Bible League: Living His Word Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.— Ephesians 5:17 NIV In the previous verse the Apostle Paul told the Ephesian church that “the days are evil.” The conclusion he draws from this sorry state of affairs is that they should follow his instructions in our verse for today. They should “not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” If they follow his instructions, so he seems to be saying, they will avoid the negative influence of the evil days and they will avoid the negative repercussions. After all, when the days are evil the foolish man is without defense. Foolish people reject the Lord and reject His will and ways (Psalm 14:1). As a result, they cannot tell right from wrong. That makes foolish people vulnerable to the evil that surrounds them. They don’t seem to understand the consequences that come from following evil. They don’t seem to see the dangers—dangers in the present and dangers in the future. Instead of avoiding evil, they tend to fall right into it—and may even take foolish pleasure in it—not realizing the harm that will come to them presently and eternally. When the days are evil, we need to know what the Lord’s will is. Believers must be wise. Wise people know the Lord and know His will and ways (Proverbs 1:7). Consequently, they do know right from wrong. They see the evil of the evil days and recognize it for what it is. They anticipate the dangers and, though they’re not perfect, they tend to avoid them. Wise people are shrewd. They’re as shrewd as snakes (Matthew 10:16), detecting and avoiding anything that could harm themselves. This is God’s world, not our world. He made it and He established the rules. For reasons unknown to us, He allows evil to continue. But He has given us the power to resist the evil of our day if we focus on His will according to His Word. The foolish suffer for lack of this discipline (Proverbs 5:23). So, follow Paul’s instructions. Don’t be like them. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Chronicles 17, 18, 19 2 Chronicles 17 -- Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa, Reigns Well and Prospers NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Chronicles 18 -- Jehoshaphat Allies with Ahab; Micaiah Prophesies against Ahab; Ahab Defeated NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Chronicles 19 -- Jehu Rebukes Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 15 John 15 -- I am the vine and you are the Branches; If the world hates you remember it hated me first NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.Insight Jesus gives a startling warning about forgiveness: If we refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive us. Why? Because when we don't forgive others, we are denying our common ground as sinners in need of God's forgiveness. God's forgiveness of sin is not the direct result of our forgiving others, but it is based on our realizing what forgiveness means. Challenge It is easy to ask God for forgiveness, but difficult to grant it to others. Whenever we ask God to forgive us for sin, we should ask ourselves, “Have I forgiven the people who have wronged me?” Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God.The distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return. First, faith sets her seal upon the man by enabling the soul to say with the apostle, "Christ loved me and gave himself for me." Then love gives the countersign, and stamps upon the heart gratitude and love to Jesus in return. "We love him because he first loved us." In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly to be seen in all believers in Jesus; they were men who knew the love of Christ, and rested upon it as a man leaneth upon a staff whose trustiness he has tried. The love which they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion which they hid within themselves in the secret chamber of their souls, and which they only spake of in their private assemblies when they met on the first day of the week, and sang hymns in honor of Christ Jesus the crucified, but it was a passion with them of such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and, therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man, and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence upon Christ's love they dared much, and because of their love to Christ they did much, and it is the same now. The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love--the love of Christ constraineth them; they rejoice that divine love is set upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them, and then by force of gratitude they love the Saviour with a pure heart, fervently. My reader, do you love him? Ere you sleep give an honest answer to a weighty question! Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 103:14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Psalm 139:14-16 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. • My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; • Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. Malachi 2:10 "Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' Psalm 103:13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. Psalm 78:38,39 But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath. • Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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