Who are you imitating

Ephesians 5:1-2

Is being an imitator of another something a person should do?  To imitate: “to use somebody or something as a model, attempting to copy an existing method, style, or approach.”  It happens everyday a young boy models his dad or an athlete, and that may be a good thing.  It happens in all phases of society, singers imitating other known singers, preachers doing the same thing, and even writers trying to copy the style of someone who has been very successful in that endeavor.  It is often said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but does that make it the best way to live life?

Ephesians 5:1,2, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  I’ve had many models over my life; men who I looked up to and some who I copied some of their actions, but the very best of these models were men with clay feet.  What if I had made my goal to be an imitator of God?  Is that possible, and if it is not then God is not good, in fact, God is very cruel. 

My hearts desire and my goal is that someday my two grandsons, John Mark and Zachary David will read my thoughts and will understand that Jesus tells the truth, that as the Scripture states, all men are at best liars, (Psalm 116:11) so model the only man who was not a liar; Jesus Christ.  If only I would believe what the Scriptures so clearly state, and not be deceived, knowledge is not belief, belief is acting on that knowledge.  So I turned to Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi and in chapter 2:4-7, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

Jesus was an imitator of God His Father, and not one time did he perform any act that was not dependent on His Father.  Jesus seemed to always get on the wrong side of the religious guys, a great example is found in John 5:16-30.  It came about in this way, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, and that upset the religious guys because he broke one of their rules.  Jesus reply to them was; “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” (John 5:17)  Now they want to kill him because he was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.  Jesus was the perfect imitator of God, look at what He said; “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”  You boys will wonder at times is anyone praying for me, and the answer is always, John 17:20-26, is clear that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of His Father, and His prayer for you is; “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:23)  If you are an imitator of God you will be a light to the world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Aversion to Instructions

Ephesians 4:32

How much do you remember, do you recall the many lessons that your mother and dad attempted to teach you, do you recall the times you took a shortcut on their instructions and it seemed to not change the outcome?  Looking back on my life, it seems to be a life centered on forgetting instructions or trying to cut corners, and as I reflect on the lessons I remembered, most came at a price because of my aversion to instructions.  I was about six when I first saw an older boy riding his bike and he was not using his hands.  Now that was the coolest thing I had ever seen, and I began to try it with no big crashes, and that led to bigger and more enterprising attempts as no hands and no feet, but my sister could do that, so was that really cool?  I remember telling mother that I was going to stand on the bike seat and remove my hands from the handlebars, and she said, “Do not do that, you will kill yourself.”  But I did it, and I almost killed myself, it was one of those “monkey blood” moments, I was bleeding from head to toe, but for seconds I was almost standing on that seat.

How often do you recall the great price it cost the Father to redeem you out of the control of sin?  As I read this verse, these thoughts came into my mind, why are we not kind to everyone we meet, could it be that we Christians have forgotten the kindness of our Father.  This verse instructs us to be tenderhearted; that means that we should be quick to show compassion and sympathy to other people.  It also teaches us to forgive one another, as God in Christ has forgiven us, but is it true that even in the church many who go by the name of Christ do not do these things?

It seems to me that we forget our hopeless, deprived, empty way of life before we came into a relationship with Christ and were adopted by the Father.  If that is true, what is the danger of that actions; being full of self, being to busy to see the needs of others, and then comes pride and arrogant, and that leads to a life that has little value to heaven or earth. 

This is not a new problem, the apostle Paul addressed this with the church in Corinth, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to same the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1Corinthians 1:26-29)  What a great big God, who is kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving, I was without hope, and He gave me life in all its fullness.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The deal is sealed

Ephesians 4:30

The deal is sealed, was music to the ears of a salesperson, its meaning was clear the bid had been awarded to your company, and your due diligence has paid off.  The meaning of the word seal: “a device or substance that is used to join two things together so as to prevent them from coming apart or to prevent anything from passing between them.”  Verse 30 gives a clear statement on what the Holy Spirit of God has done for all who are in Christ.  “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  (Ephesians 4:30)

The Holy Spirit is the substance used to join you and I together in one body, that is Christ.  It is Jesus Christ who holds all things together, in the book of Colossians 1:17, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  It is Jesus who said; “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)  It is clear that the body of Christ, the Church, has often lost sight of these words from our Master and Savior Jesus Christ.  Do our actions not show that we put our emphasis on the flesh, take for example, we often fix the human needs in our community and that is a good thing, but is it the best.  Many who we love, many who are family members, neighbors, business associates are separated from God.  Each of them need a new heart, each of them need someone to tell them that eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ.  If Jesus tells the truth, the Christian will escape this physical body to live eternally in the presence of our Redeemer, because by faith they entered into Christ, they enter His time line, but your loved one, your neighbor or business associate, will be cast into a fire that has no end.  If you believe Jesus tells the truth, He talked more about hell than he did about heaven.  Jesus made it clear that hell was not designed for men, but it was designed for the devil and his demons, but man chooses to go there.

