Thursday, August 19, 2010, 7:21 a.m. – I woke this morning with this song in mind:
I Will Rise / Chris Tomlin
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise…
The Lord has been encouraging me now for several days with the words of this song.
Last night I could not fall asleep. I had several matters on my heart I was bringing before the Lord in prayer and over which my husband and I had also prayed during our time of devotions together. My husband read Ephesians 5 to both of us last night. When he got to verses 6-8a, these words really jumped out at me:
I really felt in my heart that God had some words of counsel for us through these verses in relation to the concerns we were praying over. I even stopped my husband right after he read those words and I asked him, “Who are the sons of disobedience?”, and “What does it mean to not become ‘partners’ with them?” I really and truly wanted to understand the message that was here in this passage of scripture and how God was applying it in my life.
Then, we continued reading. When Rick read vv 11-16, these also stood out to me in relation to the same things we were praying about:
After Rick went to bed, I sat down and journaled some of those concerns before the Lord in prayer. I asked the Lord to help me, first of all, to be an “imitator of God” and to “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” [Ref: Ephesians 5:1-2] Then, I asked the Lord the same questions I asked of my husband when we read those verses together. I asked the Lord to show me specifically how he wanted me to apply these truths to my life personally. I asked him to reveal to me the “fruitless deeds of darkness” that he wants me to be specifically aware of at this time and to show me what it means for me to “have nothing to do with” these deeds and how he would want me to “expose them.”
I asked the Lord, as well, to help me to “not live as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.” I prayed, too, for open doors to be able to “speak to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” and for him to help me to always “sing and make music in my heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (It helps that the Lord puts songs in my head all day long). [Ref: Ephesians 5:17-21]
I looked up these verses in the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary and also in my NIV Study Bible to get some idea of what others think these verses mean. As I read what these commentators said about the verses, and as I prayed for understanding, I realized that the manner in which God was applying it in my life and in my circumstances was that he is talking here about how we need to refuse to adopt the world’s standards. We are not to get mixed up with (partners with) these human philosophies and standards that have the appearance of wisdom…
Colossians 2:8:
Colossians 2:23:
Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary on Eph. 5:9 said:
That was last night. Then, this morning when I got up, I journaled some more my thoughts and prayers to the Lord concerning the matters that are deep on my heart, praying for wisdom and understanding to know His will. As I was writing, suddenly the Lord brought this scripture to mind found in I Peter 3:14-17:
In my NIV Study Bible, the commentary said this:
This goes right along with what the Lord was showing me from Ephesians 5:11, and that has to do with the refusal to adopt the world’s standards. Amen! Just as I wrote this, the Lord brought this song to mind:
Where You Lead Me / MercyMe
What is life?
A thousand roads, a thousand ways
Why am I so afraid to move
I crossed the line
I'm stepping out so come what may
I give it all cause I'm drawn to You
I can't deny Your very presence is my life
And why would I ever turn away
Cause deep inside I know that I cannot rely
On anything less than faith
This is all I'm dreaming of
To live completely in Your love
As long as my heart is beating...
Where You lead me I will follow
Where You lead me I give my life away
Where You lead me I will follow
Forever and a day
Forever and a day
Then, I read the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary on vv. 14-15 which said:
Vicissitude – “a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something.” WordNet Search - 3.0
Matthew 10:28:
As I read back through all of this and again contemplated in my mind the questions I asked of my husband and of God with regard to the sons of disobedience and to not being partners with them, I realized that all of these characteristics, that we are warned against acquiring in these passages of scripture, are interrelated to each other and can be considered offspring (sons) of disobedience: Empty words; Unfruitful works of darkness; The world’s standards & worldly judgments; Fear of man; Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ; Regulations having the appearance of wisdom with self-imposed worship and false humility; Malice (spite, hatred, unforgiveness); Injustice; and Falsehood (lies).
These are the “sons” that we are to have nothing to do with and that we are not to partner with, i.e. we need to refuse to adopt the world’s standards for our own lives. We are not to get mixed up with these human philosophies and human standards. Instead, we are to expose them, and we are to put our dependency in Christ alone. We are not to fear what they fear, i.e. we are not to fear man, what he can do to us, or his threats, anger, unforgiveness, wrath, etc. Instead, we are to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts. Instead of fearing man, we are to fear God (reverence; respect; awe; obey, etc.).
