Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / February 29 - Ephesians 4

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February 29 - Ephesians 4 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends. It's Sean.
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  Here it is. Thursday.
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  It is that magical day, the 29th of February.
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  This doesn't happen very often. Once every four years on a leap
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  year. And on this day we celebrate the
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  Conroe Olympics, which is basically just an excuse for all
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  of us to excuse ourselves from the outside world.
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  You know, if you're really sick, you just can't go out and do
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  whatever it is that you've got to do.
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  So we figured one day every four years, we get to say no to the
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  outside world. Each choose something really fun
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  to do and then we do those things for the whole day.
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  So this is our conry Olympic day.
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  So sorry friends, you are not going to see us doing what we
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  normally do. It's going to be a good day.
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  And what better way to start today than to read another
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  chapter of this wonderful book of Ephesians where Paul, just
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  with every verse, every sentence is just chock full to the
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  rafters with goodness. So we will turn on our
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  concentration and see how much of this we can absorb as we read
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  through this chapter together. How cool.
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  You ready? Yeah.
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  Lord, whatever lies before us today, let us put that down to
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  come before you to hear your truth, your good news for us.
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  Let's do it. Let's read together.
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  Ephesians Chapter 4. Therefore I, a prisoner for
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  serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your
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  calling if you have been called by God.
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  Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other,
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  making allowances for each other's faults because of your
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  love. Make every effort to keep
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  yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with
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  peace. For there is one body and one
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  spirit, just as you have been called to 1 glorious hope for
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  the future. There is one Lord, one faith,
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  one Baptism, one God and Father of all who is over All in all
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  and living through all. However, He has given each one
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  of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
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  That is why the Scriptures say when he ascended to the heights
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  he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.
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  Notice that it says he ascended. There's clearly means that
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  Christ also descended to our lowly world, and the same one
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  who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the
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  heavens so that He might fill the entire universe with
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  himself. Now these are the gifts Christ
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  gave to the Church, the apostles, the prophets, the
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  evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
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  Their responsibility is to equip guides, people to do His work
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  and build up the Church, the body of Christ.
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  This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith
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  and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord,
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  measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
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  Then we will no longer be immature like children.
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  We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new
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  teaching. We will not be influenced when
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  people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the
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  truth. Instead, we will speak the truth
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  in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who
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  is the head of His body, the Church.
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  He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.
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  As each part does its own special work.
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  It helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy
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  and growing and full of love with the Lord's authority.
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  I say this live no longer as the Gentiles do, but they are
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  hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of
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  darkness. They wander far from the life
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  God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened
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  their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame.
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  They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practise every kind
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  of impurity. But that isn't what you learned
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  about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus
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  and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your
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  old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is
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  corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew
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  your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created
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  to be like God, truly righteous and holy.
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  So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbours the
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  truth, for we are all part of the same body and don't sin by
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  letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while
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  you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
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  If you are a thief, quit stealing.
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  Instead, use your hands for good hard work and then give
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  generously to others in need. Don't use foul or abusive
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  language. Let everything you say be good
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  and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to
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  those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God's
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  Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, He has identified you
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  as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of
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  redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage,
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  anger, harsh words and slander, as well as all types of evil
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  behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other's
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  tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God through
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  Christ has forgiven you, Jesus you call us to a different
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  way of being, a better way of being.
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  You call us to live as children of light and we can only do
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  these things that you ask of us because you did them first.
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  All your words were uplifting and life giving your actions
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  full of love, justice and forgiveness, not afraid of hard
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  work. You came down to earth.
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  You sacrificed everything that you had in the heavenly realms
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  to come here so that we might know you.
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  That really is the most incredible thing.
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  So we praise you, and we pray and ask that you enliven and
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  increase your Holy Spirit in us so that transformed we can truly
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  live as children of Light. That we can share your light in
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  our interactions with the people around us.
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  Thank you for your light that you pour into us, filling us
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  with all these good things so that we can overflow that light
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  into the world around us. We love you and we thank you
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  when we praise you and it's in your name that we pray.
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  Jesus. Ah man.