NEW LIFE: EITHER YOU ARE LIVING IT OR NOT!

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Eph. 4:30-32

In the 90's there was a variety comedy show called " In Living Color", starring the Wayans brothers and the likes of many of today's pop-culture icons such as Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carey, and Jamie Foxx.   The opening line to the show was a questions that went:  HOW YOU LIVING.....(what).....HOW YOU LIVING.....(what).......HOW YOU LIVING...IN LIVING COLOR.... You can do what you want to do........

And it's from there I want to pick up....because if we are followers of Christ can we really do what we want to do?  I mean I realize we do have the freedom of choice, but our choices even as believers have dire consequences.   Our choices can lead to broken relationships, jail, death, and probably the worst of them all....grieving the Holy Spirit.  Grief means to bring deep sorrow or mentally distressed....and Paul then encourages us to then get rid of , throw away, have nothing to do with certain habits and attitudes shouldn't be found in those REALLY LIVING THE NEW LIFE:

BITTERNESS:  according to Prov. 17:25 only a fool brings grief to their father/creator.  Or in Amos 6:12 talks of how we've turned justice into bitterness by trying to force things.  Hebrews tell us to be very careful that bitterness doesn't take root in us........Question is what are you, what have you allowed to take root in you?

RAGE/ANGER these two I paired because I believe they are so closely related.   Anger is an emotion given to us by GOD, and we are cautioned never not to be angry, but rather don't SIN in our ANGER.  Don't let the sun go down, don't let the day end with you being angry because we give Satan a vantage and angle on us, and when that's contained, bottled up in you.....RAGE is the explosive manifestation of uncontrolled anger and unlike CHRIST we SIN in ours and it causes separation and the lost of a witness often in the BODY.

HARSH WORDS so who is that receives your negative opinions and views?  Who are the people that GOD created that you call stupid, or morons?  Do you curse......blessings and cursing should not come out of the same mouth James 3:10.   Remember when you criticize others (who GOD created as well) you are ultimately criticizing their Creator.

SLANDER in an age where people are so self indulgent we actually believe our opinions matter.   Even I will post what's my favorite this, or that......do we ever state half truths, lies?  We speak on gov't, current events, etc......without having all the details which makes it a lie.   We slander people and events often much to the dismaying of the Spirit because we get our emotions into it, and the reality is....WE DON'T KNOW ENOUGH so it's best not to comment at all or only use language to BUILD UP!

ALL EVIL BEHAVIOR - just when you thought the above was enough....you know we can come up with EVIL to do.   We'll will contemplate how to get back at our kids, our spouses, our bosses, even attempt to get back at the church and GOD for........you name it.   REALLY?!?!?  That's what followers of Christ do...NOT!  We read of, study and discover the disciples and apostles going through literal hell....even see Peter lash out and slice off a soldiers ear, trying to protect JESUS, well we find out JESUS doesn't need our protection and he rebukes Peter.   YOU ARE NOT CALLED TO DEFEND the WORD, NOR ARE YOU CALLED to DEBATE it vs CURRENT CULTURE.....you are called be WITNESSES.   The WITNESS and LAWYER and JUDGE all have different roles....make sure you are LIVING OUT YOURS.

So what are we left to do......WHAT JESUS DID:  He was kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving to Judas and those who persecuted Him....He even offered up a sincere prayer to the FATHER in the midst of utter anguish.   Stephen a fully mortal man did the same thing....and so can you!  LGLP

NEW LIFE: WHAT YOU SAY? WATCH YOUR MOUTH!

²⁸ If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. ²⁹ Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

³⁰ And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.  Eph. 4:28-30

Remeber the childhood game Red Light, Green Light, where the goal was to make it to the caller.   That you had to listen and know when to go, and when to stop........   Paul is talking about how we need to stop certain things once we accept Christ.   Paul begins this section of scripture of drawing out attention to what happens when a life has changed...and what that should actually look like.   He says first if you are a thief...then in the new life you are to not just stop stealing, but then take those same hands and do good with them.  This is the beginning of a series of behaviors that will need to change when one has proclaimed CHRIST as LORD of their lives.  

So it was asked of us this weekend by J.J. would it be better if after we've accepted Christ, that everyone got a piece of duck-tape placed on their mouths, because Paul's next words say....Don't use foul or abusive language, and if we are ALL HONEST....WE FAIL GREATLY IN THIS!  I'm not talking about those not in CHRIST, I'm talking about those that have TOTALLY confused SCRIPTURE with the freedoms expressed in the U.S. Constitution.   I don't need your justifications......your senseless rationalizations......the FACT IS GOD, HIS SPIRIT is grieved GREATLY when our talk tears down the VERY PEOPLE, HIS CREATIONS.....the VERY ONES THAT WERE MADE IN HIS IMAGE. 

IF YOU CALL YOURSELF a CHRISTIAN, A BELIEVER, a FOLLOWER of CHRIST and you have politically charged posts, comments, conversations, dirty jokes, talking about people, make no mistake about it......if it DOESN'T BUILD UP, you probably need to SHUT UP ( I borrowed this......) and I'm not looking into the Constitution for this....I'm looking at verse 29 of the WORD OF GOD that says  " LET EVERYTHING YOU SAY BE GOOD & HELPFUL that build up those that hear you!"  WHY?  Because you have been identified as ONE OF HIS OWN, and remember you represent Him......never do we read or see where JESUS took HIS AUTHORITY to malign the very creations HE LOVED. 