In 2010 we are all about labels and warnings, but from the beginning God has sent prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to show us the truth.  And then He sent His only Son, Jesus the Christ, and Jesus who tells the truth, came with this message to whosoever: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:17, 18)

We who are one in Christ have these words from our Lord, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  Your know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16,17)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Church Flesh looks good

 

Ephesians 4:25-29

How many of us would join a church with liar’s, and dishonest folks, who are fabricators, and deceitful, and many are angry and make it their goal to get even with the ones who make them angry?  Do members of your church steal and many live off of others because they do not want to work, and do many of those in your church use language that is immoral or depraved?  If so your church needs to read Paul’s letter to the churches at Ephesus, because Paul was not talking to people outside of the body of Christ, his letter was addressed to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.

These thoughts entered my mind, are the people that Paul is addressing in these verses Christians, and if so how can a Christian live such a life, and are there blind spots in my life in regards to the things listed above?  If we look back a few verses, Paul does question if they know Christ, not if they are members of that Church, not if they know about Christ, but have they entered into a relationship with Christ.  In verses 22-24, we are told; “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

It was true for the churches in Ephesus and it is just as true for the church you attend, many who are in Christ have never dealt with their version of the flesh; often the old man, and the flesh or given the same mean, but that is error.   The New International Bible calls the flesh our sinful nature, but that is a very wrong interpretation.  That would mean you have a new nature and a sinful nature living inside of you, that would be a civil war; a war that you could never hope to win, and that does not agree with the teaching of Scripture. 

Now the flesh, at best, is still flesh and this is what the Scriptures have to say about it, in Romans 8:5-8, the flesh cannot please God.  We find in 1Peter 2:11, that the flesh wars against the Spirit of our soul and the flesh has no ability to fight spiritual battles in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  Until we give up on the flesh, we will never live in victory!  The flesh is not trainable, Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  It is true to state that the flesh and the Spirit are not going to live in harmony; one is going to be in control of your life.  It is your choice, and God tells us to make the flesh your slave, Paul uses the analogy of training for the race of your life in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.  In Romans 6:12-13, we are instructed to live in victory and not to obey the passions of the flesh, but to present ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.  The untrained mind will always follow the emotions or flesh, so we must renew our mind in God’s Word and follow His Spirit’s leading.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Boot Camp is mandatory

Ephesians 4:22-24

Often our Lord told stories to make a point or to illustrate a deep truth that is my intention to give insights into these verses.   “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) 

I was out of high school and my friends had moved on with their lives, some had gone to college and a few had gone into the military, I was working as a delivery boy for Cameron Mfg.   I had an abundance of windshield time going to Kingsville and Alice, Texas, and reality began to set into my mind, I was not prepared for life.  I was not a mama’s boy by any definition, but I also had never been on my own, and I depended on mother and dad for much more than I understood at that time.  I was twenty, I had no plans and few goals so I did what made sense to me at that time, and I joined the army.

When I enlisted in the United States Army, I went to boot camp, my civvies were taken from me, and I was issued a new set of clothes.  I was introduced to a man we called Sergeant Major and he told me the old Bobby was dead. The old Bobby could wear what he wanted, eat what he wanted, and go and do what he wanted; all of that was history. They even changed my name, NG25853898, and a few others I will not repeat.   I would look to the United State Army and its rules and commands and I no longer needed my opinions; all I needed was to obey orders.  You might say, I was taking off the old life, the only life I had ever known, and putting on the life of a soldier in training.

First, let me share what I experienced in the United States Army.  We were given an order that many of us had not understood.  It was not a request-it was a command.  For a short moment, I acted like the old Bobby (the civilian), only to experience this important truth, the old Bobby was not welcome, he had been replaced.  You may ask, “How did the Sergeant Major convey the message so that I understood that I had to obey commands?”  Simple, we were told to go back into our barracks and pickup our M-1 rifle and our 30-pound packs.  The Sergeant Major referred to that as full gear.  Then we were told to return to the parade area.   Sergeant Major knew something, which we Christians must learn.  If we are going to be Warriors, it requires obedience. 

