Stay The Course!
Be encouraged! Fight the good fight! Do not give up? Do not! You are not defeated! You are placed by God’s grace in the position of victory. God’s will for your life is sanctification and nothing can thwart the will of God. Over and over you read this is Scripture but you must believe it in your heart. This is the place where God works his glory and puts your body in action for him. Therefore, present your body as a living sacrifice for him. God’s arm is never too short in any situation! There is nothing too difficult for Him! He is the victor in every battle; the undefeated champion of mankind who comes to bring victory to your heart.
By his redemptive work, you have been set apart. You are a child of God, a child of the King! The God of heaven and earth who grabbed you out of Satan’s hand declares you righteous in Christ Jesus. And what God declares is always there for your taking by faith! Just believe and receive, PTL! In declaring you righteous in Christ, God has placed within the soil of your heart the precious imperishable seed of abundant and everlasting life. The forces of evil cannot destroy the works of God and you are his masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). This is the work He wants to continue in your life. Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Praise the Lord of Glory!
Within this imperishable seed, God has placed a unique and personal plan for your life – it is His Plan for you because he loves you so much. Don’t you see? He died for you. He became poor so you might become rich. Don’t live as a pauper. He offers freely a plan you could not possibly achieve alone; a God size plan with God size rewards! As an acorn contains everything necessary to grow a mighty oak, so does the imperishable seed God has planted in your heart. He wants you to become a mighty oak of righteousness in Christ; a branch burdened down with fruit. This is the reality God has for your life. It is not a carrot that sounds good but cannot be obtained. It has already been won for you at the cross.
Be joyful! There is a new course for your life to follow: “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” (1 Thessalonians 4:7) Do not get hung up with the filth of this world. You are now free to be enslaved to God: “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” (Romans 6:22) True liberty comes from being enslaved to God. God has freed you from sin, set you apart and wants his plan for your life to come to fruition. It is the “first place” plan for every circumstance you face in life (Colossians 2:10). The all-knowing God knows all you need and has already planned for it. He knows what is around every corner. He is your pioneer who scouts out the dangers ahead and says, “Come, follow me.” There is no safer place than the will of God for your life.
But as with the acorn that becomes the mighty oak tree, the growth process requires cultivated soil (a ready and willing heart), water (the precious Word of God) and plenty of “Son” shine (The Lord as Lord of your life). “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6) Let me ask you, “Are you living in Him? Are you rooted and built up in Him?” Be strengthened in the faith as you were taught. Return to your first love and start overflowing with thankfulness. These are the wonderful things God has done for you and now await you.
Say these words of love from God to yourself: “In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (Timothy 4:8) Do you love His appearing? Is he showing up in your circumstances? Do you see his fingerprints? Do you see him in the wisdom he grants you, the strength he gives you for service and the power he grants you to witness in his name. Do you see him when a soul says I want to be saved; I want Jesus in my life. Do you see him in pain and sorrow? He is there. He is there. In Ephesians 5:17-20, Paul is trying to explain to the Christians at Ephesus how to stay the course, how to fight the good fight and finish the course well. But as you read these words remember, you must live in the Spirit behind the words and live the words in the Spirit.
“So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20. Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;”
Paul reveals in these verses three truths for staying the course; for living in victory. First, YOU MUST BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. You need to be filled with the Spirit of God to fulfill the will of God for your life. He is a jealous God. He does not want part of you, he wants all of you. The good, the bad and the ugly are his – he wants it all. Lay it at his feet by faith and watch what he will do. Let go and let God have his way. You cannot fulfill His plan for your life if you are not filled with His desire and his power.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit means you are committed to staying the course. You desire to keep your eyes on the author and finisher of your faith. You realize God is the rewarder of those who trust in Him. Being filled is accepting God’s course for your life as your own course – they become one. It is when this oneness happens that you are there. Proverbs 3:5,6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Notice verse 18 is a command and connects with verse 17 in Ephesians 5. Paul says do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is and do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit...”
