Mission Control

Ephesians 5:13-14 NIV – Everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Today’s passage describes what happens when we bring the numb and sleepy parts of our lives into the light – we become light! But just as important is understanding why – what is God’s motivation? God’s motivation is love. We think at times God’s agenda in making us light is just to make us “good” in the narrow moral performative sense. As if God is wagging his finger saying “hey now, you need to forgive, hey you need to be thankful, hey you need to be a ‘good‘ person.” And maybe that’s the message we hear when the Bible says “find out what pleases the Lord.” We wonder – ok that’s good for God, but is that good for me?

But that misses God’s heart. To bear good fruit is not just about being good, it is about living in God’s “good”-ness. It breaks God’s heart to see us asleep and imprisoned by bitterness and regret. It brings God pleasure to see his children free, it brings God pleasure to see his children whole. This is what “pleases” the Lord.

Prayer: “Heavenly Father, shine your light on our lives. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may we hear and heed the call to wake up, rise up, and live in the light of Christ.”

– LL

Ephesians 5:4 NLT – Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

“Thanksgiving is the basic attitude of the Christian, for it forces attention on God, his grace and his desires rather than on one’s own desires. When we acknowledge God and give thanks for life from him, responsibility to him is established and life is ordered away from self-centeredness and sin.
The practice of thanksgiving is itself transforming. It is difficult for a person to be thankful and spiteful at the same time. It is difficult for a person to be thankful for his or her spouse and at the same time to be desiring another person—not impossible, but difficult.”
[Klyne Snodgrass, NIVAC: Ephesians]

For Apostle Paul, “thanksgiving” serves as a catch-all description of the language, behavior, and life perspective of the Christian. Giving thanks is the daily practical alternative to living our past and is a powerful antidote to sin.

What does Snodgrass mean when he writes “the practice of thanksgiving is itself transforming”? What are practical ways we can give thanks today? What might it look like to give thanks with our lives in our workplaces and campuses?

Prayer: “Thank you Lord that today we are people of thankfulness because of what you have done on the cross. Transform us daily as we live out thankfulness in our churches and cities. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

Let’s worship to “This We Know” by Passion (Click here).

– LL

1 Corinthians 15:8-10 – For I am the least of the apostles. I am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not useless. [Translation by Klyne Snodgrass]

“When Paul said, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am,’ he made the most freeing statement in all the world. This is not a statement of arrogance or distance from others. Paul is not saying, ‘This is just who I am, and leave me alone.’ It is not a statement of one who takes grace lightly or does not know the significance of Christian faith. It is a statement describing the experience of one whose life has been turned around, reordered, and given responsibility he did not deserve.”
[Klyne Snodgrass, Who God Says You Are]

We often think of God giving us grace and our role is to respond, but Paul sees it as more than that – it is God’s grace that generates the response in us. Grace is not passive, but powerfully active at work in our lives. How does this perspective of God’s grace shape our expectations and give us hope about personal healing and transformation?

Prayer: “Thank you Lord that your grace is not wimpy or ineffectual. We are free to say ‘I am what I am’ because your grace is powerfully at work in our lives. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

Let’s worship to “Here I Bow” by Bethel Music (Click here).

– LL

Ephesians‬ ‭5:8-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬ – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

As those who are awake in Christ’s light we now wake up, stand up, run, and jump. We live and operate in ways that were previously unimaginable and impossible. We are no longer defined and confined by our past hurts and mistakes.

But we can hit the snooze button by holding onto bitterness, guilt, and sin. It is a habit we brought from our old life in the dark when change was impossible. So when we hear you all are adopted, powered up, and rooted, we think: “wow that sounds great, I can’t wait for that day when that’s true for me.” And we find ourselves waiting for some future time when God’s word will finally be personally true for our lives.

But this breaks God’s heart because He says today “live as children of light.” Imagine my 8-year-old son saying, “I can’t wait for that day when I’ll have a father.” This is heartbreaking because I’m ready to be his father now! So today as we hear “live as children of light,” it is an invitation to embrace who we are and be embraced by God today.

Prayer: “Heavenly Father, in the light of Christ we are light. No more hitting the snooze button. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

– LL

Ephesians‬ ‭5:8-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬ – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

“The first half of the letter [of Ephesians] is completely indicative. Meaning Paul outlines truths, facts, and writes authoritative statements on who God is, what He has done, and who we are. Paul says: This is the truth about God. This is the gospel of what God has done. Then, he says this is your identity: adopted children of God, His masterpiece, His people. All of this comes before Paul writes any imperatives or commands. Identity comes first because who we are—and who we think we are—defines how we live.”
[Brad Watson, Ephesians: How Jesus Creates a New People in a New World]

Paul does not write “you are part light and part dark,” nor does he write “you are gradually more light.” What does this say about the relationship between our old past life of darkness and our new present life in the light? As Christians, what power does our past have in defining who we are?

Prayer: “Heavenly Father, thank you we are now ‘light’ in the Lord. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can and do live as children of light! In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

Let’s worship to “Who You Say I Am” by Hillsong Worship (Click here).

– LL