"GOD'S MAGNIFICENT MAKE OVER PART-1"

Temple Priest In Nepal

Read:
(Ephesians 2:1-5) “1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Relate:
Nobody likes to talk about death. Just this week, I had the honor and privilege to speak at my uncle Emilio’s  rosary and funeral. It is good for us to be reminded that this world is not the final destination for us who have put our faith in Christ because we have been made alive with Christ. Sadly, for some who have not given their lives to Christ, this is the best it gets.

As your read the comments below allow them to take root and speak to your heart as you prepare yourself to get all you can from this weekends message. Enjoy!

(vv. 1-2) Immediately after his prayer in chapter 1, Paul reminds the Ephesians of the reality of personal sin. Like them, we must never forget our past, the condition from which Jesus saved us. Those memories are the best fuel for our gratitude to Christ for all He has done for us.

Hindu goddess of blood

Paul describes Satan, the devil, as “the ruler of the kingdom of the air.” Paul’s readers believed that Satan and the evil spiritual forces inhabited the region between earth and sky. Satan is thus pictured as ruling an evil spiritual kingdom - the demons and those who are against Christ. In the resurrection, Christ was victorious over Satan and his power. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the permanent ruler of the whole world. Satan is only the temporary ruler of the part of the world that chooses to follow him.

(v. 3) The fact that all people, without exception commit sin, proves that without Christ we have a sinful nature. We are lost in sin and cannot save ourselves. Does this mean only Christians do good? of course not - many people do good to others. On a relative scale, many are moral, kind, and law abiding. Comparing these people criminals we would say that they are very good people indeed. But on God’s absolute scale, no one is good enough to earn salvation (“you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” 2:1) Only through being united with Christ’s perfect life can we become good in God’s sight. “Objects of wrath” refers to those who are to receive God’s wrath because of their rejection of Christ.

(v. 4-5) In these precious verses Paul wrote about our old sinful nature (2:2-3). Here Paul emphasizes that we do not need to live any longer under sin’s power. The penalty of sin and its power over us was miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Through faith in Christ we stand acquitted, or not guilty before God: see (Romans 3:21-22). God does not take us out of the world or make us robots - we will still feel like sinning, and sometimes we were dead in sin and were slaves to our sinful nature. But now we are alive with Christ (see also Galatians 2:20)
        
Reflect:

• How would you respond if you came upon a wreck and encountered someone needing emergency medical attention?
• What’s the difference between transgressions and sins? (v. 1)
• How would you explain the usage of the word “world” in v. 2?
• Read vv. 2 & 3. Now write down the sources that cause us to fall into sin. Why do you think the things you listed cause this? Which one of the ones you noted give you the most trouble?
• What does the bible say is the punishment for sin? Why?
• Explain in your own words, God’s love and God’s mercy. (v. 4)
• How did God’s grace and mercy make us alive with Christ?
• How would you in your own words define God’s grace? (v. 5)
• What does “... made us alive with Christ ...” mean to you?

Respond:

• If God has blessed us with His love, mercy and grace how does our life reflect gratitude for it? 
• Do you ever act like a spoiled child only requesting and taking of God’s goodness?
• What needs to change?

Request:
Take a moment and thank God for His love, mercy and grace in your life. Then ask Him to forgive you for any sin He has revealed to you. Lastly ask Him to give you the ability to live as someone who was made alive with Christ.

“PRAYER: YOUR SPIRITUAL PIN NUMBER”

"La Familia"

Read: “17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:17-23) [NIV]
 

Relate:
(vv. 15-17) After describing the glorious blessings given to believers (1:3-14), thoughts of the great promises of God led Paul to give praise and to pray for the church–the people chosen to receive those blessings. The phrase: “ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus”, could mean that Paul had heard a good report of the Ephesians’ growth in the faith.  It could also be a way of including the believers in the surrounding churches. Paul knew the Ephesian church well, but not all the other surrounding churches. And yet, he may have heard a positive report of all the churches in the area, and thus he could thank God for all of their faith and remember them in his prayers.
     

