I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

Ephesians 1:11-14

I love watching a plan come to fruition. There’s a feeling of accomplishment; of satisfaction; of victory. It’s exciting!

What gets you excited? The beginning of football season? Watching your children succeed? Helping someone accomplish their goals? Selling an account to a customer? Leading someone to faith in Christ?

What excited Paul was seeing the big picture of God’s plan of evangelism. He presented the Ephesian church with a vision of how God’s plan was being fulfilled through them. In fact, the Bible is a living history of God’s plan. The amazing thing is that He uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect plan.

 ¹¹ All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.   GNT

 To be honest, I don’t know how this verse works exactly.After all, how can God’s plan include a still born; a school shooting; cancer; an addiction; or other catastrophic circumstances? How can a loving God allow evil, injustice and extreme poverty in His plan? I don’t have the answer.

What I can tell you is that God does love you, He has a plan for your life and He is always at work to fulfill that plan. And when He does that, it’s time to get excited.

And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴ The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.            NLT

 This is how God grows His Kingdom, one person at a time. His Spirit moves your heart, your mind, your soul. His Spirit brought you into His plan, moves you forward through it and guarantees you the final outcome.

 Therefore, if He has put something into your heart to do; don’t ignore it. That’s God’s Spirit at work in your life to build His Kingdom; to fulfill His plan. So take the first step. Then you too can say, “I love it when a plan comes together”.

Throughout all Generations

Acts 19:1-7

 

 

One Sunday, when I was about 10 years old, I didn’t want to go to church. My Dad chased me around the house and out into the backyard where he finally caught me. When we got to church I wouldn’t get out of the car so he made me wait there while they went to services.

 

As bad as this story sounds, for the most part I enjoyed, or at least complied, and went to church each Sunday. Although our church tradition didn’t talk about asking Jesus into your heart or being born again, looking back on it now, I believe that I was a Christian trying to follow and obey God.

 

However, years later in college a friend presented the Four Spiritual Laws to me. It made a lot of sense so I asked Christ into my heart. That same summer my friend told me about the Holy Spirit and how he worked in my life. Like the disciples in Ephesus that Paul met, I had an initial belief that later lead to a life changing experience.

 

These disciples had most likely become believers through the ministry of Apollos who had been in Ephesus previous to Paul. They are referred to as disciples, so they must have believed in God, but something was missing, and that something was the Holy Spirit. When Paul placed his hands on them while baptizing them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power.

 

Years later, while in prison in Rome, Paul wrote these words to the disciples in Ephesus. Notice how many times he mentions the word “power”.

 

^16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

 

Looking back at a ten year old boy who didn’t want to go to church, God was at work in my life. He was constantly drawing me to him, even as my father dragged me, kicking and screaming, to church that day. Years later, God opened my heart to His Holy Spirit and changed my life.

 

Paul’s Ephesian prayer ends like this:

^20”Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

 

“Throughout all generations, for ever and ever”… Paul’s prayer was not only for those

disciples in Ephesus, but for you and me today. God is still at work in our lives through the power of His Holy Spirit, to draw us closer to Him and to use us to attract and bring others to Him also.

 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%2019%3A1-7&version=NIV;TLB
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Acts.19.1-Acts.19.7

 

Not Fortune Tellers and Mediums

Celsus Library, Ephesus 

Today’s reading is Acts 19:11-20. Paul is in Ephesus (in present day Turkey) and God is performing miracles through him so people would believe in Jesus. The sons of Sceva were using the name of Jesus to drive out evil spirits.

 

The problem was that the sons of Sceva did not believe in Jesus. They were using his name to perform “magic tricks”, most likely to obtain money from people in Ephesus.

 

As it turns out, a man with an evil spirit severely beat the sons of Sceva. The sons learned that you will get burned if you play with fire.

 

Some people today want to interact with God and the spirit world. They use séances, tarot cards fortune tellers, mediums and other portals to the spirit world. Their interactions must be on their terms. Little do they know that they may be playing with fire.

 

God has given us the portals we need. He has told us what those interactions are.

 

 He sent the Holy Spirit to us for guidance and counseling. He gave us God’s Word – the Bible – so we will know God’s Will.  Baptism and Communion are very important touch points into God's spiritual world. The Holy Spirit becomes part of us at baptism, and Jesus nourishes us at communion.

 

These are the best ways to find God – and safely I might add!

 

This explains how someone can find God. But what if God is looking for someone?

 

Yes, there is a portal, or touch point, in the this direction too. It is Christ’s Church. God finds his people through Christ's Church. As members of his Church, we represent Christ, spreading His message and looking for his members.

 

The church is a portal into the heavenly kingdom. We are members of the church. People can find Christ in us and in our actions. We can be a portal for someone into the heavenly kingdom.

 

This is why we need to know Christ, Grow in Christ and Go with Christ.

 

The Church is the real portal into the God's World. Not fortune tellers, mediums and tarot cards.

