~Ephesians 5~

Lets look at this chapter together and in Blue font I will put my thoughts. Join me in taking a look at this wonderful chapter in a most wonderful book.



Ephesians 5
1Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2And 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.

Children believe in all things unseen, children are not corrupt or perverse in their thinking, they are as pure as the driven snow and know and love God effortlessley. Love, here is described as an action. Christ gave himself for the love of all man, for nothing in return, for simply our spiritual lives to be death no more and to be able to be alive in God's eyes free from our hideous sins.

3But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;

4Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

5For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Wow, what a tall order! Fornication: to me this means no sexual relations all around with anyone, at anytime. God did not make you to go performing any such act with anyone but your husbands. This is quite a statement for us as mothers to raise our daughters, and us as daughter to aspire to. We shall not covet...materials things hold no water, when we die they sit there continuaous to collect dust, to not put all of yourself into wanting and lusting after THINGS. Verse for really hits home, because to me this means no cursing, no making fun of others, no saying things you do not mean, and the big one is do not do things out of convience. Wow, todays age conviences are the way of life. So these are really hard to do. But must be done because the Lord our God commands it of us..No matter how tall the order is. And most importantly, Verse five, here God illustrates how these will not come into the Kingdom of God. Now here it does not say if unsaved it says if you do these things....what a thought to ponder. I believe that if you have done these things prior to being washed in the blood of Christ, then your sins are forgiven, and if you do these things after and are not truly repentant and learn from the errors of your ways, and pray to the Lord for forgiveness then your judgement seat of Christ shall illuminate verse five.
6Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

7Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

I believe that the Lord our God gives us the warning of all false prophets and unbelievers, we must be aware, we must be proactive, we must not fellowship with them but call them on it, have them try and explain and we must know the Bible in order to prove their theories wrong! We must have Gods word in our hearts minds and souls iin order to rebuke and reprove these that are not walking in the light and want to snatch us away from Christ.
12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

All things that are done will come out into the Light....Good or bad, and the truth will always be brought to the surface of any situations. And God will have the final say in all things!
14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
It is very important how we as children of God act, walk and talk. For if we are dissillusioned with alcohol, drugs or other addictions we are not walking with the Lord but rather in our own stead, fill your mind, body and soul with the Holy spirit. This is why dressing, talking and living your life in a modest fashion is so important. Because the Holy spirit would not dress of a man if he were made to be a woman, he would not drowned himself out by filling up on drugs and alcohol, he would not walk around in clothing that barely covers himself, flaunting about and priding himself on sexiness, selfishness, and down right pornographic attire, he would not swear at his fellow peoples, or have an foolish, unkind, disgusting words fall from his lips. We must look at the Holy Spirit living in us, and how God himself would do things, for we are a vessel of the light of Christ, and he did not die for us to tramp about and make our mission whilst on earth one of selfish lusts and desires, of materialism and self glorifying. All we do should glorify that which made us, the Lord our God!
21Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
To me as a wife, submitting myself unto my husband is a joy, a pleasure for I know that with him, I am his help meet, I am created to respect and love, honour and cherish him, it is why I was created. I am a strong woman and am not a door mat. So when your husband is loving his wife as Christ loves the Church, I know that I have nothing ot worry about. Because my husband listens to my heart and words and does all he can to heal, quell fears and to be the one that must take control when my emotions may not help me see things clear. He is the one whom completes me, is strong when I am weak and is weak where I am strong. I have very specific things I do andhe loves me all the more for it. Submission is to know when to quiet, to listen and do, to know when to trust and when to help. Submission now a days is to know why you were created and to have Christ as your main in your marriage. If you are following God's word, then you shall be honoured to be a submissive wife, and honoured to have a Godly head of the home for husband.
If you are being treated as Christ treats the church and if you are respecting your husband as we all respect the church, then submission is an honour.

Thank you for reading today,
May God bless each of you and your walk with the Lord,
With Him all things are possible!
stacey

Did you know that God has 22,680 Attributes?

What words do you think of when you hear the word, "GOD".?

• Fear


• Destruction


• Anger


• Love


• Compassion


• Mercy


• Grace


• Salvation


• Father, Parent

To to name a few, although I never really thought about it. God is this infinite wisdom, He is the creator of all things, He is the giver of my life, He is the taker of Life, He is the Saviour that we oh so desperatley need, and yet, we want to call out, we want to cry out to Him, but what do we really know of Him.....Really?

To understand the Lords ways, to really grasp all He has to say to me, to you, to our families, friends, and all humanity; you have to really delve into His Word. We cannot fully understand Him unless we put in the time to really come to Him. When you want to learn something you go to school, when you want to learn about someone you ask them questions, when you love someone you put them first, when you................Its the same with getting to know the Lord.

You ask, "Whats this got to do with how I dress or How I do not dress, Hows this got anything to do with me wearing pants, skimpy revealing clothing, ect.?"

If you don't truly know and understand what, where, who, why and how God spoke then you will always want to rebel against what others "say" you are supposed to dress. God's word lays out the instructions for how we should live, dress, talk, walk everything. If we do not truly know, live, walk and talk it, what example are we really setting. What relationship do we truly have with the Lord? How are we being at walking in the Army of Christ? How are you looking when others look at you as an AMBASSODOR of the Lord?

Wow, thats really hard to chew, you mean I have to take responsibilty for all of that when I wake up and get dressed in the morning, that way to heavy!

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying! You are a DAUGHTER OF CHRIST! Do not ever forget it. You are iin the spotlight whether you want to be or not. How you do everything is in a constant scruitiny. How then do we live, walk, talk and carry ourselves in the real world when all eyes are constantly on us:

• judging us


• mocking us


• waiting for us to fail


• watching for us to compromise


• watching for us to do anything that they can label so as to discredit God

Oh my goodness, why, how, oh so overwhelming.....

God called us to walk in the ways of Him, He promised to hold us strong, He never once promised it was going to be easy.

God is there when your tears start to fall, when your lips quiver, when your cheeks begin to redden, when your chin starts to slip.....God places His wonderful hands and cups your chin, this way to ensure you keep it held High. He is there when your feet slip and you are sure to fall, He comes and He places a Heavenly stone to catch you and Keep you in His ways.

Sisters, Friends of Christ I stand here and shout

"Keep your eyes on the Lord, keep your heart overflowing with the Word and Promises of God, keep your mind sharp with the knowledges of the Lord, Keep your spirit open for Him only. Keep your Bible near to you on every level, when all seems to engulf you and drown you, Remember that the Lord will always keep you, the Lord will protect you, the Lord will never let you down, He only will lift you up. Even in the worst, He lifts and calls you home. The world can tear at the flesh, beat the flesh, hurt the flesh, but you have something that runs deeper and eternally, Get to know God today, and keep Him always and ALLOW Him to keep You always!"

1. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live iin the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 ATTRIBUTE=GOD LOVES THE SPIRITUAL CHRISTIAN


2. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not williing that any should persih, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 ATTRIBUTE=GOD LOVES THE WORLD


3. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and sleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought me to love their wives as their own bodies. he that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his ownl flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:25 ATTRIBUTE= GOD LOVES THE CHURCH

The more we know of the living God, the Word of God the more we want, pursue, are convicted to walk, talk, be a likelyhood of Christ, then the things of this world will grow strangely dim. The wyles of the world will no longer be a strong hinderance, we will be able to be the example of the God fearing, God loving, God walking, God talking, Women that He Himself called us to be. God knew you before you were even concieved He has a plan for you, all and any trials and tribulations will lead you to know Him more, will lead you to the woman he created you to be! In the eye of the storm, Praise God, Count your blessing, remember that every horrible, horrid hateful thing that worlds ways can do, remember that it only drives you closer to God...So buckle up, here we go...............Bring it on!

I PRAY THAT YOU SEEK AND FIND HIM, THAT YOUR THIRST FOR GOD IS UNQUENCHED THAT IT IS ALWAYS THIRSTING SENDING YOU TO THE FATHER FOR ALL THAT YOU NEED. THAT YOU STAND STRAIGHT AND TALL IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD, AND BECOME THE EXAMPLE OF A GODLY WOMAN THAT THE LORD CREATED YOU TO BE. MAY YOU BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS EACH AND EVERY DAY!

Thank you for reading,

With Him all is possible,

Stacey

Let's Help a Sister Out

My dear sisters in Christ,

Summer is here and with it comes some fun activities. I live in Houston, Texas and let me tell you...it gets HOT! We regularly see temperatures above 100 and the humidity can make it worse. Our family loves summertime. The kids are home from college and we can enjoy spending time together: traveling, gardening, working in the yard and just playing and laughing together. Summer can also be a difficult time. With the rising temperatures usually come the plunging necklines, extremely short or no sleeves on the shirts and the shorter skirts. Notice, I said skirts. Yes, there is a problem with shorts etc., but today I want to talk to my sisters in the Lord who are somewhat conscious of the issue of modesty, but perhaps drop standards as the temperatures climb. This is seen in churches across the country, but we sure do see a lot of it here in the great state of Texas. Ladies who have talked about modesty and Godly living all Winter, now begin to talk about going to the public pool (we all know their children MUST be able to cool off in the hot summer) and dressing in clothing that they deem "summer clothes" so they can stay cool. I will deal with swimming in a future post, but for today let's talk about Summer dress.

Sisters, I want to ask you to consider something: when you dress for the day, what are you doing to the men around you? Do you care about your marriage? How about your friends marriages, or your parents marriage?



Did you know that the things you choose to wear, or not wear, can affect the men around you and in turn help protect or destroy marriages? That is a heavy responsibility, but it is ours to bear. Consider for a moment a Wednesday night service at your church. Perhaps a man walks into that service worn down by the work of the week. He is looking forward to being refreshed from Gods' Word and needs a spiritual recharge from the Lord. He sits down and looks to his right:

sitting there is a young lady dressed in a shorter skirt; legs crossed and exposing things that this man should not have to look at. His defenses are weakened and his look lingers. Now picture with me that it is time to stand and sing. Let's imagine that we are singing "Nothing Between" (one of my all time favorites.) The older lady in front of him reaches behind her to move her Bible....her blouse is low cut and this poor brother cannot help but be exposed to her cleavage.

Consider these situations that happen on a regular basis in the most conservative churches. Who is at fault ladies? Is the man responsible? Of course he is. Ultimately he is responsible.
Pro 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Pro 6:25 "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids." However, she DOES hold some responsibility in the matter. I came across this quote by Arthur Pink this week that is very appropriate in this matter:

Again, if lustful looking be so grievous a sin, then those who dress and expose themselves with desires to be looked at and lusted after-as Jezebel, who painted her face, tired her head, and looked out of the window (2 Kings 9:30)-are not less, but even more guilty. In this matter it is only too often the case that men sin, but women tempt them so to do. How great, then, must be the guilt of the great majority of the modern misses who deliberately seek to arouse the sexual passions of our young men? And how much greater still is the guilt of most of their mothers for allowing them to become lascivious temptresses?

I do not believe that there is a woman alive today who does not recognize the power we, as ladies, have over men and the effect that our bodies can have on them. Women's bodies are used to sell everything in our society. Our men are faced with pornography everywhere: billboards, movies, magazines, in the workplace, crowds etc. Ladies, I want you to ask yourself if our dear brothers should also be faced with this from their sisters in Christ. Should we not at least respect them and their families enough to give them a place of quiet peace from the world? Shouldn't they be able to come to church and not be afraid of what they will be exposed to? Of course, if a visitor comes into our assembly that is a different matter, but that isn't our discussion for today.

Setting aside, for a moment, the matter of agreement or disagreement with specific garments....could you not, for those few hours, dress modestly for the sake of your brothers and sisters?

1Co 8:13 "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."

Although some good people may disagree about some of the specifics, we cannot disagree on the fact that modesty is necessary and biblical. It started in Genesis 3 when God was not satisfied with the clothing that Adam and Eve had made so He fashioned them new clothes. We see modesty taught all through the Word. 1 Timothy 2:9-10, 1 Peter 3:3-4 and the list goes on.

Ladies,

Let's covenant with one another to help build up one anothers families, not tear them down.

In Him who cannot fail,

Michelle