A Fight to the Finish - Ephesians

Ephesians 5:10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13-18 Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own (rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms -NIV). Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Will the REAL Jesus please stand up?

Teachings of Jesus: ASK, SEEK KNOCK

#17 - ASK, SEEK KNOCK

Matt. 7:7-8 "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. (8) "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”

The Purpose of Prayer:
God is love, and love deepens by intimate fellowship. God wants us to share every intimate detail of our needs in earnest prayer, and His peace will keep guard over our hearts in Christ (Phil. 4:6-7).

The Requirement of Fervency:
For prayer to be effective, it must be fervent and must come from a righteous person(James 5:16).

Prayer and Crying Out:
There is a distinction between prayer and crying out. (Psalms 39:12, 34:6, Israelites-Exodus 3:7-8, Elijah-2Kings 17:21-22, mother -Matt. 15:28, blind man-Luke 18: 38-43).

What a Cry Represents:
1. Total humility.
2. Unconditional surrender. Sometimes God will allow us to come into a crisis in order to seek him. When we seek him with "all of our hearts" (Jer. 29:13)
3. A plea for mercy. (Psalm 67:1).
4. A statement of confidence. (Matt. 28:18)

Important Factors for Asking
1. Ask the right person. (Exodus 16:8).
2. Ask with the right standing (John 1:12, Matt. 7:9,11).
3. Ask in faith. (Jas 1:6-7, Matt. 9:29).
4. Ask in total dependence. (Luke 11:5-9) When we know we are unworthy and have nothing, we are qualified for God's abundance.
5. Ask for the benefit of others. (Luke 11:5-6, Matt. 6:10).
6. Ask according to His will. (Jas. 4:3).
7. Ask in Jesus' name: (John 14:14), Bread-John 6:35, Water- John 3:5, 4:10, Wisdom-Jude 1:25, Truth-John 14:6, Peace-John 14:27, Holy Spirit-Luke 11:13).

How to Seek:
God gave Israel manna, but the people had to be diligent and resourceful to gather it daily.
1. Seek after God (Psalm 105:4, 2Chron 26:5).
2. Seek Him with a whole heart (Jer. 29:13)
3. Seek Him every day (Matt. 6:11).
4. Seek Him early in the day (Psa 63:1).
5. Seek Him with forgiveness (Matt. 6:12).
6. Seek God with generosity (Luke 6:38)
7. Seek Christ's commands (John 14:21).

How to Knock
1. Knock at the right door (Luke 11:3).
2. Knock with persistence (Luke 11:7-8, 18:2-7)
3. Knock out of respect. 4. Knock loudly - urgency and fervency.

How did Jesus follow this command?
1. He asked (John 17:9-10).
2. He sought (Luke 19:10).
3. He knocks (Rev. 3:20).

Hey Bro...what the F_ _ _ is up?

1 John 3:16-18

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Who are our brothers?
• Proverbs 18:24
• Mark 3:34-35

What do our brothers have to do with our relationship with the Father?
• 1 John 2:8-10
• 1 John 4:20-21

What are the consequences of conflict with our brothers?
• Proverbs 18:19
• 1 Corinthians 8:10-12

What should we do about it?
• Matthew 5:22-24
• Luke 17:2-4

Many times we hear the saying blood is thicker than water, however I choose to think that maybe Spiritual bonds are thicker than blood. The people that we walk day to day life with, that we call up for comfort and encouragement, those brothers and sisters are closer than most bonds we know and feel with those around us. Those are the bonds that hold us up, that keep us accountable to the path we have set forth on, that walk with us through good and bad (a friend will bail u out of jail a best friend will be sitting next to you).

We are brothers in God, in spirit, and in truth.

Where are we in our relationship as spiritual brothers?
What is the next step we should be taking in our walk with eachother?

Escapism ... run to the cave! Psalm 31

1-2 I run to you, GOD; I run for dear life. Don't let me down!
Take me seriously this time!
Get down on my level and listen,
and please—no procrastination!
Your granite cave a hiding place,
your high cliff aerie a place of safety.

3-5 You're my cave to hide in,
my cliff to climb.
Be my safe leader,
be my true mountain guide.
Free me from hidden traps;
I want to hide in you.
I've put my life in your hands.
You won't drop me,
you'll never let me down.

Last night our Tuesday night discussion group looked at escapism. We talked about all the reasons why people might want to escape from dealing with painful reality and the various kinds of escapism … What is the difference between escapism and just coping? What kinds of escape are potentially productive and beneficial as compared to escapism that is destructive and negative.

I shared with them two examples of healthy, productive escape: David and Job. When David returned to Ziklag with his men and found their wives and children abducted and their goods taken, they wept bitterly and the men talked about stoning David as their leader. But David “strengthened himself in the Lord.”

Job takes the all-time world record for the classic bad day. He received four or five pieces of terrible, tragic news in a sequence, one after another. The final word was that all of his children were killed. His response was to rip his clothes, shave his head in a sign of mourning and to begin to worship the Lord.

There is difference between escaping from truth, and escaping to the Lord. Jesus said “I am the Truth…” and he also said, “You shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” The only way to face and overcome life’s painful realities is to find a way to turn to truth, not run from it, and embrace the truth, painful though it may be.

This Psalm of David, reflecting many of the characteristics of depression, shows David running to God. In God he finds a “granite cave a hiding place,” a “high cliff aerie a place of safety.”

Selfish or Selfless?

Eros: The original unreality and vanity that entered at the fall of man, and it holds all creation in bondage. (see Rom 8:19-21)

Eros is a Greek word for love meaning:
does not seek to be accepted by its object, but to gain possession of it
has an appetite or yearning desire that is aroused by the attractive qualities of its object
it is man-centered, self-centered love recognized by three manifestations – possess, acquire, and control

Agape: The exact opposite of Eros meaning to love unconditionally, intentionally, self-giving with no expectation of receiving something in return.

Me: As I looked into my own life to see if there was any Eros or Agape I soon realized that there was plenty of both. Most often we see a mixture of self love and selfless love in our lives. I’m no where near learning to live in Agape myself but simply knowing the difference has made a big impact on my life.


John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Luke 10:27 He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself.

What is a friend?

Pick your favorite quote....why is it your favorite?

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
DAVID HUME: Truth springs from argument amongst friends.

ECCLESIASTICUS 6:14: A faithful friend is a strong defense: and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure.

EPICURUS: It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us. -3rd century BCE

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.

MARLENE DIETRICH: It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON: The only way to have a friend is to be one.

JESUS OF NAZARETH

Matthew 11:19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:15
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

John 21:5
He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered.