Living in the Light of God

We are still going to be looking into Ephesians. It is one of my favorite books!! The last few weeks we have talked about living the new life; what and what not to do. This week we're going to look at Ephesians 5:7-9 NLT Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Oh man is this an encouragement or what?!! If you'd really like to get the full impact of this take some time and read the 5 verses that lead up to these. I love how it states here in verse 8 what we were like. It is painting a picture reminding us of where we've come from. No one is perfect and I can guarantee that at least one if not more of these sins has been displayed in our lives at one point or another. This section is spoken to everyone, that we used to be full of darkness. Darkness is often used to describe sin and our former life that we were held captive in. Paul is saying here that yes we were once in the darkness of sin, but now we are living the new life. A life in the light of God! Although we don't usually like the Lord to shine His light upon our lives because it exposes things we want to hide, it truly is good. God cannot stand sin, nor does He like darkness for the reason of hiding in the shadows. It is a choice we must make, to either live in the light of Christ or in the darkness of our sins. Being held captive and never seeing any victory in any of our life situations comes from the darkness. God is here for us and desires to guide us in all we do. We must walk in His light, invite Him to examine all areas of our lives. When we begin to walk in His light we begin to change, we begin to look at situations, people, and everything differently. People begin to notice a difference in us, a new spirit about us. This is the goal, not for us to brag about it to others but that we change so drastically that when we hang around people they compliment us saying you're not the same person. I pray it is a compliment, walking with God must produce positive fruit in our life. When we aren't seeing any good positive fruit or changes we must reflect upon why. Are we truly living in the light? For when we live in the light our life is right, good and true. It is where we are able to grow and be stronger in our relationship with God, and then with people. I just love these verses because it makes it so obvious that without God in our lives we'd still be in the darkness of sin. However now with Jesus working on our side and through personal relationship with Him we are able to live right. Live in the light!! What an honor and privilege to be called to living in such a great way!

This week reflect upon what it truly looks like to live in the Light of the Lord. How does your life reflect it? How does your life need to change to truly live in the light? Are you producing good wholesome fruit in your life? Is God's light shining so brightly through you that it's causing people to come out of their darkness? There are so many things you could ponder upon this week. Just start by asking God to reveal how brightly you're allowing Him to shine. Have Him examine you and walk in the light of Him!

Alright! Well once again we are going to be looking in Ephesians for our New Nature characteristics! This is such a great book and I'm going to exhaust this book of all it has so that we can receive as much out of it as possible!! We will go back to the beginning of chapter 4 verse 1 and 2. Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. WOW what a lifestyle we are called to have! Can you imagine experiencing all these things on a day to day basis? It is completely possible, this is how God designed us to live. In complete honest and pure relationship with everyone. Unfortunately the world is polluted by sin and is pretty much the devils playground so it is harder and harder to live our life of faith out. One by one lets look at these characteristics and think through how we can apply them to our lives. Always be humble and gentle, sounds so simple doesn't it? What is the meaning of humble? Here is the dictionary definition: 1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive 2 : reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission. It is a difficult one to really fully define but really in order to be humble look at the life of Jesus. He knew who He was and he walked in that. He didn't see others lower than Himself and he submitted to God's authority ultimately. I can't say that He always submitted to the authority of man because according to the church leaders he was breaking the law by his sabbath miracles. Now being Gentle, how can we be gentle? There are so many attributes that can connect with the word gentle. Someone who is gentle would not be aggressive, they'd be calm, sensitive. Take some time and try and think of 5 ways to be gentle. Ok now onto the last characteristic for this week and its the one people expect from everyone else but when it comes to us having it personally it seems to sometimes slip out of our grip. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Patience, it is not always an easy thing to have patience. I think Paul gives a great explanation of how to exercise this Godly trait. It is out of love for the person and most importantly out of our love for God that we are able to make allowance for our faults. That is how to have patience, to extend grace in those times instead of getting upset and causing ourselves to overreact. No one is perfect, not even ourselves.....I know it might seem hard to hear but we are not perfect, we have faults so therefore we must practice patience in ALL SITUATIONS!

You guessed it, THIS WEEK PRACTICE THESE THREE AREAS!!! Think about how to become more humble, how to be gentle, and the best way for you to be patient. Pray this week for God to grow you in these areas. He'll bring situations your way that will cause you to apply these characteristics. Ask Him to empower you because I promise you without His hand working directly in your life in these areas, you will not walk them out to the fullest. Continue to just rely on Him for all you need. He has called you to walk in these areas, it is time to fully experience His intention for your life.

