Category: Devotions

Above all else, guard your heart,

 for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

We know the wisdom of guarding our heart.

But guard them from what?

Jesus dropped some wisdom on this matter when he warned his disciples,

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”  Mark 7:20-23

Along the way the church codified this list, and other warnings, into the seven deadly sins:

Anger.  Envy. Gluttony. Greed. Lust. Pride. Sloth.

I like how Rebecca DeYoung called them “The Glittering Vices.”

They glitter as a call us, tempt us, and lure us in.

They promise food and sex and vengeance and more.

And to be honest, they can be fun.

For a season.

But they never deliver on their promises.

They leave us craving more, yet never satisfying.

They begin to turn onus, an din us, and rot us inside out.

So how do we guard our hearts from these glittering vices?

Virtue.

Anger is fought with forgiveness.

Envy is deflated by celebration.

Gluttony is satisfied by fasting and feasting.

Greed is cured through giving.

Lust is conquered through fidelity and chastity.

Pride is brought down by humility.

And sloth is overcome through industriousness.

As you read through the sins take inventory of your heart, and her honest.

Have you been nurturing an angry grudge?

Has the green eyed monster taken hold of you?

Are you lustfully add ted to pornography?

As you take inventory be gentle with yourself.

All these sins tempt all people, in different ways, and at different times.

You’re quite normal if a wound from the past has stirred up anger in your heart.

You’re very human if you think more stuff might make you happy and secure.

You have a healthy sexuality if you find the human form beautiful and attractive.

 But all these normal and natural tendency can quickly turn to sin.

So confess.

And commit to the virtuous.

If that’s enough, great.

If not, ask for help.

Talk to a pastor.  A friend.  A counselor.

We need not live captive to the glittering vices of deadly sin.

We can, with the help of God and others, live a more virtuous life that honors God, blesses others, and helps ourselves. 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Ephesians 2:19

Reading through Ephesians has me thinking a lot about how God sees us.

Then it dawned on me… God sees us.

God sees us. Takes notice of us. Pays attention to us.

He chose us, called us, adopted us, predestined us!

As I thought about this I thought about seeing other people through the eyes of God.

I think it boils down to this:

Are you type of person who walks into a room and says, “Here I am!”

Or do you walk into a room and say, “There you are!”

God walks in and says to us, “There you are!”

There you are my beloved. There you are my adopted one. There you are my saint!

I want to be more like that. All of us can be like that.

We can be the person who walks into the room and says to someone, “There you are! I was looking for you. I was hoping to see you. I wanted to talk to you. Now tell me how you are doing. Tell me about yourself. Tell me aoutr your day. Tell me about your pain. Tell me about your dreams.”

The next time you walk into a room, which will probably before the day is over, decide in advance-

Be the person who walks in and says to someone, “There you are!”

Ephesians 2:11-22 provides us a great three-point sermon.

2:11 “Therefore, remember…”

Remember when you were far from God. Or just ignoring God. Or at rock bottom. Whatever the circumstances we can all speak to a past time when things were not well. Here we are invited to “remember.” Don’t forget about that season in life. And more, don’t be afraid to talk about it. Chances are someone in your life is going through the same thing. Trust that God can use your testimony about a past time in your life to open up a conversation. For Paul he talks about people who were separated, excluded, far from God and without hope. Sharing this experience will help you to connect with those who are still stuck.

2:13 “But now…”

Paul don’t stay stuck! “But now…” is all about what God has done for us through Jesus. More specifically, the cross. Don’t be shy. Don’t be afraid. Point to the cross. There we find our savior dying for our sin. Taking the death we deserved. Why? Out of his great love. Here’s the whole verse, “¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

2:19 “So then…”

Why? Why the cross? So that we can union with Christ. This is our salvation. And so that we can come together as the body of Christ. Our Unity. He says we are no longer strangers, no longer outsiders. We are citizens. We are a part of the body of Christ. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit!

Take a few minutes to write your own Ephesians 2:11-22. Tell your story in this formate. “Remember… But now… SO then…” Talk about your time or season without God. Recall what happened that brought you close. Share the difference that it now makes.

She came up to me after the worship service and declared, “I finally get it!”
“Get what?” I asked.
“You don’t ask Jesus into your heart.  You give your heart to Jesus.”

It may seem like a small, or even petty distinction.
But this is the point we’ve spent the last four weeks unpacking.
In Ephesians we have read more than a dozen times phrases like-
We are alive in Jesus.
We have every spiritual blessing in Jesus.
We are chosen in Jesus.
We are adopted in Jesus.
It’s all about putting your life IN JESUS.
it’s all about our UNION IN JESUS.

Here’s the difference:
It’s not about asking Jesus to come into your life.
It’s about putting your life in Jesus.

Here’s the difference that makes:
It’s not about you.
It’s about him!

When we introduce a child to Jesus we teach them about inviting Jesus into their life.  That’s good.  The bible does express Jesus living in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17).  But over,
and over,
and over again.
we read about our union IN Jesus.
It’s really all about Jesus.

This week I encourage you to make the switch.
Wake up each day and instead of asking Jesus to come into your life, give Jesus your life.
Your life is in him.
Your righteousness is in him.
Your salvation is in him.
Like Paul says,
you are a citizen in God’s kingdom,
you are seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms,
you are members of the household of God.

Giving your life to Jesus is key our our UNION with Jesus.
And it is the foundation for our UNITY as the body of Christ, the church.

You can re-watch or listen to all of the
“Ephesians: Union and Unity” series on the website, YouTube, Facebook, Spotify or iTunes