For Reading and Meditation:      Ephesians 2:14-22There can be little doubt that meeting together with other members of God's family is a powerful way of bringing about a changed perspective. Another thing that happens when we go to church or meet together in Christian fellowship is that we are reminded that the very existence of the Church in today's world is proof positive that God is on the throne. Voltaire, the French infidel, said: "It required eleven men to build the Church; I will prove that it needs only one man to knock it down." He was wrong on two counts: first, it was not eleven men who built the Church, it was one man, the Man, Christ Jesus, and second, no one can ever knock it down, for its omnipotent Founder declared: "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18). The mere existence of the Church is, I submit, decisive proof that the living Christ is in the midst of it. Voltaire is dust; Christ lives on. Think of the tempests the Church has weathered through the centuries. Think also of the persecutions through which it has victoriously come, and try, if you can, to account for this extraordinary phenomenon apart from the fact that its Founder and Protector is Jesus Christ. The next time you meet together with your fellow Christians, reflect on the fact that, although every generation has produced people who have predicted the downfall of the Christian Church - it is still here. The realisation of this is yet another thing, I suggest, that helps to put our doubts into the right perspective. O Father, how can I thank You enough for the times my own perspective has been changed after meeting together with Your people. I have greater insight now why You commanded us not to neglect assembling together. And I am grateful. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>1 Corinthians 3:9-17</li><li>Ephesians 1:22</li><li>Ephesians 4:15</li><li>Ephesians 5:23</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What do we know about the foundation of the Church?</li><li>What does Paul declare to the Ephesians?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." (v. 21) 

For Reading and Meditation:      Galatians 5:16-26So important is the point we raised yesterday - the need for selective expression - that we will spend another day considering it. Listen to how the Amplified Bible translates Psalm 73:15: "Had I spoken thus and given expression to my feelings, I would have been untrue and have dealt treacherously against the generation of your children" (emphasis mine). Notice that although the psalmist experienced strong feelings of uncertainty, he refrained from expressing these emotions because they would have had a negative effect upon his brothers and sisters. He acknowledged his emotions, but he refused to express them because he knew they would hurt and hinder the family of God. Expression of our feelings with no thought of another's welfare amounts to sinful, selfish indulgence. We must allow ourselves to feel the full weight of our emotions but then subordinate their expression to the purposes of God. Only if it is God's will for us to share those feelings with others must we do so. Thus the apostle could write stinging words of rebuke to the Corinthian church because his words were in harmony with God's purposes. We have to be on our guard here, because whenever we feel angry, and vent our anger on someone, it is so easy to justify our angry feelings by saying, "God wanted to use me to teach you a lesson."It more often than not, if we examine our hearts we will find that our goal was not the will of God but the desire to get those angry feelings out from inside us. Selective expression of feelings is a mature and spiritual response; indiscrimate expression is immature and unspiritual. Gracious God and loving heavenly Father, forgive me for the times I have hurt others by the indiscriminate expression of my negative feelings. Help me understand and apply this principle of "selective expression" In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Ephesians 4:15</li><li>Proverbs 16:32</li><li>2 Peter 1:3-7</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is to govern our sharing?</li><li>Why are we to be self-controlled?</li></ul></div></div>

"But the fruit of the Spirit is  self-control." (vv. 22-23) 

For Reading and Meditation:      2 Corinthians 13:1-14As we conclude our study of the Beatitudes it is time for us to take a simple test. Ask yourself the following questions and see how many of Christ's "beautiful attitudes" have been assimilated into your life: 1. Am I trying to grasp things from God's hands or are my hands relaxed and empty so that I might receive? 2. Do I shrink from painful experiences or do I welcome them in the knowledge that they will make me a more sensitive person? 3. Am I so sure of God and His resources that I am free from a spirit of demandingness and over-concern? 4. Is my goal to be happy, or is it to be holy? Am I more taken up with getting pleasure out of God than I am with giving pleasure to God? 5. Do I have a deep compassion and concern for the plight of others? 6. Is my heart clean and pure? Have I experienced an inner cleansing that has reached to the deepest depths? 7. Am I a reconciler - one who seeks to reconcile others to God and, where necessary, to each other? 8. Am I so identified with Christ that I experience the hatred which the world gives to those who remind them of Him? Don't be discouraged if you can't see all of these "beautiful attitudes" at work in your life. Remember, we grow in grace. Ask God, however, to help you absorb more and more of His "beautiful attitudes" day by day. The more you have, the more you are to be envied. Possess them all - and you are truly blessed. Lord Jesus, I have listened to Your words and I realise now the Word must become flesh - in me. I want the balance of my days here on earth to reflect, not my attitudes, but Yours. Help me, for Your own Name's sake. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Ephesians 4:1-15</li><li>Hebrews 6:1</li><li>2 Peter 3:18</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What are we to go on to?</li><li>What 'beautiful attitude' will you reflect today?</li></ul></div></div>

