January 10, 2025 TRYING TO LEARN
Ephesians 5:8-14 “For you were formally darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consist in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them is secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
Because God has joined us to Himself and has made us new creations (not refurbished) and because we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we have new reasons for living; we have a higher purpose in life. The life that God calls us to live as well as empowers us to live is in great contrast to life experienced by those who do not know God. The world is in darkness and at one time, we also lived in darkness; but God has called us out of darkness. Now, our major call is to walk as children of light, “for the fruit of light consist in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” We must understand that walking in the light does not happen automatically; we have a part to play in the process even though it is God who makes it possible for us to walk in the light. We constantly make choices-we choose our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes, and our priorities. As believers, our overriding goal in life, the thing that determines what we do, should be the desire to walk in the light of God. Just as Paul had the desire to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, we too should have that same desire. There is an ongoing learning process; sometimes we may not be sure if what we are considering is something that pleases the Lord, but if our heart is turned to the Lord, the Spirit will show us if what we are considering is pleasing to Him. Simply said, let us choose the things that please the Lord. We are light; now let us be “careful how we walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of our time.” May everything we do be guided by our desire to do what pleases the Lord. Importantly, we do not try to please the Lord as a way to earn HIs acceptance and approval; it is because He has already accepted us and loves us that we want our life to be pleasing to Him
Philippians 1:9-11 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Blessings, Buddy
Ephesians 5:8-14 “For you were formally darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consist in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them is secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
Because God has joined us to Himself and has made us new creations (not refurbished) and because we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we have new reasons for living; we have a higher purpose in life. The life that God calls us to live as well as empowers us to live is in great contrast to life experienced by those who do not know God. The world is in darkness and at one time, we also lived in darkness; but God has called us out of darkness. Now, our major call is to walk as children of light, “for the fruit of light consist in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” We must understand that walking in the light does not happen automatically; we have a part to play in the process even though it is God who makes it possible for us to walk in the light. We constantly make choices-we choose our thoughts, our actions, our attitudes, and our priorities. As believers, our overriding goal in life, the thing that determines what we do, should be the desire to walk in the light of God. Just as Paul had the desire to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, we too should have that same desire. There is an ongoing learning process; sometimes we may not be sure if what we are considering is something that pleases the Lord, but if our heart is turned to the Lord, the Spirit will show us if what we are considering is pleasing to Him. Simply said, let us choose the things that please the Lord. We are light; now let us be “careful how we walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of our time.” May everything we do be guided by our desire to do what pleases the Lord. Importantly, we do not try to please the Lord as a way to earn HIs acceptance and approval; it is because He has already accepted us and loves us that we want our life to be pleasing to Him
Philippians 1:9-11 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Blessings, Buddy
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