Ephesians 5:11- 20: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
BarbTalk:
These verses have been misused by the church and believers since they were written. How easy it is to spout off our favorite verse, which defends our actions, even when they are less than kind. Using scripture against others must really grieve the Father’s Heart. He gives His Word to us for instruction, and I do not believe that He gave it to us to wield like a hammer or an axe.
Instructions here look to me like the do’s and don’ts of social interaction. Just like the Beatitudes that Jesus spoke, (you heard it said… but I tell you…) Paul here gives us pros and cons of seemingly simple daily actions.
Stay away from:
Fruitless deeds of darkness, sleeping through life, avoiding wisdom, too much wine, and foolishness.
Run toward:
The Light of Christ, being alive in Christ, wisdom, the Lord’s will, being filled with the Spirit, singing, speaking to edify one another, thankfulness, and making the most of every opportunity.
When I became a Christian, I started wondering about alcohol. Some people call alcohol ‘spirits’. When someone has had excessive alcohol, they act out of character. Maybe people thought the drunken ones were filled with demons and spirits rather than the Holy Spirit. I believe that as a Christian, we cannot be filled with a demon because we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and there is no room for anything else.
The slippery slide:
That is not to say that we cannot be influenced by demons. We see something, and we desire it. A little voice inside our heads sometimes says, Go ahead, no one will notice; no one will be hurt if you have just this one or if you do this one time. Those people are just too uptight and unreasonable, and they cannot tell me how to live. Go on! You want it! Take it and run!
Sin takes you farther than you ever wanted to go and keeps you there far longer than you ever wanted. The little voice inside may be an old tape that plays (never good enough syndrome or NEGS), influence by an outside force (person or demon), addictive behavior talk (I just have to have or do or say this thing).
I have decided that if anything fills my head to overflowing, then it probably is not from the Lord. The thought wants to take over, I am compelled to do something or say something. I cannot get it out of my mind. This is a big red stop sign! I stop, and take an inventory with the Lord. Is this from You? Help me see where this is coming from. What is my motivation? If my motivation is not to promote peace or reconciliation then I need to back off and stop, asking the Lord to remove the pressure of the idea or thought. That’s where trust comes in. I need to wait, and know that He will do this for me. Just like taking an aspirin and knowing it will work, and not worrying about it, so we need to trust the Lord, and quit worrying about it.
In my 20’s and 30’s I experienced severe depression. I was locked away in my brain. I learned that I had a 3-day or 3-hour lag time. Something would happen to upset me, and I would brush it off, as if it was no big deal. Within 3 days (and sometimes as fast as 3 hours) I would be dreadfully depressed and not have a clue what set it off. When I became a Christian, I began to ask the Lord about my depression and I began to understand the lag time. I could then go back to the incident with the Lord and look at it again. He would wash it away.
One of the things I had to learn is that a certain amount of depression is normal. Having been so depressed before, whenever I felt the slightest bit of depression, I would be terrified that I would end up in the hospital. I had to learn that I could surrender to the Lord and call out to Him, shouting, Lord! This depression is too big for me! Please take it! Then I would wait, and trust and it would be gone. I wonder how we can trust an aspirin to do what we want, but figure the God of the Universe will not come through for us! Trusting Him is a great part of healing. I believe that deliverance comes through understanding and trust. Consistently reviewing with the Lord regarding where my trust is, in any given situation, is the pathway to freedom.
Going back to the above scripture, I see the phrase; make music from your heart to the Lord. Some people interpret this to mean that we are not to have musical instruments, and only sing. There seems to be also an aversion to drums, as if the only holy instrument is a pipe organ. The question I have is, how can you tell what is doctrine? I think that if something runs through all scripture (Genesis to Revelation) like a thread, then it is doctrine. We cannot create an entire religion out of one sentence. If I have a question, I go back and read some more, or do a word search on Bible Gateway.com. My consistent prayer is; please give me a hunger and thirst for Your Word! God’s Word is our ‘owner’s manual’. As we read with God, He can show us how to apply whatever it says. The Lord has given us the gift of time, the gift of trust, and the gift of belief and faith. With these gifts, we can ‘hear’ what we need to know, and respond, checking in with God always concerning our motivation.
