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Ephesians 5:22-6:24 Devotional – Day 1

By October 18, 2021Daily Devotional

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

GOD IS FULL OF GRACE
Grace is God’s good pleasure that moves Him to grant merit where it is undeserved and to forgive debt that cannot be repaid. Ephesians 1:5-8 

Ephesians 1:5-8
He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding

Praise the God Who is Full of Grace
Praise God that His grace runs deep. He has enough grace for any who would receive it. Praise God that his grace is truly free. Praise God that he is lavish with his grace. 

CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100

SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.

  • Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
  • Pray for Sarah H. as she serves overseas. Ask God to encourage her and guide her.

SCRIPTURE READING:
Ephesians 5:22-6:24 New International Version

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings
21 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.

23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Do you struggle to make sense of what the Bible describes but doesn’t seem to condemn? You might read stories of evil things done and wait for the narrator to condemn it, and it doesn’t come. Some things in the Bible describe what happened and other things prescribe what should happen. We must use common sense to know the difference. Common sense involves looking at the overall context of the passage. What is the context in the overall flow of the Bible or the book of the Bible? What is the context in the paragraph? Thinking contextually sounds complicated but it really isn’t. For instance, many become very unhappy when they read Paul telling “wives to submit” or “Slaves to obey.” When you look at these statements in light of the entire letter you find that in context, they are NOT saying what some believe they are saying. What has Paul been saying in this letter about how Christians are to live together? What does Jesus say about this? What is the overall flow of the entire New Testament? What does all this tell you about what Paul did and didn’t mean in this passage in regards to husbands/wives, parents/children, masters/servants? Everyone moves through life with presuppositions. This is normal and necessary. However, we must make sure we are aware of what ours are and ensure they are true. Approach the Bible with the presupposition that God used human authors to communicate accurately to us. Since God is the ultimate author, and since he is really smart then his word is as he wants it to be. Any perceived “errors” or “faults’ are misperceptions of what is actually there. It won’t make all the confusion go away as you try to read the Bible, but it will help you start in the right place. And if you start in the right place then you have a much better chance of ending up at the right place. You will be positioned to understand God’s word so you can apply it to your life.

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