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Revelation 2:1-7 - "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I ha

Ephesians 6:21-24 - "So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible." Paul closes his letter to the

Ephesians 6:10-20 - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil

Ephesians 6:5-9 - "Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your th

Ephesians 6:1-4 - "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." To begin his closing chapter to the Ephesians, Paul shifts from discussing marriage to discussing the family. God's command to man and wo

Ephesians 5:22-33 - "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might pr

Ephesians 5:1-21 - "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexu

Ephesians 4:17-32 - "'Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard

Ephesians 4:1-16 - "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through

Ephesians 3:1-21 - “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the

Ephesians 2:11-22 - “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he hi

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ - “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with whi

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭23‬ - “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his gl

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemptio

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” - Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ Over the next couple of months, we will be going through the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. Paul visited Ephesus on his third missionary journey around AD 53-57. He spent nearly three years there ministering to the church

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭24‬-‭27‬ - “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” In his first letter to the Cor

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” - ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬ I am taking a short, two-week break from the blog. I have been blessed with an opportunity to preach soon, and my mind and heart have been focused in on that responsibility. This will be my first time back in the pulpit in nearly two months, and it has been an incredibly long and difficult journey back into it. I praise God for neve

Titus 2:1 - "But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine." Many people who claim to be Christians today refuse to join a church. People point to past church hurt, a lack of time, or a lack of good local churches as a reason why they refuse to join a church. This shift away from the local church has in part been exacerbated by the growing online and megachurch movement. Many of the world's biggest churches now broadcast directly into your home via television, intern

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” - ‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ Last week, I wrote about enduring trials based on James 1. This week, we continue our look into James but this time we will be looking into the end of chapter three. Here James is discussing wisdom. This week’s blog, much like last week, is a standalone blog post. We are not necessarily doing a study on James, although ma

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” - James‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ We are finished with the Armor of God series and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This week we are not starting a new series, but instead I am reflecting on some recent life events and looking at them through a biblical lens. I pray that this may help you endure d