Ephesians 4:31

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

                Any prideful feeling of offense by a correction, any slight spark of wrath that impress on me to bark an insult or respond in a hateful and hurtful matter, any though of jealousy or bitterness, I need to make war on them and subdue them by the spirit. I must make an effort to die to myself moment by moment and not let these selfish characteristics swell up in myself. When I receive a correction or a rebuke, I need to suppress and kill any thought of justifying myself by tearing down my corrector, or self-righteously compare myself to other Christians. Any anger, or resentment or the slightest pride, I must declare them as an enemy to the cause of Christ and the gospel and ask the Holy Spirit to work in me humility and self-control.

                Application: When being corrected, or offended or hurt by another person, I need to receive them with grace and not let these things described in this verse to swell up within my flesh. After any altercation that produces these emotions, I need to pray and ask my Father to forgive me of these selfish, anti-Christian emotion or thought and accept them as wrong, though they may seem right at the time. By this I follow Paul’s earlier exhortation: “do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” (Ephesians 4:26)

Ephesians 4:29

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouths, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Corrupt words can come in deceitful and hidden forms, even idle words will be judged by our heavenly Father and we’ll have to give an account for them. What strikes me about this verse is the phrase “necessary edification.” Paul doesn’t generally say to have good words for edification, but to use words for edification which are “necessary” for the hearer. This implies that there are words of edification that aren’t necessary and aren’t specifically useful for the particular time.

For example, a brother could have a problem with pornography. I could talk about how it’s a sin and point to the Scriptures that say such a thing. Though this is edifying, it still may not tackle the main issue of why he has a problem with watching pornography. He could be feeling deeply guilty about this sin and it becomes a sin that the devil uses to persuade him that he can’t come back to God for forgiveness. The necessary edification then could be found in the Scriptures that speak upon God’s willingness to forgive like Isaiah 55 “Everyone who thirsts come to the waters…incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live… Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:1, 3, 7) or 1 John 2:1 “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. “

Application: Three things. One, be very careful about not only the words I say, but also the tone and attitude those words are portrayed in. Two, be open and attentive to those who need edification, and what problems their dealing with. And three, ask for wisdom from the Lord to pick the exact words to effectively edify my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ephesians 4:28

“Let him who sole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”

All of my life so far, I’ve been freely supported by many individuals, rarely having to work for my food or to support myself. When I see a mess, I tend to walk by it seeing it’s not my responsibility. When I need money, I ask for some from my parents. When I’m hungry I think about when diner is going to be prepared for me. Now I understand that I’m in a place right now where I need to be supported because I’m busy and don’t have time to take a job, but this is not going to be my lifestyle all the time. I’m going to need to start working after Ignite, preparing for my future family, career, and ministry. Even no I can lift up my supporters by cleaning things I don’t have to clean, fasting form things I don’t need, and being more efficient with my time here at the ranch.

Application: Later, when in El Salvador, I need to picture myself no longer as just a student, but I’m a fellow adult minister of the gospel. As a minister, I should have the mind set of Christ that I’m here to serve and to not expect anything to be done for me, but that I should labor and give service to those who have need.

Ephesians 4:27

“Nor give place to the devil”

                This morning a coupe of minor things were done in a series to the point where I wasn’t in the best mood. Instead of dealing with the frustration with the Lord right after the first event, I let it swell up and get me more and more frustrated as each moment raised its ugly head. These events kept going until I had a confrontation with another one of my brothers. The devil used my sinful pride, arrogance, and impatience to make compound on each other and escalate to a possible rift within the body of Christ. But it all started because I let Satan have his foothold within my heart.

By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit convicted me of it and I settled things with my brother. Because of that, the devil lost his foothold and I was freely able to walk in holiness and love.

Application: As unrest stirs within me in El Salvador, I should be steadfast and swift to ask the Lord to strengthen me with joy and longsuffering for the upcoming dart of the Enemy whose purpose is to stumble me and do collateral damage within the El Salvadorian people. By doing stumbling and lashing out on anyone, I make a bad name for Potter’s Field Ministry and the body of Christ in general. If I do happen to stumble though, I should repent quickly and ask for forgiveness to the person I offended, redeeming and closing the wound with the loving power of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:26

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”

                “Be angry, and do not sin” There’s a righteous anger against sin, ungodliness, and injustice. We should be angry when sin festers and destroys lives. We should be angry at ungodliness in the lives of others and even within ourselves. We should be angry and bothered that little children don’t have clean water or food because the rich elite ignore them because the devil is stirring up injustice. Look at our Savoir; He flipped the change tables on the temple grounds and pronounced correctly the woes to the religious elite who were shutting off people from worshipping their God who created them. We should join Him in His righteous anger, for sin, injustices and false religions do bar people from being reconciled to God. This calls us inwardly to be angry at sin, and be motivated to disarm the works of the Enemy.

                “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Though we are called to be angry at sin and bondage, we should not dwell in our anger when we get into our bed. God designed sleep to restore and to lighten burdens that were gained throughout the day. Paul actually quotes Psalm 4:4 with “Be angry and do not sin” if we look at the rest of the verse in Psalm 4:4, we see the fuller message that Paul is trying to portrait. “Be angry and do not sin, meditate within your heart on your bed and be still.” Meaning we should rest in the Lord so much so that our anger and hatred for sin would diminish to the point where our soul recites the end of Psalm 4:“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

                Application: I have a tendency to dwell in my anger against sin when I’m trying to fall asleep to where I actually don’t get the amount of sleep I need which makes me less effective for the Lord the following day. I will ask the Lord to quiet my mind and read the Psalms to have my mind focused on the Lord as I fall into restorative rest in Jesus Christ.