If the Holy Spirit controls you, you will not be drunk with the wine of the world, the flesh and the enemy. Oh what sorrow that brings in its seductive path! Be warned, this wine is tempting and alluring but in the end it kills, steals and destroys (John 10:10). The writer of Proverbs 23:31-32 says it best, “Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.” The problem today is that too many Christians, too many children of God are snake bit and have toxic worldly poison running through their veins. The ones who should be applying anti-venom to this sick world are in a drugged stupor and need to be revived.
Paul calls this seductive wine “dissipation.” It comes from the Greek word, “apate” and means deception. It involves deceptive desires leading to a lifestyle without discipline. This is the enemy’s plan. He cannot destroy the imperishable seed God has planted in your heart but he can cause you to ignore it and make void the wonderful grace of God. Satan can appeal to your eyes, your flesh and your pride and get you so caught up in the things of this world and that you fail to take care of the things of God. The seed gifted to you by a sovereign and loving God; a God who shed his precious blood for you, gets neglected as you heart turns cold. Do not neglect the soil of your heart by forgetting to water God’s precious seed. I encourage you to give it ample “Son” shine everyday.
God always gives you a better choice. He is love and wisdom. Therefore, Paul says instead of chasing the world’s wine, “…be filled with the Spirit (vs. 18)” The psalmist declares this is the better choice: “You have put gladness in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.” Therefore, make the better choice! Step out in faith! Be controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is not that you have more of HIM but that HE has more of you! God cannot control you unless you are enslaved to God. It is your choice – control by consent! You must lay your life down at his feet remembering the way Christ laid his life down for you. Remember the words of Hebrews 12:1-3: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Look at the Apostle Paul’s life. He was a bondservant of Christ because he chose to be enslaved to God. He knew to be filled with the Holy Spirit was not simply an emotional experience. He knew the Christian life involves a lifetime of discipline and obedience to the Lord. The Greek tense in verse 18 implies this is a continuous action rather than an event. It is a desire in your heart to daily surrender yourself to God – to put yourself into his loving and caring hands. Is there really a better or safer place? Listen to Paul’s words: “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27) Get in the race and start claiming the territory already won at the cross by Christ. You are indeed more than conquerors in Christ Jesus! Give him glory!
Second, to stay the course, YOU MUST MAKE MELODY WITH YOUR HEART TO THE LORD. Verse 19 says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;” The message here is simple: Sing to the Lord, give him praise regardless of how you feel and your whole attitude will change! Tell him you love him when things are at their worse. Sing songs to him and he will give you songs in the night. How critical this truth is to understand. But it takes trust in God regardless of your circumstances. It is interesting Mark 16:26 records that after Jesus told his disciples he was going to the cross, that one of them would betray him and Peter would deny him, the same evening, “After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” After all this bad news, Jesus led his disciples in a hymn.
Paul and Silas are another example of this truth in action. Acts 16:23-26 records this unleashing of God’s power when his children make melody with their heart to the Lord: “When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” (Acts 16:23-26) What a testimony and witness this was to the inmates and the jailer and the Christian today. The scripture says the inmates and jailer were listening to the Word of God in song. When we make melody to God with our heart regardless of how we feel, it shakes the fiber of man’s unbelief and God gets all the glory. The psalmist says, “Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.” (Psalm 33:1)
Third, to stay the course, YOU MUST ALWAYS GIVE THANKS FOR ALL THINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST TO GOD, EVEN THE FATHER. Paul says in verse 20, “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;” Through the eyes of faith, God’s love and purpose is seen in every circumstance. Faith gives you victory over Satan’s whispering lies. Faith unleashes power and brings victory where Satan intends defeat. The truth stands no matter what is at hand.
Notice, God uses all things. Even our failures, heartaches, and deepest loses can be used for His ultimate glory. He turns the crucified death of his children to the flesh into resurrection life of his sons. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12) Your great God does this not only in some things but in all things. He is the God that sees the sparrow fall and knows the number of hairs on your head. He uses all things and transforms them into glory. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) You are called. You are loved. If the imperishable seed in your heart needs attention, act today. Stay the course! Jesus loves you and has come that you might have life and life abundant. Others need to know – stay the course.
