"So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" - 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 ESV
This is so good.
We live in a world were the wave of people opinions and views beat against the shores of our thinking but Jesus is a strong tower where we can run and find safety. There is no judgement in Him.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you." - Jeremiah 29:11-12 ESV
We hid in Him and become stewards of those thoughts. Our mind remains with Him as we go out into the world communicating what He has given us.
"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." - 1 Peter 4:10 KJV
--
Monday, March 10, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
A Change Of Territory
The birds are back singing outside our window. It has me thinking and enjoying the sweet music.
I am thinking about nomadic, territorial and migrational mindsets. A nomad wanders because resources are inconsistent and/or there is a search for newness. But then there is territorial drive to stake a claim somewhere and make a place your own. The migrating bird travels from here to there seasonally. It is going but unlike the nomad it knows where it is going.
What happens to person when their territory is changed from what the five senses see and the mind or body can do to a Heavenly territory... a divine citizenship.
That is what happened to Abram in Ur of the Chaldees. He heard God and it sent him wandering. Then God changed his name to Abraham and gave Him a national inheritance but it sparked a desire in him to look for a Heavenly kingdom.
Grace changes our territory... and that changes everything.
Now my heart sings like the birds outside my window. Christ has given me a place to go and one to come home to.
--
I am thinking about nomadic, territorial and migrational mindsets. A nomad wanders because resources are inconsistent and/or there is a search for newness. But then there is territorial drive to stake a claim somewhere and make a place your own. The migrating bird travels from here to there seasonally. It is going but unlike the nomad it knows where it is going.
What happens to person when their territory is changed from what the five senses see and the mind or body can do to a Heavenly territory... a divine citizenship.
That is what happened to Abram in Ur of the Chaldees. He heard God and it sent him wandering. Then God changed his name to Abraham and gave Him a national inheritance but it sparked a desire in him to look for a Heavenly kingdom.
Grace changes our territory... and that changes everything.
Now my heart sings like the birds outside my window. Christ has given me a place to go and one to come home to.
--
Friday, March 7, 2014
Prayer Times
"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men
ought always to pray, and not to faint" - Luke 18:1 KJV
I remember what it was like before I came to know Christ. I
didn't pray. I didn't see the value of it beyond an abstract psychological
principle. I thought a God who wanted or accepted worship was an egotistical
idea. I thought devout people were weak people who couldn't think for
themselves. Yes, I remember scoffing the Bible and discounting it, logically
ruling it out and seeing it as a book of fiction but a less attractive fiction
that I was not interested in.
Getting on my knees this morning to pray I started to
remember different seasons of prayer. In Bible college I used to roll out of
bed unto my knees and spend time time kneeling in prayer before getting into
bed at night. I spent a year in college as a prayer chaplain and many seasons
during that time in a prayer room that has now been converted into something
else. There are seasons where I have prayed a lot and ones where I have prayed
very little. There were nights where we were up going through sheet after sheet
of paper praying for people in the prayer chain. I remember Peter Merry in a
sleeping bag waiting by the phone at the all night prayer times with Dick
Schaffner. Singers coming from the music ministry and we would pray and
then worship then pray again most of the night. Walking and praying with Dr
Stevens, P Bill Cannon and others. Praying with people who are receiving
Christ. Praying with people in their homes for a visit. Praying in tears and in
silence. Praying and peppering God with questions. Praying for people to be
healed and wondering at the ones who do get healed and the ones that don't. Standing
and praying in a foreign country where I couldn't understand what the people
were saying. Praying because it was my homework assignment and having to sign a
piece of paper saying that I prayed and struggling to tell the truth about it
when I didn't. (How would they know? But God would know.) Praying and telling
God how unhappy I was and why. Praying with tears of joy streaming down my
cheeks. Thanking God again and again in a seemingly endless stream and being
carried away in it. Kneeling down assaulted with guilt about something terrible
I had done, or though I had done, only to rise later with calm and joy in my
heart. Trying to pray and then finding myself doing something else because I
got distracted and midway through a sandwich before realizing and going back.
Dry times of frustration where I told God, 'I just don't know what to say to
You.' Urgent times in hospitals waiting with people and not knowing what would
happen. Times of praying for things people have asked me to pray for. Praying
with someone and wondering if I had bad breath and marveling at the stupidity
of being so self conscious at a time like that. Prayer ruts where I felt like I
was going through a grocery list and wondering if it was right or not. Days of
scheduled prayer where I would pray at certain times for a person or a
situation. Times where days and weeks would go by and the only thing I would
pray for was my food if I even remembered to do that. Fasting times where I
would try to pray but all I could think about was how hungry I was. Praying
with religious or long winded people who could just keep talking and talking
and talking and wondering if they were talking to God or themselves. Praying
for those people to shut up or for the rapture to come. Praying before getting
up to speak and struggling to let go of what I was planning to say and give it
to God. Prayer times when the presence of God is so thick in the room and you
exit taking that room with you into the rest of the day. Times where
your mind says 'This is a waste of time' but a quieter part of you persists.