The Sergeant asked us to put on our gear, pick up our weapon (M-1 rifle) and join him in a six-mile run with our weapon held at arms length above our head.  You did not make it six miles.  In fact, you learned a spiritual truth; you learned to ask for mercy and forgiveness, and that was a big problem, Sergeant was not into mercy.  When that happened day after day, you finally began to see the benefits of taking off the old way of life and putting on your new identity; you are a soldier in Uncle Sam’s Army.

It is the same thing for each of us who enter into Christ we must take off the life of independence and move to a life of total dependence.  Paul tells us, “to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  

Many of us in the army of Christ have not renewed our minds, but we can or God would have never told us to do so.  Have you let God’s Holy Spirit take you to boot camp, if not, then you are still trying to wear your civvies, and you are missing out on the fullness of the life of Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

How did you learn Christ?

Ephesians 4:20

I enjoy asking questions, in fact as a professional in the field of selling, you learn the need of questions to uncover problems or to get information, so that you may solve the customer’s problems or needs.  In verse twenty Paul is not asking a question but making a statement: “But that is not the way you learned Christ!”  Often a customer’s statement would cause me to ask more questions and that is what is happening to me as I read this statement.

Paul is not saying; how did you learn about Christ, no, he is saying the way you learned Christ, and they are miles apart.  How did I learn about Christ is quite easy to share with you.  From a child my mother and dad taught us about Jesus Christ, Sunday school teachers taught me about Him as a child, and on Sunday night we had what was called “Training Union” and once more we were trained to read the Bible and learn about Christ.  I was part of the Royal Ambassadors and we were instructed in the ways of Christ.  After I was a man, and had by faith through the grace of God entered into a relationship with Christ; I had mentors who also taught me some deeper truths about Christ, and I must say I knew a lot about the person of Christ, but that is not how I learned Christ.

I began to learn Christ in the weeks that followed, asking Jesus Christ into my heart, when my wife said, I’m not sure what has happened to you, but you have changed.  I remember being taught, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  What I learned that day was Christ tells the truth, I could not see any change, but my wife saw a new creation.  In 1970, we had an unwelcome guest, a lady name Celia came into our lives with 175 miles an hour winds and destroyed our home and all our material possessions.  I learned Christ that day and the days that followed the loss of our home and material possessions; I learned, that I could cast all my anxiety on Christ, that I was His and He cared for me (1 Peter 5:7).  I learned Christ, as my protector and my provider and Philippians 4:19 came alive for me.

I could continue with examples of how I learned Christ, most of the examples come from dark troubling times in my life, and many of them were self inflicted.  Yes, I’ve learned that He loves a rascal like me, who often tries to live independent of Him, and that He is patience and kind, and His handbook, the “Bible” has the road map to life on this earth, and that His Holy Spirit will teach me all truth.  I have learned that Christ cares too much to let me live independent of Him, and He is a faithful friend, a Mighty Warrior, and He loves me unconditionally!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It is the wellspring of Life

Ephesians 4:18-24

Yesterday I picked up a new book “The Fine art of Communication” by Dave T. Gentry, Ph.D.  I’m not that far into the book, but I think he might have some advice for the apostle Paul on communication.  What if your Mother, Dad, or best friend, had this conversation with you; you are darkened in your understanding, alienated from the life of God because of ignorance that is in you, due to your hardness of heart.  That is what the apostle Paul is telling the churches of Ephesus, and that is just the introduction to the root cause of not loving what God loves.

Paul continues, “They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greed to practice every kind of impurity.” (Ephesians 4:19)  If we go back to verse 18, we find at the core, a heart problem, and it comes from not understanding the heart of God, Paul tells them they are ignorant and it is due to the hardness of their hearts.  In the last few weeks, I’ve revisited a book by John Eldredge, entitled “Waking the Dead” and it is about our heart.  Not the organ that pumps blood, but the connecting point between you and others – between you and God.  It is also the creative powerhouse within you.  Paul is saying you are not being guided by the Spirit, in fact, he is stating you are darkened in your understanding, and that is alienating you from the life of God, and it has hardened your hearts to God.

