffering in the meantime? If we allow it, this too can have eternal purpose. Our suffering can become a means of God’s disciplineโฆ let’s define the word “discipline”.
Discipline here does not mean punishment. Jesus already took our punishment. (Isaiah 53:5) The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines discipline as “Learning that molds character and enforces correct behavior; from a Latin word meaning instruction’ or ‘training.” Suffering can be a major means for us to learn, train and be molded into someone better. Much like using weights to discipline and condition our muscles, or using alarm clocks to discipline our use of time, if we let it, suffering can discipline our hearts toward empathy, compassion, understanding and more.
If you let Him, God can turn pain into something that will transform you and yield righteousness.
Friend, being a Christian does not mean that you will have a life free of pain and suffering BUT what it does mean is that: You have Jesus!
Jesus to cover you ๐๐ป Jesus to walk beside you ๐๐ป Jesus in the good times and the hard times ๐ Turns out, He is more than enough โค๏ธ
โfear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.โ โญโญIsaiahโฌ โญ41โฌ:โญ10โฌ โญESVโฌโฌ
How it started and how it is going! The faithful Love of Jesus! โค๏ธ
5 years ago this week we plugged in at Coastline Christian Fellowship, wholeheartedly committed.
We had visited on and off through the year prior but we had lingering church hurt from prior churches and to be honest we were wrestling with feeling Godโs pull – Godโs wooing of our hearts AND wrestling with our fleshโฆ
This little church in Olney became and is our family and for Jackson it is โthe place of his peopleโ. Jackson greeted and gave hugs to at least 30 people yesterday and shook 4 hands! ๐ฅน๐ญ๐ญ
Jacksonโs first visit to Coastline post being in a car seat Jackson helping dad and friend vacuum our kids class room.
A very early (miraculously early) autism diagnosis for Jackson was the hurt, the longing, the fear, the โI cannot do this without you Godโ moment that changed it all for us. We surrendered and we kept showing up until we desired to show up and we hurt when we missed. 6 months later we began serving in the Minnows room and remain in there till this day. Seasons change but the everlasting Love of the Lord remains the same. He sought us and pursued usโฆ
God pursued Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 3) God pursued Hagar when she ran away from her problems. (Genesis 16) God pursued Elijah when he ran from Ahab and Jezebel. (1 Kings 18-19) God pursued Paul on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9) And God pursues us.
Motivated by unexplainable love, God pursues humanity. No matter our state in life โ married, single, dating, living for God or running from Him โ God seeks to win the affection of our hearts by relentlessly and faithfully pursuing us.
We see a clear depiction of this pursuit in verses, John 3:16-17: โFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.โ
The love John refers to in this scripture is agape love, which is sacrificial and considered the highest form of love that exists. This love was costly for God, but He pursued us through the radical act of sacrificing His Son. Godโs love is unmatched and far greater than any box of chocolates or bouquet of flowers.
And even more astounding is that God demonstrated His lavish and sacrificial love while we were sinners. He pursued us while we werenโt thinking about Himโฆ Once and for all, God valiantly saved humankind from the spiritual villain Satan when we were in distress.
But Godโs pursuit of us did not end with Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. For all our days, He will continue to pursue us with His unexplainable love.
If you long to be romanced and pursued, may this be an encouragement: You are the object of Godโs affection. He has relentlessly pursued and will continue to pursue you.
God will not keep you from anything that will make you more like Jesus. For us, Jacksonโs autism is a tangible tether between the heavenly things and the earthly thingsโฆ. But it took us โsurrenderingโ this onto the Lord.
What is the thing that may be hurting you that the ONE who made you and loves you is wooing and asking you to surrender to HIM?
This Father’s Day, now yesterday, I found myself thinking about how good God is. This Father’s Day, I loved on my husband, and our precious son. We went to Sunday morning service and were blessed by an incredible teaching through Romans chapter 2. It was as we came to this verse, “4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that Godโs kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
I remembered God’s faithfulness in my own life, a time that I did not know who He was, as in I did not know His attributes or characteristics. A time that this day caused a deep pain and suffering, a day that almost rendered me incapable of anything. Verse 4 highlights some of the characteristics of God that at that time I did not see: God’s kindness, God’s forbearance, and God’s patience.
You see, I grew up in a home where I was so aware of the brokenness of sin that I knew there had to be a good God… but I did not exactly know how to reconcile those two things.
In my home my earthly father did not love me as a father should. The hands that should have protected and nurtured instead hurt, hit, and in the darkest parts of the days and nights did even worse.
This went on for several years. As I grew up, I was able to confront the abuse and recognize the dysfunction that was present in my own life, sin is never a one and done, the ramification’s are far fetching. However, I did not have other believers in my life. The church I had been attending did not do well in teaching or leading those who had experienced deep trauma or hurt, this resulted in me being outcasted. Naturally, the secular world was ready and waiting. It was as I embarked on this therapeutic journey that I came dangerously close to redefining God and the Gospel to be what I felt safe with.
If you have experienced deep hurt or abandonement from your Father, I am so very sorry. If you have experienced this, chances are you too have wrestled with the idea of God being a man, you have probably wrestled with the idea of the Trinity, and maybe friend you still are and that is ok. Thankfully, God is so patient with us and He knows our hearts AND our hurts. It was during this phase of therapy that my therapist, who had a theology degree and identified as a christian, said ” Maybe you should view god as a spirit form, or as ANYTHING you want. God doesn’t have to be male…”
At first this prickled my ears! I mean this sounded good! It sounded EASY! But… God gently called out to me, a quiet whisper in my heart, “You know this is not true” “You were made for more, you were made for ME”.
