Grow Up, Walk

 Grow Up, Walk

August 18, 2025

Ephesians 4:15-16

15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of thebody for the building up of itself in love.

Our pastors have been teaching a series on growing up. One of the first milestones for a child growing up is learning to walk. So this morning, let us look at a little background on walking from Ephesians 4-5.

Ephesians 4:1-2

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humilityand gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

Ephesians 4:17-18 - The Christian’s Walk

17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 beingdarkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offeringand a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Here is some information on walking from “Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament”.

“(4:1) "Walk" is peripateo, "to walk about," thus, "to conduct one's self, to order one's behavior." "Worthy" is axios, an adverb, meaning "in a manner worthy of." The adjective form means, "having the weight of (weighing as much as) another thing." Thus, Paul exhorts the Ephesian saints to see to it that their Christian experience, the Christian life they live, should weigh as much as the profession of Christianity which they make. In other words, they are to see to it that they practice what they preach, that their experience measures up to their standing in grace.

“(4:17) "Therefore" resumes the exhortation of 4:1-3. …

"Walk" is peripateo, "to conduct one's self, order one's behavior." "Vanity" is mataios, "that which is in vain, aimless, resultless, futile." The word speaks of want of attainment. "Mind" is nous, not merely the intellectual faculty or understanding, but also the faculty for recognizing moral good and spiritual truth. Expositors says: "It is a description of the walk of the heathen world generally-a walk moving within the limits of intellectual and moral resultlessness, given over to things devoid of worth or reality."

“(5:1, 2) "Be" is ginomai, "to become." "Followers" is mimetai, "imitators." Our word "mimick" comes from this Greek word. Expositors says: "The loftiest and most exalting endeavor that can possibly be set before man, proposed to us by Christ Himself (Matt. 5:45, 48)." …  "Walk in love" is "be constantly ordering your behavior within the sphere of love." This love is the agape love which God is, which God exhibited at the Cross, which Paul analyzes in I Corinthians 13, and which is the fruit of the Spirit in the yielded saint. The saint is to order his behavior or manner of life within the sphere of this divine, supernatural love produced in his heart by the Holy Spirit.”

(“Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament”, From Ephesians 4 and 5)

Sit

 Sit

August 13, 2025

Ephesians 1:20-21

20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 2:6-8

6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show thesurpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

One of the mysteries of the gospel is that one must start your spiritual journey in Christ by sitting down. It by acknowledging that Christ has done it all and is sitting in heavenly places that we come to be saved by grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it and nothing we can do to redeem ourselves. We need to accept His free gift and sit down with Him in heavenly places. It is a mystery. Every other religion imposes tasks that must be performed, Sacrifices that must be made and penance that must be given in order to please the gods. Not so in Christianity. We must simply accept a relationship with Jesus, acknowledge His lordship over our lives and receive the adoption as sons. Once this is settled, we can sit with Him and listen to His voice. Only then can we hear His gentle voice and begin to walk in the ways that He instructs. So then, sit down end enter His rest, for He cares for you.

(For additional wisdom on this topic, see a little book by Watchman Nee, “Sit, Walk, Stand”.)

Father

 Father

August 8, 2025

Ephesians 3:14-19

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christmay dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Yesterday we talked about the importance of fathers in bringing order out of chaos.  But to be a good father, we need to emulate the perfect father; our Heavenly Father. He is the pattern. Here in Ephesians it states that every family derived its name from Him. That is to say that He has a plan and purpose for every family. Wisdom is seeking His plan so that we can be strengthened with power in the inner man. When we find the plan for our family, it will include faith and love. When we find His order, we can push back the chaos. His love surpasses our knowledge, but when we seek Him, He can help us to comprehend the breadth, length, height and depth His love. It is behind me to even explain It properly, but I pray that we, as fathers, can find the wisdom to bring his order and love to our families, that we may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Chaos

 Chaos

August 7, 2025

Genesis 1:1-2

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Last night I dreamed about chaos. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my niece and two other teenage girls were visiting! Anyway, I digress. My dream was about chaos in society and the role of fathers in bringing order and stability. The natural order according to the law of entropy is chaos. Like it was in the beginning, formless and void, the universe was total chaos until Father God started to speak order into existence. It was only after a series of “Let there be..”s that order came into the universe. Then, on the sixth day, God created man…

Genesis 1:26

26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

The first purpose of man was to rule over the earth, to continue to bring order out of chaos. That is still the purpose of fathers today (not to rule out the very important role of mothers, as well). So what happens when fathers abdicate their role in the family and society? Chaos ensues.

