Wednesday, May 07,
2014, 7:55 a.m. – Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Ephesians 4:17-25 (cf. 1 Peter 1:13-21)
and Eph. 6:10-20.
Empty Way of Life
So
I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as
the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their
understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that
is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity,
they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity, and they are full of greed.
That,
however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and
were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were
taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which
is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of
your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.
Therefore
each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for
we are all members of one body… Eph. 4:17-25
As
obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in
ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do… For
you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you
were redeemed from the empty way of life
handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ,
a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Pt. 1:13-19
The Lord Jesus gave me a vivid picture of this today. There
are many within our churches, even (or particularly) among the church
leadership, who profess Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives, but they are
still, in many ways, living out the empty way of life handed down to them by
their ancestors, or by those who taught them, or who are presently teaching
them, or by those who are in authority over them. Not only do they live it, but
many preach it to others so that others, too, will follow in the same empty way
of life. These professors of Christ stand firm, support, sustain and bear the
weight of this nothingness on their own shoulders, i.e. they support it, stand
on it and convey it in their own human strength.
This is why many of them speak of their style of doing
church, their vision for the church, their brand of church, and their philosophy
which is to “fuel” to the “right people” and “filter out” those who are not a “good
fit” for what they are doing. And they purposefully target and invite into the
church fellowship those outside of faith in Jesus Christ, yet not through
salvation from sin, but by patterning the church after the world to make it
more appealing, inviting and comfortable to the world, i.e. to those “far from
God”. So, they often will weed out the more serious follower of Christ (those
who don’t fit) in order to make the church more appealing to those “far from
God” (those “right people” to whom they are energizing toward). Yet, it is not
just one church congregation following this model. There are many!
So, what is this empty way of life being passed down, not
only from our ancestors, but from our leaders, who are receiving and accepting
it from their leaders over them in authority? It is to live in futility of
thinking and reasoning based upon the style, brand, vision and the philosophies
of human beings (flesh) without being willing, in particular, to even examine
what is being taught to see if it really lines up with the word of God. It is
to follow human beings blindly without being willing to examine their teachings
against the word of truth.
So many lies, deceptions and manipulations are going on within
the church, coming from the church leadership, and from the teaching and
philosophies of humans, now being propagated throughout the church body,
particularly here in America, I believe. Yet, these lies and deceptions are
often a mixed bag of lies and truth, or else they are communicated in such a
way as to look and sound like truth, and many, many are blindly buying into them
hook, line and sinker. [I have been a witness to this false movement for fifteen
years now.]
An example of such is what I term a false grace teaching.
This teaching allows the convert to Christianity to willfully and knowingly continue
in his or her sin, believing that God’s grace covers it all, and therefore they
are free from the obligation to do what they know is right to do, and they are
free to do what they know is wrong. Frequently the excuse for continued willful
sin is “I’m not perfect.” True, none of us are, but that should never be an
excuse for continued willful sins of rebellion against Almighty God and against
the truths of his word. Yet, many follow this philosophy ignorant of the truth,
because they are not being taught the truths of scripture. As well, they are
taught that if anyone tries to tell them differently from what they are being
taught, that person is judging them, and therefore that person should be
ignored, because they believe that all judgment is wrong, but it is not. And,
they are also taught that anyone teaching them the truths of the above
scriptures is a Pharisee trying to bring them back under the law. Wow! Satan is
very clever, isn’t he?
The Armor of God
Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so
that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when
the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with
your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s
people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that
I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Eph.
6:10-20
So, what should our response be to all of this? We should
first of all recognize that we are in a spiritual battle, and that our true
enemy is not comprised of human beings, though they certainly serve his
purposes, but our true enemy is Satan and his hordes. And, so this battle must
be won, not with the weapons of this world, but with the spiritual weapons God
has supplied his children so that we can take our stand against the devil’s
schemes. And, he is a tricky one. He has deceived the minds of so many
believers and professing believers in Jesus Christ with his lies and
manipulations of truth so that they are not able to distinguish truth from lies,
and so they blindly follow after the lies. And, that is the sad reality of the
situation of much of today’s modern church movement here in America. We are in
great need of a mighty outpouring of the Spirit of God in revival so that people’s
eyes are opened to see the lies, to reject them, and to embrace the truth.
Next we must learn how this armor of God is to be applied
(put on) each day so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes. First
of all, we must find our strength and power in the Lord Jesus via submitting to
him and to his will for our lives, allowing his Spirit to live out his life in
and through our lives. Then, we must get to know Jesus and his word by spending
time with him each day away from distractions, studying his word, listening to
what he says, bringing our requests before him, and then doing what he tells us
to do. Next, we must begin the process of examining everything we are being
taught or have been taught against the word of truth to make sure it lines up
with scripture, so that we are truly standing on the word of God (of truth) and
not on the teachings of humans.
As well, we must put on righteousness as a shield to protect
us against the temptations of Satan which try to get us to sin again. We do
this through purposefully and intentionally ridding our lives (see Eph. 4-5;
Heb. 12:1; Rom. 6; 12:1-2; etc.) of what we know stands against God and his
word, and works in opposition to his righteousness in our lives, thus refusing
to give the devil a foothold in our lives. And, we put on in our lives what we
know is of God, seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. We have to
pursue righteousness. We have to stand strong in the word of God, in the faith
passed on to us by the prophets, the apostles and Jesus Christ, and to not
yield to or compromise with what is false in order to receive the approval of
humans. And, we need to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
to counter the lies of the enemy, not only for our own good, but for the
benefit of our brothers and sisters in Christ who may be following after
deceiving spirits. We must fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, even
if we are rejected for doing so.
ONLY IN HIM / An
Original Work / February 19, 2014
Based off Isaiah 30
Woe to those who look
to man’s help;
Who turn away from Jesus
Christ;
Forming an alliance
not in step with God;
Making their own
plans, and praying not.
Willing not to listen
to truth,
They close their ears
to what is right.
Pleasing words are all
that they’ll hear;
Feel good messages
that bring cheer.
Trust in your Lord;
turn from your sin.
Put your faith now ONLY
IN HIM.
Do not turn to idols.
They’ll not satisfy.
Jesus will save you.
That’s why He died.
Your Lord will be
gracious to you.
He cares all about
you, ‘tis true.
He forgives you all of
your sin
When you give your
life up to Him.
Oh, how truly gracious
He’ll be
When you bow to Him on
your knees;
Turning now from your sin;
walking in his ways.
He’ll lead and guide
you all of your days.
Now you will sing
praises to Him.
He delivered you from
your sin.
You’ll tell others now
of His grace,
So they may see Christ
face-to-face.
