Advent Day 17, the Gift of Family

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December 17, 2011

The Gift of Family

This Advent Daily Devotional is focusing on the gifts God gives us, as uncovered in the book of Ephesians. 

Did you know that researchers have found that people who are married have a better life?  Yes, it’s true!  Many may find holes in the data to support their own experience, however, if you are married there is a strong likelihood that you will live a longer life, have a better financial picture, and enjoy better mental health and greater safety than those who are not married.[1]

From my perspective, this data supports God’s perfect plan all along.  Today’s Gift from Ephesians is the Gift of Family. 

Here’s how The Message describes the key relationship of wives and husbands, beginning in Ephesians 5:22:

Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

Paul’s definition of marriage is the way God would like it to be for us.  That’s the way it CAN be.  It’s not just a pipe dream or an awesome goal.  With the Holy Spirit in us and encouraging us daily, it CAN be that way. 

A good marriage takes a lot of hard work… a good family life even more work.  It is understandable to say that you may feel like you’ve put out all the hard work you can muster at your job and that there just isn’t enough time or energy to put in the hard work to make your marriage in the way God intended. I get that.

Someone once said that marriage is not a 50-50 proposition, in that each spouse does 50% of the work.  No, marriage is a 100-100 proposition.  Both the husband and the wife are to pour 100% of their energies into making it work.

One could drone on and on about what makes a good marriage and what makes a bad marriage, quoting wedding vows and divorce statistics.

It’s not that simple.  Life is complex.  It is complicated as a single adult.  It’s more challenging as a couple.  And it gets really interesting when that couple adds some children into that life.  But what a gift your family can be!  What a joy our children are!  Especially when we take the time to see them as God does.

Billy Graham says “Children will invariably talk, eat, walk, think, respond, and act like their parents. Give them a target to shoot at. Give them a goal to work toward. Give them a pattern that they can see clearly, and you give them something that gold and silver cannot buy.”[2]

Marriage, and family, is a great gift!  When you have a little more time this Season, read Ephesians 5:22 through 6:4 and ponder how you can be a better parent, or a better child, in your family.  Ask God to give you His grace and His eyes to see your family members the way He does.  That is a wonderful gift!

Father God, thank you for the gift of my family.  Let me see the members of my family the way you do.  Use me to bring your peace and your grace and your love to my family this Season.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

© 2011. Rich Ronald

[1] The Case for Marriage, by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher, 2001, Broadway Press.

[2] Billy Graham, The Hour of Decision, 1958

Advent Day 16, The Gift of Encouragement

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December 16

The Gift of Encouragement

This Advent Daily Devotional is focusing on the gifts God gives us, as uncovered in the book of Ephesians. 

When you feel a need for encouragement, how do you get it?  Do you call someone special?  Do you exercise or paint or play a game with your son or daughter?  How about singing or dancing or just watching a play or a movie? Or maybe it’s just connecting with a good friend over coffee or tossing a ball to your dog.

We all need encouragement from time to time, don’t we?

Today’s gift is what I see to be the Gift of Encouragement.  It’s probably just the way I’m wired, but I see encouragement all through the paragraph that begins with Verse 18 of Chapter 5: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20, NIV)

Within the past year or so I took a spiritual connection assessment.  It asked a series of questions about how one connects with God.  Some people connect with God best by being out in nature; some in quiet solitude.  For me, my strongest connection with God is in worship.  I love to worship and sing my heart out and I love those musicians who lead worship and so skillfully take us to a place of complete adoration of God.  And truly, when one is fully immersed in worship, I can understand how Paul connects it with being drunk.   And I see this as a gift of encouragement in that he says “to speak to one another with psalms…”

The Psalms are a fabulous source of encouragement. Many are David’s personal journal entries.  I can so relate to David.   Often he begins a Psalm, such as Psalm 69, with a cry: “Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life!  I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold… I am weary with my crying… I wait for my God…” And then, as he journals and writes and ponders the greatness of God’s blessings through the next several verses, more than likely in song, the Holy Spirit takes him to a place of adoration at the conclusion: Verse 34: “Let heaven and earth praise Him!”

