15 Jun HAPPY NEW YEAR! (ARE YOU ADDING ANOTHER YEAR TO YOUR LIFE, OR LIFE TO ANOTHER YEAR?): PART 12
The Bible tells us, from Ephesians 5:15-17:
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
Before we jump into new teaching let’s review what we have been sharing over the past few weeks…
Remember last week I broke down the above verse. Notice the word “walk.” This is the Greek word “peripateo.” It is a Greek compound word that comes from “peri” which means “around” (we get our English word periscope from it) and “pateo” which means “path.” Put those words together and it means “to beat a path around” or to be preoccupied with something.
The word “circumspectly” is the Greek word “akribos” which means “diligently, exactly or straight.” The Greek word translated “fools” is “asophos” which means “one who has no wisdom.” Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is referring to unbelievers without Christ.
In verse 16, you find the word “redeeming” which is the Greek word “exagarazo” which means “to buy back, ransom or rescue from loss.”
The Greek word translated “time” is “Kairos.” There are two Greek words for time: one is “chronos” where we get our English word “chronology” from. This word describes normal time as we know it. However the word “Kairos” is a divine opportunity orchestrated by God.
The word translated “days” means “ages or time period” and is referring to the culture we now live in.
If you will allow me a little liberty, these verses could be paraphrased to mean this:
“See then that you are preoccupied with walking diligently in a straight line. Not like unwise unbelievers that don’t know Jesus, but as wise (people who see life from God’s perspective). Buying back all the Divine opportunities that you possibly can because this culture is evil. Because of that, don’t be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is!”
That beautiful day approximately 31 years ago, when I called Anne on the phone was a “Kairos” moment and I am so thankful to God that both of us recognized it! This divine connection gave me such a poignant picture of how my life is on divine assignment! However, please know that so is yours! Let’s talk about how.
Over the last three months we began our series with the following
“Three Plan Principles”:
- Acknowledge that God has a plan for your life (Jer. 29:11).
“Three Acknowledge Axioms”:
- God has a wonderful plan for your life…not a wonderful life for YOUR plan!
- Destiny is not to be decided. Destiny is to be discovered.
- What you were created for is connected to who you were created by.
2. Accept God’s plan for your life (Mark 8:35).
“Eight Accept Axioms”:
- If we always do what we want to do, we may end up where we don’t want to be!
- If you get whatever you want now…you may not get what you really want later.
- Never trade in the ultimate for the immediate.
- Never trade in the valuable for the natural.
- When you get older, you will want the respect of your adult children.
- Will your children choose to be with you when they don’t have to be with you?
- No thing or fling is worth losing everything!
- God only wants something from you because He wants something for you!
3. Ascertain God’s plan for your life (Col. 4:17).
Not only do you need to acknowledge God’s plan for your life and accept God’s plan for your life, you need to ascertain God’s plan for your life.
Please allow me to give you “Four Fascinating Facets to Find the Will of God”:
- Biblical Principles (Col. 3:16)
Now please allow me to sneak in 5 biblical barometers…
Today I will share the first one with you…
- God will not reveal the unknown will of God until you begin to do the known will of God.
For example, let’s say I tell my son John “If you will do three specific chores for me, after you do them I will tell you about something special that is privy to just you and me. This is something designed just for us to do together! John, as soon as you mow the lawn, rake the leaves and wash my car I will reveal this special thing to you. But not until.”
Now, let’s say that John is about halfway through finishing all his chores, yet he comes to me and pleads for me to reveal our special event. Again I remind John, “No son, not until you do what I already told you to do!” So many times that’s what we do as Christians…we want God to reveal to us our personal destiny and yet we are not already doing what is contained within the Word of God! While God is not looking for us to do the entirety of the Bible to perfection before He reveals His specific destiny to us; He certainly has an easier time steering a moving car than one that is always in park!
Join us next week as I share more from this series…