Ephesians 5 - Wednesday 10th July
Today’s chapter is Ephesians 5
Tom writes:
When we were teenagers and my brother had just come to faith he used to speak to me with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. I used to find it really annoying. I suspect we both needed to be filled with the Spirit. But, thinking back, I realise that he was doing something really wonderful and revolutionary; he was seeking to stretch our faith-growing routines beyond a 90 minute slot on a Sunday. For too long my view of christian practice was restricted to Sunday mornings and then - when I felt really keen - a bible study “quiet time” at some unearthly hour of the morning. If we are truly to be filled with all the fulness of Jesus - and to help see all things united under his lordship - then we must find more life-giving rhythms that draw Jesus into every cupboard of our lives, all through the week. In the Vineyard we know that the Holy Spirit is utterly foundational for this. We must be filled with the Spirit. Stop reading this right now. Ask again for Holy Spirit to fill you. Ask not just that you have a quick quiver in your liver or even begin to shaker like a Quaker. Instead ask Holy Spirit to grip you and mould you and remain upon you every second of this day.
You collaborate in Spirit’s work in you by speaking words of worship and pursuing paths towards purity. The place to start is the home. So let’s get real. Filling your mind with some stuff, choosing to speak out other stuff is foolish, it is unwise; it will leave you half asleep. What you watch and fill your mind with forms who you are. A habit of listening to worship at home will help cure an addiction to pornography, or lust, or an awkwardness in romantic relationships. A daily dose of the peace-loving Word of God will make you less prone to anger. Silence and stillness will undercut your greed. If you are struggling with your mental health, or are highly stressed, or just deeply weary; don’t give up. Jesus’ fullness can fill up anything you lack. Don’t follow the crowd of obsessing over your own problems; instead establish rhythms of grace that sprinkle the mystery of the Messiah onto the minds of others. Wash your wife in the word. Comfort your colleagues with real kindness, encourage little children about their worth. Find regular, repeated ways to take your eyes off yourself and to place them on the world that Jesus loves. Expend effort not on trying to get yourself fixed but enable those around you to hear of the love Jesus and to step into that hope. This won’t always be easy. At times people will scream at you that you need to think about yourself some more. But we know different; we know that our lives are deeply loved by God and that he will drench us with his goodness when we simply seek to do what he has said.
Question for reflection
What habits do you have to be filled with the Spirit more all across your life?