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves." (v. 5)

For Reading and Meditation:      Ephesians 4:1-16In his autobiography, A King's Story, the Duke of Windsor told of a strange thing that happened at the funeral of his father, King George V. He described how, as his father's body was being conveyed on a draped gun carriage through the crowded streets of London, a mishap occurred which only those closest to the scene witnessed. The imperial crown, removed from the Tower of London, had been placed over the Royal Standard and secured to the lid of the coffin. However, the jolting of the vehicle caused the Maltese Cross, which surmounts the crown, to fall. "Suddenly," said the Duke, "out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of light dancing along the pavement. One of the sailors, marching behind the gun carriage, picked it up, took it to his commanding officer, and said, 'This cross fell off, Sir. It must be replaced.' The officer was a little bewildered by the untoward happening and said: 'Must it be replaced now?' 'Yes Sir,' replied the sailor, 'The crown is never complete without the cross.' " In Christian terms the converse is also true - the cross is not complete without the crown. The ascension inevitably followed the atonement; the coronation the crucifixion. One writer says: "One senses a certain embarrassment in some ministers where the subject of the ascension is concerned. They tend to shy clear of the topic or dismiss it lightly as no more than a graphic myth or triumphalist parable." But if there had been no ascension there would be no gospel. The cross would not be complete without the crown.O Father, how can I ever sufficiently thank You that the work of salvation is complete. Nothing more needs to be done than has been done. Your Coronation spells it out in the clearest of terms. I am so deeply, deeply grateful. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Hebrews 1:1-9</li><li>Luke 22:69</li><li>Colossians 1:18</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What did God the Father say about the Son?</li><li>What did God the Father say to the Son?</li></ul></div></div>

"He ... ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe." (v. 10)

Many Christians remain stunted and dwarfed in spiritual things, so as to present the same appearance year after year. No up-springing of advanced and refined feeling is manifest in them. They exist but do not "grow up into him in all things." But should we rest content with being in the "green blade," when we might advance to "the ear," and eventually ripen into the "full corn in the ear?" Should we be satisfied to believe in Christ, and to say, "I am safe," without wishing to know in our own experience more of the fulness which is to be found in him. It should not be so; we should, as good traders in heaven's market, covet to be enriched in the knowledge of Jesus. It is all very well to keep other men's vineyards, but we must not neglect our own spiritual growth and ripening. Why should it always be winter time in our hearts? We must have our seed time, it is true, but O for a spring time-yea, a summer season, which shall give promise of an early harvest. If we would ripen in grace, we must live near to Jesus-in his presence-ripened by the sunshine of his smiles. We must hold sweet communion with him. We must leave the distant view of his face and come near, as John did, and pillow our head on his breast; then shall we find ourselves advancing in holiness, in love, in faith, in hope-yea, in every precious gift. As the sun rises first on mountain-tops and gilds them with his light, and presents one of the most charming sights to the eye of the traveller; so is it one of the most delightful contemplations in the world to mark the glow of the Spirit's light on the head of some saint, who has risen up in spiritual stature, like Saul, above his fellows, till, like a mighty Alp, snow-capped, he reflects first among the chosen, the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and bears the sheen of his effulgence high aloft for all to see, and seeing it, to glorify his Father which is in heaven.

This timeless classic from Charles Spurgeon will help to both start and end your day with wonderful insight into God's Word.

