Month: February 2012

Posted in Ephesians

Ephesians 3

Posted on by Christy Petty

Ephesians 3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6the secret that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, as the Israelites, ‘Sons of Abraham’ and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints,humbling himself this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

All of these requests by Paul for either these Gentiles or all Believers from this point on, is inspiring and teaching to me as what I ‘can’ request from God , what I have ‘access’ to if I acknowledge?

  • to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man 
  • Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height
  • 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; 
  • that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, this reaffirms my previous thoughts, he is ABLE to do more than we would ask or think, beyond our comprension, I believe FOR us,through the Holy Spirit in us, that also directs… 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Anyone have any other ideas?

Posted in Exhort Pray Praise...

God NOT a Fighter

Posted on by Christy Petty

Recently I read a comment of God and his ‘fighting against evil’ and the various ‘evils’ listed that God fights against.  It made me think.  I don’t see God as battling anything. Maybe I am fighting over the semantics of ‘fighting’. I think though that so many put God in the humanness that we are, because we are ‘made in his image’. Our simple logic then makes God ‘be’ the same as we. God is NOT made like man. God is not ‘made’.

 

God is against all evil. God hates sin. God sees disobedience as an abomination. Proverbs 6:16  There are six things that the Lord hates, that are an abomination to him:17 haughty eyes, fa lying tongue,and hands that shed innocent blood,18  ha heart that devises wicked plans,feet that make haste to run to evil,19   false witness who breathes out lies,and one who sows discord among brothers.   God is good, nothing but good. God is righteous, nothing but righteousness. Psalm 7:11  God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. God is perfect, nothing but perfection.Deuteronomy 32:4 4  “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. God is omnipotent, he knows absolutely everything that is and is to come. Any battle with God will be lost. So how can God be at war with anything. He can hate, abhor, be against,be intolerant of, and not be fighting. Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God lis revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

 

A fight, a battle is two equal or semi equal beings going against each other. Nothing is equal to God, nothing can conquer God.God has no need to battle evil, he has already won’.

 

Evil has reason to come up against God, because it will be destroyed by God, it is trying, but will never win. Revelations 20:10 the devil who had deceived them was  thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. It is like the 5 year old boy who runs a race with his dad; he tries because he must, he hopes he will win, but he actually knows he will not beat his dad. The dad, if honest, will run his best win the race, not to battle, but because he is bigger and stronger. There is no possibility of his losing the race, so there is no battle.

 

I am not trying to fight with those who say ‘God fights’. I think I understand where we get the idea that God fights against evil.  All good does. Batman, Superman, Republic, White hats.. fight against the black hats, the Jokers, the freedom takers of the world. We being simple beings put God in the place of battling an equal adversary with the chance of losing. We are wrong.  God does not put on a white hat and cape and try to fight the bad guy to win. God does not try he does win. We are who has to battle evil.2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. God wants us to fight evil, resist. So we can have Him in our lives. .2John 1:9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. God sees the evil as the destroyer of all who live in it, evil consumes. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.God can not be consumed by evil, but we can. God wants for us to leave evil, to quit feeding evil and one day, he WILL destroy evil, just destroy it.  God stands against evil, if we are doing evil (sin) He stands against us. Hebrews 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  God does no fight, it sets it all right. To me, to say God has to fight to win, actually weakens Him,(not literally, we are not capable of that) as if He has to struggle to win. God never loses.

Posted in Bible Study, Ephesians

Ephesians 2:1-22

Posted on by Christy Petty

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 2: 1  And you He made alive, by Jesus Death and Resurection who were dead in trespasses and sins, everyone2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, Satan 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. All man follows Satan and are sons of disobedience (Satan) and Christ died for all, those who continue to walk with Satan are DEAD, beleivers USED TO. 

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  God provided Christ to save us, to resurect US from death8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Gods grace, love, saved us nothing we did, 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. the good works prepared by God11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision – Jews, God’s chosen, made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. No longer considered alien, nor uncircumcised, now ‘belong’ to God as do the circumcised, as if ARE14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, the curtain between man and the Holy of Holies 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, the LAW is gone so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both Gentile and Jew, Circumcised and unCircumcised,  have access by one Spirit to the Father.19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.  Gentiles, those not of inheritance of Abraham,Jews , those of The Law,are now the same as, Christ’s Death was for all that believe in him. All are of THE inheritance through Christ