Our design in Christ Jesus part 7

Filled with the Holy Spirit

We are in the middle of a series entitled,

Our design in Christ Jesus

our prayer is that God will open our eyes to see, His design for us, that was Paul’s intention writing to the faithful in Ephesus, and our Heavenly Father’s for you today.

The book of Ephesians is one of the greatest works of Paul covering the dept, height and length of God’s plan for our salvation.

Today Ephesus is a city in modern Turkey,

In the first century, Ephesus was the second largest city in the world with more than 500,000 in population and it was the most important city in Roman Asia minor, a major sea port and a commercial center, a very wealthy city.

The city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis, Diana (completed around 550 BC) a cult that used prostitution as a form of worship.

Ephesians were deeply involved in the occult practices, and idolatry,

superstition was part of the culture,

Paul’s ministry flourished, because of the power of God that brought healing and deliverance from demonic oppression.

We are on chapter 5

Today we will cover Eph 5:1-21

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is.

Eph 5:18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him.

To be filled is to be Satisfied, complete, perfect.

The Spirit of the living God, the third person of the Trinity, lives in every child of God today.

If you have repented from your sins and believed in Jesus Christ, if you are a follower of Jesus, this is the amazing reality: Jesus, by His Holy Spirit lives in you.

Jesus died on the cross to pay for the penalty of our sins, to reconcile us to our Heavenly Father, but also to come and live in us, by His Holy Spirit, to help us to overcome the power of sin, in us.

if we are God's people, if we today belong to Jesus Christ, I tell you this, we can demonstrate the presence God in us.

To Demonstrate the presence of God in our lives, We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit,

" People struggle. People do not grow as they should, because they don't understand what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

Paul gives us the steps to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit

Paul lead by the Holy Spirit wrote in the first 3 chapters of Ephesians about what Christ has done for us, how blessed we are in Christ, but in the last 3 he tells us to create a new behavior and walk.

Yes the Holy Spirit will empower us and help us but we need to cooperate with Him.

Choose

1 Be Imitators of God

Eph 5:1 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];

Mimic your Heavenly Father,

Eph 5:2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another--practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance. [Eze_20:41]

This may look like an impossible task, but with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, it is possible. Needs to become our goal and our desire.

2 Say no to all indecent Behavior.

Eph 5:3 But sexual immorality and all [moral] impurity [indecent, offensive behavior] or greed must not even be hinted at among you, as is proper among saints [for as believers our way of life, whether in public or in private, reflects the validity of our faith].

Eph 5:4 Let there be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse [obscene or vulgar] joking, because such things are not appropriate [for believers]; but instead speak of your thankfulness [to God].

Eph 5:5 For be sure of this: no immoral, impure, or greedy person--for that one is [in effect] an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God [for such a person places a higher value on something other than God].

I know that is not easy to confront our immoral behavior, in my early years as a Christian I had to confront this kind of behavior in my life, just know that whatever is in our hearts we will speak about.

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

We need to pay attention and be sure that our words and thoughts are pleasing to the Lord, because they have consequences.

3 Choose your friends carefully.

Eph 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty arguments [that encourage you to sin], for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [those who habitually sin].

Eph 5:7 So do not participate or even associate with them [in the rebelliousness of sin].

Friends can be a tremendous blessing in our lives, or they can lead us astray, so we need to be careful about who we spend our time with, who we listen to, and follow after.

When I became a Christian, it was noticeably clear to me, I had to let go of my so-called friends, they were leading me nowhere, away from God.

Anyone who leads us away from God, we need to pray they will change or let them go.

4 Walk as children of the light.

Eph 5:8 For once you were darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [live as those who are native-born to the Light]

Eph 5:9 (for the fruit [the effect, the result] of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

Eph 5:10 trying to learn [by experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [and letting your lifestyles be examples of what is most acceptable to Him--your behavior expressing gratitude to God for your salvation].

I like the Williams translation.

