{"id":2840,"date":"2021-08-16T14:08:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T22:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2021-08-16T14:08:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T22:08:01","slug":"devotion-ephesians-515-16-for-our-sake-for-his-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2840","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Ephesians 5:15-16 For Our Sake, For His Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ephesians 5:15-16<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b><\/span>Be very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise,\u00a016\u00a0making the most of every opportunity,\u00a0because the days are evil.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Family and Friends it does not take a prophet to see that we live in perilous times.\u00a0\u00a0But what of these times.\u00a0\u00a0What are we to make of them?\u00a0\u00a0Who can discern the times?\u00a0\u00a0What is the test?\u00a0\u00a0It is the man who daily dwells in the Spirit and Word of the Lord who can best determine the times.\u00a0\u00a0Those who love His Word are not caught unaware but have known times like these would come.\u00a0\u00a0Yet seeing through this foggy landscape one must keep in both Spirit and Scripture and only then can things become more clear.\u00a0\u00a0Seeking God the days will be seen as wise pupils perceive.\u00a0\u00a0Intelligence is not the key, but humility before God is.\u00a0\u00a0The ones who abandon their own wisdom and perceptions and seek answers from God will know what those who hate God cannot know.\u00a0\u00a0Fear makes hearts roil but the heart of those who live with the Spirit rests upon solid ground.<\/p>\n

Malachi 3:18<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0So you will again\u00a0distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.<\/i><\/p>\n

What is the difference between one person and another?\u00a0\u00a0Whose eyes will be filled with light that pierce darkness and discern between ugly and beauty.\u00a0\u00a0Whose eyes will identify the holy from the unholy?\u00a0\u00a0Those who love and serve God will see the difference.\u00a0\u00a0But those who refuse God will see a snarling and hateful face and think it is harmless and loving.\u00a0\u00a0Those of the Lord will see the Truth.\u00a0\u00a0To properly discern one must daily live with the Spirit of God.\u00a0\u00a0Those who are in the Spirit rightly understand\u00a01 Corinthians 2:10-16<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Philippians 1:9-11<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0And this I pray, that\u00a0your love may overflow still more and more in\u00a0real knowledge and all discernment,<\/i><\/span>\u00a010\u00a0so that you may\u00a0discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for\u00a0the day of Christ;<\/span>\u00a011\u00a0having been filled with the\u00a0fruit of righteousness which\u00a0comes\u00a0through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How do we discern the servants of the Lord?\u00a0\u00a0How do we discern each other\u2019s hearts?\u00a0\u00a0We all are exposed, are revealed by the two greatest commandments (Mark 12:30-31<\/b>) and by what Jesus plainly said \u201cBy this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Yet some are deceptive, only by the Spirit will we truly discern.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>1 Corinthians 2:15<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But the one who is spiritual\u00a0discerns all things, yet he himself is\u00a0discerned by no one.<\/i><\/p>\n

Matthew 16:3<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0And in the morning, \u2018There will be\u00a0a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.\u2019 You know how to\u00a0discern\u00a0the appearance of the sky, but are you unable\u00a0to\u00a0discern\u00a0the signs of the times?<\/i><\/p>\n

What of the times?\u00a0\u00a0Search the Word by the Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0By the Spirit.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 32:28-29<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cFor they are a nation\u00a0destitute of counsel, And there is no understanding in them. 29\u00a0If only they were wise\u00a0and\u00a0they understood this; If only\u00a0they would discern their\u00a0future!<\/i><\/p>\n

God loves us.\u00a0\u00a0He does not abandon us.\u00a0\u00a0He calls to us to follow His lead.\u00a0\u00a0He calls us to love Him more than our mortal lives and more than anything on this earth.\u00a0\u00a0To love Him more than any person or anything.\u00a0\u00a0Love and serve God.\u00a0\u00a0Set aside pride and yield to Him.\u00a0\u00a0Receive His Spirit and be embraced by Him.\u00a0\u00a0Then eyes will see and minds will know.\u00a0\u00a0All to the glory of God and for the rescue of souls. Praise God!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear\u00a0me.<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/i><\/p>\n

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ephesians 5:15-16\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Be very careful, then, how you live\u2014not as unwise but as wise,\u00a016\u00a0making the most of every opportunity,\u00a0because the days are evil.\u00a0 Family and Friends it does not take a prophet to see that we live in perilous times.\u00a0\u00a0But what of these times.\u00a0\u00a0What are we to make of them?\u00a0\u00a0Who can discern the times?\u00a0\u00a0What is the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[129,1872,1841,2472,93,101,94,1874,1871,17],"class_list":["post-2840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-corinthians","tag-deuteronomy","tag-ephesians","tag-malachi","tag-mark","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-philippians","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2841,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840\/revisions\/2841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}