Life Ministries

“Making the Most of 2014”
Ephesians 4:17-32 and 5:15-21

    Now, let me take from those words and create a New Year’s resolution;

    “For the coming new year - 2014 - I resolve to “be completely humble and gentle; patient; bearing with others in love; in order to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. I resolve not to live any longer as the Gentiles - or worldly - live; I will put off falsehood and speak only truth; I will not let anger cause me to sin and give the devil a foothold; I will not let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth, but I will resolve to build others up and be an encourager; I will get rid of all bitterness in my life and attitude, and start being more kind and compassionate; As a child of God, I will imitate him and live a life of love; And, I will be the light that Jesus said I am, and learn what pleases him! I will make an intentional effort to be careful how I live, making the most of every opportunity to learn, and to understand, and to apply God’s Word to my life!
How’s that for a New Year’s resolution?
    How many would say that the Bible contains a lot of information? Is the purpose of scripture merely to inform? (No) The purpose of scripture is to (transform!)  Example -There is a sign on the road that informs me that there is a dangerous curve ahead…Unless I intentionally make some changes, I am going to go off the road and crash!  Why is it that we Christians have all this “information” - “everything we need for life and godliness” as 2 Peter 1:3 says, and yet we refuse to change?
    I think 2014 ought to be the year we start putting the information that we have to good use!  In verses 17-21 of chapter five, Paul gives us some advise as to how we can accomplish these things;
1^st. - He says; “Don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
Some just don’t want to go to the trouble of finding out what God’s will for their life is. Others may know what God’s will is, but choose to ignore it, or don’t really believe it! Understanding and doing God’s will is not a bad thing! It’s the best thing that can happen to us, individually and as a church. When it comes to knowing God’s will, what we don’t know can hurt us! And, it can hurt others as well. This is just one of the reasons James tells us that “anyone who knows what is right and does not do it, sins!”
2^nd. He says we are to be “filled with the Spirit”. 
There is a parallel drawn between being drunk with wine, and being filled with the Spirit. The point of the comparison is not that Spirit filled people behave in a stupid or excessive manner, but that the person filled with the Spirit is totally and completely under the influence and control of the Spirit of God just as a person filled with wine is under the control of wine. Once again let me state that being filled with the Spirit does not mean that we have or receive any more of the Spirit, but that the Spirit has more of me! The point is one of control. If a man is filled with anger, anger controls his thoughts, his emotions, and his actions. If a man is filled with greed, greed will influence and control his thoughts, emotions, and actions. If a man is filled with love, the very same is also true. You could say it’s “control by consent”. Many people are not full of anything but themselves, and the truth be known, they are really empty!
3^rd. - He says; “speak only godly things and make music in your heart to the Lord.” 
Here’s what I think this verse means; A Psalm - as in the Book of Psalms - speaks of God’s nature, God’s attributes, God’s character, and the wondrous and miraculous things God has done; so, it makes sense then that these are the things we ought to talk about.
    A Hymn usually has something to do with our relationship towards or with God; “Yes, Jesus Loves Me”… “Leaning On the Everlasting Arms”…Standing on the Promises”…Victory in Jesus, and so on. So, our relationship with God is something we ought to talk about and sing about!
    Spiritual songs are “praises”. If you are like me, sometimes you just get a song of praise in your head, and it just won’t quit! I sing - in my mind, and in my heart - praises to God.
    If we did these things instead of talking about the weather, and talking about each other, and talking about our faults and allowing personality conflicts to dictate the mood of the church and fellowship, wouldn’t it make church a better place to be in 2014?
4^th. - We have the words “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything”.
If any nation in the world ought to be thankful, it is America. If any people in America ought to be thankful, it’s Christians.  In Romans 1:21 Paul says “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to him.” Remember that the first advise that Paul gave was “Know the will of God”, well, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. Think about it this way; “How do you feel about people who are ungrateful?” We should never lack for things to thank God for.
    Finally, he says “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Let me explain what he means by “out of reverence for Christ”; The word “submit” is a Greek form of the word “hupo-tasso”… Hupo means “under” and tasso means “to assign”. To submit then in this case, means to be “under assignment”. Reverence for Christ means that we acknowledge that Christ was first “under assignment” to us. He left glory to live among us, to be a visible expression of the living God, and to teach us the ways of the Kingdom of God.  We then, are to submit to one another - or to be “under assignment” to one another - that assignment is to build the church and welcome all into the kingdom of God. I wonder how we will do this year?
    Back in 1967, experts predicted that by the turn of the century technology would have taken so much of the work out of what we do, that the average work week would be only 22 hours long, and that we would only work 27 weeks out of the year. As a result, one of our biggest problems would be deciding what to do with all our leisure time!   I don’t know about you, but that prediction really missed the mark in my life! In fact, most of us seem to be very busy people. We are always in a hurry. We walk fast, we drive fast, we talk fast, we eat fast… and after we eat we stand up and say “Excuse me, but I have to run!” 
    How will we do in 2014?  Will we make better use of our time? Will we be too busy, too tired, too involved in whatever is on T.V. to attend Sunday School?  Sunday night? Wednesday night? We have more than enough information…We need to make the most of 2014!