Ephesians 3:16 It's Not Enough to "Keep On Keeping On"

Ephesians 3:16 (KJV)

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

The Apostle Paul desired that the believers in Ephesus would not faint at his tribulations. It was his personal request. It was the thing he encouraged them in. It’s as if they had some individual ability to determine whether they fainted. They could, if they chose, honor Paul’s desire and continue on, despite his troubles.

On the other hand, the Apostle bowed his knees before God to ask HIM to strengthen them in the inner man.

• He appealed to them not to faint
• He prayed to God to give them strength

We need Christians who do more than keep on keeping on. We need Christians who do so in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

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Ephesians 3:16 It's Not Enough to "Keep On Keeping On"

Exodus 22:31 (KJV) Holy Men Unto God

Exodus 22:31 (KJV)

And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

Exodus chapters twenty-one and twenty-two are amazingly simple. Chapter 21 begins, 
Exodus 21:1 (KJV)
Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

They describe a sort of honesty among our fellow man that is obvious, basic, almost naïve. It is a sort of honesty that is so simple it is not natural for the carnal man. Truth be known, it’ll be costly to obey. The one who is simple enough to honor this principle is almost certainly to be run over and “cast to the dogs.”

This is what makes them holy men into God.

• They are different than men of the world
• They are more faithful to God than men of the world and, therefore
• They are more dependent upon the Lord than men of the world

Just as the Jews were an abomination to the Egyptians, so I, as a Christian, long to be so holy unto the Lord that I am unwelcome in the world. It is then I am a pleasure to the Lord and best able to make a difference in the world.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
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Exodus 22:31 (KJV) Holy Men Unto God

Ephesians 1:11 (KJV) This Is Our Problem

Ephesians 1:11 (KJV)

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

The first chapter of Ephesians is one of the most debated and contested among believers. Three related terms, each found in the chapter, are at the forefront of the contest.

• Elect/election
• Predestinated
• Will

Most equate this election as having to do with salvation. Some believe God elects those who will be saved and elects those who will not be saved. Some, I included, believe that God has elected all to be saved, but some choose themselves to be unworthy, rejecting the gospel.

I don’t believe Ephesians chapter one has to do with salvation at all.[1] The issue is God’s will for those saved, and the controversy Paul addressed had to do with the church. It was God’s will; God had predestinated; it was the choice of God that all who are saved be united together into one new body called a local church. It was this doctrine for which Paul was in bonds.

But to my point. We have these controversies at all, in Paul’s day and in ours, because the corrupt nature resists “the counsel of His own will.”

Seriously. This is our problem. We don’t like that God has a will of His own. We want God to help us achieve our own will, not His own will.

We will continue to battle with each other and God until we surrender.

May that happen today.

---

[1] Even though one of the most well-loved passages concerning salvation is found in Ephesians chapter two.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
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Ephesians 1:11 (KJV) This Is Our Problem

Exodus 17:7 (KJV) The Proof of God’s Presence

Exodus 17:7 (KJV)

And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

Is the Lord among us, or not?

I think I’ve heard that challenge issued from those we would believe to be the godliest among us. We tend to equate success as evidence of the Lord’s presence. So, those who are the most successful, as men count success, are prone to issue the challenge. “Is the Lord with you, Brother? Then you should expect God’s blessings.”

In the case of our text, it’s the murmuring crowd throwing out the challenge. They are without water. They lay the problem at Moses’ feet and charge him, “Is the Lord among us[1] or not?” “If God is among us if God is leading you, then get us some water!”

The proof of God’s presence is not water, success, or victory in battle. The proof of God’s presence is His Word, His love, and His provision of a Saviour.

To challenge those is to tempt the Lord.

---

[1] As you have insisted He is.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
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Exodus 17:7 (KJV) The Proof of God’s Presence

Exodus 16:3 (KJV) Fleshly, Worldly, Gluttonous Things

Exodus 16:3 (KJV)

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

It’s important to remember that these same people had, only recently, cried out to God for deliverance from the cruelties of the Egyptians. Yet, here they are, looking back fondly on those days claiming to have sat around the “flesh pots” eating “bread to the full.” This was a twisted memory of their past. They had been overworked and abused in Egypt. They had never sat down to a pot full of meats and relaxed together.

I doubt that the fleshpot of that time was anything near what I am thinking about. Perhaps a clam bake style pot full of meats, sausages, corn on the cob, potatoes, and beans. I’m thinking of the crab pots served locally where, once the pot is cooked, they dump the contents on the table, and people grab what they want.[1]

A people, led of God into liberty, and now experiencing privations, longed for fleshly, worldly, gluttonous things.

God responded with manna. It was sufficient. It was nutritious but would not allow for the abuse and overuse of the flesh. It had to be earned every day, and it would provide only for the immediate need.

May God grant that, as His children, we would be content with such.

---

[1] This was before the Mosaic Law. They may not have known of an unclean meat yet.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

Exodus 16:3 (KJV) Fleshly, Worldly, Gluttonous Things

Exodus 15:21 When Christian Music Becomes Evil

Exodus 15:21 (KJV)

And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

I see a minimum of three times in Exodus 15:1-21 the Bible says they sang “to the LORD.”

The song was not an expression of joy, it was for sure not a moment of entertainment. They sang as an act of thanksgiving and worship.

In the book of Ephesians, we read, 
Ephesians 5:19 (KJV)
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

There is a time and place to sing spiritual songs “to yourselves” but even then, it is in the heart and to the Lord. There is no occasion I can find where singing is purely for the benefit of a human audience.

Our hearts are so wicked that we become easily deceived. Modern American Christianity has been duped into believing that Christian music is an acceptable form of entertainment. We have musicians who make a living hosting huge concerts where they “sing to the Lord” gospel songs meant to entertain large gatherings of Christians. There are whole cities that are known for being a Mecca for Christian music. People travel there just to vacation around the gospel singing. It is a multi-million, if not billion, dollar industry, and it is idolatry.

I don’t want to make it sound wicked. But it is evil in the sense that it is not what the Bible teaches music is for. It becomes a wicked thing when we bring it into our churches where we have transitioned now to making the service about ministering to the people who assemble rather than the God they were supposed to have assembled before.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
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Exodus 15:21 When Christian Music Becomes Evil

Exodus 13:21 (KJV) By Day and Night

Exodus 13:21 (KJV)

And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

God provided guidance for Israel in the wilderness day and night.

• He went before them
• He protected behind them
• He never took it away

I have come to think of the Word of God in similar terms.

The Bible serves to go before us
It points out the way in which we should go. It provides an example of others who have been where we are. It teaches us through them what our next steps should be.

The Bible serves to protect behind us

Careful observance of Bible principles and lessons prevents us from many dangers. The salvation of God ensures that, no matter what the world does to us, we are fully and eternally protected. 

The Bible has not been removed from us
Satan has repeatedly attempted to take the Bible from us. His most successful efforts have been to replace the Bible with inferior substitutes. Nevertheless, the Word of God remains intact and thoroughly profitable to those who will open it.

Day or night, day and night, God is present in the pages of His Word to lead us the way. Be faithful to look into the Word of God all day and all night.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

Exodus 13:21 (KJV) By Day and Night