Ephesians 4:17-18 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
Futility speaks of exhaustion that results from chronic dissatisfaction of worldly pursuits apart from God. A frustrated existence lacking purpose doesn’t come from being weary of pain. It comes from being weary of pleasure. Futility is exhausting your every dream, and still feeling barren and empty.
Ephesians 4:19-22 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ! 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires…
TRUTH PROBLEMS ARE THE TRUE PROBLEMS BEHIND OUR ISSUES. Don’t just believe everything you see and think. Even salt looks like sugar
Think about what you think about because what you think about matters! Behind every sin you commit is a lie you believed.
Sin has a suffocating, blinding, intoxicating and deafening effect on our lives keeping us from being able to see clearly & live fruitfully!
Ephesians 4:23-27 …be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ESV
LIVE FRUITFULLY!: You are blessed to be a blessing! Notice this in the progression of moving from an inferior to a superior way of life. You can steal to have. You can work to have. And you can work to give.
You can be driven by greed to steal just as you can be driven by greed to work. Stealing is illegal while working is not, but both are sinful when the motive is greed. That’s why Paul doesn't stop there. Working in order to have is very American. I earned it. It’s my right to have it as my own!
All of the world’s resources came from God. God owns and God loans it. You have nothing before you come into this world and you’ll have nothing when leave. Learning to be a good steward with what God entrusts to your care is part of the process of learning to live a fruitful life.
Deuteronomy 14:23 The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your lives (TLB)
This has the potential to change your whole life, and it is all about the heart! When you get your heart right then you speech will follow. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks – Matt 12:34
Ephesians 4:29-32 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. ESV
GP2RL: Read the book of Ephesians this week and ask the Lord to help you examine the motives of your heart.