I’ve learned this from my reading “Waking the Dead,” that “The mind receives and processes information and the heart knows and wrestles with realities.  John states; “A person who lives from their mind is detached from life.  Things don’t seem to touch them very much; they are puzzled at the way others are so affected by life.  Often they think the person who lives by their heart is emotional and unstable.”  John goes on to ask the question, “Would Christ have gone to the cross if He had only followed His emotions? See Mark 14:32-35 and you will agree with John, “In the hours of Jesus’ greatest trial, His love overcame his fear of what loving you would cost Him.”

In my daily walk with the Lord, it has become apparent that my heart is under attack, it is easily polluted by the world system and my desires, my greed and sensuality, Proverbs 4:23 gives this council. “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The ability to change your moral standards

Ephesians 4:17

The apostle Paul is telling us to no longer walk as the Gentiles!  It seems clear that Paul is making a case that you and I once did so, and if we are to no longer do so, it seems imperative that we understand how the Gentiles lived.  It should also be understood who Paul is addressing, not Christians who are Jews, but Gentile Christians.  You would think Gentile Christians would have a fair understanding of the Gentile mind, but did they and do you?  It is very important to understand that most of these Gentile Christians were adults when they came into Christ, and for many years had been shaped by the culture, and habits of getting their needs met.  Not that different from many of us, but now Paul is telling them not to follow those patterns any longer.

As a person who has a history of being a slow learner, I’ve found it helpful to be taught what I should do and not to keep bringing up my many failures; so that is my hope in this writing.  First, we must come to an understanding that when we came into Christ, we became a new spirit, with the same issues and problems; the flesh has not been made good or better, it is still flesh.  That’s point one, but point two is; “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires.” (2 Peter 1:3,4,)

Point three, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7) 

Why are these so important for you and I to put into our heart and mind?  Because first and foremost it is impossible to grow in Christ, without understanding that you have entered into a war for your heart.  Your flesh must be trained to submit or surrender to the desires of the spirit.  It is crucial to renew your mind with this truth, God’s divine power has granted to us all things pertaining to life, and that mind change comes only from knowledge of Him.  The third point is, no matter how slow you are at learning; you can supplement your faith with virtue, the ability to change your moral standards.  And by adding to your new moral standards the knowledge of God’s council from the Bible, He will, if you listen give you self-control and steadfastness with godliness.  As you apply these to you life the fruits of brotherly affection and the love of God will be manifested in your life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Instruction manual needed

Ephesians 4:15-16

Do you remember your first bike?  Ours was a “Silver King” and dad bought it from Plimper’s hardware store.  It was for my brother, it cost dad $75 and he must have had it on layaway; because there is no way he had that much cash.  It was a beauty when dad brought it home, did I tell you that its frame was made out of a new material called cast Aluminum, and it was very heavy.  Within weeks, to dad’s shock, my brother Fred had removed the fenders and the chain guard to lighten the weight and make it faster.  By the time I got our bike, it had a broken frame, and no one knew how to weld aluminum, so we wrapped wire around the frame to hold it together.  That wire would come loose at the worst of times, and I would be running home for some monkey blood that mother would doctor my bleeding body with.

The material the apostle Paul is telling the churches about that holds the whole body together by every joint, with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, is none other than the Creator, Jesus Christ.  If only we kids could have talked with the creator of the “Silver King,” he would have told us it was not designed for speed, nor was it meant to jump over curbs, it was designed for looks, not for kids.

I’m not sure if the “Silver King” came with an instruction manual but Jesus knew that without instructions we who are in Christ, His body, the Church, would never stay together.  The apostle Paul, states in Romans 12:5, “so we though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”  And when you have many parts; each part has a will, that the world and the enemy of our heart is trying to influence, and without the Creator’s handbook, without following His instructions on operating as one, the body will not function in unity.  In fact, it will be similar to a ship without a rudder, it is tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by the winds, and verse 14 tells us the same things happen to believers, that evil teachers, pastors, priests, will sneak into the church and use craftiness in deceitful schemes to keep us from unity.

As we grow, we become more like our Master, we begin to speak the truth in love, we grow in all ways like our Jesus, who is our head, and from whom the whole body is joined and held together.  All parts are working properly, making the body grow so that it builds itself up in love; that is the goal.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

Can you be trained to live the Christian life?

