“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 NLT). Two commands are given here, with the first being illustrative to help understand and emphasize the second. They are: First, Don’t allow your mind and senses to be dulled and dissipated under the influence
“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT). In a generation of course communication, we are to sound a different tone. The apostle Paul wrote that believers are to speak the “truth in
“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church” (Ephesians 4:15 NLT). In this verse, Paul described both the goal and the means of our speech to one another. The goal is maturity in Christ. And the means
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT). The apostle Paul closed his prayer at the end
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT). We cannot earn salvation, but having received it by God’s grace through faith, we become God’s “masterpiece” (Greek: “poiema”). In Christ, we become God’s poem, His
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 NLT). There is a kind of fatigue that afflicts both young and old. Days off and vacations seem to have no
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9 NLT). The apostle Paul told the believers in Galatia, not to “get tired” in their good work. Perhaps they were feeling the fatigue that comes from
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there” (Galatians 5:24 NLT). The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia instructing them to be like executioners, dealing cruelly with their own sin. Our human tendency however, is to deal cruelly
“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law” (Galatians 5:1 NLT). In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul described the way of liberty that is only found by faith in Christ Jesus. The letter is primarily
“The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith” (Galatians 3:24 NLT). The word “guardian” is from the Greek word “paidagōgós,” which might also be translated as “tutor” or “instructor.” During the 1st Century, wealthy persons would hire a servant to tutor their