Paul never stopped thanking God for these believers. The fact Paul prayed for them constantly demonstrates personal attention. Paul was truly a prayer warrior–remembering all the churches in his personal prayers. Paul kept asking on behalf of these believers, that God would give them spiritual wisdom and understanding. The Holy Spirit gives us “wisdom”–the ability to see life from God’s perspective, to have discernment. He also gives us “understanding,” which refers to an enlightened understanding in their knowledge of God and the mysteries of His divine truth.
     

(v. 18) For the Jew, the heart was the core of one’s personality, the total inner person, the center of thought and moral judgment. The imagery of hearts flooded with light pictures an ability to see the reality of our wonderful future! Believers look forward to a glorious inheritance, as well as the blessings in this present world (v. 19) because of an action by God in the past (those he called).
    

(vv. 19-21) Paul prayed that the believers would begin to understand the incredible greatness of God’s power on behalf of those who believe Him. Because of His power, believers know that: (1) God is on their side, ready to help them meet each and every obstacle (2) God’s power is never stagnant or out of commission–it is always actively working on their behalf (3) God is always fighting against the forces of evil on the believers’ behalf (4) no human strength or spiritual power from the evil world (not even Satan himself) can deter or change God’s inherent power.
    

Only God’s power can change weak human beings into strong believers who are willing to sacrifice everything for the God who loves them. After impressively describing the completeness of God’s power, Paul points out three examples of God’s power: (1) He raised Christ from the dead; (2) He seated Christ in the place of honor in the heavenly realms; and (3) He is far above any ruler or authority! Christ has no equal and no rival. He is supreme over all other beings! These words ought to encourage all believers, because the higher the honor of Christ, as the Head, the higher the honor of all His people.
     

(vv. 22-23) Paul described Christ as having authority over all of creation–ALL things! Thus, the church receives the benefit of his universal headship because the church is His body. Paul used the analogy elsewhere when he wrote about the interrelationships of believers in the church. This passage focuses on Christ as the head of that body, the church. The church is not a building (or all the church buildings on earth)–it includes all believers in a living, growing, moving, working organism deriving existence and power from Jesus Christ. The church obeys Christ’s commands to carry out His purpose and His work in the world.
     

All believers, as part of Christ’s body, are filled by Christ who fills everything everywhere with his presence.  Christ fills all things with himself and with his blessings, bringing all believers to the state of obedience and praise for which God created them! The church is being filled with and by Christ, who fills all things totally. Thus, Christ, who is the fullness of God, finds full expression in His church.
      

By Christ’s resurrection and exaltation, he is head over all things for the church. Christ fills the church and then uses the gifts He bestows to fulfill his mission–revealing Himself to the world and drawing people to Himself by that witness. The image of the body shows the church’s unity. Each member is involved with all the others as they go about doing Christ’s work on earth. We should not attempt to work, serve, or worship on our own. We need the entire body!  We Need each other!
    
Reflect:

• As a child, did you ever persist in asking for something from you parent(s)?
• What was it?
• Did you get it?
• Why do you think you finally got it?
• What is your first memory of church? Is it anything like what is pictured here (vv. 22&23) and in Acts 2:42-46?
• How was it different?

Respond:

• What are some things that you are praying for right now?
• Are they God’s will or your wants? Why or why not? 
• What have you persistently asked God for in prayer over the years?
• How can your LIFE Group or church partner with you in prayer?

Request:

• Pray and ask God to open the eyes of your heart to the things you’re having a hard time accepting by faith!

Today is my grandsons 14th birthday. We affectionately call him "Isick".

THE BLESSINGS OF GOD'S PEOPLE - Part 4

Please join us in prayer for the people of Egypt.

Read: “9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:9-14)

Relate:
The last few weeks we have been looking at the “Seven Blessings of God’s People”. Actually I increased it by one, to eight blessings after reading verses 3-14 a little closer.
     

For some reason or another, we have a hard time understanding that God has already blessed us. We often think that God may bless us, or that He will bless us in the future, but we have a hard time accepting the truth that God has blessed us NOW!
     