A question might be; how can I be filled with the Spirit? Our favorite S word: surrender. Then, ASK! We can ask, and we can trust that He will do what He says. Jesus words, recorded in Luke 11:9-13: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks forb]" >[ a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
I am in awe of how we ask God for something and give Him a detailed description on how we would like it to be delivered. Sometimes, we ask God to help us understand something, and we spend the next hour trying to figure it out on our own! I think of our lives as beautiful tapestries. The view we have is the underside; all we see is all the work involved in creating the tapestry: knots and unorganized mess. Those knots are making a beautiful tapestry on the other side. We cannot see it, so that is where trust comes in. Resting in God is wonderful! We are able to rest because He is Lord. He is Able, He is Willing, and He is Faithful!
As we start chasing after the events of this day, may God give us the ability to run as fast as we can away from impurity and run toward His open arms waiting for us.
Here are lyrics to one of my all time favorite songs:
“Rooftops" is track #4 on the album Come Away.
Top of Form
Here I am before You, falling in love and seeking Your truth
Knowing that Your perfect grace has brought me to this place
Because of You I freely live, my life to You, oh God, I give
So I stand before You, God
I lift my voice cause You set me free
So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours
All the good You've done for me, I lift my hands for all to see
You're the only one who brings me to my knees
To share this love across the earth, the beauty of Your holy worth
So I kneel before You, God
I lift my hands cause You set me free
So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours
All that I am, I place into Your loving hands
And I am Yours, I am Yours
Here I am, I stand, with arms wide open
To the One, the Son, the Everlasting God, the Everlasting God
Here I am, arms wide open, Here I am heart wide open…
So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours!
Here I am, I stand, with arms wide open
To the One, the Son, the Everlasting God, the Everlasting God
BarbTalk:
These verses have been misused by the church and believers since they were written. How easy it is to spout off our favorite verse, which defends our actions, even when they are less than kind. Using scripture against others must really grieve the Father’s Heart. He gives His Word to us for instruction, and I do not believe that He gave it to us to wield like a hammer or an axe.
Instructions here look to me like the do’s and don’ts of social interaction. Just like the Beatitudes that Jesus spoke, (you heard it said… but I tell you…) Paul here gives us pros and cons of seemingly simple daily actions.
Stay away from:
Fruitless deeds of darkness, sleeping through life, avoiding wisdom, too much wine, and foolishness.
Run toward:
The Light of Christ, being alive in Christ, wisdom, the Lord’s will, being filled with the Spirit, singing, speaking to edify one another, thankfulness, and making the most of every opportunity.
When I became a Christian, I started wondering about alcohol. Some people call alcohol ‘spirits’. When someone has had excessive alcohol, they act out of character. Maybe people thought the drunken ones were filled with demons and spirits rather than the Holy Spirit. I believe that as a Christian, we cannot be filled with a demon because we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and there is no room for anything else.
The slippery slide:
That is not to say that we cannot be influenced by demons. We see something, and we desire it. A little voice inside our heads sometimes says, Go ahead, no one will notice; no one will be hurt if you have just this one or if you do this one time. Those people are just too uptight and unreasonable, and they cannot tell me how to live. Go on! You want it! Take it and run!
Sin takes you farther than you ever wanted to go and keeps you there far longer than you ever wanted. The little voice inside may be an old tape that plays (never good enough syndrome or NEGS), influence by an outside force (person or demon), addictive behavior talk (I just have to have or do or say this thing).
I have decided that if anything fills my head to overflowing, then it probably is not from the Lord. The thought wants to take over, I am compelled to do something or say something. I cannot get it out of my mind. This is a big red stop sign! I stop, and take an inventory with the Lord. Is this from You? Help me see where this is coming from. What is my motivation? If my motivation is not to promote peace or reconciliation then I need to back off and stop, asking the Lord to remove the pressure of the idea or thought. That’s where trust comes in. I need to wait, and know that He will do this for me. Just like taking an aspirin and knowing it will work, and not worrying about it, so we need to trust the Lord, and quit worrying about it.
