IGNITION
Suggested Reading: Ephesians 5
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
The ancient Ephesus Commercial Agora (shopping mall) is in the form of a square, each side 110 metres, and surrounded completely by columns. The Agora has three entrances, one from the front of the theatre on the northeast, one opening to the harbour on the west, and a third from the Celsius Library. The north side of the Agora is left open, and the other three sides are surrounded by a portico in which there were rows of shops.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Ephesians 5:18-19
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
In an earlier reading from Ephesians, we noted that the words “in Christ” (or its equivalent) are repeated 35 times. Interestingly, there are also 35 directives given!…one for each reminder of our position “in Christ.” Do we need another reminder that good behaviour is determined as a result of being “in Christ” and not a factor in getting us into the body of Christ. We are there only by grace in our faith, a gift of God, not of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9). We’ve considered this fact before, but it needs to be repeated to make sure we’ve got it in the right order.
Our reading begins with the directive, “Walk in love as Christ also has loved us.” His love is a sweet-smelling aroma. There is a sign on a Kingston shop that says, “Aroma Therapy.” We may never go in to check it out, but we do breathe deeply of the aroma of Christ every day. It’s the cure for whatever ails us. Then having been saturated in His fragrance, we will carry that fragrance with us for at least 24 hours. We mentioned this in our reading from 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. Christ definitely passes the smell test! Do we? There are at least 35 ingredients in the content of the fragrance, according to Paul. Please don’t list them and put them on the wall like the Ten Commandments. We need to relax in the knowledge that we are “in Christ.” His constant presence in us will exude His fragrance through our behaviour. We may or may not have ever been drunk with wine (I don’t ever intend to find out what it’s like), but be assured we cannot ever drink too much of the Spirit of Christ. Just hand Him our lives and say, “Fill ‘er up!”
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Lord God, may I receive grace from You to be like Jesus, speaking as He would speak, and doing as he would do. May the fragrance of Jesus permeate my person so that others will know I’m “in Christ,” and He is in me. As our key verses tell me, Lord, may I not be under the influence of wine, but filled with Your Spirit and under Your strong influence at all times. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
At 19 years old, 3 years after I made my lifetime commitment to Christ, I said to God in a time of discouragement, “I can’t live the Christian life as I should. I might as well quit!” God’s response was unmistakable. I heard that still small Voice of the Lord say, “Good, go ahead and quit. Now perhaps you’ll let Me live the Christian life in you and through you.” Suddenly I felt totally free just to go ahead and LIVE! I can’t begin to describe the feeling of elation, joy, strength, and courage I began to experience. I knew beyond any doubt that my life would be lived “in Christ” and that Christ lived in me. My life was not “of works, lest anyone should boast.” I was totally confident that I was “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:9-10). I was the proud owner of a 1947 Plymouth. I did not have to move each piston up and down to move the crank shaft which moved the transmission which moved the drive shaft which moved the wheels. All I had to do was to connect to the power by my free will decision to connect to the battery. Believe me…I knew from that time forward that I needed to connect with God first thing every day. That spark connected me to the power of the gasoline in my internal combustion works, and power flowed to every part of me so I could live, move, and get to where I need to be.
The winter I was 20, I remember being out front of the railway station in Chalk River with my car and booster cables, trying to start a friend’s car at almost 50 degrees below zero. It took patience and I persisted. Finally there was ignition and he was on his way. Leading others to Christ may be a challenge, but with persistence and the right connection, it will happen. I will seek to give someone a boost in coming to life in Christ today.
Yours for being connected to Christ and for connecting others to Him,
David
Ancient public toilets in Ephesus - All I can say is that I appreciate modern dividers. These were part of the Scholastica Baths, built in the 1st Century A.D., around the time Paul was in Ephesus. They were the men's public toilets of the city. There was an entrance fee to use them. There was a running water drainage system under the toilets. These bathroom toilets could accommodate up to 36 men at one time. This was a place to talk to your neighbour and perhaps shake hands on a business deal. It's possible that Paul witnessed for Christ to his neighbour here. This picture was my photographer son's idea (as was the shaking hands suggestion).
We relax in knowing we are “in Christ” and that His scent flows from us and our good behavior because of His constant presence that lives and breathes through us. We can never drink too much of our Lord’s Spirit. We hand Him our lives and say, “Fill me up!” Amen, David, amen!
Blessings to all fellow saints, today, as we worship and praise you!
Thank you David for your word to us this morning.
I pray that prayer in the name of Jesus…the word
that comes to me…”Not I but Christ”…”He must
increase, I must decrease”…”I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ that
lives in me”. So, in Christ alone, my anchor’s cast.
Oh the security and freedom we enjoy in our
relationship with Jesus Christ.
HE IS OUR TOTAL SUFFICIENCY IN ALL THINGS!!!
May we all stay FILLED and FAITHFUL.
It’s Sunday…Yeh!!! Enjoy community worship blogger
buddies.
I am so excited to have ‘finally’ discovered this page. Did not know it existed til four days ago. I had become a little slack in keeping up with 100 Huntley St. On TV. But so glad to have found the 100 Words. It is the perfect devotional for me! I love the pictures and the instant access to the Bible passages.
I owe my finding Christ to You, David (and to Moira) back in 1992 when I was ill and off work. It’s a wonderful story for with your leadership and inspiration I found LIFE. Thank you SO much for all you have done and all that you will yet do.
God bless you and all you hold dear,
Elsie Sullivan
Clarenville, NF
Welcome Elsie– I think you are going to find this website a wonderful addition to your faith walk. Not only are there wonderful teachings from David, but a very supportive community of fellow bloggers who also share the wealth of their experience with our Lord. I too was lead to Christ through Huntley Street. This ministry is a perfect example of the mustard seed, it started off small, but look how it grown and how many lives it has touch. God is indeed good. Look forward to hearing more from you in the future. And now you on my prayer list with others here.
Throughout Paul’s written works, he expresses the importance of the Christian living in Christ and allowing Him to live in and through us. His point being that we no longer have to strive to live up to the law by following explicit religious rituals that nobody could rightly attain to on their own merit anyhow. The law was put into place to reveal to us our sin and God’s holy nature; legalists abused it for their own purposes. Jesus however came to show us a new and better way, a way of freedom and love in and through Himself. Let’s give God the praise for the freedom we have in Christ and to never give over our freedom to ‘religious’ legalists who would try to bind that freedom. Live in Christ and let His love work through you.
John 1:17 “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Amen and Amen!
Living “In Christ” is truly living in the fullness of love and grace. David, I like how you emphasize being open to God’s leading, instead of trying in futility to make it happen. To “let go and let God!” Our Lord ” has our back” and is watching out for us in all matters of living. It was interesting to look up the definition of dissipation as Paul warns in today’s reading:
Noun 1. dissipation – breaking up and scattering by dispersion; “the dissipation of the mist”
dispersion, scattering – spreading widely or driving off
2. dissipation – dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure
licentiousness, profligacy, dissolution, looseness
intemperateness, self-indulgence, intemperance – excess in action and immoderate indulgence of bodily appetites, especially in passion or indulgence; “the intemperance of their language”
3. dissipation – useless or profitless activity; using or expending or consuming thoughtlessly or carelessly; “if the effort brings no compensating gain it is a waste”; “mindless dissipation of natural resources”
waste, wastefulness
boondoggle – work of little or no value done merely to look busy
activity – any specific behavior; “they avoided all recreational activity”
waste of effort, waste of energy – a useless effort
waste of material – a useless consumption of material
waste of money – money spent for inadequate return; “the senator said that the project was a waste of money”
waste of time – the devotion of time to a useless activity; “the waste of time could prove fatal”
high life, highlife, lavishness, prodigality, extravagance – excessive spending
squandering – spending resources lavishly and wastefully; “more wasteful than the squandering of time”
So much can be lost in wasted living and so much gained by simply living in the spirit of Christ! Have a great day to all!
By-the-way, great shot of the toilet’s, Reynold! Wonder what they used for toilet paper?! 🙂
Blessings on this Lord’s day fellow bloggers. More of YOU LORD and less of me!!
Amen to all our comments today and thank you once again Pastor David for your prayer and explanation of who we are in Christ.
This is the day of The Lord ….let us REJOICE in it and in the knowledge we walk in HIS LIGHT….Oh the JOY of our salvation.
