No matter how much we love God, when we read the first three chapters of Ephesians, we can’t help falling more and more deeply in love with Him. This sequence is very interesting because it reflects exactly what we should experience in our walk with God: first we become established in our personal relationship with God, and then we learn to grow in holiness-changing our thoughts, words, and actions so we will think, speak, and act as God would have us think, speak, and act. Chapters 1–3 are about who we are in Christ, the amazing things Jesus has done for us, how much He loves us, and our relationship with God, and chapters 4–6 are about how we are to behave as Christians. The entire letter of Ephesians is six chapters. In the midst of such hardships, Paul chose not to focus on the daily difficulties of his life but on helping other people by writing to his fellow believers to encourage them in their walk with God.īefore we even begin looking at the text of Ephesians, we learn an important lesson as we think about Paul’s circumstances when he wrote it: no matter how difficult your life may be during certain seasons, remember to do all you can do to bless, help, and encourage others. History tells us that the city sewer ran nearby, so we can assume that not only was the prison dark and uncomfortable, but it also smelled bad. I have visited the prison where Paul was incarcerated, and I could see that his circumstances there must have been extremely hard. Most likely, Paul wrote Ephesians about AD 60, during his two-year imprisonment in Rome. Against this backdrop, we can understand why the Christians in Ephesus needed the strong teaching and encouragement Paul provided in this letter. It was full of occult practices such as sorcery, astrology, fortune-telling, and perversion, including prostitution in the temple. According to, “In the New Testament era it was the fourth greatest city in the world.” Spiritually, this cosmopolitan city was the center of worship for the goddess Artemis. Paul probably wrote this Epistle as a circular letter, which was addressed to the Christians in Ephesus but was also meant to be shared with surrounding churches.Įphesus was a large, influential commercial city in modern-day Turkey. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is a well-loved book of the Bible that teaches believers some of the most important lessons of our faith, such as who we are in Christ, how we are to live as followers of Jesus, and how to gain victory in the spiritual battles we face. "Joyce is and continues to be an incredible testimony of the dynamic, redeeming work of Jesus Christ.Audience: Christians in the city of Ephesus and in nearby churches In 2005, Time magazine named Meyer among their "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America". In 2002, Hachette Book Group paid Meyer over $10 million for her catalog of independently released books. Meyer has written over 100 books, and has sold and given away billions of copies. Her husband Dave suggested she start a television ministry in 1993, which was the beginning of her current program, "Enjoying Everyday Life, which still airs today. By then, she was on six additional stations including Chicago and Kansas. In 1985, Meyer started her own ministry called "Life in the Word". At the same time, she began a 15 minute radio broadcast on a local radio station. Eventually, the church became one of the most popular in the area, mostly due to Meyer's popularity as a Bible teacher. Louis, leading an early morning Bible class. Meyer began serving in a local church in St. All day she felt energized with the spirit of God, even as she participated in bowling at the local bowling alley that night. She said as she drove she heard God call her name. Joyce relates her story of "a Jesus moment" when she was driving to work one day in 1976. They were soon married, and remain married today. After her divorce, her life was very tumultuous as she went from bar to bar aimlessly, until one day she met her future husband, Dave Meyer, an engineering draftsman. She says that she returned that money years later. He even persuaded her to steal against her own better judgment. That marriage lasted only five years and was filled with unhappiness with a cheating husband. As happens many times to such children, she married shortly after her senior year in high school, done usually to be able to leave the home where abuse happened. Joyce spoke often in her discussions about being sexually abused by her own father after he returned from World War II. Such is the life of Pauline Joyce Hutchison, now, Joyce Meyer, Christian author, speaker, and president of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Sometimes we cannot know the difficulties people go through, unless they are willing to share their experiences.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |