PastorTim: February 2012

Lesson 3 The Fifteen Spiritual Blessings that are in the book of Ephesians

Ephesians 1:3 (KJV)
³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Paul spent three years at Ephesus. Paul is writing this book from prison. Ephesians is one of the four books that are called the “Prison Epistles” (Ephesians, Philemon, Philippians, and Colossians) that the Apostle Paul wrote while in prison. Some call this epistle “the summit of revealed truth” and Dr. A.T. Pierson spoke of it as “Paul’s Third Heaven Epistle” for it soars from the depths of our sins to the heights of our redemption.

Paul is in bonds in the flesh, but the Spirit of God has taken his thinking and control of pen to speak of the blessing of the believer in Christ. Paul sits down to write and maybe, Paul remembers the wealth of Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the five most important cities of the Ancient World of its day. Ephesus is a large city with a population of about 350,000, with a banking system, Library, Theater and even public bathroom with a sewer system.

Paul writes to them about the great wealth they have by being “IN CHRIST”.

Someone called these fifteen spiritual blessing the “fifteen jewels of grace”

The first Jewel is “chosen” in Christ - His Possession

Ephesians 1:4 (KJV) ⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Ephesians 1:14 (KJV)
¹⁴Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The Second Jewel is “holy” in Christ?? V4 - His Purity 1 Peter 1:16 (KJV)
¹⁶Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)
²¹For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The Third Jewel is “without blame” in Christ v4 - His Promise

2 Peter 3:14 (KJV)
¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV)
²³And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I just have to post this it's so funny to read. Sorry DeanO I know it was not fun to experience.

What's really funny also is someone ask me on Thursday how was you thumb? They heard you hurt it at work and maybe out of work sometime. HA!

Here is the Truth about DeanO' Thumb-body story. Ha! Love you Brother in the Lord. Pastor Tim

"Kitten-Little" Kicked my Caboose


Image from Internet

I was beginning to feel better. The worst of my severe head cold seemed to be behind me. I had just finished another grueling 12 hour shift at the factory and was happy to return to the comfort of my home. Who ever thought running million dollar pieces of equipment could be so difficult and tiring! I knew my energetic wife (who had just pulled her back out) would have a wonderful breakfast prepared and I so appreciate her effort. I remember six years ago when I hurt my back; for a week I crawled on my hands and knees from my bed to the bathroom; "I Know"! My buddy Jeff dropped me off, we said our good-byes for the day and I headed through the opened garage door and into the kitchen. The sweet smell of bacon and eggs filled the air but my wife looked dejected.

Karen explained to me that she had let both cats out earlier in the evening. It's not unusual for the cats to make their nightly rounds and return home around mid-night. My wife recalled to me that at 2:00 am in the morning she heard a huge cat fight out back and immediately went downstairs to investigate. She whistled for the cats and our large cat Sandy came running inside...but no sign of Kitten-Little (Simon). The night had been cold and rainy. I put my tool bag and lunch bag down and immediately went outside to search for our little runt, Kitten-Little. I walked around the backyard whistling for the cat and stopping to listen for a response...nothing. After circling the backyard I came to the front of the house and went down the driveway looking for our precious little rescue cat. I wondered to myself if this little runt had the necessary skills to survive on his own if he was indeed lost or hurt. I stepped back into the house just in time to hear my wife call to me that she heard him. I walked out back and tried to hear what she heard but no luck. I looked under the house in the crawl-space and under the screened sun-porch....no Kitten-Little. My wife went back to the house to tend to her breakfast meal and I stayed out back. Then the epiphany...what if the cat had climbed a tree? Cats do climb trees right? I glanced around at our many trees but quickly drew my focus to the tree which connects with my deer-stand. Sure enough, almost 12 feet in the air and at the very end of a thick branch was Kitten-Little; a cold soggy, scared image of a kitten.

I called to the stranded cat as if he could understand me, "Kitten-Little, I see you and I'll get you down", "wait just a minute and I'll get a ladder" I called to my wife to alert her to my discovery and went to the garage to grab a 10' ladder. I stood the ladder up to the tree and climbed to the branch where I began to coo sweet words to the scared kitten. It took a few minutes but the Kitten finally got the nerve to stand up and carefully walk back to the voice it new. I petted the feline and assured him that I would get him safely down...This is when everything went from happy to terribly bad.

I was certain that Kitten-Little would gladly and "gently" cling to me as I rescued him and brought him down the ladder to safety....right? WRONG!!! I picked up the cat and then everything went crazy. Immediately I became the enemy. I guess I hadn't thought things through. If the cat wasn't afraid to come down he would have come down hours ago but he hadn't and had been clinging to a tree branch, nearly 12 feet in the air for the last six hours. The cat began clawing and hissing at me and his body went from soft, scared and cuddly to a hard bundle of fierce and tense muscle. The next thing I knew the cat was literally hanging almost twelve feet in the air with only the use of one claw. This one claw had pierced though my lower lip. Immediately, "MY" survival instincts kicked in.

I reached with both hands for his one leg and paw and fought to remove his claw from my lip. As soon as I was able to free the claw from my lip I felt the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. Our sweet Kitten-Little had completely bit down on my thumb and his fangs were painfully locked closed. I reached down and with all my strength, pain shooting through my body, I fought to release this lion like grip Kitten-Little had on my thumb. As soon as I released the cats locked jaw from my thumb he desperately began to claw and cling to my arm. As quickly as I could I reached down as far as I could and shook him loose to the ground...probably about eight feet. The cat released from my arm and dropped to the ground then bolted back towards the house for his dear life. I climbed down the ladder and stumbled to the house (honestly).

I quickly went to the kitchen and spit a mouth full of blood into the sink and I could feel my lip swelling up like a grapefruit. For the next ten minutes I was doubled over in a pain I had never felt, grasping my left hand. I wanted to cry or scream because the pain was both nauseating and overwhelming. After ten minutes I ran a little cold water and placed my left hand underneath the water only to quickly pull it back because it magnified the pain. My wife asked if she could help but there was nothing she could do. I went into her office and slumped down into the recliner chair and for the next hour tried to will the pain away. I was unable to sleep that night and contemplated calling out for work, but I went in anyhow and somehow.

It was a long painful day at work. This injury happened Thursday morning and I'm still in a great deal of pain. I'm taking antibiotics and every few hours I soak my hand in hot water with Epsom salt. The swelling has gone from my lip and my thumb looks nothing worse for the injury it sustained. Also, I'm extremely tired because since Thursday I've gotten very little quality rest. My good friend Jeff says that the kitten would eventually have come down out of the tree, on his own. I don't know if this is true but Kitten-Little is grounded for the rest of MY natural life. There is no way that I know off on paper to describe the pain caused by this severe cat-bite. Yes - Kitten-Little has all his shots and I'm taking prescription medications. Tell me good friends....have you ever been beat up by a pet? I've done some research on the Internet and was surprised at how often owners get bit by their own pets. Any words of wisdom cat lovers? And no, I still can't use my left thumb as any pressure to the wound sends me into a mystery world of unbelievable pain and misery. Mercy-me!