BE FOLLOWERS OF GOD
Tuesday – January 31, 2017
Greetings, prayers, and decrees for the light of your path from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publication. God is so good and kind. It is Tuesday and time to move into the fifth chapter of Ephesians but first be reminded to pray for our governments at every level here in the United States. If we will stay focused in prayer and not be distracted with all the shenanigans of the devil through his people we will see America return to the fullness of the Blessing. Right now there is literally a fierce battle going on between good (righteousness) and evil (unrighteousness). The encouragement and open door to sin supported by the government is closing because the righteous and those who stand on a Judeo-Christian foundation are choosing God and His ways and the heathen rage (Psalm Two).
Let’s review the ending of chapter four as we move forward.
Ephesians 4:30-32 (KJV)
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Sin of any kind causes the Holy Spirit to withdraw. That is not to say He has abandoned us, it simply means that He has stepped back in terms of manifestation in our lives. We are at that moment doing it our way contrary to the ways of God and therefore God has no part to play. The word ‘grieve’ above means to bring, by our actions, distress and sorrow to God, and extinguishes His activity in our life. He is distressed and sorrowful for He knows that this does not have a good ending, we are plunging headlong into the curse of stealing, killing, and destroying of our own volition (will, decision, choice, desire, preference). There was no coercion here just our choice. Now the sin was certainly encouraged by the evil forces around us but we choose to go the way of corruption and disobedience due to lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, pride of life, unforgiveness, or entering a judgment of another person.
Verse thirty-one in the preceding passage lists a few of the sins that grieve the Holy Spirit, which grieve Jesus, and which grieve our Heavenly Father. This is bad enough but the Holy Angels on assignment in our lives and to whom we give assignments must step back as well. We are swinging in the wind, this is serious! Finally the Apostle Paul ends telling us to be kind one to another, to be tender toward our brothers and sisters in Christ, and forgive (quickly) as we have been forgiven of God. Sounds like Paul is warning us about something we have a lot of experience with, which is that there will be ample opportunities to practice forgiveness. The practice of really forgiving by faith and by an act of our will (our emotions usually don’t cooperate right away) is vital because if we do not our Heavenly Father is not able to forgive us (Mark 11:25-26). In an unforgiven state the devil has some degree of access, to our lives and perhaps our life. Okay now let’s move into Ephesians chapter five.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV)
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
The Apostle Paul’s first statement as we enter the fifth chapter is to follow God. So who were we following before? We were following the devil, our flesh (unrenewed mind), like a fish grabbing the bait on a hook. So, let us all right now focus on the Word of God and make the quality decision that we are done with grabbing the bait of the devil which leads to stealing, killing, and destruction in our lives. We are following God which leads to abundance, period. I am a child of God and I am done acting like and being suckered in by the devil, I am no longer the devils child, I am a child of my Heavenly Father and my Lord is Jesus the Christ and I am led of the Holy Spirit of God and not the spirit of antichrist in Jesus name. So long as we are falling for the tricks, the bait of the enemy we are immature and referred to as “dear children”. I don’t know about you but I for one want to be His child forever as being in the family but I want to be a son, which is one who is productive for the Kingdom of God.
As we move into verse two we see the command to “walk in love”. Walking in love in the Kingdom of God is not a fuzzy wuzzy feeling, and excitement, it is not a feeling at all. It can be very exciting as the vistas of God unfold before us however. Bible love as it relates to God and other people is a thinking, speaking and acting according to the Word of God. It is obeying the Word of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will at no time lead us in a direction or circumstance contrary to the Word of God. Listen to Jesus on love.
John 14:21 (KJV)
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
We express our love of God to God by getting His commandments, guarding His commandments, and obeying His commandments. If we memorize the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 and recite it consistently but we don’t do the Word we are a demonstration project for not loveing God. Let’s meditate the following Words of the Master.
Luke 6:46 (KJV)
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
John 14:23-24 (KJV)
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