What my therapist was suggesting… Well this was the very thing, the very tactic, that satan used in the garden with Eve… But did God really say? This tactic was effective then and remains effective today. Our current culture will have us read all the self help books and take all the personality tests, we are eager to do this even! But what if… the best measure of knowing who we are is to know WHO God is? You see I had a big problem with trying to make God more like me, when in reality I need to be more like Him. The enemy is so tricky because this same snare is what allowed for me to view my good and perfect God, through the relationship I experienced with my sinful, evil, and broken earthly father.
The enemy told me God was the same as my earthy father.
God’s word told me: Jeremiah 9:24, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.โ
We were made in the image of God. We are made to know Him, and we are made to reflect His image to the world around us. Knowing God is critically essential to having a foundation in our relationship with Him. It is essential to grow in our knowledge of Him in order to live the Christian life. It is of significant importance because the way we view God (or do not view Him) impacts every other area of our lives; relationships, sin, worship, and healing. So it is no wonder that the very first thing the enemy wants us to call into question is who God is. If satan can distort this one area than the entirety of our belief system is on sandy ground, our faith will be shaky. If satan can cause us to question who God is then we will call into question God’s word.
God’s word is the very thing by which we come to believe and to know who He is and who we are, and of equal importance who we are not. The gospel is the very best Good News ever!
I want to share with you some of the things that helped me the most during my crisis of faith, the TRUTH’s that God used to draw me back to Him, to stay.
First thing, recognizing that the Bible is compromised of 66 books, with many stories, that make up ONE big story. The story of God’s love for us. When I discovered the metanarrative of the Bible it gave me an outline for development of my theology. As I studied individually and collectively the acts of creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration, I began to clearly see God’s mercy. In the stories that before seemed horrible and sad, say the entire first five books of the Old Testament, now were overflowing with God’s patience and mercy for His people. Instead of feeling confused about God sending Adam and Eve out of the garden, I could see the truth of His love for them and His protecting them from eating of the tree of life and thereby permanently separating mankind from Himself. When I read about how God clothed Adam and Eve, I now seen that the Lord Himself committed the first blood sacrifice for us, He loved us that much! When the Lord cursed the serpent, He also gave His best promise of a future redeemer who would put all things right again. I began to see Jesus throughout the whole Bible. OK, I recognize I am straying off my main point but I get so excited thinking about those early days of discovering God’s word being alive and active in my life and everyday moments.
The next area of study that was integral to my growing in the Lord and being submissive in what He was showing and saying to me was studying HIM. Studying His characteristiscs and attributes, clearly defining terms per His standard, as He is the creator of all things. Here is where I realized just how misled I had previously been. I began to realize the way I used terms like goodness and justice were really subjective because I hadn’t fully identified an objective standard for them. When pressed my faith was called into question because my foundation had significant damage… Below are just a few of the attributes that made an immediate difference in my ability to recognize a good God, a good FATHER, despite the suffering I endured by my earthly father. Now, I do want to be clear, knowing these things did take time to live out. It was painful. I spent equal amounts of time crying out to the Lord. This time though, I was humbled and submissive, I wasn’t asking for any “thing”. I was asking for more of HIM – for Him to show me how to take all the pain I had experienced in my life and turn it into an offering of praise. And that my friends, while it is so difficult for us is only a small thing for our lord, He is faithful to do so much more than we ask for…
God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. (Psalm 53:2)
FAITHFUL – God is incapable of anything but fidelity. He is loyally devoted to His plan and purpose. Scripture References: 2 Tim 2:13 / Deut. 7:9 / Heb. 10:23
OMNIPOTENT – God is all powerful. His strength is unlimited. Scripture References: Mat. 19:26 / Job 42:1-2 / Jer. 32:27
OMNIPRESENT – God is everywhere. His presence is near and permeating. Scripture References: Prov. 15:3; Psalm 139:7-10 / Jer. 23:23-24
HOLY – God is undefiled and unable to be in the presence of defilement. He is sacred and set-apart. Scripture References: Rev. 4:8 / Lev. 19:2 / Hab. 1:13
INCOMPREHENSIBLE & TRANSCENDENT – God is high above and beyond human understanding. He is unable to be fully known. Scripture References: Ps. 145:3 / IS. 55:8-9 / Rom. 11:33-36
IMMUTABLE – GOD DOES NOT CHANGE. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Scripture References: 1 Sam. 15:29 / Rom. 11:29 / James 1:17
SOVEREIGN – God governs over all things. He is in complete control. Scripture References: Col. 1:17 / Ps. 24:1-2 / 1 Chron. 29:11-12
JUST – God governs in perfect justice. He acts in accordance with justice. In Him, there is no wrongdoing or dishonesty. Scripture References: Is. 61:8 / Deut. 32:4 / Ps. 146:7-9
LOVING – God is eternally, enduringly, steadfastly loving and affectionate. He does not forsake or betray His covenant love. Scripture References: Jn. 3:16 / Eph. 2:4-5 / 1 Jn. 4:16
This is just a short list that in itself could be hours and hours of study. I hope this is helpful to you and I pray that wherever you are in you journey that the TRUTH of God’s word comforts you and leads you to your good shepherd, to our good Father. As God’s creation, we were made for worship. We will worship, whether it is for His glory or our destruction, we get to decide. I pray that today you will find Him in the quiet moments, the loud moments, the hurting moments, and that you too will ask Him to turn your sufferings into offerings of praise. I pray that you will use the low place you may be experiencing as a new viewpoint for looking up at the cross.
God is and will be faithful to do far more that you can ask.
The Meek Momma 