Quiet Time in Ephesians 4
- Filip
- May 2, 2022
- 4 min read
EXPAND TO READ: EPHESIANS 4 (HCSB)
Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ
1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, 3 diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the Messiah’s gift. 8 For it says:
When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people.
9 But what does “He ascended” mean except that He descended to the lower parts of the earth? 10 The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. 11 And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. 16 From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Living the New Life
17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. 19 They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.
20 But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, 21 assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus. 22 You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; 23 you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; 24 you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.
25 Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the Devil an opportunity. 28 The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need. 29 No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption. 31 All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 31-32): For much of my faith and even every so often now, I have unfortunately not been very good at living in these verses. You tell us that all bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, and malice should be removed from us; replaced with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness just as God forgave us in Christ. I have lived with a hardened heart for much of my faith, which has caused me to perform every single one of these sins since coming to faith, unfortunately. I am grateful for You for restoring my heart, softening my heart, and flowing Your joy and peace into me now that I am finally willing and allowing You to do so. Please forgive me for not living in these two verses for most of my spiritual life, Father. Help me to be better and continue to work in me to soften my heart and fill me with Your joy and peace.
PROMISE (verses 4-5): In these two verses You not only give us a promise, but also much clarity on exactly who You are. You promise us that there is one body and one Spirit; that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all, and that You are above all, through all, and in all. How amazing is this promise?! You are above all authorities in this life. You run through and in everything that is on this earth. I am so blessed to know that You are always inside of me, around me, and even in every ounce of amazingness this planet has to offer. I see You in the beautiful sunrise and sunset, I see You in the budding flowers in the spring, I see You in my wife’s beautiful smile; I see You in everything and I am so grateful for this amazing change You’ve made in me, Father! Thank You!
ATTITUDE (verses 17-19): These three verses essentially described me for much of my spiritual journey, unfortunately. I walked the “Gentiles walk;” my thought-life was still quite often that of a Gentile; I exclude You in many parts of my life; I allowed my heart to remain hardened instead of receiving the true healing and restoration only You can provide; I practiced so many kinds of impurity solely out of my own selfish desires. Help me to put my old self truly behind me, Father, so that I no longer live in these ways. Help me to truly embrace and realize that I am a new self in You and that my old self is an experience to learn from but it is no longer who I am. Thank You for this new identity, Father, that cleans my record and allows me to live a new, free life in, through, and with You!
COMMAND (verses 1-3): Giving me a command right off the start of this scripture that speaks loudly to my heart today. First You tell us to “walk worth of the calling you have received,” which I have failed to do for a long time. Then You tell us to do this in humility, gentleness, patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us; this I have also failed at miserably for most of my faith. Help me to be better at embracing this command, Father, so that when I do walk this life it is worthy of what You have called me to do in this life. Help me to live a humble life; help me to be more gentle and patience when my flesh wants to fight me on this; help me to accept others in and with love; help me to truly embrace the peace that You offer so that I can help to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in this life, Father.
EXAMPLE (verses 17-19): There are so many examples to live by in this chapter, but I feel these three verses are speaking the loudest to my heart this morning as I was stuck doing the exact opposite of this for most of my spiritual journey up until recently. Thank You for providing so many amazing examples to live by Father. Thank You for providing a means through Jesus for a new, born-again identity in this life. Thank You for not wasting our past experiences and mistakes, rather using them to glorify Your kingdom further. Continue to help me live in the ways these verses talk about so that my heart is no longer hardened, so that I pour out joy to others, so that my thought-life is in line with what You expect of me, so that I no longer give into my own selfish desires of my flesh.
*DAILY NOTE: Ephesians 4 is such a powerful chapter of scripture for exactly how You expect us to live our lives in our new identity in Jesus. If I had any doubts about the way I am supposed to be living, then those have officially been squashed by this chapter. Although I do know HOW You want me to live, I do and will still struggle my internal battle between the spirit of my flesh and the Spirit given to me by You, Father. This is a struggle of mine which has caused many relapses in the past, but I am grateful that through You and by You introducing the Real Men 300 into my life, that I have a strong group of Godly men to help me carry these burdens and provide correction to my life when needed. Continue Your works in me, Father, and thank You for all that You have done in me so far now that I am finally willing and able to receive Your blessings, teachings, convictions, counsel, and mentorship.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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