P Mike Applying the Word

The Day of the Lord is Near The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it? Joel 2:11 https://anchor.fm/mike-sprott/episodes/The-Day-of-the-Lord---Joel-eampme As we read through Joel it becomes very apparent God’s judgment is something to take seriously. The prophet Joel appears to prophesy of two great times of judgment from God. The “Day of the Lord” by locust on the land of Israel.   The “Day of the Lord” in His direct wrath upon the nations.   The time of the locust judgment was a time in the past when the land was damaged by a locust swarm. Currently, there’s a locust swarm in Somalia . This was sadly a regular occurrence in Israel. God used this little insect to judge His people for their disobedience. It was a call to repentance for their rejection of God during that time (1:8-14). The locust judgment was like a big spanking on the people for not humbly seeking the Lord. They needed repentance and faith in...

The Intricacies of God’s Word  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Ephesians 1:17 https://anchor.fm/mike-sprott/episodes/The-Intricacies-of-Gods-Word-eamrsk Every time I read through Ephesians I am struck with awe at the complexity of the letter. There are themes interwoven throughout the entire letter. Paul, under the divine influence of the Spirit of God, wrote this masterpiece.   The Bible student has many goals when exegeting: Trying to uncover the main idea of each paragraph.  Seeing how each of these paragraphs link to the bigger context.  Figuring out the big picture of the entire book.  It is like putting together a puzzle. You start by looking for the edge pieces and then the whole starts to come together. In Bible study, you look for repeated words and themes.  You look for links from one section to the next a...

Worship God in Christ Ephesians 1:3-14 For today’s devotion I want to give you a summary of Sunday’s exposition. I want to encourage you to worship this whole week based on the truths revealed in Ephesians 1:3-14. Remember our main proposition is: God is worthy to be praised because of: 1. Who He is  and 2. What He has done for His Children in Christ Our three main points were… 1. God’s glory in Christ 2. God's Glory  Revealed in Christ 3. To the Praise of God’s Glory Location of God’s Glory We saw that the spiritual realm where God’s glory is located is in heavenly places in Christ (1:3). God is working out His sovereign plan that He ordained before the foundation of the world, “In Christ” (1:4). The phrases In Christ , In Him , In love , in the Beloved , In all wisdom and insight , and In whom were used to spotlight the realm of Christ’s authority and power. The key verse for the idea of Christ’s reign is Ephesians 1:10. This is a s...

Today, I sent my son Away! Today, I sent my firstborn to an internship on the mission field. Raising children is definitely the hardest tasks to do in this world. There are so many challenges. First, and foremost parents are sinners. We were born sinful.  Even if we repent and believe in Jesus, we still have these fleshly inclinations. Believers, thankfully, have the Spirit abiding in us to convict and encourage us to look to Christ. Yet this life involves a continuous dying to self.   So bringing children into this world and raising them for the glory of God is the aim.  But at times there is a desperation that comes over you that says, “I can’t change my child’s heart and I can’t make them love Jesus!”  Therefore the believing parent is always crying out to their Abba Father, “Help Father, I can’t father like You!”   I will never forget the joy and desperation that came over me when my wife told me she was pregnant with our son.  See, ...

The Power of God in Christ Audio version https://anchor.fm/mike-sprott/episodes/The-Power-of-God-in-Christ-eahkp4/a-a1co5ji The devotions from Ephesians are previews of what I’ll be preaching Sundays as we go through Paul’s letter to Ephesus. I think it will be profitable. I hope these truths will cement in my heart, and yours, as we spend time in these devotionals and through the preaching of the Word. Today, I want to talk about the key components of the book of Ephesians.   As I mentioned in the last post there are two main sections in the letter:  The Calling of God in Christ Jesus (chapters 1-3)  The Corresponding Conduct of those called in Christ Jesus (chapters 4-6)   The second half of the book of Ephesians has 41 commands for the believer to obey while there is only one in the first 3 chapters. This is an extremely important detail to understand. Why is there such a dramatic contrast? I want to illustrate the contrast’s impo...

The Christian’s Life in Christ Introduction to Ephesians I am including the skeleton of my sermon Sunday to help with background As we read through Ephesians this month.  I suggest reading MacArthur’s Study Bible introduction also.  The Introduction to the book requires some necessary background information for us to understand the book properly As we walk through it.   The Author Paul (1:1; 3:1) Paul was … Paul was an Apostle (1:1) Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,   Paul was a Prisoner (Probably in Rome (3:1, 4:1, 6:20)  Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.   This was during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome Acts 28:30 About 60 ad.  This was probably during his first imprisonment in Rome.   Paul was a Planter - A Church Planter - Paul was a Gentile Church Planter in Asia Minor.  A minister of the blessings of Abraham to the Ge...

Bible Reading Plan Updated!!!! Pmike's Bible reading plan for the year has been updated.  I want to get everybody reading the book  I will be preaching for the next 3 months.  I am looking forward to completely emerging myself in this book of the Bible. The reading of Ephesians starts today in the new plan! I will attempt to post a final devotion on Galatians sometime this week.  I hope to summarize some major application points from the book for us to meditate on.