Eph 5:9 for the product of light consists in practicing everything that is good and right and true;

We walk in the light, and bring everything to the light.

Eph 5:11 Do not participate in the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness, but instead expose them [by exemplifying personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character];

Eph 5:12 for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that such people practice in secret.

Eph 5:13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light [of God's precepts], for it is light that makes everything visible.

Eph 5:14 For this reason He says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light."

Eph 5:15 Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people],

Eph 5:16 making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.

Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is.

Eph 5:18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him.

Finally

5 Express your gratitude.

Eph 5:19 Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, [offering praise by] singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Eph 5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Eph 5:21 being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

I have much to be thankful, and I would like to express my gratitude.

in the past 2 months our house hold was visited by Covid-19, I had no idea how nasty this virus could be.

I was not against the vaccine but like many, I was waiting for the new thing, maybe they were coming up with a pill or a better vaccine;

My believe was, it is like a bad flu, what true for some people but death to others.

My 11 months old granddaughter came down with a cold, passed on to her mother and Kim who also watches her, in the beginning was just a normal cold but very quickly they were in bed very tired and with a sore body, they went to be tested for covid-19 and all came back positive.

My son Christian and I went to be tested also but we came out negative we only became positive 10 days later 3 tests later.

Everyone began to recover but I began to get worse it went to my chest. After Kim taking me for the second time to the ER because I was having some difficulty breathing, they finally took me inn and the next day I was in the ICU, with a full mask taking oxygen.

I’m so thankful, for my family that is spread in between north, south America, and Sweden, friends from here at Mokuaikaua, Hawaii and around the word, came together in prayer, I believe I’m here as an answer of their prayers.

When the Dr came to talk to me, and ask me about reviving me if my heart would stop, I began to wonder if that was my time to go.

He said you are taking about 65 litters of oxygen if you need 70 I will have tointubate you, sometimes the heart stops would you like for me to revive you. I said if is something simple yes but if I need to be hook up to a machine no.

During my time in the ICU I can’t remember much, but I never felt alone, I knew God was right there with me, I knew I had angels around me. I was not afraid of dyeing I knew that one I was heading to heaven or coming back to earth. Unless God would provide a miracle my time on earth was over.

I prayed thanking God for my time here, and trusted Him to take care of everything else including the finishing of our building.

I receive many encouraging text messages and many others telling me that they were praying for me, thank you to all of you.

One night about 3 am I receive a text from a friend in Norway, the Lord had call him to intercede and worship over me, as he did the lord gave him a song to sing over me and a song he wrote, he sent them to me and I began to listen, a bright light filled the room, God was there immediately I felt like electricity was going through my body and I knew that moment that Heaven had invaded my room and answer the prayers of all my friends and those who join them in prayer. From that moment I knew I was healed and I was going to walk out of that hospital.

Next morning the lady checking my oxygen level had to reduce it to 30 from 65, in the afternoon she had to reduce to 3, that night they remove from the ICU next morning I was down to 1 and on the same day by lunch time I didn’t need it anymore.

Couple days later I walked out of the hospital by the grace of God.

The recovery has been very slow had to learn to walk, breath and deal with a tremendous lack of energy. But everyday doing a little better.

So I give thanks to my Lord and savior for being alive and healed.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit,

by choosing

Creating a new behavior,

1 imitating God, 2 saying no to all indecent behavior, 3 choosing your friends carefully, 4 walking as children of the light, and 5 expressing your gratitude.

All this begins when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Joh 3:16 To receive Jesus we need to accept Him as God’s son,

repent from our sins and a life of selfishness,

ask Him to be our Lord and savior,

not that we deserve it, but is a gift from God.

If this is your desire today,

please repeat this prayer after me?

Heavenly Father I’m sinner, I’m sorry for my sins, I’m willing to turn away from my sins. I receive Christ as my savior, I confess Him as Lord And from this moment on I want to follow and serve Him, in the fellowship of His church, In Jesus name, Amen!