Author: Megan Langan

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day four)

Paul had a lot to say to the church in Ephesus and to us through this letter. We learned that though we were born as outsiders, we’ve been adopted as sons and daughters of God and made blameless through the sacrifice of Christ. We learned that Jesus – his life, death, and resurrection – was the Father’s plan from the beginning. Christ stands at the center of the cosmos, and all things are through him and for him. We also learned that he is the cornerstone of the church, making us part of God’s temple. In the second half of the letter, we learned what it means to be apart of God’s temple – how to live together in unity, purity, and gentleness. We even learned that there is far more to life than the physical reality in front of us – there are spiritual realities and battles that we are often blind to, but have been outfitted for nonetheless through the Spirit.

After all this that Paul has taught us, as if he knows that we might feel overwhelmed, he gives us one simple command  – to pray.

No time spent in prayer is wasted. There is no subject that is too big, too small, or mentioned too often when it comes to prayer. We are meant to pray at all times, through the power of the Spirit, so that we might experience the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love for us.

How has our study in Ephesians caused you to pray?

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:10-17 (day four)

When we read verse 12, it’s easy to imagine the “authorities of the unseen world” and “evil spirits in heavenly places” like something out of a paranormal horror movie. To be sure, there are horribly dark and evil things that occur in this world. However, I think a lot of the spiritual warfare we experience is more subtle, and more insidious than that.

When we believe lies that parade around as truth, when we allow apathy to creep in, when we are blinded by pride, when we allow a sinful habit to take hold – these are also the realities of spiritual warfare. But before we are overcome by fear at how present these things seem, Paul reminds us – we’ve been given everything we need for life and godliness, we’ve been given the armor of God.

It is a powerful thing to pray the armor of God over yourself, your spouse, your friends, and your children. It is impenetrable, fashioned by the God of the universe, and stronger than anything we may face.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 5:15-21 (day four)

One of my favorite professors in seminary taught a class on worship. He shared a thought in that class that has stuck with me ever since: in the gathered worship service, for some that are present, it took all they had just to get through the door. Life’s hardships have become too much to raise their voice, but they sought the presence of Jesus and got through the door. For the rest of us, whether we know their hardships or not, we sing on their behalf. Our song of praise lifts them up and wraps them in love as they seek the Spirit’s presence.

There will also be days where the roles are reversed. Where we give our last bit of strength to simply get through the door on a Sunday morning. But the song of those around us ministers to us and lifts us up. They sing on our behalf. I know I have had days like this, and the sound of the congregation’s singing carried me into the presence of God.

Paul isn’t being cute here when he tells us to sing. He knows that this is one of the ways the body of Christ can minister to one another. Our song to the Lord is also a ministry to our neighbor.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 5:8-14 (day four)

In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis beautifully depicts God’s light. When the narrator steps into the heavenly realm and into the light, he experiences it’s warmth and freedom, but it also makes him feel exposed. This tension of freedom and exposure runs throughout the book, and it is exactly the tension that many of us feel as we wrestle with sin.

When we get things out in the light, confessing and repenting of our sin before God and others, the truth is that we are exposed. We are vulnerable and we feel the tension of taking what was once hidden and putting it in the light. But the good news is that our vulnerability is met with the kindness of Jesus. He meets us where we are, removes our sin and shame, and replaces it with freedom.

Exposing our sin to the light is uncomfortable, the light might hurt our eyes at first. But it is the only path to freedom.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:17-24 (day four)

The phrase “ignorance is bliss” hadn’t been coined yet, but Paul is already proving how untrue it is. The Gentiles were living in ignorance, hardening their hearts towards God and searching for satisfaction through lusts of the flesh. Their lives were anything but blissful. Anyone who has ventured down that spiral of sin would say they felt shameful, not satisfied.

Paul is telling us, ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s death. But we, the redeemed of the Lord, aren’t living in ignorance – we have seen Christ and we have heard his teaching. God’s plans for heaven and earth have been revealed to us and we’ve been given all truth through Christ. Therefore, we can no longer claim ignorance. We have seen the light and we can’t unsee it. We have seen the better way.

When our flesh inevitably tries to lure us back into that spiral of sin, when we’re tempted to put the old self back on, we must stand firm knowing that we have seen the fullness of light and witnessed the fullness of love.  After seeing the truth revealed in Jesus, we can’t go back to how we used to be, no matter how hard gravity pulls in that direction. We are accountable to what we know, so stand firm in the new self – it is through life in the Spirit that we find bliss.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:11-16 (day four)

“…to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” v 13

We are meant to become like Christ. That isn’t just an inspirational saying, it’s our calling. Paul means this so much he says it again in verse 15, “we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ..” Regardless of your vocational calling, our highest calling in life is to be transformed more and more into Christ’s likeness.

As soon as I’m reminded of this calling, I think about my shortcomings, limits, and sins. I still struggle with things that seem like they should have been conquered long ago. This transformation into Christ’s likeness can feel like it’s two steps forward, one step back. When I attempt to gain spiritual growth on my own, I end up just walking in circles.

But the Apostle Peter tells us that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness. What have we been given? The very Spirit of God. We can’t attain Christ’s likeness on our own, but the Spirit will always move us towards Christ. What are you struggling with? With whom in your life do you struggle to represent Christ? Bringing that to the Lord in prayer is the first step in becoming more like Christ.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:1-6 (day four)

Paul asks us to be diligent in preserving unity in the church. Other translations say “…make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Unity isn’t just something we hope for or proclaim as a value. Paul says that unity is something we work for, not halfheartedly, but making every effort to keep the church unified in one Spirit, one hope, one Lord.

To be honest, I don’t know that I have made every effort to live in the unity of the Spirit with others. Not genuine unity, at least. Genuine unity doesn’t sweep tough conversations under the rug or ignore each other’s differences.  Genuine unity doesn’t settle for surface-level relationships in order to avoid disagreements. Genuine unity recognizes that while there are many things that contribute to our identity, one stands above them all – our relationship with Christ.

Your relationship with Christ is the most important thing about you. If you and another believer vote differently, live differently, speak differently and look differently, but you both proclaim Jesus as your savior, then you have the most important thing in common. While the differences between us may be significant and need to be addressed, Jesus is the firm foundation on which a unified church can be built.

As we head into an election season, and continue to live in a changing and challenging world, this Scripture must be the banner that we raise. We must make every effort to live in genuine unity in the Spirit.

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:14-21 (day four)

Think back for a moment. What are the times in your life when you have gained a new comprehension of the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ’s love?

I recently had an experience where I found myself with a new understanding of the cross and the magnitude of God’s love. But this experience didn’t come like an epiphany out of nowhere. It came because I had experienced a deep hurt, and I took it to the Lord. In a vulnerable, painful place, the Lord showed me a new depth of love that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen. I think many of the times we understand God’s love in a new way are like that – we’re in a vulnerable place, and God meets us there.

I think it’s interesting here that Paul prays for his listeners to have power. Specifically, he prays that they would have “power through his Spirit,” so that Christ would dwell in them and they would know the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love. I didn’t feel “powerful” in the earthly sense when I saw a new depth of God’s love – but the Spirit’s power is different. The Spirit’s power is strong in our weakness and vulnerability, and allows us to see new dimensions of God’s love, so that Christ would dwell in our hearts more and more.

The Spirit’s power shows us the love that surpasses all knowledge, so that we may be “filled up to all the fullness of God.”