Discipleship Essentials*
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the opportunity to “grow up” spiritually, to make progress in becoming like Jesus every, single day! I praise You that You love me just the way I am, but that You love me so much that You won’t leave me the way I am. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit right now that I may become more and more like You with each passing moment. I pray that You will not allow me to waste the time, talents and treasures You have entrusted into my care, but that You will use them to glorify Yourselves. This I pray in the strong name of Jesus, my risen Savior and Lord. Amen.
God’s Word Today
Ephesians 4:11-16
11He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.
14Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. 15Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Background on the Text – Who Wrote It? Why Was It Written? Who Was the Audience?
Some Biblical scholars believe that the letter to the church at Ephesus was a “circular” letter to be read by a number of different local congregations around the region where Ephesus was located. Others think that the letter was intended for the church at Ephesus itself. One of the more interesting aspect of the Ephesian church is that on Paul’s return from His last missionary journey, while on His way to Jerusalem, Paul had the opportunity to meet with the Elders from the church at Ephesus. In that meeting Paul reminded the Ephesian elders of a couple of important truths: that he had always told them the truth about Jesus and salvation, and therefore was “innocent of their blood.” The second thing he told them was that “wolves” would come into the “flock” and try to destroy it through false teaching. The letter to the Ephesian Church contained specific doctrine that would have helped with the Ephesian Churches faithfulness. According to the Book of Revelation (2:1-7), the Ephesian Church succeeded at rooting out false teaching, but failed to keep their “first love” for Jesus alive.
Observation – What Does the Text Say?
Interpretation – What Does the Text Mean?
Application – How Can I Respond to the Text’s Insights and Teachings?
Each Week’s Check List.
After reading and studying this text, reflect on the following discipleship growth points:
Growth Point |
How |
Encouraged and strengthened me by |
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Fallen short areas |
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What will I do with these insights? |
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What did God say to me today? |
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Share insights and growth points |
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Changed/transformed how? |
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Thoughts...No Longer Like Children!
It’s interesting that Jesus told us that unless we turn and become like children, we will never enter the Kingdom of God, and Paul tells us that we must no longer be like children! That’s because Jesus emphasized the child-like qualities that are eternal—the joy, the enthusiasm, the passion of children. So often as we get older we lose these characteristics and Jesus tells us that unless we get them back, we will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, Paul emphasized the childish qualities of children that must be outgrown. Since Paul was talking about “growing up” in the good sense of that phrase, he showed us that sometimes one of the qualities of being children that we need to outgrow is the ease with which we may be deceived. Since children are innately trusting, they are easily deceived and easily hurt. In fact, the very trust that IS a child-like blessing, can be used against us to hurt us. Paul told the Ephesian Christians that it was necessary for them to grow up in this area so they wouldn’t be forever changing their minds. The same is true for us. We must learn the truth of God’s word, because it will set us free. We must hold to the truth of God’s word, because it is an anchor in the storms of life, and we must live the truth of God’s word, because without that the world will never see the reality of Jesus! Let’s learn, hold onto and life the truth today!