May I encourage you to encourage one another, through the words of the Psalms, or through other places of Scripture?  Write them out as prayers and give them to one another… and encourage one another.

That is the true Gift of Encouragement!  God gave us His word, filled with songs of blessings.  Yes, you can read them yourself. However, isn’t it great when God gives you a word of Scripture that he wants you to share with someone else?  Or he directs someone to a specific passage and they write it down and give it to you?  This is how the body is built up. 

Mary, the mother of Jesus, answered the call of her destiny with a song and a word of encouragement.  Following her encounter with the angel Gabriel, and as she met with her cousin Elizabeth — who was also supernaturally pregnant, carrying her son, John the Baptizer — Mary quotes the Old Testament song of Hannah from 1st Samuel 2. 

“I’m bursting with God-news! I’m walking on air. I’m laughing at my rivals. I’m dancing my salvation.  Nothing and no one is holy like God…” (1 Samuel 2: 1-2, The Message)

The words of both Mary and Hannah!  That is sheer joy and encouragement all in one!  May you receive this gift, and be available to give this gift to others, during this Advent season.

Father God, thank you for those who encourage me when I need to be encouraged.  Thank you for blessing me with every spiritual blessing.  May I be both a giver and a receiver this Advent.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

© 2011. Rich Ronald

Advent Day 11, the Gift of Unity

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December 11

The Gift of Unity

 This Advent Daily Devotional is focusing on the 25 gifts God gives us, as uncovered in the book of Ephesians. 

Do you remember the TV show The Waltons?  While there is no such thing as a perfect family, if there was ever an award for the perfect television family, John Boy and his ma and pa, Olivia and John, his grandparents and six brothers and sisters might have been the winners.  The show was on during the 1970’s.  Set during the depression in rural Virginia, the Walton’s lived life peaceably and with great resolve.  They got along well and held virtue to its highest esteem.   Remember the love that flowed as they ended each episode?  “Goodnight Grandpa, Goodnight Mary Ellen, Goodnight Jim Bob,GoodnightPa, Goodnight Elizabeth, Goodnight John Boy.”

This is perhaps a picture you might see as Paul encourages the family of Christ at the beginning of Ephesians, Chapter 4.

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV)

This passage summaries the unity that God so longs we all share together as the body of Christ… regardless of where we go to church.

A pastor friend of mine used to say that there are certain things that are disputable within the Body of Christ, such as music, dress, how we raise our kids, movies, politics, that kind of thing.  But there are certain things that are bedrock truths.  And this is what Paul is saying here.  This is the gift of unity.  One body.  One Spirit.  One Hope.  One Faith.  One Baptism.  One God, the Father.  And right in the middle?  One Lord.  One.  And his name is Jesus Christ!  So… Paul is saying, “c’mon church.  We can agree on this!  Let’s lift up the name of Christ together… for his glory.” 

Have you ever travelled someplace far away, whether on a mission trip, or just someplace away from home, and met another Christ-follower for the first time?  There is a sweet common bond, isn’t there?  A unity that we share together.  And it’s deeper than what your alma mater is or the sports team you root for. 

You have undoubtedly heard the joke that asks the question “what car did the disciples drive?”  Acts 2:1 says that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all in one “Accord”?   God bless Honda!

It’s an interesting picture to think of the whole church being crammed in one place, all going the same direction… In some ways that IS the picture of unity in the body of Christ. 

Paul says in Philippians 2:1-2 (NIV):

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

May we be encouraged to embrace unity.  And may we do so in a way worthy of Christ… being humble, gentle, patient and bearing with one another in love.   May you receive, and give, this Gift of Unity this Advent.