Aggressive prayers where there is a battle to be fought and declarations need
to be made out loud. 'Break their teeth' prayers. Praying for things to end and
praying for things to begin. Peaceful prayers in rooms full of people. Praying
in a small room with a few people while the Easter play is going on in a bigger
fuller louder room.
Still, I remember when I didn't pray and could care less
about praying. I had no one to pray to. I had no one that merited praise. God
changed me. Grace changed me. The Gospel changed me. Jesus won me. Even now
that I am His He still wins me again and again.
You don't need anything to pray. You can do it with an open
Bible and that is great thing to do but it can be anywhere at anytime, silent
or out loud, with people or alone. God isn't far away. I think we will see that
He was always very close by.
If you feel guilty about not praying. Repent. Turn from even
thinking that way. It is just a barrier set up to keep you from it. Guilt is
useless and foreign. God is not angry about what you do or don't do. He poured all
that anger out on the cross. God just wants to be with you. Prayer is a way to
be with Him as He Is Being with you and participating in life.
"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door
and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret
will reward you." - Matthew 6:6 ESV
"In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and
all night he continued in prayer to God." - Luke 6:12 ESV
"and he said to them, 'Why are you sleeping? Rise and
pray that you may not enter into temptation.' " - Luke 22:46 ESV
"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when we pray for you," - Colossians 1:3 ESV
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in
all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
"I desire then that in every place the men should pray,
lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;" - 1 Timothy 2:8 ESV
"I thank my God always when I remember you in my
prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the
Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith
may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us
for the sake of Christ." - Philemon 1:4-6 ESV
--
--
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Initiation That Gives Room For Response
"On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.'
When he saw them he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.'
And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' And he said to him, 'Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.' " - Luke 17:11-19 ESV
Jesus gave all of them a gift but only one leper looked to see who it was from and found a way back.
You can look at this passage and say, 'See, We should be thankful. Many aren't thankful and I don't want to be that person.' but it just doesn't work that way.
One man saw the signature on his gift through eyes of faith.
'with Love from The Father entrusted to The Son and delivered by the Holy Spirit.'
Just like when He was healed on the way to see the priest... He was saved on the way as He went back by faith to the Son.
Grace gives us a way back to God. There is a way to respond by faith. The 'initiation comes with clarification'. God's initiations are not random acts of kindness. His love has a redemptive purpose.
Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world on the cross.. not everyone will be saved by that act.. everyone could be but not everyone will be.. it was a free gift with God's signature on it.. return to Christ and only believe.
When he saw them he said to them, 'Go and show yourselves to the priests.'
And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' And he said to him, 'Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.' " - Luke 17:11-19 ESV
Jesus gave all of them a gift but only one leper looked to see who it was from and found a way back.
You can look at this passage and say, 'See, We should be thankful. Many aren't thankful and I don't want to be that person.' but it just doesn't work that way.
One man saw the signature on his gift through eyes of faith.
'with Love from The Father entrusted to The Son and delivered by the Holy Spirit.'
Just like when He was healed on the way to see the priest... He was saved on the way as He went back by faith to the Son.
Grace gives us a way back to God. There is a way to respond by faith. The 'initiation comes with clarification'. God's initiations are not random acts of kindness. His love has a redemptive purpose.
Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world on the cross.. not everyone will be saved by that act.. everyone could be but not everyone will be.. it was a free gift with God's signature on it.. return to Christ and only believe.
--
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Filled Up And Hidden In Christ
"For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;" - Colossians 2:9-10 NASB
That word complete is Strong's Pleroo (Strong's G4137) and it is often translated 'fulfilled' because it literally means to fill to the top. The fullness of deity exists in Christ and when we are in Christ we are filled up in the one who has all authority.
"and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." - Colossians 2:11-14 NASB
These are all past tense things. They are done without you or I lifting a finger.
"When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God." - Colossians 2:15-19 NASB
The rulers and authorities are disarmed but it is possible that we would be defrauded if we stray from focus on Christ and turn the freshness of a daily walk in the present and trade it for a glorification of past experiences. Our mind can idolize the past and make it something it is not. Looking for signs we can give events significance that transcends the illumination of the scriptures to reveal Christ today. Our spirituality is a right now thing. Past experiences are stepping stones for the line upon line work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to bring us to this moment in time. The only way we can see today in objectivity is to 'hold fast' to Christ, the one who has filled us to the top, and look at life through the lens of His finished work.
"If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!' (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) - in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence." - Colossians 2:20-23 NASB
Our life is not one of restriction. It adds nothing to spirituality and is devoid of spiritual power. Our spirituality is rooted in Christ. Weak or strong, doing or not doing, having supernatural experiences or not... those things are not the issue. Looking for them, submitting to them or relying on them misses the mark and becomes a distraction.
"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." - Colossians 3:2-3 NASB
Our life is hidden with Christ in God. Yes. It can be found no where else. It is hidden. God sees it clear as day. People sometimes don't. We sometimes don't see it. But that is where it is and when we know that we can cease from striving and begin living.
--
That word complete is Strong's Pleroo (Strong's G4137) and it is often translated 'fulfilled' because it literally means to fill to the top. The fullness of deity exists in Christ and when we are in Christ we are filled up in the one who has all authority.
"and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." - Colossians 2:11-14 NASB
These are all past tense things. They are done without you or I lifting a finger.
"When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God." - Colossians 2:15-19 NASB
The rulers and authorities are disarmed but it is possible that we would be defrauded if we stray from focus on Christ and turn the freshness of a daily walk in the present and trade it for a glorification of past experiences. Our mind can idolize the past and make it something it is not. Looking for signs we can give events significance that transcends the illumination of the scriptures to reveal Christ today. Our spirituality is a right now thing. Past experiences are stepping stones for the line upon line work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to bring us to this moment in time. The only way we can see today in objectivity is to 'hold fast' to Christ, the one who has filled us to the top, and look at life through the lens of His finished work.
"If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!' (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) - in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence." - Colossians 2:20-23 NASB
Our life is not one of restriction. It adds nothing to spirituality and is devoid of spiritual power. Our spirituality is rooted in Christ. Weak or strong, doing or not doing, having supernatural experiences or not... those things are not the issue. Looking for them, submitting to them or relying on them misses the mark and becomes a distraction.
"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." - Colossians 3:2-3 NASB
Our life is hidden with Christ in God. Yes. It can be found no where else. It is hidden. God sees it clear as day. People sometimes don't. We sometimes don't see it. But that is where it is and when we know that we can cease from striving and begin living.
--
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Fed Daily From The Hand Of Another
"And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him," - Luke 19:47 KJV
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart," - Acts 2:46 KJV
"Give us day by day our daily bread." - Luke 11:3 KJV
People need to be taught by someone else's voice in order to grow spiritually... and it is needed daily. This is a scripturally supported and promoted truth.
"If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know." - 1 Corinthians 8:2 ESV
Yes. You can say that the primary meaning of this verse involves an understanding of pride but it also has application in freshness... doctrine can get crystallized and brittle in a fallen person's mind... over time because of the plastic nature of memory and the deceitful nature of man we give things a slant they shouldn't have. People don't do it on purpose... not in a conscious way at least... our old man needs to continually justify itself because it has no divine covering of justification.
We might argue that this makes us overly reliant on men. Whatever the downside may seem to be using human rationale the scripture still teaches this and even though men are flawed and not every day may be a teacher or preacher's finest hour... still... by consistently listening to one voice we learn to hear the voice behind the voice. We grow to be discerning hearers.
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?'
He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.'
He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'
He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?'
He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.'
He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'
He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?'
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?'
and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' " - John 21:15-18 ESV
Feed them because they need to eat daily. They need clean water and good food. It will not be easy. It will require a cross life for the teacher and the listener alike. Not a constant endurance of suffering like some people see the cross, that may be part of it at times, but an exchange of life and personal decisions that are made based on the reality of the finished work.
There are no self-made men. There are people who have been turned aside by a burning bush and then heard the voice of God as they stood there with their shoes off.
I need to stand before a burning bush and listen... not just for a moment or an hour but daily for a season that may just last the rest of my life... looking past the woodenness of their human nature and marveling at the fire that blazes around them.
I didn't write this to condemn anyone or set some standard that people need to strive to meet... it is simply a principle... if we want to grow this is a crucial element.
If you want big muscles eat the right things and go to the gym regularly. If you want big spiritual muscles eat the right things and exercise using what you are hearing.
--
I'm not saying the ministry I am apart of is the only place to do it but if you want a place to get doctrine you can go do a search on OpenMBCS (this will work today March 2014 the month of this blog post) and get a daily dose of what has fed me for many years.
--
"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart," - Acts 2:46 KJV
"Give us day by day our daily bread." - Luke 11:3 KJV
People need to be taught by someone else's voice in order to grow spiritually... and it is needed daily. This is a scripturally supported and promoted truth.
"If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know." - 1 Corinthians 8:2 ESV
Yes. You can say that the primary meaning of this verse involves an understanding of pride but it also has application in freshness... doctrine can get crystallized and brittle in a fallen person's mind... over time because of the plastic nature of memory and the deceitful nature of man we give things a slant they shouldn't have. People don't do it on purpose... not in a conscious way at least... our old man needs to continually justify itself because it has no divine covering of justification.
