A life that shines

Ephesians, chapter 5. We are preaching from this book. This text touches us but I saw after preparing it that it fits perfectly with what the pastor preached last week. So let's get ready in the name of Jesus.

The book of Ephesians begins with a statement that it is in my mind, it is in my spirit, it is in my heart, for me and for us. Says:

"Blessed be the Father and God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

We are a blessed people. I don't know what is happening today but I know that you are blessed, blessed. If someone asks you how you are, you can say, blessed. Then you can share any struggle you have. We can be honest with the struggles we have, but no matter the struggle, I am blessed in Christ. With every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

It is that there is a whole spiritual world, a universe parallel to this one where there are angels, where there are demons, where the spirit is moving and the Lord says that not only do I belong to that region but I am flying first class, blessed with all privileges, all blessing, all privileged status in heavenly places. I am already there in the spirit.

The Bible says that out of love he predestined us to be adopted as his children through Jesus Christ, our Lord. His children, it means that we have an inheritance, that we are heirs of the kingdom. We were dead in trespasses and sins but thank God he made us live together with him, raised us up together with him and raised us up and seated us in heavenly places with Christ.

Not only are you spiritually alive, you are exalted, and Jesus himself invites you to share his throne. What a scare, right? what is he thinking about? Haven't you seen me summarized? How does he invite me to share his throne, the confused gringo, right? with all the problems we have. And he wants us to be at his side, with spiritual authority, yes, because we are a royal priesthood, a chosen people, a special people, set apart from the world to declare the goodness of him who called us out of darkness into his admirable light.

We are a special people, Lion of Judah. And this is not pride, it is not selfishness, it is true. Because it is by grace, we do not deserve it, it is not by works, no one can glory, it is by pure grace. We are diamonds of grace, a demonstration of a God who enjoys choosing what is nothing and making it reign next to him for the glory of his name.

Even the angels will say, wow! this is wonderful. How did God do it? we are called, brothers, we are his workmanship for good works that God prepared in advance for us to walk in them. So the Lord tells us, Lion of Judah, you are blessed, you are already raised, you are saved, it is time to walk worthy of the call with which you were called.

The rest of the book of Ephesians, chapters 3 to 6 talks about the call to walk worthy of who I am in the spirit, to already live according to the reality of who I am in Christ. Because although I am blessed sometimes I do not live blessed. Although I am on the throne with Jesus, sometimes I do not live a victorious life and God says, it is time to walk with dignity, the uniform that you have in the spirit, the dignity that you have, like an army general who has his uniform with his medals, that you have to walk with some dignity.

And God says, it is time that you learn to walk with that spiritual dignity. There is a calling that you have. Amen. You have to live a new life in Christ.

The text that we are going to read today deals with that. Try a new walk. While we read these words, I invite you to look at the 3 times that the word walk, your walk, is mentioned. They are strong words but if we receive these words in the spirit they will be words of life, not of condemnation, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But we learn to walk in the spirit in a new life.

So the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 1, says the following:

“Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children…”

I want to stop there for a moment. A beloved son. If one knows that one is special, that I am a beloved son, the Apostle John when he wrote his Gospel of John, he always called himself the Apostle loved by Jesus, how proud, right? how do you feel with God? I hope that if someone asks you, and who is God's favorite? you say, I am his favorite. If you are a woman, I am the apple of her eye. If you are a man, I am the son of his right arm. I am the favourite.

And the other yes, he is also the favourite, but I am the favourite. And she does, we know that everything... but that we live with that security. God has loved me, I do not deserve it, I am not worthy of anything, but he has made me worthy. And for this I have a holy responsibility to live as the favorite of my God. Live as the beloved that I am. Amen.

“…as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us. Offering and sacrifice to God in a fragrant odor but fornication and all uncleanness or greed not even be named among you as befits the saints. Neither dishonest words, nor nonsense, nor truhaneries, which are not appropriate, but rather actions of grace, because you know this, that no fornicator or unclean or greedy who is idolatrous has inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with vain words because for these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Do not be partakers with them, because in another time you were darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light because the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness, justice and truth verifying what is pleasing to the Lord and do not participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but rather rebuke them because it is still shameful to talk about what they do in secret.

Plus all things when they are revealed by light are made manifest because light is what manifests everything. Therefore he says, wake up you who sleep and rise from the dead and Christ will light you up. So watch carefully how you walk, not as fools, but wise, making good use of the time because the days are bad. Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Do not get drunk with wine in which there is dissolution, rather be filled with the spirit speaking among yourselves with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and praising the Lord in our hearts, always giving thanks for everything to God and Father in the name of of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another in the fear of God.” Amen.

A new walk imitating God himself. And how do we know what God is like? in Christ Jesus. What do you want to be when you grow up? How do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be like Jesus. I want people to say, when they meet me, there's something like this, I don't know, it's weird but there's something about Jesus, there's something, there's a love. May we be known to walk in love as Christ loved.

Holiness is mainly based on these 2 commandments, you shall love the Lord Jehovah your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, all your mind. And the second is similar, you will love your neighbor as yourself. Love. May we be known as a people of love.