New Nature Characteristics

We read last week about having this new nature in our lives. The new nature can only be lived out through the power of Christ working in us each and every day. We will start on a journey that will show us what this new nature actually looks like! "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." Eph. 4:29 When we begin living our life according to the standard of Christ we will find there are some areas of our life that we just won't be able to hold onto anymore. It is Christ's desire when we come to Him that we let everything go. He has given us so much more to live for through His death on the cross. He conquered sin, and restored fellowship with God and man. It is easy to speak out that the least that we can do is surrender our lives to Him. In all reality, surrendering ourselves is probably the hardest thing for most of us to do. We like the fact that we can be independent, and being able to live the way we desire. In order to live a life of intimacy with God we must devote our whole heart to Him. This verse attacks an area of life that is very common among most people. Speaking with foul or abusive language; think over that for a moment. What might that type of language be? The first things that come to mind are swear words, this is true but next comes my sarcastic remarks. Language that when I think about it doesn't bring any life to anyone. Usually sarcasm is used to bring someone down, to point out someones faults and "joke" about them. This has been an on going struggle with me, however the more and more I desire to live out my New Nature I have to remind myself this is part of my old self. It is a matter of holding my tongue when I want to say something destructive and either finding something encouraging to say or simply not speaking at all. It is so amazing how just a few little words can totally crush someone. An example that sticks out to me was something that happened to me this week. I was sitting in my house and one of my friends came by and heard the music I was listening to. I was listening to the internet radio and they commented saying what are you doing listening to such girly music? Then without giving me anytime to answer went on to say that the other day I had been listening to other similar music the other day in the shop when I was working. I wasn't hurt by this statement but I did however get upset at the fact there wasn't any hello or anything it was just immediately pointing out what they apparently thought was a fault in me. It probably wouldn't have been a big deal had it come from any other person but this specific person constantly only points out the negative and never seems to say anything encouraging. God spoke to me in this situation and showed me the importance of speaking encouragement. I want to only be known for the kindness and love that comes out of my mouth. I want people to not think when I walk into a room, oh goodness what is he going to say about me now. I want them to know that my words will lift them up and cause others to see them as the precious jewel that they are in God.

So I suppose this week, try and speak nice things to anyone you come in contact with. Compliment hair, outfits, character traits that you appreciate in people. If someone tries to bring you down turn the conversation around and lift them up instead of engaging in the abusive language that seems to be so common in this world. Think of the way Jesus would respond, either with words of LOVE, or saying nothing in reply.

Last week we celebrated Easter, Resurrection Day!! Isaiah gives such a great depiction of who Jesus was, and the torment He went through for each of us. We must not forget that EVER, each day we must remind ourselves of that awesome gift that was given to us by God. It is my desire that we look at ourselves today. That we look at the things that we are still living in, struggling with, and fighting even though Jesus came to take those sins away. We will be looking at our old nature and discovering what our New Nature is!

Ephesians 4:21-24 says:

²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

What we have heard about God and Him sending His son is absolute truth. What this is basically saying is that we must be changed by knowing God. It is His desire that when we come into relationship with Him that we turn from our sin and walk in the new life He has for us. It isn't always an easy thing to do, sometimes we find ourselves stuck in addiction, depression, our lives must be dedicated to God in all areas. There are so many things that grab onto us and prevent us from being the people God created us to be. However that is not God's desire, He sent Jesus to free us from these sins that hold us captive!! When we allow the Spirit to lead us and guide us our whole life begins to change. The Spirit will renew our thoughts and attitudes, that is so encouraging to me! Knowing all I have to do is invite the Spirit in and He does all the work! It isn't something we can do on our own. WE NEED GOD to work on our behalf! So many times I have tried to walk in my "New Nature" but haven't allowed the Spirit to guide me in it. Let me tell you in your own power you will always fail. That is why God had to send His Son. Living in Jesus is the only way to live in our new nature. God created us to be righteous and holy, the only way we can be that is to define ourselves in Christ. Find our identity in Him, rely completely upon Him to meet our every need.

I don't want to unpack these verses to much because I want you to wrestle through it. Take time this week and pray asking God to reveal the characteristics in your life that you haven't let go of. The areas you know aren't reflecting God's glory. Ask for Him to walk you through those areas into the New Nature that He has planned for you. He'll be faithful if you give Him the time and are willing to part ways with your sinful nature and walk in His glorious light!

God's Gift

Once again if you are for the first time visiting this site I want to encourage you to view the last 2 weeks of postings. We are coming upon Easter this weekend and I feel it necessary to just give you words from the Bible to meditate upon this week. I won't unpack anything for you, I won't give my opinion. I want you to read it and really think especially this weekend and remember what Jesus did for us all and why we celebrate Easter!

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (New Living Translation)

The Lord’s Suffering Servant

¹³ See, my servant will prosper;

he will be highly exalted.

¹⁴ But many were amazed when they saw him.

His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human,

and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.

¹⁵ And he will startle many nations.

Kings will stand speechless in his presence.

For they will see what they had not been told;

they will understand what they had not heard about.

Isaiah 53

¹ Who has believed our message?

To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?

² My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,

like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,

nothing to attract us to him.

³ He was despised and rejected—

a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

He was despised, and we did not care.

⁴ Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins!

⁵ But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed.

⁶ All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on him

the sins of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and treated harshly,

yet he never said a word.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,

he did not open his mouth.

⁸ Unjustly condemned,

he was led away.

No one cared that he died without descendants,

that his life was cut short in midstream.

But he was struck down

for the rebellion of my people.

⁹ He had done no wrong

and had never deceived anyone.

But he was buried like a criminal;

he was put in a rich man’s grave.

¹⁰ But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him

and cause him grief.

Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,

he will have many descendants.

He will enjoy a long life,

and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.

¹¹ When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,

he will be satisfied.

And because of his experience,

my righteous servant will make it possible

for many to be counted righteous,

for he will bear all their sins.

¹² I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,

because he exposed himself to death.

He was counted among the rebels.

He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Thank you Lord for sending your Son to pay for all my sins!! What an undeserved gift of new life you have given us all! Through Him we are able to come into your presence and worship you and be made Holy and righteous in your sight! Amen