 

Only One Choice

I sometimes think that shopping is too complicated. There are too many choices!

 

Take toothpaste, for example. I can get it to whiten teeth, or to freshen my breath. They sell it for sensitive teeth and for soft enamels. Too many choices! I just need toothpaste!

 

Paper towel is another example. Some are the strongest, some the most absorbent. Still others come with soap already in them. Too many choices! I just need a disposable towel!

 

Today’s reading is 1Timothy 1:18-2:7. St. Paul, on a mission trip, was giving instructions to Timothy, the delegate leader of the Church at Ephesus.

 

Specifically, Paul is providing instructions regarding worship. As part of his instructions on prayers, Paul reminds Timothy, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom …” To the point, the only reason Timothy can pray to God is because he has faith in Jesus, who enables believers to approach God directly with requests.

 

In Paul’s day there were many religions claiming to have a path to God. Of course, there were numerous pagan religions, with priests encouraging people to worship creation, such as an alligator, a river or the Sun, instead of the creator. There also were Gnostics who claimed knowledge (the Greek word gnosis means knowledge) was necessary to reach God, not Christ’s crucifixion. Finally, Judaism had become a religion of Good Works.

 

Guess what? Things have not changed much in 2000 years. Pagan religions and Devil Worship exist today. The New Age Movement tells us we have what it takes to save ourselves. And there are many, many other religions that teach Good Works are required to reach God.

 

The only way to Heaven is through Jesus. The only reason we can approach God is because of Jesus.

 

What a blessing it is to approach God through prayer. He hears them all and answers them all. Of course, he does not always grant our request, but he does provide an answer.

 

Jesus is our mediator! Unlike shopping, Jesus is the only choice!

God Wants You

Uncle Sam wants you!

 

When I was a teenager, with the United States engaged in the Vietnam War, these were words of concern. It meant you might be drafted. There was a draft lottery. Birthdays were randomly selected, and 18 year olds whose birthdays came sooner were more likely to be drafted than those whose birthdays came later. And this was televised in some years!

 

The draft ended before I turned 18, a sense of relief, perhaps. Had I been drafted I would have fulfilled my obligation.

 

Today’s reading is Ephesians 2:1-10. St. Paul addressed the Christians in Ephesus. He reminds them of their spiritual life. They were dead in their sins, but thanks be to God, rich in mercy he made them alive in Christ.

 

Paul continues, “…it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship,  created … to do good works.”

 

God chose the Ephesian Christians, and he chose me, too.

 

1500 years before Paul wrote, Moses documents the fact that God chose the Israelites  to be a “royal priesthood and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:3-6). God could have chosen the mighty Egyptians or the powerful Phoenicians or even the soon-to-be “thoughtful” Myceneans (predecessors to the Greeks in Athens). Instead, he chose a lowly tribal community.

 

Why did God choose the Israelites, the Christian Ephesians and I? We don’t know, but we do know that it pleased God to do so.

 

Like the Isrealites, I am undeserving and lowly. Yet I was chosen, “to do good works." What great joy!

 

 What are these good works? To love the Lord, to love my neighbor as myself and to make disciples of all nations. God called me through his church. Now that I am part of his church, I am priviledged to carry out his will through the church.

 

If Uncle Sam had called me, I would have gone, perhaps begrudging. When God called me, I went, not begrudgingly, but joyfully!

Mission and Miracles

Christians sometimes debate what a miracle is. Many might say that a miracle is something that is an extra-ordinary event, outside the boundaries explainable by science. Others might counter that a miracle is an act of God that man cannot understand. Still others (my personal favorite) will say, “They are hard to define, but I know one when I see one!”

Some have argued that God’s purpose in performing miracles is to bring someone to faith.

 

Each year our church participates in the Samaritan’s Purse program that sends Christmas packages to children in underdeveloped countries. Brenda, my wife, participates and we spend perhaps $50 – no big deal from our perspective. Yet from the receiver’s perspective, a person who may have difficulty getting food every day, such a package might very well appear to be a miracle.

 
Since God works though Christians, such a gift is from God. Further, such a gift could bring someone to faith. Perhaps the receiver is correct and my nonchalant attitude is wrong! God works at least some of his miracles through people and congregations.

 

Today’s reading, Acts 19:11-20, is about miracles. From the reading, we know that God worked miracles through Paul. We also know that many people came to faith because of the miracles performed in Ephesus.

Sceva’s sons tried to perform miracles for their own personal gain. These sons are probably among the false prophets that John warns us about in 1 John 2:18-23, 4:1-6. These false prophets, or antichrists, try to keep people from knowing Jesus.

 

The Samaritan’s Purse example is one of a mission occurring overseas. Yet the people John warns us about exist in our country today. They are in some of our spiritual centers, our politics and our media. The world is trying to keep people from knowing Jesus.

 

What can we do about these false prophets? We can’t stop them from doing their thing. But we can counter them by bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to our community.

 

The mission field is not just overseas, but it is also here! We can do miracles here!