Ephesians 4:11-13

My background is sales, and it seems as if I been selling something most of my life; as a small child, I was selling mom that I could climb the mesquite tree in the circle across from our house without breaking my neck.  As I got a little older, I was selling my brother and his friends that I would not tell mother or dad what they did or said, or where they went.  As a teenager I was trying to sell my friends on the fact that I would back them up in case things turned out bad, I’m not sure anyone believed that, most of all me.  Then I sold Jan on marrying me and I got a job in sales with 3M Company and I began to learn how little I knew about the art of selling.  To be good, not great, but just above average, requires training, lots of training.  Selling was no different in regards to training than any other profession that a person wanted to be exceptional at.

Why would I believe that anyone and especially myself could live the Christian life without training?  The apostle Paul tells us that God “gave us apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, . . .” Why would anyone believe they could live the Christian life?  In John 10:10, we are given some very important information; there is a thief who is out to steal and kill and destroy; but the Christ who you have entered into a personal relationship with has come to give you life, and give it to the full.  If the new believer is not trained to understand that he has entered into a war, a war with cosmic powers of darkness in the heavenly places, they will be religious and defeated in this life, and of no value to king Jesus or His kingdom.

How can a person put on Christ, or how can a person be trained to abide in, trust in, depend on, look to and fall in love with Jesus Christ?  Galatians 3:3 helped me understand that the Spirit of God is my source.  Major Thomas often said; “I can’t, and God never said I could, He can and He promised He would.”  Look to Jesus, not to man, not to a Priest or Pastors, and surely not to self.  God has promised to lead you by His Spirit into all truth, and He has spoken that His word (the Bible) is truth.  Next, we must put off the past, our childish ways, always wanting our way, and God addresses that in 1Corinthians 13:11, and goes on to explain why in 1 Corinthians 14:20.  As we grow in knowledge of God we come to a clear understanding that maturity is not getting smarter or stronger in ourselves; it is becoming more like a small child in dependence on the mighty hand of the Father and His love for us.  It is coming to and understanding that God loves me and I will find life only in Christ.

A person will find that you never get fully trained, and often the first warning is to believe you are mature enough to take on the thief, or try to live outside of total dependence on Christ.  We are told in Hebrews 15:14 that the mature constantly trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.  Proverbs 4:23 states; “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”  The war is for your heart; guard it, for it is the heart that has the ability to rest in Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I choose to be God's fool

Ephesians 4: 9,10

I had a request yesterday, from one of my cousins, to be removed from my blog emails.  She suggested that it might be helpful if I began to read and she gave a name of one of the more enlightened writers of our day, who believes the church will come around to agreeing with the beliefs of Darwin, and others, who appose God’s word.  This thought came into my mind; if I’m wrong and these men who oppose the written word of God are correct, what have I lost, but if God’s word is correct, and it has stood the challenges of time, what is her loss?  I choose God, I choose to be God’s fool, I choose the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, I choose the only one who ascended on high, and led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.

What is so amazing is the enlightened believe they came up with a new insight, or understanding, but it’s not new, it began in heaven with Lucifer.  The prophet Isaiah gives this insight; “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:14)  Isaiah tells us that Lucifer, he refers to him as O Day Star, son of Dawn, was removed or cast down to the ground.  Lucifer has many names given him by God, since his rebellion; names like; Deceiver, Father of lies, Ruler of this world, Antichrist, and the list is very long, but gives insight into this enemy of ours and God’s.  I’ve told my students often that the “Deceiver” is happy to have us be religious, the truth is, he would love for us to worship a goat or even the Baptist church, or a pastor; in fact, he will do all that is in his evil deception to keep a person from believing in the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, and Him only.

In John 3:9-15, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, and Jesus tells him, Nick, you don’t know Diddly-Squat about things of the Spirit, or eternal life.  Picking up the story in verse 12, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” 

I personally find great peace in Jesus, but mankind is always looking for another way, in John 6:35-40, Jesus tells us that He is the only source of life.  I’ve always been a guy who likes the bottom line, and verse 40 is the bottom line, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  My bottom line is dependence, not on self, I have little confidence in myself, I have a history with myself, and self will always choose to live independent of God, but I choose to be dependent on the giver and sustainer of life.

From The Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The best of gifts

Ephesians 4:7

“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

Being a child of the forties and coming from a family that was under resourced, we did not get gifts on our birthday or on Christmas, we got one gift, and I can remember a Christmas or two that all we got was what went into our stockings.  But I’ve been blessed to watch my grandsons have birthday parties and I am astonished at the volume of gifts and how expensive many of the gifts are.  When there are ten or more children invited, the gifts will vary in price from ten dollars to twenty-five dollars, and it is always of interest to observe both the giver and the receiver of the gift.  It seems that the kid with the more expensive gift always wants their gift opened first, then without fail it seems the one of much less material value is opened next.  I often watch the giver of the gift and he’s not very excited to have his gift opened next, and I must say that my daughter and son-in-law have done a great job with the boys in that all gifts are treated with the same enthusiasm.  So what kind of gift would you expect from our Creator God?  Let me share a short list with you in the following comments.

