1-21-19 Today in the Word

DEVOTION FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2018
Ephesians 5:1–7
PRACTICE: WALKING IN LOVE AND PURITY
A recent survey found that many Americans are muddled about what constitutes marital unfaithfulness. Just 31 percent thought watching pornography was cheating on a spouse. Some 42 percent said that sending flirtatious messages to a romantic interest was fine—and 25 percent thought even sexually explicit messages were OK. About one in four didn’t see a one-night stand as cheating, and about one in five didn’t even consider regular sexual relations with someone not your spouse to be cheating.
Spiritually dead people are hopelessly confused in their moral thinking. To walk in love and purity, we must have biblical principles and standards. This means that we as “dearly loved children” need to imitate and obey our Father (vv. 1–2). Godliness, after all, means acting as God would act; Christlikeness means doing what Christ would do. What Christ did was love us to death, literally. We should follow His sacrificial example and seek always to “walk in the way of love.” Such a life will be a “fragrant offering,” pleasing to the Lord (see Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 2:15).
Sinful and impure choices are foul-smelling offerings to the King of Kings. We must avoid such offensive foolishness at all costs! Sexual immorality and greed, for example, are “improper for God’s holy people” (v. 3). Sins of the tongue are also unacceptable, including obscenity and coarse jesting (v. 4). Giving thanks is an effective antidote.
God’s holiness cannot compromise. There shouldn’t be “even a hint” of such behaviors or approval of them in the church, for people who live in this way prove through their actions that they’re not really God’s children and won’t inherit eternal life (vv. 3, 5). False teachers might say otherwise, but God’s grace leads to transformed lives.
APPLY THE WORD
Since it also deals with sins of the tongue, James 3:1–12 would be an excellent passage for additional reading today. Speaking in godly ways is not just a matter of self-control, for “no human being can tame the tongue.” Use these verses to guide your prayers for God to help you use your tongue in ways that glorify Him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-18-23 Rage Against Jesus And His People — The Ominous Trend Of 2022

Rage Against Jesus And His People — The Ominous Trend Of 2022 – By Hal Lindsey - https://harbingersdaily.com/rage-against-jesus-and-his-people-the-ominous-trend-of-2022/ By the end of 2022, eight billion people lived on the earth. They were besieged by a series of plagues, droughts, false prophets, war, the threat of greater war, hatred, rage, theft, and violence. The eight billion were fragmented in a variety of ways — according to their nations, level of income, race, gender, various understandings of gender and human sexuality, along with religion or the lack thereof. Change became overwhelming to most of the eight billion. For those over 40, it was almost unfathomable that by the end of 2022, not even half the students at Cambridge University identified as heterosexual. In 2022, deception ruled the day. Trust in government, educational institutions, and the news media had been largely obliterated. Trust in health officials and doctors had become severely damaged. In suc...
Read more

9-17-23 Christians Using Science Badly: Part 2

Christians Using Science Badly: Part 2 :: By Wilfred Hahn Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles, Wilfred Hahn Christians Using Science Badly: Part 2 :: By Wilfred Hahn Reviewing the “facts” that we cited in Part 1, we noted the hyperbole and downright dishonesty in some instances to support global warming claims. Why is there such bias? Money Precedes Truth Global warming has become big business. Armies of global consultants are peddling false information because it is profitable to do so. Many claimed urgencies are exaggerated by factors of 10X … indeed, 200X in some instances and more. Governments are particularly susceptible to this hype, promising infrastructure programs estimated to cost upwards of trillions of dollars. According to a new report,1 an estimated $3.4 trillion will be invested in renewable energy during the next decade, including $2.72 trillion in wind and solar. By 2030, 54.1% of installed capacity will be renewable (including hydropo...
Read more