Charles Spurgeon's Morning & Evening

"Grow up into him in all things." - Ephesians 4:15

Morning Devotional

A revolutionary insight! The gifts in Ephesians 4:1-32 are given to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry. As soon as the saints can carry on, the gift can move on.This means that success in Christian work is working one's self out of a job in the shortest possible time, then looking for new worlds to conquer.This is what Paul did. He went to Thessalonica, for instance, preached to the Jews for three Sabbaths, and left behind a functioning assembly. No doubt that was an exception as far as speed in the establishing of a work was concerned. The longest Paul ever stayed in one place at a time was two years. That was at Ephesus.God never intended that His saints should be perpetually dependent on any of the gifts mentioned. The gifts are expendable. If the saints remain professional sermon-tasters, never becoming involved in the work of service, they never develop spiritually the way they should and the world will never be evangelized the way God intended.William Dillon said that a successful foreign missionary never has a foreign successor. That should be equally true of workers in the homeland - when the worker's task is completed, the saints themselves should take over, not start looking for another pulpiteer.Too often we preachers look at our position as a lifetime appointment. We reason that others couldn't do the work as well. We excuse our permanence by the fact that the attendance would drop if we left. We complain that others can't do things right and that they're not dependable. But the fact is that they have to learn. And in order to learn they have to be given opportunities. There must be training, delegation of responsibilities, and evaluation of progress.When the saints reach the point where they feel they can carry on without a particular preacher or teacher, that's no reason for him to sulk or nurse wounded feelings. It's cause for celebration. The worker is released to go where he's more needed.It's a bad scene when the work of God is permanently built around a man, no matter how gifted he is. His great aim should be to multiply his effectiveness by building up the saints to the point where they are no longer dependent on him. In a world like ours, he never needs to be without work in other places.

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"For the equipping of the saints for the work of service," (Ephesians 4:12, NASB)

Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 
(Ephesians 4:15 NIV)











We know of many children of God
who have been the Lords children for years and they have
been working for the Lord many of them, and yet they have come to
a standstill; they have come under an arrest. Why? Well in some
way, at some point, somehow, something of themselves, their old
self has come up, has come into evidence, and has come into the way.
It may be some of their old mind, some of their old will, some of
their old affections, desires and feelings. They are in their own
way somehow. They are in the Lords way. What is needed is
not that they should die again, but that they should come to
accept their once-for-all death in Christ in relation to whatever
that may be that has come up, and let it go and be set free from
that law of sin and death. Repentance from dead
works. That is exactly what the apostle is saying to these
Hebrews: "You have come to a standstill. You simply ceased to go
on. You went so far, now you have got to a certain point and for
years you have not budged a bit from that position. You have
never got past foundations, you are not going on to full growth.
You have not settled it once and for all that you died when
Christ died. You ended the whole system and order of the old
creation religiously and otherwise when you came to Christ.
Christ is the end of the law and Christ is the end of the old
creation, and He is the beginning of everything new. Do not be
wearied at repetition of old truths, they are very important as
foundations, and this is foundational." 

We are destined, whether we now
accept it or not, whether we like it or not, we are destined to
discover that Gods foundation stands. This is true, and no
one will ever get through in relation to God and His things while
still bound by the old creation, on the old creation level. This
new way of Life is so narrow that we cannot take ourselves into
it, we have to leave ourselves behind.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

Foundations - Chapter 4

 A  Vital Foundational Truth 

Let our lives lovingly express truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him. (Ephesians 4:15 AMP)










Any system of religion that just puts on from 
the outside, and covers over the inner life by mere rite and ritual is false, it 
is not true. The work of God is to reconstitute human nature. And that, of 
course, involves two things. On the one side, it involves a breaking down. And 
if you know anything about God's dealings with lives who come into His hands, 
there is undoubtedly a large place for that – a progressive breaking down; a 
getting to the root of things, and undeceiving us. If we have any illusions 
about ourselves, they will all be gone when God has done with us. If we are 
governed by any kind of falsehood about ourselves, and our position, and our 
work, when God has done with us, that will all be gone. He is going to break us 
down until we see ourselves stark, as an unclean thing, with all our 
righteousnesses as filthy rags. So He will break us down, and He does.
But there is the other side, of course, all the 
time, for God is not only, and always negative; there is the constructing, 
bringing up to the place where anything that is false, anything that is not 
absolutely transparent and true, straight, clear, is hateful to us. More and 
more our inner man revolts against our own falsehood. Any exaggerations come 
back on us at once with conviction of wrong; any false statement hits us hard, 
and we know that we have not spoken the truth. It is a tremendous thing to get 
into the hands of the Holy Spirit, until, like God, the one thing that we hate 
is anything that is false. "I hate", said David, "every false way." We must come 
there. But we must be lovers of the truth. And this is going to pursue us 
everywhere; it will pursue us into our own life within ourselves, that we are 
not deceiving ourselves at all. Before God we know exactly what God thinks about 
us, and we know where we stand in the light.... And the nearer we come to the Lord, the
 more meticulous the Holy Spirit is over this matter of
 truth; the closer are His dealings with us. It is very
 true, you see, "perfecting holiness in the fear of
 the Lord" – perfecting. The nearer we get to the
 end, the more stringent will be the Lord's dealings with
 anything false in our lives. It is a time matter, but God
 is very faithful – He is very faithful; He does not let
 things pass. Do we want Him to be faithful? Well, it is
 not comfortable to say, "Yes," but it is good that He
 should be faithful with every inconsistency, every
 contradiction, every falsehood, in the inward parts.

Truth in The Inward Parts

 The Perfecting of Holiness 

Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way 
into Him who is the Head. (Ephesians 4:15 ESV)

Things may be taking a new and different shape, but the 
purpose of God is the same. We may be presented with His vision in new and 
further-on aspects, but it is only what He originally meant. Can we adjust? Can 
we leave "the things that are behind"? Without raising any questions as to the 
right or wrong of what has been, can we "go on" and "grow up," "attain"?
 God-given vision makes men of prayer. 
This is almost too obvious when we remember the men of the Bible. It was vision 
that got them away from the trivial and petty. It requires vision to get prayer 
on to the major lines and to make it real travail. What a bound and range those 
prophets had in prayer! But what immense issues were precipitated. It is not our vision 
for God, but His vision in us that will be dynamic, and that will determine 
value.
I cannot conclude without pointing out that what could be 
voluntary with much gain has often to be made compulsory with much loss. This is 
because we do not stand back from time to time and in detachment and waiting 
upon the Lord give Him an opportunity of enlarging vision. Many a work which has 
mightily served the Lord and been a great spiritual testimony has lost its 
former glory, purity, and impact because it has become a "Work," a "Movement," 
an Organization, and its ramifications and responsibilities have become such as 
to completely rule out any such "retreat" with God, where that work 
is put back and a real openness to the Lord for anything else, more or other, is 
enquired after. The Lord might send prophetic vision by ministry to lead into 
His fuller meanings if there was a way for it, but we 
are too busy. What 
tragedy is related to such preoccupation!

Vision and Vocation

 "His Great Love" 

He is the head of the body, the church. § Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. § We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. A body You have prepared for Me. § Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. They were Yours, You gave them to Me. § He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. § Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies … causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 As the body is one and has many members . . . so also is Christ. 

The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest … “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. § Rest in the Lord. § He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace. § We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Evening Daily Light

 He makes me to lie down in green pastures. 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. § Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. § Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. No longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love … grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. Abide in Me. § Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

 A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

First the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. § Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. They, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise … But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends. The substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 Grow up in all things into Him Who is the head – Christ. 

<blockquote>
The things that thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (<a id="verse_1632880610187557" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Timothy/2/2">2 Tim. 2:2</a>).
</blockquote>Truth based upon law will be presented legally - it will be legislated. Truth based upon grace will be shared graciously, in love. "Adorn the doctrine of God" by "speaking the truth in love" (<a id="verse_1632880610456738" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Titus/2/10">Titus 2:10</a>; <a id="verse_1632880610451687" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/4/15">Eph. 4:15</a>)."There are two things that have to be taken into account in communicating truth. Not merely should there be certainty that it is the truth from God, but it must also be suited truth to those whom you address. They might need it all, but they may not be in condition to receive it; and the more precious the truth, the greater the injury, in a certain sense, if it is presented to those who are not in a state to profit by it.""We are to serve under His direction, and according to His pleasure; not just because opportunity or need offers. We require His direction, and the knowledge of His pleasure, however favorable the opportunity or the occasion. We see a servant in Acts 8 taken away from an interesting field of service, to meet one man in the desert. "It is not a question of how we succeed; but have we the assurance that we are doing the Lord's pleasure? Happy is the servant who is so led by Him that he always presents the measure of truth suited to the state of souls, and refuses to supply the knowledge that puffeth up.""Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (<a id="verse_1632880610222253" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Corinthians/2/13">1 Cor. 2:13</a>).

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Proper Presentation 

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Instead, speaking the truth in love,<cr>1</cr> we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head,<cr>2</cr> that is, Christ.

Ephesians 4:15

 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love,   we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head,   that is, Christ.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

 Instead, speaking the truth in love,   we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head,   that is, Christ.

Bible Verse of the Day

April 13, 2024

Ephesians 4:15 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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