Ephesians 5:15-20

Paul is writing the second half of his epistle to the church in Ephesus about Godly and holy living. He has switched from theology in his first half to practical Christian living.

In these verses Paul encourages us to walk “circumspectly,” or heedfully, being aware of the consequences of ouractions. He realizes that days are running low and time flies and often the time that does pass is not spent wisely. Paul encourages the church to use their time wisely, because the days we have are evil. This flows right into knowing what the will of the Lord is. Walking wisely means I will naturally know what the Lord’s will is for my life. One practical example of this is to not get drunk. We should allow the Spirit to consume us and control us, so that we will be encouraging each other with godly speech and always giving thanks to God. Of course, this principle should be applied to everything. We are controlled by none but the Lord. He is our only Master!

This passage seems to be pretty clear on how to apply it to my life. I need to be heedful of the consequences of my actions, not just doing anything on a whim. Paul used drunkenness as a specific action to be on guard against. Getting drunk would mean something other than the Holy Spirit is controlling my body, which goes directly against the purpose of salvation – to be freed from the control of the world and placed under the control of Christ. We Christians should walk wisely, being an example to others, and redeeming the time, not conforming to the pattern of this world but using every opportunity we have to do good. That idea is pretty revolutionary and completely destroys this idea of being able to put off doing good. We have only a certain amount of time here on this earth, so when we pass up an opportunity to do good in some way, that opportunity is lost forever and never coming back. We cannot ever add a day to our life, all we can to is take advantage of the opportunities we have, and that pleases the Lord. That is the Lord’s will.

I find the last verse to be appropriate for this time of year, seeing as we have just passed Thanksgiving. I feel like some people have an attitude that wants to stop even thinking about being thankful as soon as Thanksgiving is over. I know I was that way (More so than now. I am still working on it) when I was younger. According to this verse, giving thanks is an all-the-time thing for Christians. I know I’ll always have something to be thankful for, because I can always thank the Lord for saving me from myself.

Ephesians 5:8-14

These are some long overdue Bible journals that I had ready to post but never did. I kept telling myself it was because I hadn't typed up verses 1-7, but do you care? I didn't think so.

Ephesians 5:8-14

Paul is writing the second half of his epistle to the church in Ephesus about Godly and holy living. He has switched from theology in his first half to practical Christian living.

These verses talk about living as light – just as Christ taught to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We have been transformed from darkness to light and therefore should live like it! Paul lists a few fruits of the Spirit (or in other manuscripts, fruits of the light); those are goodness, righteousness, and truth. Our job as light is to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret” (vv. 11, 12). Only light can expose dark deeds, and we must realize that this light comes only from Christ, for we are asleep and dead to Him in and of ourselves, having no power to produce goodness.

I absolutely love this passage. It continually exhorts to take affirmative action when it comes to living the life of godliness (or in this case, the life of light), yet at the same time reminds us that the power comes from Christ alone! We were once darkness, but Christ gave us light, now lets share it with the world! By living such a life, we will have an increasingly clear idea of what God’s will is, “finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (v.10). So many people wish they could know what God’s will for their life is; I do too! First we live according to His will; only then will we be shown what His will is for our lives. This isn’t usually what I want to hear, being human and having a slight case of what my mom calls immediatitis, but it is so true. Once I stop worrying about what exactly I’m supposed to do, start surrendering that to God, and start living like He wants me to, all the extra information comes to me in God’s perfect timing. Again, often this is not exactly the timing I’m comfortable with, but the point is that I’m closer to God because of the trust I placed in Him, and He is once again confirmed to be faithful.

The next exhortation of this verse it seems to me is to expose sin – in us and in others. As light, we will naturally reveal things; that’s what light does! Partaking in them would be shameful. Even talking about them would be shameful, yet sometimes I find myself caught up in sin. I have to remind myself that sin is a small problem for the God whose infinite love conquered it. It has no power over me because I have the power of God. The last verse is just awesome. It is a calling of the dead and asleep to Christ to rise and to wake, so that Christ may give them the power that He has over sin. Christ did that for me, and it is my job to spread that good news to others so they can receive that power as well.

Cautiously Carefree

Consider this part 2 in the series of paradoxes in the Christian faith. The last one was Swimming in Time, where we refuse to delay in completing what God has for us to do, yet always wait for His timing on all matters. This one has to do with worrying.

In the Bible we are commanted to "not be anxious about anything" but instead "present our requests to God" (Phil. 4:6) and trust him for all our cares. Jesus also reasons with us, asking "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matt. 6:27). Clearly stressing about how everything will turn out is not a good habit for a Christian to get into. We need to trust God for his faithful deliverance. He will take care of us: "...for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked" (Psalm 97:10).

However, God in no way intends for us to be naive in our actions. Jesus didn't live His life carelessly, doing whatever trusting it would all work out. He was practical in his decisions, and we should be too. He acted on what He knew to be true. When people came to Him and believed in Him, He did not simply accept them and "trust" that God would work everything out in their lives. The Bible says He actually would not entrust Himself to them because He knew what was in their hearts. He knew they weren't really committed to Him and so did not commit Himself to them (John 2:24-25).

Another thing to note is the Christ took action, deliberate and convicted action. When He saw the way Israel was treating the temple, He didn't sit back and say, 'Oh well, God will work it out for good. It'll all be ok.' He did quite the opposite! He wove together a whip and started making a difference - He took action on an issue He observed. The same goes for us. When Christ tells us not to worry about where we will get our food or clothes, that in no way means we sit at home playing videogames trusting that an angel will drop off our daily bread at the door whenever we need it. We work. Diligently. Heartily as for the Lord.

