just some stuff

here's just some stuff I thought of this morning as I read this chapter in Ephesians.

Btw, Ephesians is a GREAT letter / book - chock full of all kinds of good stuff.

Fyi - Paul wrote this while in prison. Next time we think that God can't use us when we feel about as trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, just remember that while in prison (which was NOT a Club Med experience back then) Paul wrote a chunk of his letters that make up the New Testament.

Ephesians 4

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling,

     for you have been called by God.

(And since we're ALL called in this life to be & do something for God, that means we all must live in such a way that it brings glory & honor to Him? So what constitutes a life that brings honor & glory to Him?)


2 Always be humble

     and gentle.

(well, not doing really well with those too...)


Be patient with each other,

     making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.

(I guess that means that we don't look so much WHAT a person says, thinks, or does, but rather at WHY a person says, thinks,or does something. I'm thinking of someone right now who I love a great deal - so much of what he says, thinks, or does have nothing to do with the things he espouses & everything to do with the lack of love, tenderness, & support that he needed & wanted in his growing up years & his adult life.
(The lady who was the choir director before me in my very first church once said to me, "No one is that obnoxious on purpose". That's stuck with me for 40 years. No one wakes up one morning & decides to be a jerk. They are the way they are because of some thing(s) in their lives. We just need to cut them some slack & find out what it is & help them walk out of it's influence in their lives.)


3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit,

     binding yourselves together with peace.
(I think staying "united in the Spirit" takes a constant surrender of your self.)


4 For there is one body and one Spirit,

     just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

5 There is one Lord,

     one faith,

     one baptism,

     6 and one God and Father,

          who is over all

          and in all

          and living through all.

(I don't think those 3 verses are designed to restrict us to some sort of hard-tailed fundamentalism, but to simply assert that the "all paths lead to God" thinking is erroneous. Iow, our connection to God happens only because of & through Jesus, not through any other gods or religious thinking.)