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Today we begin a new series of Bible studies that I'm calling "Living as Children of Light." The study is based on the text in Ephesians 4:17 - 5:21. The keynote text is Eph. 5:8 (NIV), "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light."
Paul begins, "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do..." (Eph. 4:17). The Gentiles represent darkness in this text. Darkness is the opposite of light. God is light. Gentiles are darkness. So we who are the children of light must no longer think, speak, or act like unsaved, nonChristian Gentiles. Living like a Gentile is an insult to God. He expects and demands better than that from us. Paul wasn't just telling the Ephesians this - he was insisting on this (in the Lord). Living like Christ is not optional - it is obligatory.
Hymn: The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin, The light of the world is Jesus; Like sunshine at noon-day His glory shone in, The light of the world is Jesus. Come to the Light, 'tis shining for thee, sweetly the Light has dawned upon me; once I was blind, but now I can see: The Light of the world is Jesus. (Philip P. Bliss)
P.S. Thank you for your prayers. The tornadoes that swept through S.W. Missouri took 15 lives. We took to the basement but our house suffered no damage. |
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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Victor will not be publishing a devotional today because of the storms in the Joplin area this weekend.
Victor and family survived the storm and everyone is safe.
Honey From the Rock should resume tomorrow.
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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Any time the Bible says "let us not" I would advise you to sit up and take notice. I do not want to be found doing what the Bible says I should not be doing.
Paul has just finished a section of Scripture where he told us how to live in the Spirit. God gave us the Holy Spirit so we could "walk the line" each day and be pleasing to Him. But before he finishes, Paul gives one final admonition. Here it is, in the Amplified Version: "Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another."
This tells me that even though every Christian possesses the indwelling gift of God's Holy Spirit, the battle is not over. As long as we are in the flesh we will have to heed the apostolic admonition of "let us not." The flesh wants to have "Easter" every day, that is, it wants to rise up. We must put the flesh down, back in the grave as it were, by the help of the Spirit.
Prayer: Holy Father, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. May we live our lives with each other in Your love, never provoking or envying another child of Your's. Through Christ we pray.
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25 NKJV).
As we draw this series on "The Fruit of the Spirit" to a close, we come across this appropriate admonition. Life in the Spirit will produce a walk in keeping with the Spirit's desires and dictates. I like the way the Amplified Version put it: "If we live by the (Holy) Spirit, let us also walked by the Spirit. - If by the (Holy) Spirit we have our life [in God], let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit."
I am writing today with a heart that is still heavy - heavy from the loss of a dear friend, Dr. Thomas A. Langford of Lubbock, Texas. Yesterday, along with six other speakers, I gave a tearful tribute to "God's gentle giant of grace." I began my remarks by quoting from Acts 6:3, "Known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom." More than just about any man I have ever known, Tom Langford lived in the Spirit and walked in the Spirit. He "walked the line." I told him many times, "Tom, if everyone had your spirit and attitude and demeanor, the church would be one and the world would be won. There would be no need for my ministry of reconciliation with One Body magazine and Peace on Earth Ministries. And that would be just fine with me."
Prayer: O Loving Father, thank You for bring Tom Langford into my life. Thank You for filling him with Your Spirit and wisdom to show us the way to live. Thank You for helping him to walk the line and teach us how to live. We look forward to the day when we will meet again in Your Heaven. With a heart still breaking, I pray this in Jesus' blessed name.
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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| Well, I'm back from my travels and I'm a little late posting anything here. I will try to get something up later in the day. April 29-May 2 I was teaching at Pepperdine University at their annual Bible Lectures. May 3 & 4 I was in Irvine, Calif., visiting with Christians there (Creekside Christian Fellowship). May 5 & 6 I was in Lubbock, Texas, for the funeral of Dr. Thomas A. Langford, staff writer for One Body. I picked up some kind of airborne bug on the flight from Calif. to Okla. and have been under the weather, but am feeling much better today, praise the Lord. |
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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"And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24 NKJV).
If you are "in Christ," a Christian, one who belongs to Christ, you can deliver the knockout punch against the works of the flesh. This began with our repentance from sin and baptism into Christ. "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Rom. 6:6 ESV). It continues by living by faith. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20 NKJV). Paul also said, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14 NKJV).
The problem is, the flesh likes to practice "Easter". It wants to rise again. That's why Paul said, "I die daily." Daily we must crucify the flesh with all that it loves and lusts and longs for. We must be relentless and we must be ruthless. "Those who are Christ's" will do this. Those who are half-hearted will not. "So, put to death [i.e., stop practicing] the desires of your physical bodies [such as] sexual immorality, [moral] impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is [in reality] idolatry" (Col. 3:5 The N.T. An Understandable Version).
Prayer: Holy Father, grant to us the desire to win this fight with the flesh. Empower us by Your Spirit to stay in this fight until the victory is won. Through Christ we pray. |
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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"...against such things there is no law" (Gal. 5:23 NASB). Paul now sums up what it means to live by the Spirit. He has just mentioned nine manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (the fruit of the Spirit) and then says, "There can be no law against [practicing] these things" (The N.T., An Understandable Version). This takes us back to Gal. 5:18 where Paul said, "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Holman CSB).
You can practice the fruit of the Spirit all day long and there is no law against so doing. You can love others, manifest joy and peace, practice patience, show kindness, do deeds of goodness, live faithfully, be gentle to all, and practice self-control all you want and more! There is no law that says (as it does of the works of the flesh), "those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (v. 21). Rather, we will inherit the kingdom of God because we do practice such things as the fruit of the Spirit!
Paul told Timothy, "The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and profane..." (1 Tim. 1:9 Holman CSB). But, praise God, there is no law that prohibits the practice of the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit. There's no ban on being a believer. Others may snap, "Stop that smiling! Don't you know you're in church?" but you don't have to submit to their loveless legalism. Go ahead and be a happy, holy and healthy Christian!
Hymn: "Free from the law, O happy condition! Jesus hath bled, and there is remission; cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all. Once for all, O sinner, receive it! Once for all, O brother believe it! Cling to the cross, the burden will fall; Christ hath redeemed us once for all!" (Philip P. Bliss)
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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The ninth fruit of the Spirit is "self-control" (Gal. 5:23). In a world out of control, how we need self-control. Have you ever lost control of yourself, your emotions, your speech, even your body? Then you know how important self-control is. This word is also translated "self-restraint" or "temperance." Remember the Temperance Movement? Think of restraints that have to be used on people who are out of control. When Paul preached to Felix, "self-control" was one of his three main topics ("righteousness" and "judgment to come" being the other two, Acts 24:25).
A child out of control is not a pretty sight. An adult out of control is even uglier. We need the Holy Spirit to help us have self-control. Self-control is really Spirit-control. When we allow the Holy Spirit free reign in our lives He will bring us under His control. Isn't that what Paul is saying a few verses later in Gal. 5:25? "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Or consider Rom. 8:9,"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." Or look at Rom. 8:13, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (All of these quotations are from the NKJV).
God has given us a holy Helper to aid us in controlling our spirits. If you are having a problem with self-control, you need to ask your Helper to come to your aid. His power can make you what you ought to be!
Hymn: Oh, we never can know what the Lord will bestow of the blessings for which we have prayed, till our body and soul He doth fully control, and our all on the altar is laid. Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart, does the Spirit control? You can only be blest and have peace and sweet rest, as you yield Him your body and soul. (Elisha A. Hoffman) |
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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The eighth fruit of the Spirit is called "gentleness" ("meekness" in some translations). What a dearth of gentleness there is in these days of "road rage" and instant anger. I remember how gentle my mother was with me, especially when I was ill. Mom was a nurse at one time. The Hebrew word for gentleness means "to bend low." I remember when Mom bent low over me when I was sick in bed. (She always gave me Bubble-Up for my upset stomach. How many of you can remember Bubble-Up?).
"Gentle" appears 18 times in the NIV and "gentleness" 6 times. Christ is noted for His gentleness (2 Cor. 10:1). Our gentleness should be evident to all (Phil. 4:5). Is it? I hope so. Remember that others are watching and listening, some just to see if we trip up as a Christian. We are to clothe ourselves with gentleness (Col. 3:12). Think about that when you get dressed in the morning. Now where is that garment of gentleness? Ah, there it is. A perfect fit! Paul told Timothy to pursue gentleness (1 Tim. 6:11). We should too. Peter counsels us to share our faith with others but to do so "with gentleness and respect" (1 Pet. 3:15). My friend Gene Shelburne tells of a Texas tornado-style evangelist who came to town and "pointed a haughty finger not three inches from a visiting Catholic priest's nose and screamed, 'You are going to hell!'" Shelburne noted, "How strange that we would use hateful words to tell men and women that God loves them!"
Prayer/Hymn: O to be like Thee! Full of compassion, loving, forgiving, tender and kind. Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, seeking the wand'ring sinner to find. (Thomas O. Chisholm)
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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The seventh fruit of the Spirit is "faithfulness" (Gal. 5:22). In the Bible, the number seven is symbolic of completeness. He that endures to the end (i.e., is faithful to the Lord) shall be saved. The following is excerpted from a paper I will be presenting at Pepperdine University May 1 & 2, "The Search for Semper Fi Saints" (Semper fi is Latin for "always faithful"). You may view the 24-page manuscript by going to www.poeministries.org and clicking on "Lectures". It will be posted May 1.
God is looking for a people who will be faithful, always faithful, forever faithful, to Him. "My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me" (Psa. 101:6 NIV). Two thousand years ago the challenge was issued to the faithful in Smyrna: "Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2:10 NKJV). The need for Semper Fi saints is great. The kingdom of God nees Christians who are always faithful: to their Christian mates, to their Savior, and to His church, the blood-bought body of Christ.
What does "faithful" mean? The Hebrew word in Psa. 101:6 is aman and means "to build up or support, to be firm or faithful, steadfast, sure, trusty." In Rev. 2:10, the Greek word is pistos and means "trustworthy, believing, true. Someone who is "faithful" is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, steadfast, stable, unfailing, loyal, "marble-constant" (Shakespeare), and responsible. Evelyn Underhill said, "Faithfulness is consecration in overalls."
What a blessing it will be to hear the voice of Christ: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter in to the joy of your lord" (Matt. 25:21 NKJV). I believe that every faithful saint who enters heaven will be given the Crown of Life. In the catacombs beneath Rome one of the most frequent Christian symbols found is the crown. Stephanos is the most common Greek word for crown. Stephen must have been given the Crown of Life when he laid down his life for Christ.
Song/Prayer: O may all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our devotion light their way. May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe, and the lives we live inspire them to obey. O may all who come behind us find us faithful. (Steve Green) |
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| Posted by Victor Knowles at | | | |
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