Rick Henderson

Loved into Obedience

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

walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. vs 1b

You, Christian, have been called by God. Isn’t that a cool thought? The Creator of the universe has called you to follow Him. He created you. He knows you by name. He knows your every thought. This God loves and calls you! He doesn’t need you to do to be obedient before He loves you, nor does He love you because of your obedience. He loves you into obedience.

Lets flesh this out. If you have answered the call, you know how good this God must be to call you out of your messy life to follow Him. When you recognize this goodness, you will walk with Him and be obedient to Him. This obedience is not out of desire to earn more credit from Him, but simply out of gratitude for what He has done for you. That is what love is. That is what love does. Love is obedient!

To Him Be the Glory

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

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.

Paul is a master at language. He created a phrase here that is not found anywhere else: “exceedingly abundantly.” Even when we are filled with the fullness of God, He is at work around us in ways our brain cannot even comprehend. It goes beyond abundance! We may think our prayers are grand, but God is grander. We may think we have a good plan, but God’s plan is greater. Yet, here is the kicker, we have that exceeding abundant power at work within us! When we allow the Holy Spirit to teach our mind and mold our heart, we too will be able to do far more than we ever dreamed possible.

to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Hope in Mystery

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 3:1-13 (day seven)

By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. vs 4

The word mystery carries a dark tone in the English language. We liken it with words such as conundrum, enigma, and secrecy. By definition it means something that is difficult or impossible to understand. The Greek word here mysterion similarly is secretive, but it leaves room for something to be discovered. It is hidden from our human minds, but with revelation from the divine, we might come to understand it more. There is hope in this mystery.

“God works in mysterious ways” may be a popular idiom in our culture, but it cannot be found in scripture. God does not try to keep secrets from us or work behind our back. Just like His insight to the Ephesians, God will reveal His plans to us when we are faithful to seek His will. The closer we get to Jesus, the mystery will be replaced with insight. There is hope in this mystery!

Fitted Together

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 2:19-22 (day seven)

In whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. vs 21

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. 1 Peter 2:5

I teased this in the Monday vlog this week, but we are currently with our high school students at our annual Beach Retreat. We were teaching them the importance of a baptist distinctive known as “Priesthood of the Believer.” This is the belief that each person has direct access to God due to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and through the work of Jesus on the cross. How cool is it that we are both the temple and the priests? Not only can we enter into the presence of the Lord as the priests, but the presence of the Lord dwells within us as the temple.

If this is true, do we still need the church? The verbiage of this passage constitutes that we are being fitted together to grow into the temple. Yes, we do have access to God without others, but we fit together like a puzzle. Each of us are a different shaped piece, but as the pieces come together, the bigger image becomes more clear. Together we make a more holy temple.

Children of Wrath

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 2:8-10 (day seven)

and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Ephesians 2:3

I have two boys under the age of 4 in the house. They do not know that they are children of wrath (nor do their mother or I believe they are bad kids), but the trail of destruction that follows them would say differently. The tendency of the flesh is to lash out when the world around us does not operate as we expected it to. This leads to kicking, screaming, hitting, etc. In the argument of nature vs nurture, this clearly an instance of nature, for I do not fall on the floor crying when I am told I can’t have a second popsicle from the freezer. I have learned how to control my natural desires.

Sin is the perversion of natural desire. God creates in us natural desires that are intended for good works (vs 10), but the flesh twists those things in such a way to cause us push back/lash out against God. It is not just toddlers and babies that lash out, we all have this propensity to appease the flesh. But God (vs 4) gives us the ability to overcome.

Thankful

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 1:15-23 (day four)

Having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus… [I] do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16

Who are the people in your life that you are thankful for?

Paul, as in many of his letters, expresses thanks for the believers who are living boldly for Christ. It was their faith that really stood out to Him. We do not know the specifics of what these faith moments were. He does reference their love for others, but whatever it was, it was enough to bring Paul encouragement while he was in prison. It would have been easy for Paul to be bitter and negative in his current position, but instead, he chose to be thankful. Thankfulness is not only uplifting to the receivers, but it molds the outlook of the givers.

If you find yourself in a constant state of negativity (we all have those moments), work to find the things and people you are thankful for, and go out of your way to let them know. It will be uplifting to you both!

Overture

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 1:3-12 (day seven)

When Paul wrote this introductory passage, he wrote it as all one sentence. It was meant to be an overture to set the tone and themes to be discussed throughout the letter. These are melodies we will be hearing over the next 13 weeks. Read through it again with this thought in mind. What do you hear? What stands out to you?

I hear something very clear, Christ has reconciled us to God. We have been chosen before the beginning of time, before we could make a choice ourself. God chose to love us. In a world where love has become conditional, God chose to love us unconditionally and to purchase us with His very own blood, knowing full well that not everyone would choose Him in return. In doing so, He gives the opportunity to those who choose Him to see glimpses of heaven here on earth. There is no greater love than this!

Holds it Together

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:15-24 (day seven)

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. vs 17

Do you ever find yourself asking God in retrospect where He was at when you needed Him? “Where were you God? Why did you not help me there?” Those questions reveal more about our understanding of God than they do His absence. If you listen closely, you will hear His reply, “I was there the whole time.”

Jesus is in all things! He does not just hold the whole world in His hands, his hands are what holds the whole world together. The interconnectedness of our universe points us to a Creator who is connecting all these things. From the device you are reading this on, to the walls surrounding you, to the very breath you breathe, Jesus is in all things. How might we become more aware of His presence, so that we may more readily invite Him into the difficult moments of our life? We need to know are never alone!

Living Sacrifice

Re:Verse passage – Romans 12:1-2 (day seven)

… present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

This week I came to a realization: I am not as young as I used to be. Some of you are now laughing at me, but as our bodies change with age, there are changes that we must choose to make. If I want to keep up with teenagers and toddlers, I need to make sure my body is up for the challenge. Not only is it about health, but this scripture tells us that it is a part of our worship. Our bodies are not our own. Our bodies have been given to us by God (in the image of God) to be given back to God in an act of worship.

The way that we treat our bodies is an indication of how we view God. In the Old Testament every sacrifice that was brought before God had to be Holy and acceptable. Deuteronomy 15:21 tells us that these sacrifices could not have defects, so as we look at what it means for us to present our bodies as a sacrifice in worship, we should work to remove the defects, spiritual and physical, that make it unacceptable. When we remember that our bodies belong to Him, He will help us make the decisions to keep it Holy!

Do We Care?

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 31:8 (day seven)

Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all the unfortunate.

Last week I ended with a question: Do we care? Do we care that others around us are suffering? Do we care that injustice is happening around us from the womb to the tomb? We should care.

Did Jesus care? I think we all know the answer to that question. Jesus’ command to “Love Your Neighbor” is not limited to those whom we care about within our circle, but for all His children made in His image. Embedded in the command to “Love Your Neighbor” is to care about the suffering of your neighbor.

Who is Your neighbor? Jesus was asked the same question in Luke 10 and his answer is found in vs 36-37: Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

You too Christian, go and do the same.