The passage we are going to be diving in is Ephesians 4:17-32. "The Christian's Walk." But before we begin, I want to start with a word of prayer. "Father, we come to you humbly. Thanking you for the storms we had today. Some people would be afraid, and become overcome with fear. Whether it's because of the lightning, or whatever brings them fear. I thank you Lord for the power that you show in the storms. I come to you Father praying about this passage I am going to be reading, and making my interpretation of it. May you clarify what is needed to be, so that the message is clear and unmistakable. Thank you for the sacrafice of your Son, Jesus. Without His death and resurrection our faith in you would be void and useless. Again Father, thank you. In your Son's name, Amen."
Now to the passage. Ephesians 4:17-32. Paul says: "17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus , 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK THE TRUTH EACH ONE OF YOU WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of another. 26 BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only such a word as is good for the edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not greive the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
I must admit that is a long passage, but again I say it's important stuff. Things said in that passage is not only must have, but should a major part of our lives. This passage can be broken up into two parts. The first part is verses 17-24.There are two things I can say about this section.
- Futility of the Gentile Mind
- Darkness and Hardness of the Heart and The Newself.
I must say that Gentiles (anyone who is not of Jewish decent) are simple minded, thus making us futile in the mind. What I mean by futile minds, is that the human nature is so easily quick to think our way away from God. We use excuses and intelectual pride to keep us from God. But there is a way to combat this futility, and that is Christ, Jesus. Our Lord came down to the Earth in His ministry to help us understand who we are and the place we have with Him. To be frank, we need to focus our mental, soul and physial bodies to Christ. That is the only way to fight the simpleness of the worldy person's mind. Their (or ours) mindset is that of pleasure and all about me, me, me. The Christian walk has no place for a self centered person. To be selfish and not concentrate our lives on Christ is flat out messed up. It is easy to get caught up in the world and it's ways. our reward in Heaven. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." The Christian life takes hard work, self-denial, and grueling preperation. It will not be easy to stay focused, but we must try with every fiber of our beings.The 2nd point, the darkness and hardness of our hearts. Before we know who God truly is, befor we started our relationships with Christ, we have darkened hearts and hearts that are hardened towards God. But in accepting Christ, He begins to chip away at the stone covering our hearts. It just takes our faith that God will be there for us, which by the way is really hard. I can't count how many times I have said will God be there for me? It should naturally be a yes answer, but human nature butts in sometimes says "maybe yes or maybe no."
So I ask you, Will you let God in your life? Will you allow God to chizzle the stone away and show a radiant heart that is on fire for Him? I hope you answer yes to both, because of you don't, I don't even want to fathom what can and will happen if your time runs out before God's Judgement of our lives.The newself I mentioned early is simply this: It's the complete change of our mindset and lifestyle. If we profess to be Christians and have a growing relationship with God, then stop doing the crap that is staining it.
Again my statement of not being perfect still rings true.I know I have a second section to cover yet in this article, but I think what has been covered deserves time to sink in. Time to evaluate where we are in our lives and where we are with regards to Jesus. So I will finish the "mini-sermon" next time. Thank you for reading this and I hope that it in some way helps you with your walk with Christ, and please feel free to comment on any the posts I've written.
Sincerely,Evan
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