If your schedule is anything like ours you will get tired both physically and emotionally, but worst than either the physical or the emotional; is you will get tired spiritually.  Jesus came to our party with a gift of “rest.”  “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  If you keep reading the following verse tells us “to learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul.”  Most of us take vacations to rest, and we find no rest because we are driving long distances or waiting in airports, and long flights, and a rush each day to see as much as possible.  Have you opened the gift of Spiritual rest that Jesus has promised you?

In this world of enlightenment, it seems as if many have lost heart, it is the heart that God addresses more than any other topic in the Bible.  But one of the gifts Jesus has for you is a new heart.  God speaking through the prophet Ezekiel; “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”  (Ezekiel 11:19-20)  This gift of grace that was given to me according to the measure of Christ, is the gift of Eternal life, I’ve entered into Christ, who has no beginning and no end.  This gift that cost God the Father the pain and sorrow of sending His only Son to earth to redeem me out of the control of the evil one, was given to me by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  “I gave them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)  If you have not opened this gift from Christ Jesus, you will not be able to open any of the others.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Our Calling is?

 

Ephesians 4:5-6

Our calling is to “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”  That is a clear calling to us who go by the name of Christian, a God who is over all and through all and in all.  It is not a new call, it was the same message God sent by Moses to the Israelites coming out of Egypt, and going through the waters of the Red Sea on dry ground.  Our Lord was the rock that Moses struck to bring water to a people, who had no source of water, and it was His faithfulness that gave them manna (bread from heaven) for forty years and their shoes and clothes did not ware out. Moses gave these people who witnessed the “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” this message, do not forget the one who brought you to the party.  But they did what we often do in good times, in times of abundance; they began to live independent of God. Is independent living a problem in 2010 and should we the church adhere to the message of the apostle Paul?  In Romans 1:22-23, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”  Stop reading and just think about what values people are putting on pets and animals, and then remember that Jesus told us; “For where your treasures is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34)

The bad news is that Moses told them when they forgot it was “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” He would scatter them among the people of the earth, but Moses also told them this good news: “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.”  (Deuteronomy 3:29-30)  I believe we are about to see that prophecy fulfilled, the Jewish people turning back to God, in our time.

That is the good news for Israel, but when the President of the United States turned his back on Israel it was bad news for our Nation.  He, being ignorant of the Scriptures, has no understanding of his actions.  The one God and Father of all gave this promise to Abram, that He would make him into a great nation and I will bless you.  But this is what our ignorant President has done by his actions on June 4, 2010 he the President of the United States has brought God’s curses on us.  In Genesis 12:3, it is written; “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

We who are called by the name of Christian must do what God requires, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Hope

Ephesians 4:4b

In the latter part of verse four it addresses hope, “just as you were called to one hope,” what is that all about?  If you give it a little thought, you will come to this conclusion, the word “hope” is habitually used in our conversation.  As a small child, I hoped dad would take us to the ballgame, and as a student I hoped to pass any test, as a teenager I hoped the manager at H.E.B. would give me one more chance.  In my twenty’s, I was hoping Jan would marry me, and after ten interviews, I was hoping that Scott Van Warmer would give me a job with the 3M Company.  Yes, hope has been a big part of my vocabulary; it is often used to express the desires of my heart, and my greatest fears, but is that the hope the Bible is addressing in this Scripture?

The apostle Peter gives us a clear picture of the hope that is being referred to in Ephesians 4:4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you,”  (1 Peter 1:3-4) Now that is a promise that any one who understands it, could turn down. 

As I looked at the word hope, it became clear that God, our Father, in His mercy and love has been from the beginning of the Scriptures painting a picture of hope.  It also has become clear that we who are growing in Christ have an obligation to the unbeliever, and the babies in Christ, no matter what age they are, to show them the signs in Scripture pointing to this hope.  Paul tells us in Romans 15:4, that the Scriptures are the source of hope.  They are our teacher, God in His mercy had the Holy Spirit to direct prophets, and kings to write down His words, and every one of them was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

I once considered myself an undercover Christian, if you put me on the spot I would testify about my love affair with Jesus Christ, but a true love affair cannot be kept quiet for long.  The apostle Peter told us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

There is one Body

Ephesians 4:4

Ephesians 4:4, begins in this way, “There is one body” and the apostle is referring to the Church.  What is the apostle telling us?  Is he saying that the church that met in Rome and the church in Ephesus, and the church in Galatia, and all other churches that followed the teaching of Christ were one body?  It is important to understand that these churches were in their infancy and we have had 2000 years to fix and add to many of the problems these churches had with unity. 