While it was suggested that a piece of DUCK TAPE be given and used....I almost think in today's technological age, that we need to have mittens on our hands too....to challenge us in the area of posting and texting....so it would force is to reconsider our posts, tweets....but still leave our hands free to serve so that we'd actually show people how CHRIST's lives through us, through how we physically show CHRIST.  Instead of expressing you views and opinions, try showing them the love of CHRIST through how you serve them today.  LGLP   

NEW LIFE: TAKE OFF THE OLD, PUTTING ON THE NEW SELF

Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
²⁵ So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. ²⁶ And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ for anger gives a foothold to the devil.  Ephesians 4: 24-27

If there is one thing that we'll all be doing today is putting on.......something.   I mean we'll be putting on clothes (prayerfully...at these temperatures...I couldn't see how you couldn't).   Some will be putting on a face (true and false).   Some will be putting on fronts.......I mean really we all will be engaged in putting on something.   Paul begins to encourage this young church in Ephesus, that they need to put on their NEW NATURE where they are truly righteous and holy.

What does that look like for you?  Surely we know what it means to be fake.....because in Paul's next comments he tells us to stop telling lies and rather tell the truth.....for we are all parts of the same body.   So what does that mean?  Does it mean I'm to now let people KNOW HOW I REALLY FEEL ABOUT THEM?  UH....NOT in this since people.....what it means is that you are to see people as CHRIST sees them....so much so that you give them the same grace that He gave you.   When was the last time the SPIRIT of GOD told you, yes you personally that YOU SUCK, YOU ARE WRETCHED, and GOD REALLY THINKS YOU NEED TO GO TO HELL?

To be truly HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS means you see the faults of yourself and others, and you THROUGH the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT fall on the grace/mercy of GOD, and that you are supposed to demo this to others living in darkness as to win them over with that same grace/mercy/forgiveness and love!

Paul takes this a little further to simply compare us to the human body, by saying aren't we all part of the same body?   Can you imagine what it would be like if the heart hated the rest of the body.   Or if the brain thought the hands and feet were useless?  What if your intestines went on strike because it felt disrespected?   Sure we all have feelings, but we can't let those feelings dictate how we are to be.   Paul says don't go to bed, don't let the sun go down, don't let the day end with us being angry.....because remember everything begins with a thought, and if you end the day angry, you will begin the next one in anger.    Satan will use that.....will use you to execute his destructive will.

So as you are getting dressed....what are you putting on?  Is it the righteousness of JESUS CHRIST, with His Armor, the armor of light, the full armor of GOD?   Or are you putting on the frustrations of the job, the world, your marriage, etc?  I guarantee only this........putting off the old, you will experience the NEWNESS of THIS WONDERFUL DAY THAT HE HAS MADE.   PUTTING ON THE OLD....will only yield more frustrations, and this day will be more of the SAME OL, SAME OL....and you'll totally miss out on the blessings GOD has intended for you to experience.   LGLP

NEW MIND: HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND...???? REALLY!?

  With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. ¹⁸ Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. ¹⁹ They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
²⁰ But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. ²¹ Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, ²² throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. ²³ Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
This past weekend I spent my time with those that some might consider the least of these, our youth.  Mind you I don't believe them to be the LEAST by any stretch, I rather believe they are my future, and like Christ sternly instructed us not to keep His children from Him, I took sometime to learn and invest in our futures.   What I want to communicate is simply some of nuggets we received getting away from the culture that we are so steeped in and are affected by, to see what is it that GOD is and would like to say to us.

I submit to you this.....since accepting CHRIST what has changed?  Paul is writing to the Church of Ephesus because He's heard that there are things going on in the CHURCH BODY that shouldn't be...and I believe while that applied to the Ephesian church then, it very much applies to the BODY right now.   He speaks to how closed their minds are and how hardened their hearts have become.   What about you.......are you closed minded to people thinking differently than you?  Are you closed minded to people that live differently, or not in the same locale as you?   Do you judged people based on "What High School, or College they went to or didn't?"    Have you developed a cynical heart towards people of different races, socioeconomic statuses, or based on how they look or are dressed?

Since everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING start with a thought......how is your thought life?  Are there people you would rather just not see at your job, in your church, your neighborhood, your world?   Does Jesus agree with you on YOUR FEELINGS regarding those certain people, and their beliefs? Is it possible He even loves them?  Does your heart beat, and break for ALL people as His does?  

Paul then attempts to turn our attention to the fact that since we have desires and agendas that don't match those of the ones LEARNED by FOLLOWING JESUS that we need to throw off our old sinful natures and have a renewed mind and attitude.  I wonder for those that have taken the time to read this.....what type of attitude would Christ say you have with those considered the LEAST of THESE in our society?   Is it jaded.....is it apathetic......what would your be toward _______________________________ (fill in the blank) and do the homework as it relates to HOW JESUS dealt with  them.....because if I said find the scripture...you'd spend your time looking for one to justify your feelings, which is actually witchcraft, because you are using it for your own selfish purposes......but I challenge you to find HOW JESUS dealt with...even JUDAS who HE KNEW WAS GOING TO BETRAY HIM...how did HE TREAT HIM.   

I DIGRESS....have you lost your (OLD) mind? Or do you still think the old way, and so much so that your heart has hardened to being as loving as CHRIST models and commands us to be.  LGLP