August 9, 2018 Thursday

“1 ¶  I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 ¶  with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3  endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6  one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7  But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8  Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9  (Now this, “He ascended”  — what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) 11  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13  till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14  that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15  but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —  16  from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:1-16 NKJV)

            Recently when teaching a celebrate recovery class in jail I told them if they came to Jesus they were freer than many people who are not behind bars! Paul speaks about the freedom to live as God desires while writing from prison because of his faith.  We were enslaved by our sin but Jesus set us free:

 “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

            Then Paul defines what it means to live out the freedom we have received through Jesus Christ. Jesus set us free so we can live in the way God would have us and brings glory to God, blessings to other people and enriches our own life. The Bible is 66 books proclaiming God’s love for us a guide of how to live.

            But Paul does not just define our freedom and how we should live he also calls for us to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ to also live out their faith through God’s strength.  Each of us must live our lives through the gift of the Holy Spirit who guides and strengthens to be able to love and live far beyond our own abilities.

            We also are to pray our lives in Jesus will prepare us to come together in unity as the body of Christ with Jesus as our head.  We must seek God’s will rather than deciding for ourselves and asking God to bless our will.  The Bible is a test for us to know if what we think or believe is correct.

            Have you been set free by trusting in Jesus as your Savior? Through Jesus Christ, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Bible are you growing in and living out your faith? Do you pray your brothers and sisters in Jesus are also growing in and living out their faith?

           

Last night we went to the Vision Team Meeting at Asbury last night and it was wonderful.  There is such great discussion and Rev Ashley is doing so good helping us see the need for personal growth in discipleship and then reaching out to the community.

Off to Townsend we go! The trip here was long, rough and terrible. I was not sure if I would make it but getting here and seeing the place made it worthwhile. Thank you God, Bonnie and Rebecca for being able to come here. Thank you Sarah for the idea to come here and that Jonathan is coming tomorrow!