what is acceptable to God

Ephesians 5:10. Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Oh friends, another bright and glorious morning has dawned in my neighbourhood! All thanks to our wonderful God, who gives us our daily bread and heavenly mercies brand new, each and every day!

What would we do without Him in our lives eh? I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out either. (smile) That’s why we should try at all times to walk faithfully in His word and have constant companionship with Him.

And please remember, it’s not for His benefit, but for ours. He is God, and controls EVERYTHING! We are His creation, His minions, made to serve and worship Him and spread the good news gospel of His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ around the entire world. All the while walking in LOVE!

Now here is some solid advice from our One Year Book of Bible Promises with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin that will help us to do just that. It was given to a young lady having a hard time living with a non-believing husband, but it also applies to all of us across the board. It’s four DON’TS and four DO’S.

First the DON’TS (1) Don’t push. (2) Don’t preach. (3) Don’t pretend. (4) Don’t puncture his (or anyone else’s) self-esteem.

And the DO’s tell us: (1) Do permeate your home with LOVE. (2) Do practice forgiving. (3) Do pay compliments to him (and also others) often. (4) Do persist in prayer.

What a simple but very wonderful and workable way to live my brethren! Oh…there’s one more DON’T. ‘Don’t ever, ever, ever give up!’

And yuh know friends, that last DON’T is possibly the most important of them all, for with Jesus, and those who walk steadfastly with Him, there is absolutely NO giving up!

We need to persevere in the faith and pursue His plan for our lives right to the very end. We need to run our race of life with enthusiasm and chutzpah, patience and perseverance, so that at the end we’ll receive the crown of glory that the Lord has prepared for all those who successfully finish the race.

And on a point of interest, the lady who gave the advice above, a year later, received a thank-you note from the other lady, informing her that that strategy was working.

Glory to God my people! Yuh see it works! (smile) We just have to be serious about it and keep working at it… with a LOVING heart, like Jesus does.

And the scripture promise for that reading today is also our Bit. ‘Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.’

And what does that mean? The scholars explain: ‘5:10. Because of constant temptation and solicitations to evil, believers must always be proving or discerning what is and what is not acceptable unto the Lord.’

Yes friends, as Christians, we ought always to be considering what is right and wrong in God’s sight, and do the right thing. It’s not an easy row to hoe because of the numerous distractions and temptations floating around our society, but with God’s help, we can certainly discern the right from the wrong.

Before our Bit, explaining the way of the believer, Bruh Paul said it thus: ‘Let no man deceive you with vain (empty) words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children (sons) of disobedience. Be not therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes (once) darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.’ (Eph.5:6-8)

And the scholars offer this explanation of that last verse. ‘5:8. Darkness indicates that the readers used to be spiritually unenlightened, and accompanying this ignorance was immorality with its resultant guilt and misery. Light denotes that the recipients are now to be religiously informed. Their knowledge of the truth is attended by moral purity and happiness.’

Oh friends, life is so much better and more fruitful when we walk as children of light! That’s why Bruh Paul admonished the church at Rome thus: ‘I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable (rational) service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ (Rom.12:1-2)

Ah mih people, God has done so much for us, washing and cleansing and redeeming us from sin and offering us salvation, through Christ, that we now need to be clean before Him. And since our bodies were the original instruments of sin, we now need to present them ‘to God as a channel through which the righteousness of God is manifested.’

And we do that by not conforming to the sinful, evil and immoral works, attitudes and behaviour of the world. And since we are indeed the righteousness in Christ (smile) we can now go home declaring our Wednesday Wail which supports that contention.

All together now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home.

My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’

Oh friends, what more can we ask eh? Absolutely NOTHING! Much LOVE!

…if you’re walking with Jesus…and don’t have a peaceful joy in your soul…then something is seriously wrong…ask Him to help you fix it…

1 Corinthians 6:12. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient (helpful): all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (anything).

And then it was Friday Friends! Not soon enough for some, but nevertheless they declare in loud and joyful voices: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday! Wow! The weekend’s here at last, and I’m just going to go crazy over those two days away from tiresome labour! Thank You God for this Friday yes!’

Ah mih people, it is right to be happy over the two days off of work, but by the same token, we just can’t use them to go overboard, because then we’ll be of no use to anybody, including ourselves, come the beginning of the new workweek. And as believers in, and followers of Jesus Christ, we are expected to live balanced lives.

For Remember what Bruh Paul says to the Corinthians in our Bit. ‘All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient (helpful): all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (anything).’

Yes Friends, it’s not everything that’s lawful is right for us to do. As we saw in our recent Bit, ‘proving what is acceptable unto the Lord,’ we have to analyze every decision and see whether it’s acceptable to God or not. So though some of them might be lawful, they might not be acceptable to God. And wasting away the weekend in debauchery is certainly not acceptable to God. (smile)

Now the scholars give us a good explanation of that verse. ‘6:12. Paul’s principles may be summarized in three words: Lawful, expedient, and power. The first is the principle of liberty. When Paul says “all things,” we cannot take this in an absolute sense. Obviously, what God forbids can never be allowed.

Rather, it refers to those things about which the Scriptures are not explicit. Such matters are left to the Christian’s own judgement. The apostle is careful not to weaken the important doctrine of Christian liberty by leading these people back under Judaistic legalism.

Rather, his intent is to circumscribe its application through proper restrictions. These are expressed in the principle of “expediency.” Not everything is beneficial.

A second restriction is expressed in the words, I will not be brought under the power of any. This is the principle of self-control. Certain forms of indulgence become wrong when they bring the person into bondage.’

There you have it my people, we need to pay close attention to the expediency of things, even in our Christian liberty, and invoke that most difficult of tasks, self-control, in all that we do.

Bruh Paul felt so strongly about that, that he chose to repeat it in a slightly different form, later on in chapter 10. ‘All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient (helpful): all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not (do not build up).’ (1 Cor.10:23)

So my fellow believers, though many things are lawful and legal, not all of them are becoming re Christian behaviour. If they don’t edify, build us up, keep us on the straight and narrow path that leads to God, then they should not be indulged in.

And sometimes it’s not even so much indulging in those things, but more like overdoing them. And we have a perfect example in the way we spend the weekend. Nothing’s wrong with partying per se, but when we overdo it, get black up and start misbehaving, losing our self-control, then that’s certainly not expedient and useful to us.

And that’s why we have our Friday Chant; to give us a better perspective on how to spend our precious two days off. So as one now, let’s chant it with some vim and vigour nuh

‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through another week of work! It hasn’t been easy, but with your generous help, I made it through.

Now, please help me to get sufficient fun, fellowship, rest and relaxation in these two short days off, so that I can be renewed and refreshed in soul, body and mind, to go back out and do it all over again next week, furthering your glorious kingdom with each step I take. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.’

Yes Friends, that’s more like how we ought to come up over the weekend; with rest, relaxation and fellowship, so that we can go back out next week fresh like a daisy, (smile) fully empowered, in both body and soul, to do Christ’s work. And that my brethren, should always be our first priority!

Now on this summer Friday then, let’s get our thoughts together as believers, and with the necessary self-control and help of Jesus, make the right decisions on how to spend our weekend, for that is indeed wisdom of the highest order. Much LOVE!

…it’s legal and lawful in man’s world…but is it right in the sight of God…that is the question…

SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit 16 August 2017 Ephesians 5:10.

Today’s Scrip-Bit 21 August 2015 1 Corinthians 6:12

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