Thanking Him

[12-27-09]

Purpose For the New Year

 

Ephesians 5:18-21) (GW) Don’t get drunk on wine, which leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Spirit

19) by reciting psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for your own good. Sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts.

20) Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

21) Place yourselves under each other’s authority out of respect for Christ.

 

Ephesians 5:14-17) (GW) because light makes everything easy to see. That’s why it says: “Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Concerning verse 14,

“This is the voice of light speaking to those who are sleeping in darkness and lying in spiritual death. The light calls them to life and illumination. If they answer the invitation, Christ will shine on them and give them light” [BBC].

NOTE: This verse is primarily speaking to the lost, the Spiritually dead. You and I who have accepted Christ are Spiritually alive; but often dead to purpose. We go through life trying to get from one day to the next, from one year to the next. To that end I say to us, “Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

 

15) (GNB) So be careful how you live. Don’t live like ignorant people, but like wise people.

NOTE: We’re to live life as though we care. No more of this wandering aimlessly. We must live as though we’re aiming at a target; a goal.

QUESTIONS: If we don’t handle money well are we wicked? No! We’re just foolish. If we don’t handle life well, are we wicked? No! We’re just foolish.

 

16) (GNB) Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days.

Colossians 4:5) Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have.

NOTE: Here’s a good target to aim at. We should live our lives with unbelievers, those who haven’t placed their trust in the Lord Jesus, on our minds.

Regarding “make good use of,”

“to buy up, that is, ransom” [Strong’s].

In regards to “make good use of every opportunity,”

“buy up the opportunities” [BBC].

NOTE: There are only so many opportunities in life; let’s not waste them.

QUESTION: If we wasted the majority of our opportunities in the past, where do we go from here?

 

17) (MSG) Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.

NOTE: If we’re going to be “wise” [vs. 15], then we must understand what God wants us to do. We must understand how He wants us to live our lives. We must understand how He wants us to do church!

ANOTHER NOTE: This verse tells us that if we don’t understand the will of God for our individual lives and for our church, THEN WE WILL “LIVE CARELESSLY, UNTHINKINGLY.”

QUESTION: What does the Lord want us to do differently, as a church, in the coming year?

ANSWER: According to the Scripture we’ve been looking at, whatever the Lord wants us to do in 2010 as a church will involve “making good use of every opportunity you have” regarding those who haven’t placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As a church we must learn to function with the unbeliever in mind.

A CLOSING NOTE: We will be focusing on this issue in the coming first weeks of the new year.