PT-3 "Believer's Life Principles" (Eph. 5:15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/20/2019 12:52 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  PT-3 “The Believer’s Life Principles”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 5:15

 

            Message of the verse:  “15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,”

 

            I have been thinking about what John MacArthur wrote in this section of his commentary and mentioned in our last SD that I had some problems with his Lordship of Christ issues, but after reading what he had to say about it and thinking about it I don’t have near as much problem with it as before.  Let me explain:  In his commentary he talks about easy believism which I believe is a big problem in our churches today.  Someone hears the gospel and then makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but after that there is no fruit seen in the life of that believer, as it seems that life goes on like it did in the past before accepting Christ as their Savior.  This person may look back to a time in their life when they said a prayer to accept Christ as their Savior and believe that they truly are true believers, but just saying a prayer to accept Christ as your Savior, and not realize that He is the Lord of your life does not necessarily mean that you are a believer.  At any rate I believe I understand what MacArthur is getting at with this issue.  My thoughts are and have for the most part of my Christian life is that it is God who chose those who believe in eternity past, and then Christ came to pay for our sins, and after that the Holy Spirit of God gives and effectual call, a call that a person can say no to, a call that in a spiritual sense gives life to that person whom He is calling.  It was the Holy Spirit who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead and it is the Holy Spirit who gives life to an unbeliever in his call to them for salvation.  As an unbeliever when you receive this call for salvation you will then will accept this call, confess that you are a sinner and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

 

            We can look at the Old Testament saints and see that there were times when they are seen as not immune from reverting to foolishness.  Examples of Saul and David can be seen in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel.  Saul tried to kill David and David numbered the people, which was a sin because he did not trust the Lord.  John MacArthur writes “The first way a believer plays the fool is by not believing God completely.  He believes God for salvation but does not continue to believe Him in and for everything else.  Jesus told the two disheartened disciples on the road to Emmaus, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken’ (Luke 24:25).  To the extent that we do not accept any part of God’s Word, to that extent we are foolish.”

 

            Whenever as believer is disobedient he is also playing the fool as Paul speaks of in Galatian 3:1-3 (emphasis on 1 and 3):  “1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”  These foolish Galatians failed to hold firmly to the doctrine of salvation by faith alone and thus the Galatians fell prey to the heresy that a Gentile must become a ceremonial Jew before he could become a Christian.

            Another foolish thing a believe can do is to put their trust in the wrong thing “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9)”  I was looking at an old movie last night in which three men were prospecting for gold and once they found it the wanted to kill each other to keep all of the gold, which is not what they said they would do once they found the gold, but the gold changed them, and in the same way riches can change a person as they stop putting their trust in the Lord, and put their trust in the temporary riches of this world.  There is a verse that I think is in the Psalms that the author states that he did not want to be real rich so that he would not trust the Lord, and not want to be real poor so that he would revert to stealing.  I certainly agree with him.

 

            John MacArthur writes “There is no excuse for Christians to live foolishly when God’s wisdom belongs to them.  ‘If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, ‘Jesus said to the Jews (John 7:17).  The Christian who genuinely wants to know God’s truth will never be in doubt, either.  He has all the resources he needs ‘to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil’ (Rom. 16:19).”

 

            I want to conclude this SD with a story John MacArthur writes in his commentary:  “Some years ago I met a recently converted young woman who was a nationally ranked distance runner.  To keep in shape she ran fifteen miles a day.  A month or so later she came up to me after a morning worship service and asked if I remembered her.  She seemed familiar but had changed so much during that brief time that I did not recognize her.  She told me who she was and explained that she had contracted a disease that the doctors had not yet been able to diagnose and that left her barely able to walk.  Rather than being discourage, however, she said that she was determined to channel the discipline that had made her such a fine athlete into discipline for the things of the Lord.  That is the mark of a wise Christian.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to life a wise life, a life that will be pleasing to the Lord.  I know that there have been times when I have failed to live that kind of life, but that does not mean that I do not want to life that kind of life, a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I truly believe that a humble life is a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

 

Today’s verse that goes along with Abraham Lincoln’s quote is from Daniel 3:17-18:  “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

 

6/20/2019 1:35 PM