EXPAND TO READ: EPHESIANS 5 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verses 15-16): Ever since coming to faith I have lacked in consistency in my walk with You, Father. Even before coming to faith and in secular aspects of my life, I have lacked consistency in my motivation, my persistence, and my drive to continue to press forward. I feel that I do take on some difficult tasks, but I think that once I find something that is more difficult than I am willing/able to bear, that I give up on it and regress. This is where I ask for Your forgiveness, Father. By doing this, I essentially am saying that I am trying to do it alone and that You are not strong enough to help me endure or persevere. I am sorry for this and I hope/pray that I have become better as of late and will continue to be better moving forward. Please continue Your works in me, Father. Continue reminding me that although I am not strong enough to take on most things in this life by myself, that You are always there with me and that Your strength is enough. With You giving me strength, courage, and wisdom, I know that we can take on any challenges this life has to offer.
PROMISE (verse 6): I feel the first part of this verse is kind of a command, but with pretty much all of Your commands a promise quickly follows. In this verse You tell us to not let anyone deceive us with empty arguments as God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient. We must be on our guard at all times against the enemy’s deceptive practices in this life, but at the same time we are given a promise of Your eventual wrath on those who are working for the enemy to try and deceive us. Thank You for this promise, Father, as it does give me some reassurance that those who are working with and for the enemy will not live a joyous eternity due to their works for Satan even if it appears that they are being “blessed” in this life at times. I must remember to always be on guard for these deceptive people in my life to ensure I do not fall into their traps as I often have in the past.
ATTITUDE (verses 25, 31, 33): Today is my 16-year anniversary with my wife and I am reminded today of the many mistakes I’ve made in much of our marriage in relation to these verses. Although I did not come to faith before our marriage started, I have been a believer in Jesus for most of our marriage. I have not been a great husband for much of our marriage, unfortunately, especially when I compare it to Your words in these verses for how a husband is supposed to be. My attitudes have been stuck in that of selfishness, self-pity, remorse, depression, anger, annoyance, and so much more negativity for quite some time. In these verses, however, You tell us that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. You tell us that we are to love our wives in a way that we are joined together as one flesh. You tell us that husbands are to love their wives as themselves. I have failed at this on so many levels up until recently because I have intertwined my mindset on marriage with that of the world instead of with Yours. Help me to be better at being a husband, Father. Help me to be the true head of my household as You have intended me to be. Help me to truly love my wife in all ways just as Christ loved the church and gave all of Himself for us. Help me to love my wife not only as myself, but to love her in a similar way that I love Jesus. Help me to always see Jesus in her, so that when I do reflect my love for her in all aspects, it’s a reflect of Your love for Jesus, for me, and especially for her. I never want to go back to the husband I used to be, Father, so please continue to remind me where I can be better so that my wife and I may truly become one flesh in all that we are and all that we do for Your glory, Your kingdom, and Your praise.
COMMAND (verses 23, 25-29): There are so many commands for husbands in these verses, but the overall theme of them all is to love my wife in the same way that Christ loves the church and gave His all for her. Yes, this has been a struggle in my life since being married. I’ve had a poor example of marriage in my own upbringing, in this world, and even in my past relationships. There are so many marriages in this life that simply default to giving up when things get a little tough instead of working together to build a stronger and better relationship moving forward. Things such as iron are not strengthened and sharpened by feathers. They are strengthened through immense extremes of heat and cooling and sharpened with grinding and sparks that remove a lot of the blemishes and impurities. The same applies to a marriage and I cannot live in my marriage in a worldly way as it goes completely opposite of what You’ve commanded me to do here. You tell me to be the head of my wife as Christ is the head of the church. You tell me to love my wife as myself as Christ loved the church. You tell me that all of this is to present my wife to You in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. All that I am as a husband has nothing to do with me and everything to do with You and I am sorry I did not realize this until recently. Thank You for being patient with me, Father. Thank You for always being there for me to teach me about how to be a good husband, but also to convict me of the things I’m screwing up. Although I did not always accept Your teachings and convictions in those moments, I am grateful that You’ve never given up on me.
EXAMPLE (verses 8-14): This example in these verses is so powerful and very real for society today. You tell us that we were once darkness, but now were are light in the Lord. You tell us to walk as children of light, since the fruit of the light results in goodness, righteousness, and truth. You tell us to be discerning of what is pleasing to the Lord. You tell us not to participate in the fruitless works of darkness, instead to expose them because this exposure will shame them once revealed as something kept in secret is not shameful until revealed somehow. You tell us that everything exposed by light is made clear. My light in this life is Jesus and Your truth. I must be better at walking in the light, so that I myself do not delve back into darkness again. I must be better at living in a way that Your light shines bright for all around me, so that darkness does not have a chance to enter. Help me to be better at not only embracing Your light in my life, Father, but also shining Your light all around me as a forcefield of protection against the darkness that this world always tries to consume me with. Darkness cannot exist where there is light, so as long as I remember to always carry and shine Your light in my life, then darkness will have no power over me.
*DAILY NOTE: WOW! There is so much in this chapter of Ephesians. You start off with telling us how we are to walk this life as Christians, then You tell us to be on guard for the deceptions and darkness this life will try to tempt us with, then You tell us to remain consistent in our faith, and You end it with so much teaching and good counsel on how to be a good husband in this life. Thank You so much for today’s amazing and plentiful quiet time, Father. Thank You so much for always knowing what to say to my heart and when to say it. I know I wasn’t ready to receive this lesson almost a year ago when I joined the Real Men 300, but now that I am walking this life truly in relationship with You, You have determined that I am finally ready to receive these amazing lessons given in the book of Ephesians. Thank You so much, Father, for Your perfect timing on teachings, lessons, and convictions in my relationship with You.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES