1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
36but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. -ellie
I really liked this passage. I’m a teenage girl so I’m around this kind of talk all the time. I just wish everyone could see this passage and understand that what they are saying/doing has a worse impact on them than they thought. I pray that they see the light of the Lord.
Hello SheReadsTruth :) thanks for the app and plans! Its beautiful, I’m loving it, it makes reading the bible easy and fun and the community is great.
However, I installed it on my galaxy s3 so that I could highlight the same verses as read (so that if My iphone breaks or is stolen I don’t lose my progress, but I can’t find the bible in a year plan on that phone — is there a reason why it is not there?:)
I’ve always been considered a little squeamish or prudish when it comes to crude talk about sexual immorality, but I’ve lately been around some Christian women who have no problem talking about their weekend casual sexual conquests or telling jokes that are of a filthy and unusually crass manner. I’ve found in these situations I have NO IDEA how to respond; I know I’m not to enter in (nor would I want to because, remember, major prude) but what do I even say? Here in Ephesians it’s clear I’m not to partner up with them, but what does that mean for friendship? Do I not even associate? Does light only become darkness if exposed to it, or is there a way to “be a light” to these girls? Musing here but really looking for Jesus in this situation because I love these women & my heart’s desire is to see them turn from this icky way of talking/acting!
I think you should just voice your opinion, maybe read this passage to them even! If they claim to be Christian, you’re in the right to assume they want to live according to God’s word, so maybe in love, just remind them of the importance of sexual purity straight up. It might feel a bit uncomfortable, but it’s so important! The worst comes to worst, they get offended. But if you do it in love, in caring about their wellbeing, not out of judgment, you have nothing to feel bad about. You’re loving them well in telling the truth, and making it clear. Even if they don’t accept your prompting to abstain, at least now it’s in the back of their heads and the Holy Spirit can do the rest. I think it’s our job to draw attention to the fact that societies standards are not our standards, we live according to the Kingdom. Being on this earth, it’s so easy to get caught up in the ways of the times, but we do no one a favor by dismissing opportunities to call each other to a higher standard in love.
I was thinking today as well how we do not worship the same idols as those in the new test. But we surely do have “idols” we worship to now and it makes me understand how much it angers God when we put them over Him, or when we put importance on them at all
I was thinking as I was reading about the God sized hole we have in our hearts. If we don’t fill it with the lord we will like those in the Old Testament attempt to fill our hearts with our own idols. They made their own Gods bc we are made to worship. When you don’t worship the lord as we are made to do, we all will find something else to worship (money, celebrity, talents, likes on social media, etc.) my prayer today is that I find myself worshiping the true creator. That if there is anything in my life I put up as in idol that today I will knock it down to its rightful lowly place compared to his goodness.
Completely love this & agree! May we find our satisfaction in the Creator of all things, today and always. And may we catch ourselves quickly when our hearts start to wander, which they tend to do.
I was so pulled into reading about Hezekiah that I read chapter 19 too! I was struck as I was reading Ephesians 5:3-4 that I am sorely lacking in the behaviour department. I was trying to figure out how I could change so many things in my life to conform to that direction and it was quite overwhelming. As I kept reading God reminded me that I need to ask him to help me change to be the person he’d have me be, and he will do it in his strength. Isn’t it amazing to serve such an amazing, loving God?
Heather I feel the same way. Sometimes I get so discouraged when I realize some of the things I’ve done, & some of the things I still do and I wonder how I can ever be holy enough. But it is only through His strength!! I absolutely cannot do it on my own. I need Holy Spirit every second to guide me & mold me into the woman He would have me to be.
I doubt anyone will see this as I’m fairly behind, but I was struck by 2 king 17:41 – their children did likewise and their children’s children – as their fathers did, so they do to this day
And Ephesians 5:1-2. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering, and sacrifice of God.
Parents and leaders have powerful influence, for generations, and we need to allow God to have that sort of influence in our life.
So good to hear of Hezekiahs leadership – he instructs those listening to Rabshakeh not to answer his threatening statements, & they didn’t! I’m sure they were anxious, but they didn’t turn to fear & succumb to the enemy.
Ahh, cliffhanger! I am so excited to see a king rise up again and take down all the high places! But now the king of Assyria comes with an intimidating message, and I want to see how God and the people respond.
Meanwhile, two things stand out to me today.
1. People from other nations came into the Land of Israel, and have begun to hear the Law of the Lord, and fear our God.
The customs of the time believed the gods had territories, and thus they simply added God to their list of which they must worship, instead of fully turning to Him, but they’re beginning to hear!
2. 2 Kings 18:4 mentions taking down the pole Moses had made. That was a pole with two snakes intertwined, to which the people if bitten by a snake could look to and be healed.
It was supposed to be a blessing, but the people began to worship it instead of the God whom was actually doing the healing. It’s an interesting example of how even something good sent from God can be missused if our focus is not properly on Him.
Great points Emily..I was also really pulled into this reading. At the same time, I was feeling very convicted to examine my own life for idols and areas where I don’t trust the Lord fully. Of course, none of us want to admit that but the reality is we have to constantly examine ourselves. I don’t believe the Israelites intentionally stepped away from God, and either do we..but it’s the areas where we are unaware where you have to be the most careful.
We definitely want to be aware of the company we keep and create an environment of positivity not gossip or complaints.
Ephesians 5:4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
What does it mean to love like Christ? I like how The Message explains it.
“Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
Ephesians 5:2 MSG
1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
❤️
❤️
❤️
33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
✝️
❤️
4Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
✝️
✅
15Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
36but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. -ellie
8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
I really liked this passage. I’m a teenage girl so I’m around this kind of talk all the time. I just wish everyone could see this passage and understand that what they are saying/doing has a worse impact on them than they thought. I pray that they see the light of the Lord.
Hello SheReadsTruth :) thanks for the app and plans! Its beautiful, I’m loving it, it makes reading the bible easy and fun and the community is great.
However, I installed it on my galaxy s3 so that I could highlight the same verses as read (so that if My iphone breaks or is stolen I don’t lose my progress, but I can’t find the bible in a year plan on that phone — is there a reason why it is not there?:)
Best regards and much love, Joanne xx
I’ve always been considered a little squeamish or prudish when it comes to crude talk about sexual immorality, but I’ve lately been around some Christian women who have no problem talking about their weekend casual sexual conquests or telling jokes that are of a filthy and unusually crass manner. I’ve found in these situations I have NO IDEA how to respond; I know I’m not to enter in (nor would I want to because, remember, major prude) but what do I even say? Here in Ephesians it’s clear I’m not to partner up with them, but what does that mean for friendship? Do I not even associate? Does light only become darkness if exposed to it, or is there a way to “be a light” to these girls? Musing here but really looking for Jesus in this situation because I love these women & my heart’s desire is to see them turn from this icky way of talking/acting!
I think you should just voice your opinion, maybe read this passage to them even! If they claim to be Christian, you’re in the right to assume they want to live according to God’s word, so maybe in love, just remind them of the importance of sexual purity straight up. It might feel a bit uncomfortable, but it’s so important! The worst comes to worst, they get offended. But if you do it in love, in caring about their wellbeing, not out of judgment, you have nothing to feel bad about. You’re loving them well in telling the truth, and making it clear. Even if they don’t accept your prompting to abstain, at least now it’s in the back of their heads and the Holy Spirit can do the rest. I think it’s our job to draw attention to the fact that societies standards are not our standards, we live according to the Kingdom. Being on this earth, it’s so easy to get caught up in the ways of the times, but we do no one a favor by dismissing opportunities to call each other to a higher standard in love.
I was thinking today as well how we do not worship the same idols as those in the new test. But we surely do have “idols” we worship to now and it makes me understand how much it angers God when we put them over Him, or when we put importance on them at all
I was thinking as I was reading about the God sized hole we have in our hearts. If we don’t fill it with the lord we will like those in the Old Testament attempt to fill our hearts with our own idols. They made their own Gods bc we are made to worship. When you don’t worship the lord as we are made to do, we all will find something else to worship (money, celebrity, talents, likes on social media, etc.) my prayer today is that I find myself worshiping the true creator. That if there is anything in my life I put up as in idol that today I will knock it down to its rightful lowly place compared to his goodness.
Completely love this & agree! May we find our satisfaction in the Creator of all things, today and always. And may we catch ourselves quickly when our hearts start to wander, which they tend to do.
I was so pulled into reading about Hezekiah that I read chapter 19 too! I was struck as I was reading Ephesians 5:3-4 that I am sorely lacking in the behaviour department. I was trying to figure out how I could change so many things in my life to conform to that direction and it was quite overwhelming. As I kept reading God reminded me that I need to ask him to help me change to be the person he’d have me be, and he will do it in his strength. Isn’t it amazing to serve such an amazing, loving God?
Heather I feel the same way. Sometimes I get so discouraged when I realize some of the things I’ve done, & some of the things I still do and I wonder how I can ever be holy enough. But it is only through His strength!! I absolutely cannot do it on my own. I need Holy Spirit every second to guide me & mold me into the woman He would have me to be.
Amazing to me how God is so powerful.
Me too!
I doubt anyone will see this as I’m fairly behind, but I was struck by 2 king 17:41 – their children did likewise and their children’s children – as their fathers did, so they do to this day
And Ephesians 5:1-2. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering, and sacrifice of God.
Parents and leaders have powerful influence, for generations, and we need to allow God to have that sort of influence in our life.
I’m playing catch up and so I saw your post and I appreciate your comments Katie :-)
So good to hear of Hezekiahs leadership – he instructs those listening to Rabshakeh not to answer his threatening statements, & they didn’t! I’m sure they were anxious, but they didn’t turn to fear & succumb to the enemy.
Ahh, cliffhanger! I am so excited to see a king rise up again and take down all the high places! But now the king of Assyria comes with an intimidating message, and I want to see how God and the people respond.
Meanwhile, two things stand out to me today.
1. People from other nations came into the Land of Israel, and have begun to hear the Law of the Lord, and fear our God.
The customs of the time believed the gods had territories, and thus they simply added God to their list of which they must worship, instead of fully turning to Him, but they’re beginning to hear!
2. 2 Kings 18:4 mentions taking down the pole Moses had made. That was a pole with two snakes intertwined, to which the people if bitten by a snake could look to and be healed.
It was supposed to be a blessing, but the people began to worship it instead of the God whom was actually doing the healing. It’s an interesting example of how even something good sent from God can be missused if our focus is not properly on Him.
Great points Emily..I was also really pulled into this reading. At the same time, I was feeling very convicted to examine my own life for idols and areas where I don’t trust the Lord fully. Of course, none of us want to admit that but the reality is we have to constantly examine ourselves. I don’t believe the Israelites intentionally stepped away from God, and either do we..but it’s the areas where we are unaware where you have to be the most careful.
We definitely want to be aware of the company we keep and create an environment of positivity not gossip or complaints.
Ephesians 5:4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
This is so true and necessary for the next generation to understand!
What does it mean to love like Christ? I like how The Message explains it.
“Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
Ephesians 5:2 MSG
I like that verse too, Alysa. We are loved extravagantly by our Heavenly Father. That makes me feel so special and blessed.