God shows us, through Paul’s words, how good living in the light is. He tells us what those who live in the light do. He explains how they – how we – put off the old and put on the new.
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:25-32, NIV)
Can you think of a better lifestyle?
People who obey these instructions are the kind of people you want to be around. They’re honest. You can trust them. They’re not angry. You don’t have to fear them. They don’t steal. You can share your stuff with them and know it will come back. They control their tongue. You won’t be hurt by them, but encouraged. They aren’t bitter. You can enjoy their company. They don’t quarrel. You can talk with them about your differences. They don’t slander. Your reputation is safe in their hands. They are kind and compassionate. Your needs will be met by them. They’ll actually notice. They forgive. That’s good news, isn’t it? You know you’re going to mess up. They’ll forgive.
Pretty cool, huh? That is the way people who live in the light act. That is the way you live, isn’t it? Oh, you mess up. You get tired and cranky once in awhile, but most of the time you show love. You get selfish from time to time, but most of the time you think of others. You sin against your brother on occasion, but most of the time God gives you the power to say NO! to the dark deeds and yes to the light actions.
Hear God’s Word to you today.
“We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-11, NIV)
Live in the light today…and always!
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The requirements for worship...
Bob, Bill, Doug and I sat around Bill's dining room table last night and talked about Leviticus 8-10. (Yes, I said Leviticus - the same book that derailed your last two attempts at reading through the Bible in a year. Don't feel bad. It's done me in too.) We were together because the icy roads had kept us from traveling 50 plus miles together to join dozens of others for Bible Study Fellowship in Wichita. Rather than skip a week, the four of us met to discuss our lesson.
So we're talking, answering the questions laid out for us, sipping coffee and munching on homemade cookies and God jumps into the middle of our conversation and speaks to us about worship.
We were examining the requirements for Israel's worship. We talked about how clear the instructions for worship were in Leviticus. Aaron and his sons, the priests, were told exactly how to handle all things religious. There were rules for sacrifices and priestly conduct. Moses got specific instructions from the Lord and passed them on to his brother and his nephews. "This is what the Lord requires. This is how to do it. Put the blood of the bull here. Eat the meat there."
Something - I think it was a comment from Doug - got us talking about what God requires of us in worship today. Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman whom he met at Jacob's well came to mind. He'd been asked by this outcast among outcasts where the right place to worship was - on "this mountain" or in Jerusalem.
Our Master's reply: "Believe me woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:21; 23-24)
What is required for worship today? What is the one obligation God places on us? Jesus says we must worship God in spirit and in truth. What does that mean? It means setting our heart on God. We're not just going through the motions of religion once a week - sing three songs, take an offering, sing another couple of songs, listen to a sermon. Any pagan can do that and go home unchanged. We're giving God more than Joe Blow can offer. We're giving him us - who we are, our dreams, our failures, our sins, our triumphs, our weaknesses. True worship is giving whole-hearted, whole-souled, whole-minded, whole-strengthed love to our Maker every moment of every day. It's denying ourselves on any given morning. It's exalting and honoring and obeying God every hour, every minute, every second of our lives. That's worship in spirit and in truth.
Are you worshiping God in spirit and in truth? It's what's required of true worshipers today. Every other kind of worshiper is fakey, false, failing. Many are the false worshipers. That's why God is seeking true worshipers.
Why don't you be one he can find?
"God is spirit, and his worshipers MUST worship in spirit and in truth."
So we're talking, answering the questions laid out for us, sipping coffee and munching on homemade cookies and God jumps into the middle of our conversation and speaks to us about worship.
We were examining the requirements for Israel's worship. We talked about how clear the instructions for worship were in Leviticus. Aaron and his sons, the priests, were told exactly how to handle all things religious. There were rules for sacrifices and priestly conduct. Moses got specific instructions from the Lord and passed them on to his brother and his nephews. "This is what the Lord requires. This is how to do it. Put the blood of the bull here. Eat the meat there."
Something - I think it was a comment from Doug - got us talking about what God requires of us in worship today. Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman whom he met at Jacob's well came to mind. He'd been asked by this outcast among outcasts where the right place to worship was - on "this mountain" or in Jerusalem.