Some of the birthing problems were that the Jewish Christians, being raised under the law and circumcised, sat on one side of the building, and the Gentiles who were uncircumcised, sat on the other side.  The building is often referred to as the church, showing how little we have learned in 2000 years.  You know they did silly things that we would never do, like saying, “sorry but this row is saved, only they said this side of the building is mine, or that is my place.”  There also was a few, it seemed, who did not trust the church leaders to use the funds in a correct manner, so they wanted to designate how their gifts to God were used; we in the modern church would never do that.  This would never happen in our day, that an under resourced person who needed a bath and whose clothes were dirty, was asked to sit at the very back of the church.  That would never happen in a Baptist church building, and you can bet the farm on it, because those are the prime seats. 

Therefore, the apostle Paul addressed this problem of unity in the body of Christ.  In Romans 12, he told the body of Christ not to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think, and to understand that it was God who gave them the measure of faith.  In verses 4 and 5, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”  Paul states that we do not all have the same function, but we all have a function, a gift to use in the body of Christ.  Nowhere in Scripture do you find the gift of showing up on Sunday morning, and sitting in a pew, then going home and doing nothing to advance the kingdom of God.

I wonder what God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit say to the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, who know the Scriptures, and accuse the body of Christ before our God.  I wonder why the Baptist church thinks more highly than it ought to think of itself, or the Methodist, or the Catholic, or the Presbyterian?  And if you are not a member of Christ’s body, if you are not of one Spirit, then you are a social club, and God would prefer that you drop His Son’s Name from your charter.  When you entered into Christ, we became one, one in Spirit, one hope, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father.  Because of Christ Jesus, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, it matters not what label you have been given.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice my blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

The Call

Ephesians 4:1-3

Paul, in this letter to the churches at Ephesus, was reminding them of his place in the body of Christ, he is an apostle of Christ Jesus and he is an ambassador in chains, a prisoner for Christ Jesus.  The apostle Paul is reminding us of the fact, that we were called out of darkness into the light.  Jesus is the light, and many did not receive Him, but to all that did, He gave the right to become children of God.  Paul is addressing those who have been called out of darkness into the light and life of Christ Jesus, and he is urging us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.  In the first part of this letter, Paul is asking the Father to give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:18).

In my past, I had a pastor instruct me to make sure that when teaching on the subject of calling, that I taught that his calling, (the calling of a pastor) was above anyone else.  That instruction caused me to spend many hours in the Scriptures and in prayer, and then I found a word that gave clear meaning to what the pastor said; the word is “baloney”.  What nonsense!  No where in Scripture can you find the individual calling of a pastor, it is a call of the Spirit on a man’s life, and no where in Scripture is one person exalted in his call above another in the church.  In no way am I saying pastors are not called and chosen, and I am not saying that we should not follow the leadership of our pastor.   But it is a wise person who looks into the Scriptures and makes sure that the pastor is teaching truth, and not some “nonsense” that is designed to exaggerate his importance in the body of Christ.  Never forget these words, “The ground at the cross is level,” the call is to whosoever will come.  Look only to Jesus, all men are liars, and I did not say that, Jesus did.

It has been very helpful to me to understand what God got when He called you and me out of darkness into the light of His Son, Jesus Christ.  “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)  Well, so much for thinking that God was really blessed when He got you and me, but look at verse 30, “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” 

So we the called, must renew our minds, not a fleshly mind like that pastor, but a mind and heart, guided by the Spirit, walking “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Understanding your Supplier

Ephesians 3:20

I made my living in sales, and often after working on a large contract with one of our utility customers, this thought would haunt me, how much did I leave on the table?  You see the procurement person was telling me that price was all they were interested in, but the truth was, it was their job to get the best price. If I would have understood my customers better, and where they place value, what they were willing to pay for the technology, were they only interested in price, as the procurement people were saying?  I was never selling a product, I was selling a solution to a need, the requirement may have been reliability, it may have been the testing and history of the material, but unless I knew my customer and what they valued, I would never be able to know if I had left money on the table.  You may be asking, what does that have to do with Ephesians 3:20? “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen”

