Reading: Ephesians 5:1-21
Love of Christ
As I began reading this morning my first thought is of how we are to walk in love. We are to imitate who Christ is in us to those around us. The word love in our culture gets thrown around way too much. I love pizza, I love flowers, I love going for walks on the beach, I love my friends, etc. We seem to love everything, but do we really know how to love as Christ loves us? Christ loved us so much that he laid down His life for us. That is the love that we are called to have. A love that will sacrifice for others.
As I’m thinking about this, I’m reminded of many missionaries that I have read about such as Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Gladys Aylward and Amy Carmichael. These are missionaries that I have read about with my children over the years and they had a love for the people that they served. Some of them dyed in the spreading of the Gospel but they did it because they had the love of Jesus working in and through them. Now that is love.
So how do we walk in love? This is a question I hope you all have asked and here is what Paul writes about to the church in Ephesus. We must have the Holy Spirit working in us. For is states ‘(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), ‘ Ephesians 5:9. When we have these fruits following our actions we know we are no longer walking in the flesh but in fact have moved into walking in the Spirit. Now that is powerful to me. We need to check our fruit. Furthermore, we are warned, ‘And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ‘Ephesians 5:11. We need to expose the evil in this world, not walk alongside of it. For we are in this world, but we are no longer of this world.
Knowing God’s Will
Paul tells us that the times are evil. I think we can all agree that the times in which we are living are evil. However, we are to understand the will of God. I did not realize for many years that I could know the will of God. But now I have seen the many scriptures that mention that we can know the will of God. When we are filled with the Spirit and walk in the Spirit and in truth, we can know God’s will for us and for all His children.
For Jesus said, ‘when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ‘ (John 16:13-14) Jesus is willing to guide us into understanding and wisdom, otherwise He would not have left us His Spirit.
How to Act
In addition, Paul tells us how to act. Here he says, ‘speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.’ Ephesians 5:19-21. Speaking to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. This sounds so much better than the yelling and shouting going on in our world right now. To hear the psalms and songs that God wants to speak to His children sounds like a dream, yet that is what we are told to do. We are to make melody in our heart. What is your heart singing today? Have you woken up with a song on your heart? Maybe a worship song you heard on the radio or a psalm you read, speaks to you about the situations for this day.
Testimony Time
I was sick with something a few months back, and no I did not get tested. Honestly, I knew I was battling an unseen enemy. Because I know that I am a child of God and He does not want me sick. I refused to lay down during the day and instead I continued to do my normal activities and actually more. I was doing yard work and gardening with my body hurting. All during the time I had a song that kept ringing in my ears. I had the song “Surrender” playing over and over in my mind. All I was singing in my heart and aloud was, “This is how I fight my battles.” https://youtu.be/YBl84oZxnJ4Over and over I would sing knowing that I was healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ.
After the third day of fighting and hardly getting any sleep I finally got up in the middle of the night. I grabbed my bible and began to walk reading scriptures on healing and declaring them over myself. I have to say I was done being sick and that was how I know to fight my battle, by declaring the word of God over myself. I did this for probably about an hour and then I remember saying I’m going to bed now. It’s finished and I knew in my heart I was done fighting. I went to bed and slept amazing for the first time in days. When I woke up the next morning I was healed. I didn’t have any lingering symptoms or anything. It was done.
Due to this getting long, I will continue this again tomorrow. Let me just say that walking in love is not an easy task. If it was easy everyone would be able to do it in their own flesh. Walking in love can only happen when we let the Holy Spirit work in and through us. Jesus came to display the love of the Father in all that He did so that we would have an example of His love. Love is full of compassion for those that are lost but calls out truth in love. How can you better walk in love today? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your words and your actions. It is not easy but it sure is worth it.