Verses to Ponder

[Alive]

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

(Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV)

These verses are a reminder of our oneness in Christ by His work for us and also and admonition to walk it out continually and in so doing show ourselves as a witness of Christ to all around. A very Light shining in darkness…distinct from this world. Not showing the same characteristics of the fallen.

[AdHoc]

 

23 minutes ago, Alive said:

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

(Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV)

These verses are a reminder of our oneness in Christ by His work for us and also and admonition to walk it out continually and in so doing show ourselves as a witness of Christ to all around. A very Light shining in darkness…distinct from this world. Not showing the same characteristics of the fallen.

Amen! 

I would like to add. Colossians is about the glory of the Head. Ephesians is about the Body - what it is IN Christ. In Hebrews 5 and 6 we learns that God is unimpressed with Christians who do not mature. Ephesians 4 gives us how the Body matures. Two unities are revealed. One that is already established by the Holy Spirit and that we are, at the loss of personal rights, to try to keep. The other is called "THE Faith" and is the unity of men who believe the same thing. The word "until" in verse 13 indicates that a long time will pass while the gifted ones operate "till" this second unity is established. The aim of the second unity is that the Body matures. It will do us good to remember to be polite and gracious when dealing with each other on this forum lest we be found having NOT kept the first unity. We are all building (1st Cor.3). Let us not be found to doctrinaly right but to have destroyed the fragile unity on which the maturation of the Body of Christ is based.

It is up to the older saints to be willing to take a step backward when the insults fly. If you want to be right at all costs your work will fail when the fire comes. The fire is promised by God.

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1st Cor.3:9–15).

[Alive]

1 minute ago, AdHoc said:

 

Amen! 

I would like to add. Colossians is about the glory of the Head. Ephesians is about the Body - what it is IN Christ. In Hebrews 5 and 6 we learns that God is unimpressed with Christians who do not mature. Ephesians 4 gives us how the Body matures. Two unities are revealed. One that is already established by the Holy Spirit and that we are, at the loss of personal rights, to try to keep. The other is called "THE Faith" and is the unity of men who believe the same thing. The word "until" in verse 13 indicates that a long time will pass while the gifted ones operate "till" this second unity is established. The aim of the second unity is that the Body matures. It will do us good to remember to be polite and gracious when dealing with each other on this forum lest we be found having NOT kept the first unity. We are all building (1st Cor.3). Let us not be found to doctrinaly right but to have destroyed the fragile unity on which the maturation of the Body of Christ is based.

It is up to the older saints to be willing to take a step backward when the insults fly. If you want to be right at all costs your work will fail when the fire comes. The fire is promised by God.

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1st Cor.3:9–15).

Amen brother. I see the Holy Spirit honoring what was intended by the OP. I was thinking yesterday while pondering such of a line in a song from way back…”I don’t want to shoot anyone, with my high powered doctrine gun”.

[AdHoc]

1 hour ago, Alive said:

Amen brother. I see the Holy Spirit honoring what was intended by the OP. I was thinking yesterday while pondering such of a line in a song from way back…”I don’t want to shoot anyone, with my high powered doctrine gun”.

Three times in the Law of Moses is it commended "thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk". The mind of God is not clear to me, but one thing is for sure, God is against His Word doing damage to a young Christian. We are bound to seek the truth, but must avoid "boiling" a new Christian in God's Word. Let us be TESTIFIERS and let the Holy Spirit CONVICT. It is His job to lead us into all truth. Our job is only to "search out a matter".

[Orion]

3 hours ago, Alive said:

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

(Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV)

These verses are a reminder of our oneness in Christ by His work for us and also and admonition to walk it out continually and in so doing show ourselves as a witness of Christ to all around. A very Light shining in darkness…distinct from this world. Not showing the same characteristics of the fallen.

Also teaches me to be humble, like the sand, when presenting my service to our Lord. 

[Vine Abider]

6 hours ago, Alive said:

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

(Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV)

These verses are a reminder of our oneness in Christ by His work for us and also and admonition to walk it out continually and in so doing show ourselves as a witness of Christ to all around. A very Light shining in darkness…distinct from this world. Not showing the same characteristics of the fallen.

The oneness in Christ is beyond amazing!  Look at all the "ones" in that verse - one faith, one Lord, one Spirit, etc.  We have one Spirit flowing in all of us!

Like the prayer Jesus made in John 17:21, which is really quite mind-blowing: "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you - that they also may be in us - so that the world may believe that you have sent me"

[com7fy8]

"with longsuffering" > even with more mature Christians we will see things that are wrong and not right. So, our Father wants us to have "longsuffering" ready. And instead of criticizing, pray with hope for people. And feed them good example and the word of God.

[Alive]

Its such a comforting reality of the good news, that even on our worst days, His Mercy is abundant and His blood is efficacious toward us. We all fall short.