Because the Days are Evil

Because the Days are Evil
Oct. 30, 2010

Janie Alfred ended the women's conference today. She taught on the second half of Ephesians 5:16 "because the days are evil." This was so in line with our study in Daniel. She shared several verses that speak of the natural inclination of our hearts as well as signs of the last days.

 Genesis 6:5 "Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all time."

Genesis 8:21 "Every inclination of of his heart is evil from childhood."

Romans 3:10 "There is none righteous, not even one."

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasures, rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power."

 But thank goodness we have a redemptive God. He offers us the gift of salvation. He makes evil into good. The story of Joseph in the Old Testament is one of my favorite Bible stories because it goes along with Romans 8:28 which is my life verse.  He could have punished his brothers for the evil they had done to him, but instead in Genesis 50:20 he said, "You meant evil against me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." ALL things work together for good.

 When difficulties, trials and troubles come our way we can choose to be bitter or we can choose to be better. Janie went on to talk about how everything that happens in our life goes through the filter of God. He has plans for our good. He works on our hearts, teaching us lessons in preparation for those really big trials in our lives. When we do what God says in response to these trials, He will work in our hearts. We can have the assurance that God loves us.

 She echoed Ephesians 5:16 that we are called to "make the most of every opportunity." Then she gave direction in how to do this.

 Ephesians 5:1 says to "be imitators of God." Verse 2 says to "live a life of love, just as Christ loved us." Verse 8 tells us to "live as children of light." Verse 9 tells us that "the fruit of life consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth."  Philippians 2:14 tells us to "do everything without complaining or arguing." And verse 15 says we are to "shine like stars it the universe."

 God has a work for us to fulfill and we need to be careful that we don't allow things into our life that will hinder us.

Janie closed with the remainder of Ephesians chapter 5:  understand the will of God - be in God's word; be filled with the Spirit; speak in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs,singing and making music in your heart; always give thanks for everything; and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 Glad I could benefit from the conference even though I couldn't be there in person. The gift of technology!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

5 Benefits of Being a Child of God

Fuel Up with the Holy Spirit

The First Four Commandments