~ 4 “In” Opportunities
In Ephesians ~
Are You “In Christ”
~ How is your standing? “Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in
Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:1-2). “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”
(Ephesians 1:3). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that
we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far
off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).
Are You “In the Lord”
~ How is your current subjection?
“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer
walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk,
in the futility of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17). “For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the
Lord. Walk as children of light (for
the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth)” (Ephesians 5:8-9).
Are You “In the Spirit”
~ How is your present condition? “Now,
therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with
the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a
holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling
place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22). “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put
on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with
which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God; praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all
perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:14-18).
“Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be
drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but
be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving
thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:17-21).
Are You “In One Body”
~ How is your attitude of unity? “But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has
broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to
create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both
to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who
were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access
by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:13-18).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
