September 26
Clean Up Day
Ephesians 4:17-32
17 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. 18 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. 19 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.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 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; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
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Sometimes it seems like obeying the Word of God is just too hard!
That's because it is so opposite of what our "human nature" wants us to do.
In the natural, we want to just speak and act on whatever comes to our minds.
But when we have Jesus Christ as our Savior.... that becomes pretty complicated.
We have to actually THINK before we react; THINK before we speak.
We have to get rid of the things we simply "want" to do, be, or desire.... and exchange them very purposefully with true righteousness and holiness of God.
It's like cleaning out the garage....
we just sort of stockpile things in the garage so that it is not underfoot inside our home; things like oil, bags of old socks, "stuff" that is no longer useful to us and needs to be taken to a second hand shop, bikes, old bike tires, random tools.... a little bit of everything....right there in the garage....
These things are no longer serving any purpose, and yet we are giving them space in our home.
So we have a clean out day.
And we go in with gusto throwing things into the "Give to Charity" and "take to the dump" piles. We are determined to clear this mess up!
That is exactly how we should clear out our lives! We should be determined to clear the mess up! Out with " bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
Once the garage is empty, we can put things in it that are useful to us. And we can place them so that they are easily accessible, and we will know where they are right when we need them.
So it is with our lives....
We can fill ourselves up with the things of God... then we will be able to get hold of them right when we need them!
Even though it still can sometimes be a challenge to make the right choices , it helps so much if we have worked hard to put those right things in place and relied on the Holy Spirit to help us get ahold of what we need when we need it!
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 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; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
- Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:4 (see Septuagint)
Sometimes it seems like obeying the Word of God is just too hard!
That's because it is so opposite of what our "human nature" wants us to do.
In the natural, we want to just speak and act on whatever comes to our minds.
But when we have Jesus Christ as our Savior.... that becomes pretty complicated.
We have to actually THINK before we react; THINK before we speak.
We have to get rid of the things we simply "want" to do, be, or desire.... and exchange them very purposefully with true righteousness and holiness of God.
It's like cleaning out the garage....
we just sort of stockpile things in the garage so that it is not underfoot inside our home; things like oil, bags of old socks, "stuff" that is no longer useful to us and needs to be taken to a second hand shop, bikes, old bike tires, random tools.... a little bit of everything....right there in the garage....
These things are no longer serving any purpose, and yet we are giving them space in our home.
So we have a clean out day.
And we go in with gusto throwing things into the "Give to Charity" and "take to the dump" piles. We are determined to clear this mess up!
That is exactly how we should clear out our lives! We should be determined to clear the mess up! Out with " bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."
Once the garage is empty, we can put things in it that are useful to us. And we can place them so that they are easily accessible, and we will know where they are right when we need them.
So it is with our lives....
We can fill ourselves up with the things of God... then we will be able to get hold of them right when we need them!
Even though it still can sometimes be a challenge to make the right choices , it helps so much if we have worked hard to put those right things in place and relied on the Holy Spirit to help us get ahold of what we need when we need it!
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