Walking in God's Wisdom

The last week has given us a great example of why Paul in his letter to the Ephesians told the Church at Ephesus to walk in wisdom. People going off half cocked with sun baked theologies and poorly thought out revelations of the return of Jesus. He said this.

Eph 5:15

” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

The word “circumspectly” means to walk diligently with care. We are to walk as if we are along a river bank and we are watching our step to make sure we do not twist our ankle. Paul tells us to walk not as fools, (which I believe the people that thought the end was going to happen 24 hours ago feel pretty foolish now, along with betrayed, hurt, disillusioned ect. But we are to walk as wise.

So what is walking in wisdom? Paul gives us 4 keys to help us walk as the wise.

Redeem the time! The fact remains, that even though people have been wrong throughout the centuries about when Jesus is going to return. He is going to return. Our Heavenly father knows exactly when that time is, and He has told us to redeem the time. I can say this. The return of Jesus is 2000 years closer than it was in Paul’s day. Surely if it was important to redeem the time then, it is even that much more important to redeem the time now. The days are look to be much more evil now than they used to be. I know that from my own point of view, the society and culture we live in today is not the society and culture I grew up in as a child, and that is is filled with much more darkness than it was in the 1960′s.

Understand what the will of the Lord is! Many people get all worked up about what God’s will is. What does He want them to do. In fact whole theologies have been built up about the 3 wills of God. There is only 1 will of God and trust me. God does not want to make it hard for you to understand. He is the creator of the K.I.S.S. theory of life. Keep it simple stupid! And I am so glad for that, because if it was any other way, I would surely fail. If you want to know how to know God’s will, just click on the link above.

Be filled with the Spirit! I think this is where most of the people who go off on tangents concerning the end times, and for that matter any other doctrine miss it. They have their focus on the wrong thing. Instead of being filled with the Spirit of God, they are filled with their own doctrine and spend their time dwelling on it rather than learning to be Spirit Filled.

Wisdom come from being filled with the Holy Spirit

Paul gives us 4 things to do to promote the Spirit filled life. Besides not being drunk with wine (or anything intoxicating for that matter) which causes the Spirit of God to be diluted in your life. He tells us 4 practical things to do.

Encourage one another with songs! Have you ever been sung to? What was the end result? Were you touched spiritually and emotionally or did it fall on deaf ears? If you are like me, the few times I have actually been sung to, it has touched me deeply. Think of a mother singing lullaby’s to her children? What is she doing?

Sing to the Lord! Not about the Lord, not songs about triumph or victory or how hard we have it down here. Sing directly to the Lord. Worship is a form of prayer. Just as you talk to the Lord in Prayer, Sing to the Lord in Song. It will fill your spirit with His Spirit!

Give Thanks to the Lord! Thank Him for all the good things He has given you in your life. Any time I am feeling down, I choose to think about all the good things God has given me. Just this last week I was faced with a really hard time because of a broken promise and hope. I chose to look to the Lord and thank Him for all of His faithfulness to me. It kept my spirit filled with His presence. And today, as I am writing this article. I chose to thank Him for His faithfulness although our little church is struggling. We had a total of 7 people show up. There is a spirit of apathy and lack of commitment I have found here in Pine Haven, that truly needs to be broken. I know, because my focus is on His faithfulness, that He will do it! It keeps me Spirit Filled.

So my friends. I encourage all of you. Even though you may be walking through hard times, even though you may be discouraged in your faith, even though you may not understand the “why’s” of life. Walk in Wisdom. You will understand eventually and you will be glad you took the steps not to fall into the river and get wet!

Now that is something to be thankful for!