In my 20’s and 30’s I experienced severe depression. I was locked away in my brain. I learned that I had a 3-day or 3-hour lag time. Something would happen to upset me, and I would brush it off, as if it was no big deal. Within 3 days (and sometimes as fast as 3 hours) I would be dreadfully depressed and not have a clue what set it off. When I became a Christian, I began to ask the Lord about my depression and I began to understand the lag time. I could then go back to the incident with the Lord and look at it again. He would wash it away.
One of the things I had to learn is that a certain amount of depression is normal. Having been so depressed before, whenever I felt the slightest bit of depression, I would be terrified that I would end up in the hospital. I had to learn that I could surrender to the Lord and call out to Him, shouting, Lord! This depression is too big for me! Please take it! Then I would wait, and trust and it would be gone. I wonder how we can trust an aspirin to do what we want, but figure the God of the Universe will not come through for us! Trusting Him is a great part of healing. I believe that deliverance comes through understanding and trust. Consistently reviewing with the Lord regarding where my trust is, in any given situation, is the pathway to freedom.
Going back to the above scripture, I see the phrase; make music from your heart to the Lord. Some people interpret this to mean that we are not to have musical instruments, and only sing. There seems to be also an aversion to drums, as if the only holy instrument is a pipe organ. The question I have is, how can you tell what is doctrine? I think that if something runs through all scripture (Genesis to Revelation) like a thread, then it is doctrine. We cannot create an entire religion out of one sentence. If I have a question, I go back and read some more, or do a word search on Bible Gateway.com. My consistent prayer is; please give me a hunger and thirst for Your Word! God’s Word is our ‘owner’s manual’. As we read with God, He can show us how to apply whatever it says. The Lord has given us the gift of time, the gift of trust, and the gift of belief and faith. With these gifts, we can ‘hear’ what we need to know, and respond, checking in with God always concerning our motivation.
A question might be; how can I be filled with the Spirit? Our favorite S word: surrender. Then, ASK! We can ask, and we can trust that He will do what He says. Jesus words, recorded in Luke 11:9-13: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks forb]" >[ a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
I am in awe of how we ask God for something and give Him a detailed description on how we would like it to be delivered. Sometimes, we ask God to help us understand something, and we spend the next hour trying to figure it out on our own! I think of our lives as beautiful tapestries. The view we have is the underside; all we see is all the work involved in creating the tapestry: knots and unorganized mess. Those knots are making a beautiful tapestry on the other side. We cannot see it, so that is where trust comes in. Resting in God is wonderful! We are able to rest because He is Lord. He is Able, He is Willing, and He is Faithful!
As we start chasing after the events of this day, may God give us the ability to run as fast as we can away from impurity and run toward His open arms waiting for us.
Here are lyrics to one of my all time favorite songs:
“Rooftops" is track #4 on the album Come Away.
Top of Form
Here I am before You, falling in love and seeking Your truth
Knowing that Your perfect grace has brought me to this place
Because of You I freely live, my life to You, oh God, I give
So I stand before You, God
I lift my voice cause You set me free
So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours
All the good You've done for me, I lift my hands for all to see
You're the only one who brings me to my knees
To share this love across the earth, the beauty of Your holy worth
So I kneel before You, God
I lift my hands cause You set me free
So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours
All that I am, I place into Your loving hands
And I am Yours, I am Yours
Here I am, I stand, with arms wide open
To the One, the Son, the Everlasting God, the Everlasting God
Here I am, arms wide open, Here I am heart wide open…
So I shout out Your name, from the rooftops I proclaim
That I am Yours, I am Yours!
Here I am, I stand, with arms wide open
To the One, the Son, the Everlasting God, the Everlasting God
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