Make Melody In Your Heart

Ephesians 5:18–20 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Have you ever heard of Phenomenology?

Phenomenology is the study of our experience—how we experience.

Describe it

I say all that to say that while not everything will be able to be boiled down to how we experience it, our relationship with God holds a tremendous amount value in how we experience it.

It we acknowledge the reality of God then our experience of Him will determine our joy or lack of it in him.

I know that God exists. I also know the enjoyment I have found in Him.

In those two truths, I can begin to discover how to better experience God.

Let’s take a look at how.

First, if God exists - I should want to know who and how He is.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

God is Creator

God is Good

Psalm 34:8 ESV

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God is Love

1 John 4:8 ESV

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is Just

Deuteronomy 32:4 ESV

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

God is Nurturing

1 John 3:1–3 ESV

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God is Spirit

John 4:24 ESV

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 14:26 ESV

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

That is why we are told in vs 18

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

What we are filled with either enhances or corrupts our experience.

Did you ever wonder why in movies, when two or three people leave the bar after drinking, they are singing? They are filled with something that is producing song in their heart.

When was the last time that the Spirit so filled you that you burst out in song?

Luke 6:45 ESV

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

The real point here is to

Primarily, stop trying to find lasting joy in things like wine.

Secondarily, if you do not fill that with the spirit, you will fill it with something else.

when we will “put away” these old behaviors of the world and “put on” the behaviors of the King. We will find true lasting joy. A Joy that make us burst forth in song to one another.

Sappy musicals

Melody/Harmony

A melody in music is a simple collection of musical notes that is sonically pleasing.

Musical compositions can be collections of several melodies that are woven together with other components to make the piece more complex. Melodies are also unique, though some can sound similar to each other. A melody is usually simple and can repeat throughout a song. In modern pop music, melodies can be identified in a chorus or verse and are carried throughout the song to connect the various parts.

A harmony is when multiple notes are stacked on top of each other to create a unique sound.

Harmonies have two or more sounds played simultaneously, and the result should be sonically pleasing, and the sounds should complement one another.

The main difference between harmonies and melodies is that a harmony builds upon an already existing melody, and a harmony needs a melody to exist.

You see,

I need your melody to make harmony.

you need my melody to make harmony

That is why we grow individually and collectively

I cannot make your melody

only you can do that

I can make harmony to your melody but not the other way around.

If we want to experience God better together, we need to experience him better individually.

When we do,

we will begin to

Ephesians 5:19 ESV

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

Then as we submit God and to one another, the harmonies kick in.

So,

What are you filled with today?

Will today be the day you decide to be filled by the Spirit?