I Will Rise / Chris Tomlin
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise…
The Lord has been encouraging me now for several days with the words of this song.
Last night I could not fall asleep. I had several matters on my heart I was bringing before the Lord in prayer and over which my husband and I had also prayed during our time of devotions together. My husband read Ephesians 5 to both of us last night. When he got to verses 6-8a, these words really jumped out at me:
I really felt in my heart that God had some words of counsel for us through these verses in relation to the concerns we were praying over. I even stopped my husband right after he read those words and I asked him, “Who are the sons of disobedience?”, and “What does it mean to not become ‘partners’ with them?” I really and truly wanted to understand the message that was here in this passage of scripture and how God was applying it in my life.
Then, we continued reading. When Rick read vv 11-16, these also stood out to me in relation to the same things we were praying about:
After Rick went to bed, I sat down and journaled some of those concerns before the Lord in prayer. I asked the Lord to help me, first of all, to be an “imitator of God” and to “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” [Ref: Ephesians 5:1-2] Then, I asked the Lord the same questions I asked of my husband when we read those verses together. I asked the Lord to show me specifically how he wanted me to apply these truths to my life personally. I asked him to reveal to me the “fruitless deeds of darkness” that he wants me to be specifically aware of at this time and to show me what it means for me to “have nothing to do with” these deeds and how he would want me to “expose them.”
I asked the Lord, as well, to help me to “not live as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.” I prayed, too, for open doors to be able to “speak to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” and for him to help me to always “sing and make music in my heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (It helps that the Lord puts songs in my head all day long). [Ref: Ephesians 5:17-21]
I looked up these verses in the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary and also in my NIV Study Bible to get some idea of what others think these verses mean. As I read what these commentators said about the verses, and as I prayed for understanding, I realized that the manner in which God was applying it in my life and in my circumstances was that he is talking here about how we need to refuse to adopt the world’s standards. We are not to get mixed up with (partners with) these human philosophies and standards that have the appearance of wisdom…
Colossians 2:8:
Colossians 2:23:
Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary on Eph. 5:9 said:
That was last night. Then, this morning when I got up, I journaled some more my thoughts and prayers to the Lord concerning the matters that are deep on my heart, praying for wisdom and understanding to know His will. As I was writing, suddenly the Lord brought this scripture to mind found in I Peter 3:14-17:
In my NIV Study Bible, the commentary said this:
It also said, with regard to not fearing the enemies of God, “or fear their threats.”
This goes right along with what the Lord was showing me from Ephesians 5:11, and that has to do with the refusal to adopt the world’s standards. Amen! Just as I wrote this, the Lord brought this song to mind:
Where You Lead Me / MercyMe
What is life?
A thousand roads, a thousand ways
Why am I so afraid to move
I crossed the line
I'm stepping out so come what may
I give it all cause I'm drawn to You
I can't deny Your very presence is my life
And why would I ever turn away
Cause deep inside I know that I cannot rely
On anything less than faith
This is all I'm dreaming of
To live completely in Your love
As long as my heart is beating...
Where You lead me I will follow
Where You lead me I give my life away
Where You lead me I will follow
Forever and a day
Forever and a day
Then, I read the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary on vv. 14-15 which said:
Vicissitude – “a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something.” WordNet Search - 3.0
Matthew 10:28:
As I read back through all of this and again contemplated in my mind the questions I asked of my husband and of God with regard to the sons of disobedience and to not being partners with them, I realized that all of these characteristics, that we are warned against acquiring in these passages of scripture, are interrelated to each other and can be considered offspring (sons) of disobedience: Empty words; Unfruitful works of darkness; The world’s standards & worldly judgments; Fear of man; Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ; Regulations having the appearance of wisdom with self-imposed worship and false humility; Malice (spite, hatred, unforgiveness); Injustice; and Falsehood (lies).
These are the “sons” that we are to have nothing to do with and that we are not to partner with, i.e. we need to refuse to adopt the world’s standards for our own lives. We are not to get mixed up with these human philosophies and human standards. Instead, we are to expose them, and we are to put our dependency in Christ alone. We are not to fear what they fear, i.e. we are not to fear man, what he can do to us, or his threats, anger, unforgiveness, wrath, etc. Instead, we are to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts. Instead of fearing man, we are to fear God (reverence; respect; awe; obey, etc.).