Father God, I pray for all Believers around the world today.  May we all be united in bringing the Gospel message to the lost and hurting, especially during this season.  May Your peace come on earth, as it is in Heaven.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

© 2011. Rich Ronald

Advent Day 9, The Gift of Jesus dwelling in our heart

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December 9

The Gift of Jesus dwelling in our hearts

 

We all know the difference between a house and a home.  A house is merely a place to live.  It becomes a home when those who live in the house add love.  It doesn’t have anything to do with the things we hang on the wall, the furniture in the family room or soft lighting in the living room.  The proverb says “Home is where the heart is.”

Today we receive a two-fold gift, found in Ephesians 3:16-17 (NCV): “I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit. I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love.”

Paul prays for the Church here, that we may be strengthened by the Holy Spirit so that Christ may dwell in our hearts.  The Greek word he uses for “dwell” means to “always be present.”  Is there a greater gift to receive than this?  Christ…  Living in our hearts…  in our life… built on love… strengthened by the Holy Spirit.. always present.

God can and does give us many, many things… every spiritual blessing, remember the first gift in this Advent study?   John Eadie, a Scottish theologian from the mid 1800’s suggests that God is not being frugal here.  “His bounty proclaims His conscious possession of immeasurable resources. He bestows according to the riches of His glory—His own infinite fullness.” [1]

God gives us His all… and His all is to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit so that Christ may dwell in our hearts.   Revelation 21:3 says that no longer does God dwell in a building that man has made such as the Tabernacle that Moses set up in the desert and moved from place to place.  No… “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”  Jesus is the New Tabernacle!  And He dwells within us! 

And in John 15, Jesus stresses the benefit of abiding with him…  verse 5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

 As God’s children, we are given ALL.  The Greatest Gifts.  And that is represented in today’s gift, Jesus living in our heart.

Father God, thank you that you no longer live or dwell in man-made buildings or temples, but that Jesus lives in our heart.  Make my heart a loving place where He is glorified.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Advent Day 8, the gift of Boldness and Confident Access

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December 8

The Gift of Boldness and Confident Access

Think back to elementary school.  Did you ever get called up to the teacher’s desk for a one-on-one meeting?  Not a disciplinary confrontation, mind you, just a “please come here I want to talk with you” meeting.  Generally, there were two opposite responses from the room full of pupils.  One student would sheepishly approach the front of the classroom, head hanging low, feet shuffling along, fearful.  Another student would stride confidently, chin up, eyes fixed on the teacher’s eyes. The first lacked confidence, the second acted boldly.

Our next Advent gift is found in Ephesians 3:12, the gift of boldness! 

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. (Ephesians 3:12 NIV).  The word “confidence” can be translated “boldness” or even “cheerful courage.”

Someone once asked the question “What was the difference between the disciple Peter at Passover and Peter at Pentecost?”  It was 50 days… and there was a 180 degree change in Peter.  Recall at Passover, Peter was afraid, he acted cowardly, even lying to a young girl about his connection with Jesus.  At Pentecost, in Acts 2, he boldly proclaimed the Gospel on the steps of the Temple for all in Jerusalem to hear.  And over 3,000 responded to his sermon and were baptized that day!   What was the difference?  He was filled with the Holy Spirit!   

Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, gives us boldness to proclaim the Gospel… and also to approach the Father in Heaven to ask Him for whatever we need. 

Why can we do that?  In the old days, man needed a mediator to go between him and Holy God.  No longer, thanks to the grace of Jesus!  You may recall that the moment Jesus died, the Holy of Holies in the Temple became accessible to everyone. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  Matthew 27:51 (NIV).  We now have access to the throne of God, and today’s scripture says we can have “confident access” (Ephesians 3:12 NASB). 

So, ask.  Receive.  And boldly proclaim, with confidence.   And we have such confidence, because, as the writer of Hebrews notes in Hebrews 10:23,  “He who promised is faithful.”

Be encouraged to use this great gift this Advent, the gift of being able to go directly to the LORD of Lords, the King of kings. 