We might argue that this makes us overly reliant on men. Whatever the downside may seem to be using human rationale the scripture still teaches this and even though men are flawed and not every day may be a teacher or preacher's finest hour... still... by consistently listening to one voice we learn to hear the voice behind the voice. We grow to be discerning hearers.
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?'
He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.'
He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'
He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?'
He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.'
He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'
He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?'
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?'
and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' " - John 21:15-18 ESV
Feed them because they need to eat daily. They need clean water and good food. It will not be easy. It will require a cross life for the teacher and the listener alike. Not a constant endurance of suffering like some people see the cross, that may be part of it at times, but an exchange of life and personal decisions that are made based on the reality of the finished work.
There are no self-made men. There are people who have been turned aside by a burning bush and then heard the voice of God as they stood there with their shoes off.
I need to stand before a burning bush and listen... not just for a moment or an hour but daily for a season that may just last the rest of my life... looking past the woodenness of their human nature and marveling at the fire that blazes around them.
I didn't write this to condemn anyone or set some standard that people need to strive to meet... it is simply a principle... if we want to grow this is a crucial element.
If you want big muscles eat the right things and go to the gym regularly. If you want big spiritual muscles eat the right things and exercise using what you are hearing.
--
I'm not saying the ministry I am apart of is the only place to do it but if you want a place to get doctrine you can go do a search on OpenMBCS (this will work today March 2014 the month of this blog post) and get a daily dose of what has fed me for many years.
--
Monday, March 3, 2014
Redemption Or Soulish Substitutes
Truth is the antidote for error and love is the antidote for fear... but there are counterfeits out there.
"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." - Ephesians 5:17-21 NKJV
Dissipation is Asotia (Strong's G810). A negation of the word for being saved Sozo (G4982). In other words non-redemptive... there is no redemption in drinking wine. It is a counterfeit because is produces a feeling that saves no one and buys nothing back. Yes, There can be joy and relaxation... it is used in the Hebrew scriptures as a symbol for joy. But, Now that the Spirit of God has come to indwell individuals we are to be wise and not drunken.
The filling of the Spirit has an impact on each area of our soul. The mind, emotions, will, consciousness and conscience. He restores balance. God creates a clean heart in us with a new identity.
"My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!" - Psalms 119:25 ESV
The counterfeits energize the old identity stimulating or depressing our natural man... counterfeit ideas, counterfeit emotions, counterfeit decision making, a counterfeit self image and a counterfeit value system... drunkenness that is non-redemptive... some translations use the word debauchery for Asotia.
Our pleasure is now rooted in a poetic interaction, in a musical ministry, in a thanksgiving that submits one to another in awe of God. All those things have redemptive value. Fun is redemptive fun. Pleasure is redemptive pleasure. Decisions are made in wisdom... not as a means of escape but as a means of investment... a strengthening... a buying back of time.
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:16 KJV
Yes.
There are times when our soul will gravitate towards the dust and the counterfeit will look attractive... Those are the moments where by grace we find our way of redemptive escape. Jesus Himself is that doorway. We can walk by faith in those moments knowing that the integrity of faith in the finished work of Christ is the antidote for hopelessness and death. Faith in the resurrected ever living one is why we were created.
--
"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." - Ephesians 5:17-21 NKJV
Dissipation is Asotia (Strong's G810). A negation of the word for being saved Sozo (G4982). In other words non-redemptive... there is no redemption in drinking wine. It is a counterfeit because is produces a feeling that saves no one and buys nothing back. Yes, There can be joy and relaxation... it is used in the Hebrew scriptures as a symbol for joy. But, Now that the Spirit of God has come to indwell individuals we are to be wise and not drunken.
The filling of the Spirit has an impact on each area of our soul. The mind, emotions, will, consciousness and conscience. He restores balance. God creates a clean heart in us with a new identity.
"My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!" - Psalms 119:25 ESV
The counterfeits energize the old identity stimulating or depressing our natural man... counterfeit ideas, counterfeit emotions, counterfeit decision making, a counterfeit self image and a counterfeit value system... drunkenness that is non-redemptive... some translations use the word debauchery for Asotia.
Our pleasure is now rooted in a poetic interaction, in a musical ministry, in a thanksgiving that submits one to another in awe of God. All those things have redemptive value. Fun is redemptive fun. Pleasure is redemptive pleasure. Decisions are made in wisdom... not as a means of escape but as a means of investment... a strengthening... a buying back of time.
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:16 KJV
Yes.
There are times when our soul will gravitate towards the dust and the counterfeit will look attractive... Those are the moments where by grace we find our way of redemptive escape. Jesus Himself is that doorway. We can walk by faith in those moments knowing that the integrity of faith in the finished work of Christ is the antidote for hopelessness and death. Faith in the resurrected ever living one is why we were created.
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