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 Ephesians 4:17 - Be Different, Be Christian

I’m no prophet, but we do need a call to holiness in the church.  We need to take this verse seriously and be truly sorrowful for the way we’ve lived - and take heed to live no longer as the Gentiles do.

        Why?  Because God says so.  We are men and women of God; we know the life He gives us, new life, and we know His standard.  There is no excuse for letting sin, rather than godliness, be our example.  Here is a trustworthy statement “You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.  For a greedy person is an idolator, worship the things of this world” (Ephesians 5:5).  May that verse never characterize us.

Let us make no excuse for our sins.  For we know that the anger of God will fall on all who disobey Him.  Lord Jesus, we are sorry.  We repent of our sins.  May we live in obedience to Jesus alone with strength and character.  And light.  And may our lives produce what is good and right and true.  We know that it pleases you to make your church strong and to call your people to worship (Psalm 89:17).  We know that Jesus is the Rock of our salvation.  We know that we need not wander.  Nay, we must not wander as we want to obey our Rescuer.

So, what shall we do today?

Please open our minds Lord God, And our hearts to your guidance and help us to trust you more.  May we work to stay on your path today and to throw off our sinful nature.  Help us to speak the truth today, to never lie.  And never steal - from God or anyone else.  Please help us to allow the Holy Spirit to be our boss.  The boss of our thoughts and attitudes.  May we put on our godly nature today; may we be clothed by godliness.  And may we not give the devil any foothold with anger.  Instead, may we work hard and give generously.  May we be generous with our time and our resources?  May we watch every word we say and eliminate any foul or abusive language from our vocabularies.  Foul, snide, and cutting remarks are not for us.  And may we not hold back any kind words of love and encouragement.  

May everything we say today be good and helpful  May our words be an encouragement.  I pray that all of us bring joy, not sorrow, to the Holy Spirit by the way we live.

There will be a day of redemption.  We know that.  May this life be lived in anticipation of it.  And may we, like Jesus, today be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving.  Amen.

Joan of Arc (and Kari) in Philly.


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