Day 11 - Change Your Life!

Day 10 - Change Your Life!

Happy Love Day---love someone that is unlovable today...give a hug, a kind word or pray for joy to touch their heart.

Pray, Read the book of Ephesians, Praise God!

STUDY VERSES:

Walk in Love - God's Amazing Timing Beloved!

5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.
4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not become partners with them;
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible,
14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper,and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. How are we to walk? Why is this difficult? What can we do to walk like Christ?

2. How should we expose sin? Should we confront people directly? Why or why not? What happens when God's light is shined on darkness?

3. How should we walk and speak? Why?

4. What should we fill ourselves with? How do we do that?

5. How should we greet and treat each other (saints of God)? How do you greet fellow journeymen?

6. What does submission mean to you? Do you struggle with this concept? Why or why not?

7. Why do we give thanks in the "name of Jesus"? Do you do this? What happens when you speak the name "Jesus" in a Gentile group? How should you handle any negative comments?

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Commentary from ESV:

Eph. 5:1–2 Exhortation to Self-Sacrificial Love. Paul's discussion of love serves also as an introduction to further instructions on holy living (vv. 3–20). imitators. Believers are to imitate God's holiness in all of their conduct. They are to be like him, not as slaves trying to earn a wage but as children—and beloved children at that! loved.
Eph. 5:3–20 Instruction in Holy Living. Paul gives general instructions on how Christians are to lead holy lives. He centers on wisdom in speech, sexual purity, associations, and other similar aspects of a thankful life.
Eph. 5:3 sexual immorality. This general term (Gk. porneia) covers all sexual sins, including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, etc.
Covetousness is a jealous longing for what others possess (Ex. 20:17), and it amounts to idolatry (Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5). named. Christians must be careful to guard their integrity and public reputation because public sins dishonor God, who has chosen them to be holy (see note on Eph. 1:4). saints. See note on 1:1.
Eph. 5:4 Thanksgiving, in contrast to crude joking and foolish talk, is the positive way to speak, and it also counteracts covetousness (see v. 3). The way to avoid coveting others' possessions is to concentrate with thanks upon the good things the Lord has given (see vv. 19–20).
Eph. 5:5 idolater. Covetousness places one's ultimate allegiance in the acquisition of the possessions of others, which often leads to other grave sins (e.g., 1 Kings 21:1–19). Paul says this is tantamount to idolatry (see also Col. 3:5). inheritance. See Eph. 1:13–14; 4:30. kingdom. Paul speaks of Christ ruling now from the right hand of God (see 1:20–22; cf. Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:24–27; Col. 3:1; etc.). Believers have already been brought into his redemptive kingdom (see Eph. 2:6; Col. 1:13–14), although it will be consummated only at his second coming (1 Cor. 15:20–24; 2 Tim. 4:1). For Paul the kingdom of God in its fullness is the eternal realm that believers will finally and fully enter through resurrection immortality (1 Cor. 15:50; 1 Thess. 2:12), but it should also be experienced in some measure now in this age, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). 1 Cor.
Eph. 5:6 deceive you . . . because of these things. A common deception throughout church history has been the notion that professing Christians can lead unrepentant, sinful lives after conversion to Christ (see 2 Tim. 3:1–9; 2 Pet. 2:1–3; Rev. 2:14, 20) and not suffer the consequences. But these practices lead to the wrath of God in judgment (e.g., Rev. 2:21–23). sons of disobedience. This Hebrew-inspired phrase describes people who habitually live in disobedient sin without repentance and thereby prove themselves to be children of the devil (see note on Eph. 2:2; also John 8:44; 1 John 3:10), like Judas, “the son of destruction” (John 17:12).
Eph. 5:7 become partners. Paul is not telling Christians to avoid all contact with nonbelievers but to avoid joining with them in their sin.
Eph. 5:8 Walk as children of light. See 1 John 1:5–7. Cf. also Ps. 27:1; Isa. 9:2; 42:6; 49:6; John 9:5; Acts 13:47; 26:18.
Eph. 5:9 Fruit of light is similar to fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22–23).
Eph. 5:10 The Bible gives general principles for life, but followers of Christ must use wisdom to discern how to apply those principles to the concrete issues of their lives. The book of Proverbs is of great help in this regard. Such wisdom may be defined as “the skill of godly living,” which one must thoughtfully discern, apply, and practice in order to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.
Eph. 5:11 Expose means either to reprove or to convince through argument and discussion (also v. 13), at the same time taking great care not to gossip or to slander others. Instead, Christians should show by their lives and their wise interactions that the works of darkness are not to be ignored among God's holy people.
Eph. 5:14 it says. The quotation is not of any one OT passage but is probably a combined reference to several places, especially in Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1; see 9:2; 26:19).
Eph. 5:16 making the best use of. This phrase translates the Greek exagorazō, which can also mean “redeem” or “purchase.” Christians must actively take advantage of the opportunity to do good (cf. Ps. 90:12). Wisdom is especially needed in an evil age where the pathway of holiness is not always immediately clear until one reflects upon God's Word and discerns his holy will.
Eph. 5:17 understand . . . the will of the Lord. This does not mean that a person tries to discern God's secret counsel (his “hidden will”) but that he applies God's general guidelines for life as found in the Bible (his “revealed will”; cf. Deut. 29:29 and note on Eph. 5:10).
Eph. 5:18 Wine was the staple drink of the ancient Mediterranean world and was fermented in order to preserve it from turning into vinegar. be filled with the Spirit. As earlier (see note on 4:28), Paul expresses a negative exhortation (what the saints are to stop doing) along with a positive command (what the saints are to start doing). Whereas wine can control the mind and ruin one's judgment and sense of propriety, leading to debauchery, in contrast with this, being “filled with the Spirit” leads to self-control along with the other fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [and] gentleness” (Gal. 5:22–23). The command in Greek (plērousthe) is a present imperative and does not describe a onetime “filling” but a regular pattern of life.
Eph. 5:19 Being filled with the Spirit results in joyful praise through singing and making melody. This may refer to different kinds of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs found in the OT Psalter. It seems more likely, however, that Paul is referring both to the canonical psalms and to contemporary compositions of praise (see also Col. 3:16). “Spiritual” communicates the influence of the Holy Spirit's filling (Eph. 5:18) in the believer's acts of praise.
Eph. 5:20 To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in faith, trusting in him as our mediator with God the Father on “the throne of grace” (John 14:6; Heb. 4:16; 10:20; see also note on John 14:13).
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LOVE - it is a verb and not a noun. Have you heard this before? I have, but after meditating on these scriptures it has a new meaning and directive for my life. I've been given specific instructions on how to walk and talk in love--it has nothing to do with how I "feel", it is not an "emotion" but a disciplined plan of God to demonstrate His unfailing love to the believer and to give unbelievers hope!

What a beautiful valentine our worthy King has given us today. His timing, His Word, His promises are perfect and we must give thanks for them. Lift up His Name and Sing a Song of Praise to Him. He is worthy to be praised, Beloved. What a wonderful eternal lover we have in Christ! Thank you Jesus--BE MINE! I love you with the love of the Lord, Beloved. Sister Lisa