Father God, we are grateful for this gift of being able to pray directly to you.  Thank you, Jesus, for tearing the veil away from the Holy of Holies.  Holy Spirit, give us the boldness to proclaim the love of the Gospel.  For your glory.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

(c) 2011. Rich Ronald

Advent Day 7, the Gift of Ministry

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December 7th

The Gift of Ministry

One of the things that is fascinating about being a Believer is that God calls each of us to act. And He does so through our spiritual wiring… once we bow the knee to Jesus there is something that prods us along to engage others in care, compassion and service.  The next Advent gift is found in Ephesians 3:7… the gift of ministry. 

This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. (Ephesians 3:7-8 The Message)

Do you know that every believer is a minister?  On the letterhead at the first church where I served, it listed all the staff pastors.  But at the top of the list it said “Ministers, Every Member.” If you were an active part of the congregation you were expected to also be a minister.  Not in a vocational position, but in the day to day community life of the Fellowship.

That’s truly how it is.  Paul says if you are Gentile, or non Gentile, Christian or Jew, if you partake of the promises in Christ Jesus, if you have received His grace, you are a minister… one who God will use for His Kingdom purposes.

Can people come to know Jesus in a tattoo parlor?  There is a ministry in St. Louis that focuses just on that group.   How about motorcycle gangs?  I passed a guy on a Harley recently that had a “Bikers For Christ” patch on the back of his leather jacket.  There is a Christian legal group for attorneys, there is a Christian Medical and Dental Association, there are professional sports ministries, Christian pilots, Mothers of Preschoolers… you name it, whatever the group of people, there are Believers who are ministering to one another.  And most are doing so without an ordained, pulpit pounding, seminary trained “professional minister” at the head of the organization.  And that’s the way God wants it. 

It’s a gift to be able to minister to one another with His grace.  Every Believer has been given the ability — by the power of the Holy Spirit — to listen, to pray, to encourage, to minister.

God has uniquely equipped you to minister to your neighbor.  Scripture says that one of primary reasons we go through trials and difficulties is so that we can encourage others when we get to the other side of that challenge.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)

May God continue to give you grace and blessing as you minister to one another.  So, receive this gift and use it often, the gift of ministering to one another.

Father God, thank you for the gift of ministry. May the Holy Spirit lead me to minister to those who need to see your love, grace and compassion.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

(c) 2011. Rich Ronald

Advent Day 2. The Gift of Being Adopted by God

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December 2nd

Adopted as His children

 

Do a Google search on the word “adopted” and you’ll find heartfelt story after story of a child being adopted and given a new life when the birth parent(s) would only be able to provide much less.  There are countless examples of the famous and obscure enjoying a fresh life thanks to being adopted, to being chosen.

God is the ultimate adoptive parent.  He has given us the choice of whether or not we want to be adopted by Him, through His Son.  And, being the omnipotent God that He is, He knows what our choice will be while urging each of us to become His child. 

The next gift?  Adoption.  “In love, he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:5 NIV)

Now, some people get hung up on “predestined.”   Some would suggest that if God has predestined whether or not I go to heaven, then I don’t need to get caught up in His decision.  I can act like I want… and since it is mentioned in several other places in the Bible that God wants everyone to be saved… I’ve been predestined to go to heaven… then it doesn’t matter how I act, right?

Predestination means God has the plan… and it’s a good and great plan…. But WE do the choosing whether or not we’re going to follow that plan.   When we choose God, we receive the inheritance, like sons and daughters.  Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) speaks of God’s plan for us: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  So, why wouldn’t we want to accept the plan God has for us?  It’s a great plan.  It’s a wonderful gift!

John Calvin, one of the great leaders of the Christian faith in the 1500’s wrote and preached much on predestination.  He suggests that no one can live a Godly life without the Holy Spirit being in him… without God having called that person to be a Believer. 

Why would a person want to be God’s son or daughter?  God’s love for each person is so immense that nothing can contain God’s love for us (Romans 8:38-39).  Calvin suggests:   “When we have our adoption engraved in our hearts, then…we have a good and infallible pledge that God will guide us unto the end, and that since he has begun to lead us into the way of salvation, he will bring us to the perfection to which he calls us, because, in truth, without him we could not continue so much as a single day.” [1]

God has called us.  God has elected us.  John 1:12 (NASB) says: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born… not of the will of man, but of God.”