There is a balance that become necessary when living the Christian life. We wait, not procrastinate. We work, not worry. There is a middle ground that needs to be acheived if perfection is to be attained. We most definitely need to trust God to be our Provider and Sustainer (Carefree) but let us remain reasonable, knowing that God works through practical means (Cautiously). He favors the hard working. He loves the diligent. Yet let us always remember that all things are possible only through Christ who strengthens us.

Mr. Stanford

That's what Bobby Blakey called me the first time he IMed me after finding out I would be going to Stanford in the fall. It was not an easy decision for me, but I am totally confident that this is the plan God has for me. I'll miss my friends, but God will always be by my side.

Throughout this college process, my parents would incessantly inquire as to which colleges I was leaning towards and why. Well, which one I'm leaning towards is pretty obvious now. In fact, you could say I've fallen on it, if you want to keep the metaphor consistent. This summation attempts to explain why in a few words.

Why did I choose this college?

Some things I wanted to be true about my college

- Have fun

- Southern California, to be with friends etc.

- Honor God with decision

Reason I had for not wanting to go to this college

- I was afraid of working all the time

- I was afraid of compromising my Christianity

I had always been told to choose what college was right for me, as opposed to choosing a college simply for the big name, or reputation. Well, I don’t really like when people tell me to do what’s right for me. I know myself, and I know the truth. What I want is evil. “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). I’m not interested in dying anytime soon. The only way I can know I’m making the right choice is if I can be confident that God wants me to be there. That is what it means to honor God with my decision, and it might even mean I have to give up the most important thing to me that I’m looking for in a college.

That means all doors are open and I need to evaluate each school objectively, not closing the door on a school simply because it has a big name. So schools like MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley, and LA were all in the running, even though their prestige actually gave me a lower view of them because I assumed they were stuck up and full of themselves. But that’s my judgmental side coming through. See? Evil.

I was actually coming home from Sunday Night Bible Study, got talking with a few people there who went to UC Berkeley, and realized then what college I needed to go to. Actually I thought about a parable that seemed very applicable. It is the parable of the men who received certain sums of money according to their abilities. The ones who used what they were given were blessed. The one who was afraid of using what he was given was cast into “outer darkness,” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Now, this is speaking of the kingdom of heaven, so the story being applied to college is a bit out of context; however, I have learned that there are biblical principles reflected through stories that can be applied elsewhere. For example, the Lord loves a diligent worker: “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (Proverbs 13:4).

A fear of working hard was therefore out of the question, no college on the list accepts anyone they think cannot handle the workload, and I have been preparing for college level for quite some time now with all the AP classes and such. I decided that I needed to go to the place where I could use all my abilities for the glory of God. This doesn’t mean I would have to go to a Christian school. We are commanded to be in the world, yet not of the world. When Christ prayed for us he did “not pray that [God] should take [us] out of the world, but that [He] should keep [us] from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are also encouraged by John, who tells us that “whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith ” (1 John 5:4). That characterizes me. I have been born of God in a second birth, and I put my faith and hope in Christ for my salvation, regeneration and daily renewal. Now I must continue in that habit/discipline each morning and prepare myself for a rocky future. I can trust that God “will never leave [me] nor forsake [me]” (Hebrews 13:5). I may feel alone, or challenged academically, socially, spiritually, or physically, but I know that it is in God’s strength that I carry out the will of God, not needing to be fearful of failure.

O God in heaven
Please hear my cry
O how I need Your help now

I’ll be expectant
Waiting by faith
For Your answer come down

We don’t pray to a god who can’t save
We pray to the God who will hear

So I will call upon You
And watch for what You will do
You’re the help of Your people

You reach down from on high
And put joy in my life
So I praise You as faithful...

Swimming in Time

A few weeks ago I went to lunch at Taco Bell with a good friend of mine before school had to start (it was SAT's and seniors didnt have to be there until 1pm). Some of you may know us as Kevan. We were just finishing up our lunch and I asked what time it was. It turned out to be only 12:30, to which she exclaimed, we're swimming in time! That immediately made me want to write a blog about time, which I told her I would, and this is me letting my yes be yes (Matthew 5:37).

Swimming in Time. That was an interesting phrase to hear, and in one sense it is true; yet in another sense it is deadly. For the Christian, life is long and short. I am only talking about physical life, not eternal life, which is... well... eternal. We both have all the time in the world and no time at all. Don't let this confuse you too much; I'll explain what I mean.

We have all the time in the world

There isn't any need to rush through our lives. No hurry to grow up. No need to experience all of life in a day. We are not impatient, afraid of "wasting" time, so long as we are in God's will. "I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope." (Psalm 130:5). The Lord's timing is the perfect timing, and as long as he has decided now is not the time for a girlfriend, I will not seek a girlfriend; that now is not quite the time to leave my parents, I do not seek to leave my parents; etc. These things come in their own time, and I do not become discontent or impatient in waiting for them.

We have no time at all

So we better get moving. The message of the Bible has a sense of urgency attached to it. For example, Paul says that today is the day of salvation: "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2). Not tomorrow. We don't wait until we're old and about to die to accept God's good news to humanity. We accept it now, and we know God today, and we enjoy His blessing, and we do nothing until we put our faith in the Word of God. "Man who is born of woman Is few of days and full of trouble" (Job 14:1). We don't have much time to start living life before we've realized we missed it. We need not live it all at once, but if we don't start living now, we might not live at all. Let's give our lives to God, that He may pay us back abundantly and overflowing the life that He promised us.

We have plenty of time - no need to rush things. We don't have much time left - let us put off laziness and start worshiping the Lord with passion.