Blessing #1: God chose us to be holy and blameless (1:4). You may feel like, “Pastor, I don’t pass the test.”  Well, you are not alone. I feel your sentiment. Understand that God does not say that you are perfect or sinless. However, because of Jesus Christ, if you have accepted Him, you will someday stand before Him holy and blameless.
     

Blessing #2: God adopted us into His family because He wanted us (1:5). When you and I were adopted by God into His family that also included all the rights to that family and we were released of any debt we may have brought with us from our previous family. We had a huge debt we could not pay: our sin. God paid for that debt through Christ.
     

Pray for the Christians in Egypt

Blessing #3: Tells us that God has redeemed us (1:7a). Redemption isn’t a word that we use a lot, so we looked at the Biblical definition: when someone pays a ransom delivered to another who is incapable of freeing themself. It’s the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. Then we looked at the dictionary definition: the action of gaining or regaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt. Aren’t you thankful that God, through Jesus Christ, redeemed us through His own blood?
     

Blessing #4: God has forgiven us (1:7b). I want you to really grasp what it means. We’re forgiven! This word that’s used here literally means, “to carry away”. Picture this: God carries our sin away from us. Forgiveness means our sin’s have been totally dismissed. Praise God, our debt has been forgiven!
     

Our sins were carried away, not because of anything we did, but because of what Jesus Christ did for us. Read (Leviticus 16:20-22) to get a better picture and understanding.
     

This week we will look at the last four blessings listed for us in Ephesians 1:9-14 (underlined).
Blessing #5: God has shown us the “mystery” of His will. (v. 9a)
Blessing #6: God chose us for an inheritance. (v. 11 & 12)
Blessing #7: God  included us in Christ.  (v. 13a)
Blessing #8: God guarantees us of the Holy Spirit in our life. (v. 13b-14)
     

Here are a few background comments to help you understand the passage better:
     

(vv. 13 & 14) The Holy Spirit is God’s seal that we belong to Him and His deposit guaranteeing that He will do what He has promised He will do. The Holy Spirit is like a down payment, a deposit, a validating signature on the contract. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us demonstrates the genuineness of our faith, proving that we are His children, and secures eternal life for us. His power works in us to transform us now.  What we can experience presently is a taste of the total change we will experience in eternity!
     

(vv. 16-17) Paul prayed for the believers to know God better. Reading the Bible, devotional material and other great works of Theology, is wonderful, but, there is no substitute for knowing God personally and intimately. The difference is spending time with Him. Study the Gospels to see what He was like on earth two thousand years ago, and get to know Him in prayer now. Personal knowledge of Christ can transform your life!
     

(v. 18) The hope we have is not a vague feeling that the future will be positive, but it is complete assurance of certain victory through God. This complete certainty comes to us through the Holy Spirit who is working in us.
     

(v. 19) The world fears the power of the atom, yet we belong to the God of the universe who not only created that atomic power but also raised Jesus Christ from the dead! God’s incomparably great power is available to help you through the Holy Spirit in you. There is nothing to difficult for Him!
    
Reflect:

• When have you been blessed or has someone blessed you with something that you did not deserve?
• What was it?
• Who blessed you?
• Why did they bless you?
• How did it make you feel?

Respond: 

• As you read over the eight blessings listed above, which one speaks the most to you. How is that blessing so special to you?
• How do you get to know someone better?
• Do you really know God or do you just know about Him?
• Do you really believe him or just believe in Him?
• How can you get to know God better than you know Him now?

Request:

• What difficult thing in your life can you bring to Him right now?

Gayla and I in front of the Egyptian National Museum in Cairo, Egypt

"SEVEN BLESSINGS OF GOD'S PEOPLE" - Blessings #3&4

Our snowed covered Organ Mountains

Read: “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”(Ephesians 1:7-8)

Relate:

Redemption isn’t a word that we use a lot these days, so let me give you a quick idea of what it means. Redemption means when someone pays a ransom to deliver somebody who is incapable of freeing himself.  A picture of this in Jesus’ day was that of a slave market. A person would see a slave; somebody who couldn’t free himself, who had no power to do that, who had absolutely no rights, and would pay the price for that slave, he then freed him, redeeming that slave’s life. He’d set him free!     
     

