15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. - Ephesians 5:15-20
How do we address one another? How is our speech to one another intended to be? It is intended that we, being filled with the Spirit of God, would share His wisdoms with one another, His words with one another. Instead of "small talk" which mostly comprises the weather or where a typical conversation is: "How you doing?" "Fine." "How's work?" "Busy." "That's good." We are supposed to be speaking to one another "from the Spirit".
Have you ever met someone and immediately been led to say something that you, as a regular person, would never say? Maybe it seemed to intentional or invasive, but inside something was telling you where the person was hurting and you were being prodded to ask and then act to pray or comfort so God Himself could reach out to them. We must be careful to be filled with the Spirit always and to listen to it and then speak to others in His way.
We are also to speak to one another with hymns and songs led by the Spirit of God. We will all be rejoicing with excited hearts and living abundant lives when we are filled with the Spirit and singing together in this way. When our hearts are full, we don't care so much about how badly we sing or if we are off tune. We can't help but to sing. The joy and fullness of God's love in our hearts overflows into the world around us.
To many people believe that this type of fellowship with others is only available by going out with friends to clubs and parties where there is lot of people and loud music. But God is saying right here that we are to be filled with His Spirit and singing with one another from our hearts "to the Lord". If we are filled with His Spirit and we are singing to Him then our song becomes perfect as He, in our heart, is making the song perfect through us to Himself. Just as when we do a work, led by Him for Him and in His Spirit thus making that work His work, we can sing to one another, speak to one another, in perfect fellowship as He is speaking and singing through all of us in His Spirit to His Spirit. What a marvelous existence that picture provides!
How do we address one another? How is our speech to one another intended to be? It is intended that we, being filled with the Spirit of God, would share His wisdoms with one another, His words with one another. Instead of "small talk" which mostly comprises the weather or where a typical conversation is: "How you doing?" "Fine." "How's work?" "Busy." "That's good." We are supposed to be speaking to one another "from the Spirit".
Have you ever met someone and immediately been led to say something that you, as a regular person, would never say? Maybe it seemed to intentional or invasive, but inside something was telling you where the person was hurting and you were being prodded to ask and then act to pray or comfort so God Himself could reach out to them. We must be careful to be filled with the Spirit always and to listen to it and then speak to others in His way.
We are also to speak to one another with hymns and songs led by the Spirit of God. We will all be rejoicing with excited hearts and living abundant lives when we are filled with the Spirit and singing together in this way. When our hearts are full, we don't care so much about how badly we sing or if we are off tune. We can't help but to sing. The joy and fullness of God's love in our hearts overflows into the world around us.
To many people believe that this type of fellowship with others is only available by going out with friends to clubs and parties where there is lot of people and loud music. But God is saying right here that we are to be filled with His Spirit and singing with one another from our hearts "to the Lord". If we are filled with His Spirit and we are singing to Him then our song becomes perfect as He, in our heart, is making the song perfect through us to Himself. Just as when we do a work, led by Him for Him and in His Spirit thus making that work His work, we can sing to one another, speak to one another, in perfect fellowship as He is speaking and singing through all of us in His Spirit to His Spirit. What a marvelous existence that picture provides!
1 comment:
These are outstanding. One thing that God has been working on me about is my critical spirit. As a (hopefully reformed) perfectionist, nothing is ever good enough and proper decorum typically dictates that I not gripe too much about it at work or church so I bring it home. My family, mostly Reja, gets unfairly dumped upon with my load of frustration and her reaction is too do exactly the opposite of what I want her to do, further confounding the situation.
Learning to move from a critic to an encouraging person is not natural for me and I have no background in it. Yet as I pray, my eyes are opened to the positives around me. I simply need to give voice to what I now see. Youth trips, for instance, always result in minor hiccups and issues. I'm beginning to see positives and lend voice to them, rather than bitch about the minor hiccups. This is outside my nature and, at least to me, can only be explained by the grace of God.
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