GRINDIT podcast

False teachers were rampant in the early church. These deceivers would come in and pretend to be full of the spirit, and they would welcome themselves into the body of believers, making friends and gaining people’s trust. Then at the moment of opportunity, they would begin their deceitful teachings and cause chaos in the body. They would cause chaos and doubt which totally went against God’s plans for unity and if the believer was still a spiritual baby, they would be tossed around like a wave, or an object that has been picked up by the wind and thrown around. It is crucial that we know God’s word and that we meet together with other believers. We need each other so we can encourage one another as we are on this journey.

When Jesus left this earth, ascending back to the Father and sitting at His right hand, he left gifts for the church. It may not be gifts like we think of as gifts, something to be unwrapped and get all excited about...But they were necessary gifts because the church, his body, at that time, was a new concept and would need structure. These gifts would provide this: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers would fortify the believers so they could grow from spiritual babies to mature believers. What gift do you have? What role do you play in the church? We need all the help we can get so unwrap your gift and do your part!

Paul says we are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. How do we do that? It seems that many do know, or understand, their calling. It’s not complicated to figure out but it can be challenging to do! Paul tells us how to live a called life and that life is to be like Jesus: be humble, be gentle or meek, be patient, and love, striving for unity with the Spirit. If we get any one of these out of line, we are not walking according to the will of God! If we are out of the will of God, our lives are filled with chaos and our prayers will not be answered. We all experience then in our walk from time to time, but don’t let your heart harden and stay out of God’s will! Repent, get back in line with God’s will, and keep walking, striving for unity with the Spirit of God! Are you in God’s will? Are you walking in your calling?

Have you prayed and prayed and prayed only to get nothing but crickets from God? No matter how earnest you pray, all you seem to get from God is silence? A question people ask a lot is, “Why are my prayers not being answered?” It’s a great question because Jesus tells us to ask God for help and to bring our petitions before Him so He can answer them, but maybe you’re discouraged because you feel as though God doesn’t hear you or that He cares. He does both! He hears you and He cares!!! The reason your prayers may not be answered is because you aren’t walking in your calling! Paul discusses that here in chapter 4, that we are to walk worthy in the manner we are called. We are called to live different from the world and he gives four examples of how we should walk. If any one of them are out of line, not in the will of God, it could possibly hinder our prayers! How are you walking?

Paul has taken the time to think about what God has done for him and anyone who obeys the gospel and it humbles him. He says he wants us all to experience the love the Father has for us and what he has done through His Son, Jesus. He wants us to know the power that is within us as believers, those who have put their faith in Jesus. The same power that was at work in the gospels, in the book of Acts, and in the life of Paul, also works in us! Jesus said he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and Paul makes it clear that we have the same power working in us because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Will you take the time to reflect on who you are in Christ and who lives in you?

What put Paul down on his knees before God? No, not when he was thrown from his horse on the road to Damascus, but when he took the time to consider the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth chose him to carry the message of the gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles. He was humbled because he knew where he once was and the life he was living, going from house to house, persecuting those who were following Jesus. Now he is a follower of Jesus himself, he has risked his life to spread the message of Jesus to the world, and soon he will be in heaven with Jesus because he will be put to death for his faith. Paul wants everyone to know the love the Father has for them. Do you?

Paul says God revealed the mystery of his plan to him and that he did not get any of his information from man. He says he didn’t learn it either but that it was given to him by God Himself. When Paul was first converted to Jesus, he went away for three years. During those three years is when he would be taught by God this mysterious plan and now, he would reveal this plan to both Jews and Gentiles giving them the opportunity to partake in God’s plan. He tells them all through this letter they are now united through Christ and they are both partakers of God’s marvelous grace. The Jews are no longer the chosen ones and the Gentiles are no longer looking on the outside in. They both have direct access to the throne of God and they both have become one body in Jesus!

Paul is reflecting on how God had a plan in place where Jews and Gentiles would worship together in unity, in one body, the church. He says this plan was mysterious for a long time but it has now been revealed. There is no guessing as to what that plan is because Paul tells us exactly what the mysterious plan is, and it was purposed by God Himself from all eternity. That plan was for God Himself to put on flesh, die on a cross, be resurrected, giving both Jews and Gentiles the hope of salvation and being with Him in heaven for eternity! You are a part of God’s plan...have you accepted the invitation?

God made a covenant with Abraham way back in Genesis 12 and he became the father of the Jews. A sign of that covenant was circumcision and God said if they chose not to be circumcised, then He wouldn’t have anything to do with them. Then there are the Gentiles who were completely outside of that covenant and were uncircumcised. Hostility would grow between these two groups of people and the roots would run deep for thousands of years. Then the church begins in Acts 2 and by the time we get to Acts 10, the Gentiles are now welcomed in the kingdom! Paul says in Ephesians 2, as well as other places, that Jesus shed his blood so that these two groups of people would be united into one and worship God together! Paul says the Gentiles are no longer outsiders but have been brought near, they are made alive in Christ, and through Jesus, have been given peace!

When we were kids we played a game called “Follow the leader”. You wanted to be careful in who you chose to be the leader because the object of the game was to do everything the leader did so you can stay in the game. If you didn’t choose a close friend to be the leader, they may choose hard things to follow just to try and get you to booted out of the game. Paul says we have two leaders we can follow: 1. Satan or 2. Jesus. He says we are already following Satan if we are living a rebellious, sinful life, gratifying our fleshly desires. But God is rich in mercy and is giving us the opportunity to choose Jesus and follow him so we can be with God for eternity. Who do you choose to follow?