Oh David, how I appreciate your insights that make the Word of God so understandable! Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I love your sense of humour! The picture of the toilets in Ephesus taken by your son, and his comment regarding business deals made me laugh out loud. Blessings to you this day and always! In Christ, Phyllis
I am so fascinated by the pictures in your blog – they are wonderful. It makes the bible come to life to see the structures that are still there. It would be a dream to visit there and see these things for myself but having your blog and the pictures is the next best thing. Tell you son, Thank YOU!
That is so fair (not by works). I worked for the TDSP for a few years giving out meds and assistance to challenged students. My only sibling is severly handicapped also so I am very aware of how God’s plan includes her. She knows the Lord and is so full of love but she cannot stand, walk, or even speak very well. She is God’s child.
Just like you, David, jump starting the man’s vehicle – Andrew Murray said: My source of power in prayer is the Vine. If I am the branches abiding in Christ, He will supply the power.
I had a similar moment early in my faith walk. I was doing everything I could to be like Christ and failing miserably at it. It seemed nothing I did was good enough and finally in a moment of frustration I yelled out to God “What do you want from me.?” And I heard the Holy Spirit saying, ” Donna if you could be Jesus you wouldn’t need Jesus.”
That one truth set me free from trying to impress God with my goodness and to begin to rely on His goodness. It really is the most liberating feeling in the world when you finally understand we don’t have to perform for God, we don’t have to earn His approval, or His love. It is freely given, because of WHO HE IS, and not BY WHAT we do. Praise Be and Amen to that.
Amen, Donna. God loves and accepts you for the genuine person you are, sister! Praise the Lord!
Love yours and Reynolds humor in the last paragraph.
Any place you bring Jesus to someone is a Allalular day.
Wayne and. Carole
Hi David, You are so right in your comments today. This world is made up of two kingdoms, each turns the other on it’s head. We had a relative visit from England, who came with his girlfriend. We welcomed them and showed them their separate bedrooms. He was horrified and said he wouldn’t have come if those were the rules! He was a really amusing lovable character, but was not “In Christ” We tried to be nice but firm and requested he didn’t smoke in the house, so he put a chair in our garage and called it,his smoking lounge. He spoke to everyone who walked by, and made some questionable comments much to our horror. our two kingdoms clashed! We witnessed lovingly and strongly,but it seemed to fall on death ears. Oh how we need to be filled and ignited with the Spirit of God in these days where anything goes! If only the unsaved could realize how we have such abundant life in our wonderful kingdom of God! Thank the Lord, we can air programs like 100 Huntley Street, that speaks so clearly about a better life “In Christ”
Thank you for 100 Words and more. David you are a man of God – There should be a special place for you in Heaven ……….. . You are also very down to earth. Norma Jean is a lovely lady and has been a great partner to you!!
Blessings to you both.
Saying “Amen” to you, David and all fellow bloggers. I like the idea that if we are “in Christ”, we can also be like a sweet smelling aroma. Another busy day; met a lady evangelist from the Ivory Coast who also prayed for me. You did a good job showing us ancient Ephesus, Reynold. Blessings everyone.
Dearbloggers and David .M. all I can say is thankyou thankyou every is just
another golden nugget of learning and understanding scripture a whole lot
better .God created us [and he doesn’t make junk] He makes every good
it’s we who make mistakes and fall but He always picks us up and dusts us off
ptl ….R…
I enjoy and appreciate this blog so much…thankyou David and Reynold!! The personal
stories are wonderful, David, and I love seeing the pictures and learning the history.
I have had a similar experience, Christine, when a nephew and his girlfriend came to visit. They could hardly believe we were so “old-fashioned” but we were loving and I hope seeds were planted .There really can be no compromises when we are free in Him…sounds like a paradox, but there is an elation that comes when we just let HIM
live His beautiful life in us.
God bless all the blogging saints!!
David, we surely appreciate your daily blogs. We have met you in Red Deer, but you meet so many people, how could you possibly remember. Anyhow, we are retired Pastors with the P.A.O.C. When I say ‘retired’ I don’t mean totally. We are Pastors to the Seniors at Streams Christian Churc in Red Deer, AB, and we love it. God has been so good to us throughout our lives. Blessings, Nina L.
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