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“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:15-21 ESV)
We live in very evil times, and it is getting worse by the day. There are so many liars and deceptions and deceiving spirits that it is hard to know if anyone still exists who tells the truth consistently and who does not practice telling lies, even what are called “white lies,” which are still lies. For liars exist within human governments, politicians, the media, the newscasters, preachers, evangelists, missionaries, people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, actors, husbands, wives, children, teachers, and the list goes on.
So we must not be people who just believe whatever we are told by whomever just because “so and so” said it. For “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and charlatans are among us, probably in droves, if truth be told, and they are disguising themselves as Christians and as preachers and evangelists and missionaries, and as authors of Christian literature and songs, and as “Christian” politicians, and as servants of righteousness when it is the devil and the flesh that they serve, instead. So be wise and be discerning.
And these people use all sorts of means and trickery and deception in order to get us to listen to them and to believe them and their lies. And some of us baby boomers (post WWII) were taught all sorts of lies which we believed as children, which some of us, since we have become adults, have been able to see for what they are, by the grace of God, so that we have been able to reject the lies and to see the truth (perhaps not all of it, though). For we have been given discernment by God to sift through the lies, to see truth.
The biggest area of concern, though, is with the message of the gospel of our salvation which so many people today are diluting and altering in order to make God/Jesus and his gospel message more acceptable and less offensive to the people of the world. So many have shortened the gospel message to just say that if we “believe” (rarely biblically defined) in Jesus that now all our sins are forgiven, heaven is guaranteed us when we die, and that it can’t be taken away from us, but regardless of how we live.
But that is not the gospel that Jesus taught, and it is not the gospel that the NT apostles taught, either, if read and understood in context, and if not defined by Scriptures taken out of context and made to say what they do not say if taught in context. For so many people are quoting Ephesians 2:8-9 absent of verse 10 (which is critical to the message). And they are quoting John 10:28-30 absent of verse 27 which tells us to whom verses 28-30 apply. And so they are applying them broadly where they don’t apply.
So, we need to be people of discernment who walk in the wisdom of God and under his direction, who have died with him to sin, and who have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him in freedom from slavery to sin and in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord. And then we need to look carefully at how we walk, that our habits and our character and how we conduct our lives line up with the teachings of the Scriptures with regard to how we are to live to please God.
For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands in holy living, and thus be those who are honoring God with our bodies. But if obedience to our Lord and holy living are not what we practice, and if sin is still what we practice, then the Scriptures teach that we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what professions of faith we make with our lips.
So the encouragement here is to be aware of the evil times in which we live, to seek the Lord for wisdom and discernment to separate truth from lies, and then walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. For making the best use of our time has to do with our lives fully surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, for this is not about what our flesh desires, but what God desires for us according to his will and purpose. So our lives are now to be under the control of God, and not out-of-control.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
