{"id":26646,"date":"2023-06-05T22:00:50","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T05:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ephesians-5_8-14-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-05-23T11:52:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T18:52:54","slug":"ephesians-5_15-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ephesians-5_15-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Life to the Fullest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ephesians\u00a0 5:15-21 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage in\u00a0Ephesians\u00a05:15-21 gives us some important advice on how to live life to the fullest.\u00a0 Let’s go.<\/p>\n

Ephesians\u00a05:15-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n15<\/sup>\u00a0Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise,
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a015-17: \u00a0What does Paul mean when he says “the days are evil”?\u00a0 He means that the age we live in is full of traps that can take people off track — distractions, deceptions and temptations.\u00a0 Time is limited.\u00a0 So rather than being unwise (v15) and foolish (v17), wasting our lives on things that will not matter in the end, we are to understand what God’s will is (v17) and make the most of every opportunity to do God’s will and to\u00a0fulfill\u00a0our God-given calling.\u00a0\u00a0Don’t spend your life worrying and chasing after things that will not matter in the end.\u00a0\u00a0Instead\u00a0spend your life on God’s purposes: worship Jesus, grow in intimacy with Him, serve Him, lead others to Him, and live a life of love.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ephesians 5:18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 18: \u00a0Notice Paul doesn’t say “Don’t drink wine” but rather “Don’t get drunk with wine”.\u00a0 It is not a sin to drink alcohol, but it is a sin to lose control when drinking.\u00a0 For some Christians, it works best not to get near alcohol at all. For other Christians, it’s about being responsible and careful if you drink.\u00a0 When expressed lovingly and lived out well, both positions I can respect.<\/p>\n

Instead of being filled with man-made distilled spirits, we are to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Being filled with alcohol impairs one’s judgment and numbs the senses.\u00a0 In contrast, being filled with God’s Spirit sharpens the mind and awakens our senses.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 5:19-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19-20:\u00a0\u00a0The Christian faith is a singing faith.\u00a0 It\u2019s because we have the greatest reason to sing and to always give thanks<\/strong>:\u00a0 Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the grave so through Him we have forgiveness of sins, citizenship in heaven, membership in God\u2019s family, power, purpose and hope.\u00a0 You might think it strange, unrealistic or even absurd that Paul would tell his church in Ephesus to give thanks \u201cfor everything\u201d (v20).\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because Paul knows that in everything, God will gain the victory and that God will use everything, even the things we don\u2019t welcome or want, to write a greater story than anything we could write ourselves.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 21:\u00a0 Even the most powerful of us must learn from time to time to submit to others, not out of weakness but out of reverence for Jesus.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0unless you\u2019re God, you will not be able to have healthy relationships with others if you don\u2019t learn to submit to others from time to time<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you\u2019re always insisting on your way when you\u2019re with other people, then maybe this is the verse God wants you to apply a little more to your life.<\/p>\n

Thank God for giving me so many reasons to sing and give thanks every day.\u00a0 Holy Spirit, I don’t want to waste this day, but I want to make the most of every moment.\u00a0 I can’t live wisely or fully without You. So\u00a0please come and fill me today.\u00a0 May I glorify You in the way I treat others and live life today.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage in\u00a0Ephesians\u00a05:15-21 gives us some important advice on how to live life to the fullest.\u00a0 Let’s go.<\/p>\n

Ephesians\u00a05:15-16 (NIV)\u00a0
\n15\u00a0Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise,\u00a0
\n16\u00a0making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a015-17: \u00a0What does Paul mean when he says “the days are evil”?\u00a0 He means that the age we live in is full of traps that can take people off track — distractions, deceptions and temptations.\u00a0 Time is limited.\u00a0 So rather than being unwise (v15) and foolish (v17), wasting our lives on things that will not matter in the end, we are to understand what God’s will is (v17) and make the most of every opportunity to do God’s will and to\u00a0fulfill\u00a0our God-given calling.\u00a0\u00a0Don’t spend your life worrying and chasing after things that will not matter in the end.\u00a0\u00a0Instead\u00a0spend your life on God’s purposes: worship Jesus, grow in intimacy with Him, serve Him, lead others to Him, and live a life of love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26648,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26646"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26649,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26646\/revisions\/26649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}