It literally means to loose somebody from some-thing. To set him free; to purchase him by paying a price. And that's what God has done. He’s liberated us! He set us free!  He’s redeemed us! Jesus Christ purchased us by His own blood. He gave His own life for us. The truth of humanity is we are useless until we’ve been purchased. We’re like an item in a storefront or in a redemption store catalog.
      

Every time I hear the word redemption, I remember the redemption store mom and I used to visit. When I was a young boy my mom used to go grocery shopping every weekend and would come home with some S&H Green stamps. Does anyone remember those? She would look so forward to accumulating these stamps because when she filled the books that the store provided for them, she could then go to the redemption store and redeem them for a gift. I remember her excitement as she would let me know that she had filled the number of books she needed and was now ready to redeem them for the prize she had been showing me in the catalog for weeks.
    

As long as something just sits there on a shelf or on the pages of the redemption store catalog, it is useless. But, when somebody comes in and purchases it, it is now ready to be of use.
     

That’s the way you and I are. It may seem as if we have a use in this world but, when it comes to eternal significance and meaning in life, something that lasts not just for the time on this earth but for eternity, we are useless until we’re purchased by Jesus Christ. He literally picks us up out of sin and delivers us to the destination of redemption in our lives. This “picking up” is called redemption. It’s a picture of our freedom in Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, you and I have been redeemed by His love!
    

In these verses we find another word that is critically important to us: forgiveness. I want you to really see what it means to be forgiven. This word as used here, literally means “to carry away”. God carries our sin away from us.
    

This is not only a religious term but, it’s also a legal term. It literally means “to cancel a debt”.  It’s as if you were behind on your house payments and you were going to loose it. Then one morning the mortgage holder knocks on your door and says, “We’ve been talking down at the office and we just want to cancel your debt on this house. We want to totally remove it.”  Wouldn’t that be awesome?
     

Just take that feeling and multiply it by billions of times as you realize that is how Jesus Christ has canceled our debt of sin. We would have had to face God in judgment one day and He would have said, “Pay up!” knowing that the guilty penalty of sin is death. But the debts are cancelled. It’s a legal term for what God has done in our lives.
    

I have experienced a feeling similar to this. One summer my cousins and I were extremely bored and went looking for something exciting to do. We discovered that my uncle’s rental house was vacant and for some crazy reason we decided to break all the windows. As usual I was left holding the bag! My father was extremely angry at me and came up with a repayment plan. I was to work all summer long in his construction company to pay my debt. For some reason my dad’s heart softened. He called me into the kitchen and informed me that my debt had been paid in full and that he had taken care of my debt. My father loved me so much that he couldn’t stand the thought of me having to pay a debt which, in reality, I could never pay.
    

Christ paid for our sin debt with his own blood. A debt we could never pay. This didn’t come without a great price. Our freedom didn’t come cheaply. The canceling of that debt didn’t come without somebody paying the debt for us. The cost is the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s why we talk so much about the cross. That’s why we focus so much on what Jesus Christ has done.
     

The word “blood” is used over 400 times in the Bible.  Just to put that into perspective – “faith” in the NIV version, is only used 270 times. There’s a lot of blood in the Bible! Blood is right at the very center of the message of the Bible, the very heart of Christianity. If you remove the blood from the Bible it’s like removing all the definitions from a dictionary. It would be worthless. It would be empty of it’s power! Don’t let anybody ever do that.

Reflect:

• When have you been forgiven of a debt you couldn’t pay? Who forgave you? How did it make you feel?

Respond: 

• Grace is God’s voluntary and loving favor given to those He loves and saves. We can’t earn salvation nor do we deserve it. To receive it, we must simply admit that we cannot save ourselves; that only God can save us, and the only way to receive this loving favor is through faith in Jesus.
• Have you accepted God’s salvation? If yes, when?  If not, why not?

Request:

• Pray that God would help you understand just how special you are to Him and thank Him for His grace and salvation.
• Spend some time just praising Him!

Pastor Ruben Ortega