Our Master's reply: "Believe me woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:21; 23-24)
What is required for worship today? What is the one obligation God places on us? Jesus says we must worship God in spirit and in truth. What does that mean? It means setting our heart on God. We're not just going through the motions of religion once a week - sing three songs, take an offering, sing another couple of songs, listen to a sermon. Any pagan can do that and go home unchanged. We're giving God more than Joe Blow can offer. We're giving him us - who we are, our dreams, our failures, our sins, our triumphs, our weaknesses. True worship is giving whole-hearted, whole-souled, whole-minded, whole-strengthed love to our Maker every moment of every day. It's denying ourselves on any given morning. It's exalting and honoring and obeying God every hour, every minute, every second of our lives. That's worship in spirit and in truth.
Are you worshiping God in spirit and in truth? It's what's required of true worshipers today. Every other kind of worshiper is fakey, false, failing. Many are the false worshipers. That's why God is seeking true worshipers.
Why don't you be one he can find?
"God is spirit, and his worshipers MUST worship in spirit and in truth."
No more darkness!
Darkness is not nice. It is, well, dark. So Paul says, put that behind you and come into the light.
“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:20-24, NIV)
What do you do with that old, icky, dark life of yours? You put off your old self. You shed it like a winter coat when you come in out of the cold. You slough it off like so much dirt washed away in the shower.
“No more darkness!”
You have to come to the place you can say that or you’re not going to be free. You have to hate the darkness and love the light or the darkness will remain.
Darkness flees the moment you believe on Jesus for your salvation. You are made righteous when you believe. You put off darkness and are made new. You put on the light. I guess more accurately, God does all this in you, but it’s done when you believe.
Darkness, then, from the day of your salvation, is held at bay as you morning after morning after morning put off the old self. It is overwhelmed by the light as you consistently, every afternoon, submit your will to God’s. It is sent packing as you follow Jesus every night.
What we talked about last week. Repenting. Submitting to God’s rule. Obeying his commands. All that applies again this week.
When darkness threatens to creep back in, turn around. When you sin, turn away from it. Turn to God for help. The Father will lovingly run to you. He will embrace you and celebrate your return.
Darkness is not better than light. Light is good. In the light is the best place to be. It’s there that you find what you’re really looking for.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:20-24, NIV)
What do you do with that old, icky, dark life of yours? You put off your old self. You shed it like a winter coat when you come in out of the cold. You slough it off like so much dirt washed away in the shower.
“No more darkness!”
You have to come to the place you can say that or you’re not going to be free. You have to hate the darkness and love the light or the darkness will remain.
Darkness flees the moment you believe on Jesus for your salvation. You are made righteous when you believe. You put off darkness and are made new. You put on the light. I guess more accurately, God does all this in you, but it’s done when you believe.
Darkness, then, from the day of your salvation, is held at bay as you morning after morning after morning put off the old self. It is overwhelmed by the light as you consistently, every afternoon, submit your will to God’s. It is sent packing as you follow Jesus every night.
What we talked about last week. Repenting. Submitting to God’s rule. Obeying his commands. All that applies again this week.
When darkness threatens to creep back in, turn around. When you sin, turn away from it. Turn to God for help. The Father will lovingly run to you. He will embrace you and celebrate your return.
Darkness is not better than light. Light is good. In the light is the best place to be. It’s there that you find what you’re really looking for.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Manly candles...
I saw this video posted on a friend's Facebook account and had to pass it along to my blog readers. Hope it makes you laugh. (It's only slightly crude in a couple of places.) "Mandles" are the greatest thing since grilled steak!
Stuck in 1,191st Place...
Every day I click on over to the Where I've Been application on Facebook and answer the trivia question. I've answered 170 geography questions correctly over the past few months. Missed 121. I looked up a few answers early on, but haven't looked them up in ages. I like to see what I know or can logically deduce. I do alright even on stuff I've never heard of before. But - and this bugs me - I got into 1,191st place awhile back and I've stayed there. No matter how many questions I get right, I don't move up in the rankings. 1,191st! I guess there are worse things in the world. I'll keep trying. (I have no idea why I'm posting this.)