Take the story of the old farmer and the preacher. A young preacher had just moved into town and was walking around his parish to meet the people when he came upon the old farmer in his field. “My, what a magnificent and beautiful field the Lord has given you!”, he said as he greeted the farmer. “Well”, the farmer replied, “you should have seen it when He had it all to himself.” … Without constant work and attention, entropy takes over and order descends into chaos.

So what does that have to do with affairs today? When you look around you see chaos. Crime in the streets, drug abuse, child trafficking, pornography, evil of every sort. One judge had the habit of asking the young men he sentenced about their relationship to their father. Not one of the young criminals in his court had been raised with a decent father. Fathers bring order. They are charged with ruling the family and teaching discipline. When fathers are missing in action, chaos ensues.

How do we fix society? That a deep and complex problem, but one critical component of the answer would be to encourage the Biblical role of fathers in the family. America was formed on Biblical principles, including the Ten Commandments. And one of the most important one, the only one with a promise is this:

Exodus 20:12

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

So whatever we do to rescue society, restoring the honoring of fathers and mothers is a critical step. So pray for revival, pray for repentance, and pray for fathers.

A Holy Temple

 A Holy Temple

August 3, 2025

Ephesians 2:19-22

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having beenbuilt on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

It’s Sunday morning, a day in which it is our privilege to gather together as the body of Christ, “a holy temple in the Lord”. We “are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit”. We need to remember that we are the body of Christ corporately. We are not just individuals, saved by grace, but we are built together to serve the Lord’s purpose here on the Earth. American’s, in particular, value their individualism, but in the body of Christ, we all serve one another as distinct members with an individual purpose. But together, we comprise a whole body and are able to represent the Lord in the world. So gather joyfully with one another. Build one another up and worship the Lord as a glad company. It’s Sunday, a day to gather, worship and rest in the Lord.

Habakkuk 2:20

20 “But the LORD is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

Confident

 Confident

July 29, 2025

Philippians 1:6

6For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Are you confident that you will complete a perfect work? You are probably like me and have doubts, since there are so many things that can waylay you before the end. But note, Paul didn’t say that he was confident in the people of Philippi, but he was confident in God, that He would complete the good work. So our confidence isn’t in ourselves, for we are very fallible, but our confidence is in God. Where we are apt to fail, He is capable of success. Where we are prone to giving up, He can sustain us till the end. I’m grateful that we don’t have to rely on our own abilities to succeed for He is our strength and song and also our salvation.

Exodus 15:2

2 “ The LORD is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation;

This is my God, and I will praise Him;

My father’s God, and I will extol Him.

Far Above all Rule…

 Far above all Rule…

July 28, 2025

Ephesians 1:20-21

20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far aboveall rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

A good place to start the week is acknowledging the position of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 that Christ is seated in heavenly places and has been given authority to rule over every power in the earth today. Over governments, over kingdoms, over parliaments and congresses and even over tyrants and dictators. As Psalm 2 says, they can rant and rage for a time, but ultimate authority rests in heaven. The early American fathers understood this. There was even a flag called “An Appeal to Heaven”, that was flown as a prayer and a defiant statement to King George to remind him that there was an ultimate authority over the King of England. Yes, we see evil and tyranny in the world today, but we need to remember that we belong to a kingdom that is far above these earthly kingdoms, and that one day righteousness will prevail. When we take our rightful place in God’s kingdom, we can take authority over disease and oppression. So don’t give up and don’t give in. Live today as a King’s kid, an ambassador of the King of Kings. Live in the victory that He has won, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.