Scripture:
Ephesians 5:17-20
"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 oneanother 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"
Observation:
First observation, if I would have written a sentence aslong as that in high school I would have been reprimanded!
No seriously, what comes out of our mouth is a powerful key. What that key unlocks can be either life giving or life draining.
Interestingly this passage exhorts us to give thanks always, for all things, which seems like a big call considering not all things in life seem all that great. In the last couple of weeks there seems to have been most of the people in our lives who are struggling in a big way with some significant issues, us included. How can we give thanks in all things? Issues people have been facing have included death of family members, financial crisis, underpaid, relationship stress, uncertainty, ... but being filled with the Spirit of God, we can speak from Truth in these situations.
There is something amazingly liberating about finding things to be thankful for despite our circumstances! I find it liberating in that very quickly (potentially) the negativity no longer has a hold on my life and sloutions sometimes begin to flow, or at least begin outworking. But this can only really happen from a position of being full. Being filled with the Spirit of God. It seems impossible to be thankful in the darkest of times, but nothing is impossible for God.
If being filled with God's Spirit is something that you want to know more about, post a comment or send me a meassage and we can talk more.
Application:
What comes from my mouth?
Is it positive, does it honour God?
Is it words of faith, or words of hopelessness?
Are these words truth?
I need to be filled with the Spirit of God, submitting everything to Him, being mouldable in His hands. I need to be filled everyday, and ongoing so that I always respond to life around me from a position of being full.
So I will submit my ways to Him, spend time in the Bible (Truth), and bringing all my thoughts to Him in prayer. If that means getting up earlier and earlier in a busy schedule, then let it be. I can't do this without You Lord.