Dark-lovers...
In Ephesians 4, Paul first describes the life of those who love darkness and then offers us a glimpse into light-living.
Here’s what he says about the dark-lovers.
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” (Ephesians 4:17-19, NIV)
Let’s look quickly at the words, the phrases that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use in describing these folks.
The first he tells us that those who are not believers – he calls them Gentiles – have futile thoughts. They don’t have their heads screwed on straight. They believe nonsense. Fall for anything that points them away from the reality of God’s existence or standards. They give no thought to their responsibility to others. They think only of themselves.
Now, we all think of ourselves. It’s natural and not all bad. If you don’t think of yourself ever, you get used up by others.
These folks, though, take self-thought to extremes. They obsess over themselves. What they want. What they need. What they like. What they don’t like. Futile!
Next Paul says they’re darkened in their understanding. They don’t get it. They don’t understand how good God’s gift of salvation is. Here’s what Paul wrote to another church.
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:4, NIV)
You talk to a “Gentile” about Jesus and they say, “Huh?” The devil keeps them from seeing their desperate situation. He convinces them that sin is no big deal that there’s no need for a savior.
Ephesians 4:18 goes on: they’re “separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” Unbelievers don’t have eternal life. That’s a fact. You have to believe to have eternal life.
Why don’t they believe? Because they’re ignorant. Because they’re hard-hearted. Won’t listen. Won’t turn around. Won’t follow.
And another thing: they have lost all sensitivity. I think this mostly has to do with their sensitivity to God’s Spirit, but it could mean a loss of sensitivity to others too. They don’t give a rip about God and his laws. They don’t give a rip about you or your feelings or your rights or your life. They’re focused on themselves and their lusts.
They rape. They murder. They steal. They lie. They manipulate. They threaten. They use. They abuse. They sin every chance they get. No sense of responsibility for the other guy. People are resources to be used. They are tools for meeting “my” needs.
Darkness is nasty. Those who live in the dark are not nice. They need to put their evil deeds behind them and come into the light. We’ll talk about that more next time.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
Here’s what he says about the dark-lovers.
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” (Ephesians 4:17-19, NIV)
Let’s look quickly at the words, the phrases that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to use in describing these folks.
The first he tells us that those who are not believers – he calls them Gentiles – have futile thoughts. They don’t have their heads screwed on straight. They believe nonsense. Fall for anything that points them away from the reality of God’s existence or standards. They give no thought to their responsibility to others. They think only of themselves.
Now, we all think of ourselves. It’s natural and not all bad. If you don’t think of yourself ever, you get used up by others.
These folks, though, take self-thought to extremes. They obsess over themselves. What they want. What they need. What they like. What they don’t like. Futile!
Next Paul says they’re darkened in their understanding. They don’t get it. They don’t understand how good God’s gift of salvation is. Here’s what Paul wrote to another church.
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:4, NIV)
You talk to a “Gentile” about Jesus and they say, “Huh?” The devil keeps them from seeing their desperate situation. He convinces them that sin is no big deal that there’s no need for a savior.
Ephesians 4:18 goes on: they’re “separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” Unbelievers don’t have eternal life. That’s a fact. You have to believe to have eternal life.
Why don’t they believe? Because they’re ignorant. Because they’re hard-hearted. Won’t listen. Won’t turn around. Won’t follow.
And another thing: they have lost all sensitivity. I think this mostly has to do with their sensitivity to God’s Spirit, but it could mean a loss of sensitivity to others too. They don’t give a rip about God and his laws. They don’t give a rip about you or your feelings or your rights or your life. They’re focused on themselves and their lusts.
They rape. They murder. They steal. They lie. They manipulate. They threaten. They use. They abuse. They sin every chance they get. No sense of responsibility for the other guy. People are resources to be used. They are tools for meeting “my” needs.
Darkness is nasty. Those who live in the dark are not nice. They need to put their evil deeds behind them and come into the light. We’ll talk about that more next time.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
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