What kind of relationship do you have with God, is it like a client to a manufacture, and you are not sure He always has your best interest, or that He is giving you the very best deal?  If that is where you find yourself, you will never get your hands around this Scripture, but if you have a very personal relationship to the Father, if you know Him as your Father, then this verse should blow your doors off.  Our Father is not only able, He is willing to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.  Are you asking yourself this question, “How much am I leaving on the table, because of my unbelief?  Jesus has promised us an abundant life in John 10:10, He also promised abundant grace in 2 Corinthians 9:8, abundant power in Ephesians 3:20, and that He will meet our needs abundantly, in Philippians 4:19.

Could our problem be that we have bought into the lie, “that God helps those who help themselves”?  You can sum that lie up with two words, “independent living” and the Father cannot bless that style of living; He desires dependence.  Our Savor lived His life on this earth in total dependence on His Father.  Doctor Luke states in chapter 4:1, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by Spirit in the desert.”  Jesus, fully God and fully man, never, not one time depended on Him-self but walked only in the power of the Holy Spirit.  He left us a model to live by, and through out Scripture we have seen men and women who were led by the Holy Spirit, people just like us. The Bible gives accounts of kings and prostitutes listening to God, believed God and acted on the leading of the Holy Spirit, and God did immeasurably more than all they ask or imagine, according to His power working within them.  How much are you leaving on the table?

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From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Can Love be Defined?

 

Ephesians 3:19

Can love be defined?  Many in our culture have defined love as having a sexual relationship with another person, but even a dog can do that with no regard for the bitch he is breeding, and it is rare to find the young person who understands love when trying to talk the other person into sex.  The “Love” word is used, but is it appropriate, is that person wanting the best for the other party?  When I look at God’s definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13, it states that love does not insist on its own way.  In fact love puts the other person’s value and what is best for them above all else.  Lust will say anything, do anything, it is always about getting it’s needs met, with no regard for the object of its lust.

We live in a world that has exchanged the word “like” for the word “love” and I as well as you have been guilty of miss-using the world “love”.  Out of our mouth comes, I love pie, and I love that car, and I love my children, and I love God, and how can God or anyone else understand what you mean by love?

Verse 19, reveals these words; “and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  I’m 68 years young and I’m just as warped as many of you, but my hearts desire is to know the love of Christ.   How can you know something that is so carelessly defined in our culture?  I only know one source that has stood the test of time; God’s word, the Bible, and it is where I found this treasure.  1 John 4:7-10, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his only Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

A few of us might die for someone we greatly value, but on Memorial day we honor men and women who have given their lives, and the highest honor this country gives is the Congressional Medal of Honor, and many of them gave their life to save the lives of others they served with.  But Romans 5:8, states, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  “Love” put aside all, you and I, Scripture states, were enemies of God, sinners, but the Father redeemed us, by the blood of His Lamb, Jesus Christ, and to know that, and act on it, is to be filled with all the fullness of God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Not the organ, the Heart

Ephesians 3:17

When the heart is mentioned in Scripture, is it referring to the organ that pumps blood through your body?  That organ is of great value and without it we have no life, but the heart God is referring to is of greater importance.  John Eldredge states in his book “Waking the dead” that, “The heart is the creative powerhouse within you.  It is the connecting point between you and others – between you and God.  It is also the creative powerhouse within you.”  Proverbs 4:23, it is referred to as the wellspring of life, and we are told to guard it above all else.  The apostle Paul states in Ephesians 1:18, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.”

So as we peer into Ephesians 3:17, our goal is to discover what is this heart that Christ is dwelling in through faith?  It is important to understand that when we are told in Scripture to “renew our minds” it is not referring to our brain, but to a wonderful part of our being that  “enables us to be aware of the world and our experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.”  (Taken from the Dictionary)   My dear friend Bill Gillham gives this definition, “The mind (your “thinker”) analyzes data and makes recommendations to your will.”

Often things are not what they seem, the heart and the mind are the make up of our soul, and they need to be guarded, so that they are not taken captive in the day to day struggles or battles in the war for our soul.  We are given this advice, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15)  There is a battle going on for your soul, no, it is a war.

How do we guard our hearts and minds?  Paul in his letter to the churches at Philippi gave this great council, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7)  We also have this insight from our Lord; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice