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Sunday

Reading Through The Bible - Ephesians









Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.








Ephesians  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE

10th book of the NT 
49th book of the Bible



It starts with a reminder about the redemption & forgiveness we have in Jesus and His grace in
  chapter 1 v 7








What is it?

The Book of Ephesians is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.



How Long is it?

It has 6 chapters.



When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 60 & 62 AD.



Who Wrote it?

Apostle Paul

Chapter 1 v 1 tells us the answer straight away 

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,"





Who was it Written to?

It was written to the church at Ephesus as we see in
ch. 1 v 1
 "To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus"






Why was it Written? 

Paul had visited Ephesus twice and this letter was written while he was in Prison to encourage the Christians he had met there and the others in the church.  


The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Paul writes to the church at Ephesus about how to walk in grace, peace, and love."


 


What is the main theme? 

It focuses on being called by Grace 






and how to walk in the Faith





The Overview Bible  tells us the following:

"Paul wrote Ephesians to accomplish two things:
  1. Describe the Christian’s calling. The first half of the letter focuses on the Ephesians’ calling. They were chosen by God, sealed with His Spirit, and saved by His grace. 
  2. Prescribe the Christian’s walk. The second half teaches how to “walk in a manner worthy” of the Christian’s calling (Eph 4:1). Paul outlines what the Christian walk looks like in various facets of life."

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Paul encouraged the believers telling them they were the adopted sons of God ....  picked before the foundation of the world."
"Paul encouraged the believers to walk in a manner worthy of their calling."




What 2 special relationships does Paul teach about in Ephesians?


Parents & Children.

Husbands and wives.








What very well-known passage in included in this Book?

The Christian Armour in Chapter 6 v 10 - 18

This is where Paul tells the believers to know their enemy and how to stand against him.

This ends with the order to Pray continually in
 verse 18








How does it end?


It ends with the announcement that Paul has sent Tychicus to comfort them and tell them all the news of Paul.

and then a Blessing in ch. 6 v 23-24


23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  
24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

 

Quick outline of Ephesians

  1. Our calling in Christ (Eph 1–3)
    • Identity in Christ (Eph 1)
    • Grace in Christ (Eph 2:1–10)
    • Peace in Christ (Eph 2:11–22)
    • Paul’s calling (Eph 3:1–13)
    • Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (Eph 3:14–21)
  2. Our walk in Christ (Eph 4–6)
    • Walk in unity (Eph 4:1–16)
    • Walk differently from the world (Eph 4:17–31)
    • Walk carefully (Eph 5:1–21)
    • Walk in love (Eph 5:22–6:9)
    • Stand firm in the armour of God (Eph 6:10–24)









OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 













Wednesday

Psalm 19 v 14 - Memorizing the Bible


I could never do it!

          Do what?

Memorize a whole Psalm from the Bible!

          Yeah that's not so easy,  BUT  you can learn one verse of a Psalm.






Let's look at Psalm 19

Many people think they could never manage to memorize a whole Psalm or a whole chapter of Scripture.

It is a rather daunting challenge especially if you have never learned any scripture before.

So we are not going to tackle all of Psalm 19 here but we will take on verse 14.








So in memorizing this verse we will look at 3 things:
  • Memorising Tips
  • A Video of Psalm 19 v 14
  • Some Freebies to help you.



Before we start let me say that I am using the King James version here for 3 reasons

1.   I like to stick to versions that I know are not paraphrases because I want to concentrate on the Word of God and not adding in other ideas.

2.   I was brought up learning from the KJV as a child and so those verses and passages have remained in my mind and I do not mind the somewhat older type language most of the time.

3.    Often the KJV gives a more poetic feel to the verses and that makes it easier to learn.



  • Memorising Tips
If you read the Top 10 Ways to Learn Scripture you will see that I give 10 tips to help in this process but we don't have to use all 10 of them on each verse - just the ones that suit best with the verse.


For Psalm 19 v 14 I'm going to advise using tips 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10

1.  Read the verse often, every day, multiple times in the day.

This verse (and many of the verses in the Psalms) has a kind of rhythm or flow to it because of course the Psalms were written originally as songs so it is easy to read so if we write it as follows we can feel the rhythm


" Let the words of my mouth, 
and the meditation of my heart,
 be acceptable in thy sight,
 O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."




2.  Write out the verse several times.

Writing helps us learn anything.

Use the 4 lines as in tip1 above for the reading when you are writing and naturally you will be saying it in your head as well.



7.  Understand the meaning of the verse.

We will never memorize anything properly without having understood the meaning of it and knowing the meaning helps us remember the order of the parts of the verses.

In the verse we have a prayer to God.

The first 3 lines (as written in tip 1 above) are asking God for help to speak, think & behave properly as God would want us to.

Then the last line is acknowledging who God is and that we know He is able to do as we request.



8.  Make it easy to see the verse clearly and regularly each day.


We cannot have our Bible at hand every moment of the day so if you feel you need frequent readings of the verse like pop-up reminders then do the following:

Get a post-it pad and write the verse out clearly on it then tear off the post-it and stick it on
  • the mirror you will use first thing each morning and last thing each night
  • the front cover of your Bible
  • the front cover of the book you are currently reading
  • the door of the fridge
  • the door of the cupboard where you go to get your favourite mug for that cup of coffee






9.  Make or use Bible Verse Graphics 

The picture of Psalm 19 v 14 near the start of this post is an example of a Bible Verse Graphic.
A picture with the words written on it clearly.
By making these yourself you will learn as you create them.

I post a bible verse graphic every morning on my Facebook Page for Sandra's Ark  so if you want to be encouraged by a verse each day or have a graphic you can Share to your timeline or Save in Facebook then click through to my Facebook Page and be sure to like and follow the page to see those graphics in your feed each day.


or Colouring Pages

While colouring in a Bible Verse Page you will be spending time around the words and this also helps to learn the verse.

or Phone Screensavers / Wallpaper

What better use of your phone - to keep that verse in front of you each time you go to check your messages.

For this you will need it to be a suitable portrait shape and size so most of the normal verse graphics you see will not suit.

I have a few verses made out for screen savers & you can download them from



and finally my favourite way but it is not always possible to use this method

10.  Sing it.

It is well known that in singing a song you can easily learn the words of the song.

Fred & I have made several short videos of songs/choruses to help you memorize certain verses and you can watch the one for Psalm 19 v 14 below 


  • A Video of Psalm 19 v 14



I've also prepared a playlist of Short Songs to memorize Scripture on YouTube:


  • Some Freebies to help you.

Don't forget that many of my posts on the blog have bible verse graphics and I have some of these available as free downloads in my








Sunday

Reading Through The Bible - GALATIANS








Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.








GALATIANS  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLES

9th book of the NT 
48th book of the Bible



It starts with a blessing and reminder of salvation through Jesus in chapter 1 verses 3-5







I love the blessings pronounced in God's Word and we can see in the Epistles that they form lovely greetings.




What is it?

The Book of Galatians is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.



How Long is it?

It has 6 chapters.



When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 49 & 50 AD.




Who Wrote it?

The Apostle Paul

The first 2 verses tells us who it was from 
"Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)," 
and all the brethren who are with me,"



Who was it Written to?

Verse 2 tells us who it was written to 

and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia "






Why was it Written? 

It was written because Paul wanted to clarify certain things for the Galatian Christians. 
 


The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Paul hears that the Galatian churches have been led to think that salvation comes from the law of Moses, and writes a (rather heated) letter telling them where the false teachers have it wrong.."


Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"The Galatians were starting to say Gentiles must follow the Jewish laws in order to be saved. It was confusing the people and putting a burden on them that was unnecessary. Paul wanted to straighten that out."




What did Paul want to explain about himself?


He wanted to talk about himself as an Apostle along with the other Apostles.

About what Christ's crucifixion meant to him personally and where his faith was found as we see in chapter 2 v 20






What did Paul want the Galatians to know about Christianity?


He wanted them to know exactly where their faith had to be focused - not on law and instructions but in Christ as we partly see in  chapter 3 v 26







What is the Book of Galatians most well-known for? 


It contains the passage about the Fruit of the Spirit in chapter 5 verses 22 - 23


22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.









How does it end?


With an instruction to continue to do good deeds
 in chapter 6 v 9
 





and
bringing their attention back again to the cross
 in chapter 6 v 9









OUTLINE of GALATIANS


The Overview Bible  gives us the following


  1. The gospel under attack in Galatia (Ga 1:1–10)
  2. History of the Law vs. grace debate (Ga 1:11–2:21)
  3. Salvation via faith vs. salvation via works (Ga 3)
  4. Slavery vs. sons and heirs of God (Ga 4)
  5. The sinful flesh vs. the Holy Spirit (Ga 5)
  6. How to do good in Christian community (Ga 6)











OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE