Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

The Spirit Comes
The Pledge of God's Presence

Receive the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:15-21  The Message

^11-16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!

So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

¹⁷ Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.
^18-20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Relationships

²¹ Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.

 

For Reflection 

It might be interesting to think about what is meant by "the barren pursuits of darkness."  These days, pursuits of darkness seem to be done in the light of day and re-named to elevate the sham to a lie.  Can you name the shams which are done in the name of Christianity, which are defended with scriptural citations and which are at their core destructive?

Read John.  As Christianity grew from its infancy, clashes between culturally established rules or norms and religion grew.  The early church had just as difficult a time differentiating between culturally based and Christian based proscriptions regarding living our lives.  Can you separate the two?

Pray

that you will be able to differentiate common culture from Christian culture. Pray for those who misrepresent common culture as Christian.  Pray for wisdom.  Pray that the love of God trumps proscriptions.