God has predestined us to follow Him, to embrace the great things He has for us, to love Him.  And I am thankful for that gift… because with it, He is the One who guides us through this life on our path to spending all of eternity with Him.  He guides.  We choose.

So, gift #2 is the Gift of Adoption, of being called God’s son or God’s daughter, and all the love that goes with it.

 

Thank you God, for this Gift of Adoption, of being Your child.  We joyfully choose to be your child and receive all the love you give to us as our unfailing Heavenly Father.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


[1] John Calvin, The Third Sermon on the First Chapter of Ephesians.  Calvin’s Ephesians’ Sermons, preached on Sundays at Geneva in 1558-59, when he was 49 years of age, were first printed in French in 1562, then in English in 1577. www.the-highway.com.

(c) 2011 Rich Ronald

Advent… getting ready.

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Advent: The Greatest Gifts of All

Welcome to Advent, the season that welcomes our Lord Jesus and leads up to the celebration of His birth.  This study will take, perhaps, a slightly different slant to the season as we open Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus.  Why Ephesians?  Well, you are right to suggest that the book isn’t very “Christmasy.”  There are no stories about trips on donkeys, a baby born in a stable or angels singing outside the window. 

The book of Ephesians mirrors many writings throughout the Bible.  It includes these two main points:

  1. God loves you and has always had a plan for you
  2. And that plan has always included the hope and glory and power and wisdom and love of Jesus our Messiah.

Even if you have never bowed your knee to Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, know that God loves you and has a plan for you.

So, let’s take the month of December, between now and Christmas Day and give Ephesians a closer look. At its core, we’ll discover 25 wonderful gifts God desires to give each one of us.  They are The Greatest Gifts of All.   Are you ready to receive them?

From Ephesians Chapter 1:15-23 (NIV), a prayer for you from Paul.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  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. I pray 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 his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

The very words of God. 

Paul starts this prayer offering thanksgiving for the church.  He asks God to give them all wisdom and revelation so that the church may know God better.  And then Paul prays for their heart… so that they may know His hope, His inheritance and His power!  And then He affirms that that power is the same that raised a dead man to life and in its fullness, is available to us… filling everything in every way.

There will be a new devotional thought each day, beginning tomorrow, December 1st.  So bookmark this page, or subscribe to the receive your daily Advent devotional via the “follow blog via email” button at the right.

The 25 Days of God’s greatest gifts, from the book of Ephesians (chapter and verse in parenthesis):

  1. The gift of every spiritual blessing (1:3)
  2. The gift of being adopted as God’s son or daughter (1:5)
  3. The gift of being sealed with God by the Holy Spirit (1:13)
  4. The free gift of Salvation (2:8)
  5. The gift of work to do at God’s request (2:10)
  6. The gift of being a citizen of Heaven (2:19)
  7. The gift of grace for all ministers, that is everyone who ministers in Jesus’ name, for all believers (3:7)
  8. The gift of boldness and confident access (3:12)
  9. The gift of Jesus dwelling in our hearts (3:17)
  10. The gift of knowing how much Christ loves us (3:19)
  11. The gift of unity (4:4-6)
  12. The gift of grace (4:7)
  13. The gift of learning with a purpose (4:11)
  14. The gift a new self, in the likeness of God (4:24)
  15. The gift of Christ himself, an offering, a sacrifice (5:2)
  16. The gift of encouraging others (5:18-21)
  17. The gift of family (5:22-6:9)
  18. The gift of victory over the enemy (6:10-12)
  19. The gift of weaponry, the belt of truth (6:14)
  20. The gift of weaponry, the breastplate of righteousness (6:14)
  21. The gift of weaponry, the boots of readiness to share the Gospel (6:15)
  22. The gift of weaponry, the shield of faith (6:16)
  23. The gift of weaponry, the helmet of salvation (6:17)
  24. The gift of weaponry, the sword of the Spirit (6:17)
  25. The gift of prayer (6:18)


(c) 2011 Rich Ronald