When we live like this we are like the life of Jesus, who lived in love, washed the feet of the Apostles and said, I have given you an example that you do the dirty work of love. May you humble yourself, may you choose the lowest place to serve others. That you imitate me because in this there is victory and there is life.

And so we are walking worthy of the call with which we were called. And the word says, look at that, I want to emphasize that, it says that he gave himself, verse 2, offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant odor. That refers to the tabernacle. Do you remember the tabernacle? We talked about that last year. A mobile temple in the desert where people worshiped God and his shekina, his visible glory, a fire from God called Jehovah's shekina presence, dwelt over the tent.

And the people had the sacred privilege of approaching the glory and making offerings and being there warmed by that divine fire. You could not enter the holiest place but you could enter the outer court and see the glory above the tent and be there in the presence of God. but to do so they had to live a very careful life. There were many laws in the Old Testament, perhaps you have read about the food laws. Certain foods that are not allowed to be eaten because they are unclean foods for them. There were other practices, if you touch a dead body of an animal you have to clean yourself and you cannot enter the presence for a few days. If there are certain other things in life they make you unclean for a while. And all the time they were thinking about their food, their lifestyle, their external cleanliness in order to give a pleasing offering to God. And God says that if you are very careful to be faithful to me, in obeying all these laws, your offering will be a fragrant smell, such a rich incense for me.

I was thinking about the morning, my dad smoked a pipe when I was a kid and he killed us all with cancer with it, without us knowing. But wow! what a fragrant smell and now I have to go to the doctor… no, no, no. smoking is not good, smoking is a sin.

But I'm just saying, wow! a fragrant smell, an incense before the presence of God. if you are careful… But in the new covenant God made it very clear that now the exterior does not matter so much, God looks at the heart, that it is not what goes into the mouth that makes you impure but rather what comes out of the mouth. It is not what we eat, it is what we say that makes us unclean before God.

God says, I want the same care and attention of the old covenant that they gave to the exterior, I want you to pay as much attention to your inner world. Your words, your thoughts, the attitudes of the heart, so that your offering is a fragrant smell before God. May our worship here not be a pure incense before him, may we be people who live a fragrant life, not only in worship but also in our walk. Walking refers to your daily life, how you behave at work, how you talk to co-workers, how you get along with your family, how you drive on the streets of Boston, all of that is our walking.

How does our walk smell? Let it be a fragrance, a fragrant smell. I see some wives looking at their husbands, listen, listen. What would Jesus do? I was talking about that in a level II discipleship class in English that I'm teaching. Many times we think of Jesus as someone like an angel, he was not an angel. He was the divine Son of God and fully human and divine. Both sinless but fully human. That means that he lived everything we live in his inner world. All the temptations and struggles: an annoying customer in the wood shop, someone who says, as we say in English, who knows how to push his buttons, someone who knew how to bother. Temptations for impurity. Everything was around Jesus, temptation of power, to impose himself on others, temptation to speak ugly.

He was tempted like us but without sin, but he can sympathize with us in our walk. When we have temptations and we say, Lord, you know, my character, how I am, I speak... he can say, I know how it is, I was tempted too, but don't give me excuses. You are a new creature in Christ, it is time to walk a new life because walk worthy of the call with which you were called. Brethren, walk in love as Jesus walked in love.

Verse 3 of Ephesians 5 says, "but fornication and all impurity or covetousness are not even named among you as befits the saints." There are certain things that are so contrary to my life now, so contrary to your identity as a beloved child of God that these things should yet be mentioned or named among us. Lion of Judah, it is time to define yourself, brothers, we are called. The pastor is talking about it and I feel that it is from the spirit.

We have a high calling. The Lord wants to do wonders among us. It is time to end with moral games, it is time to walk as Christ walked and be careful about it. Certain things should not even be mentioned because they are out of place. Certain words, certain actions, certain lifestyles, is no longer for us anymore. I am a new creature in Christ, how am I going to do that? I'm not for that anymore because you're already different. You now have a new identity.

My daughter did a project at school, she's in third grade, and they had to pick a famous person in Massachusetts and learn from that person and also act like that person in a performance. And I hoped that she would choose some girl or some woman from Massachusetts. She chose Norman Rockwell, I don't know if you've heard of Norman Rockwell. He is a very good painter who lived in Massachusetts and did beautiful illustrations. And he, my daughter is the most girlie you'll ever meet, we were very surprised. But Normal Rockwell was a very… oh, that painting, wow! OK.

Norman Rockwell did this painting, I took my daughter to the museum to see the painting and in the painting you see this African-American girl that at that time, colored children were not allowed to attend schools with white children. And the law changed to allow that girl to attend school and there were people yelling, throwing fruits and policemen had to enter to enter with her. In that painting there is a very ugly word, an insult written on the back, maybe you don't see it, but it is written on the wall and my daughter called me and says, “Daddy, what does this word mean? What is that word?"

And I explained to him that it is a word that used to be used in this country to insult people of color, and I said, I'm not going to say the word, so, you see it but I'm not going to say it because there are certain things I would never want that my daughter hears coming out of my mouth. Even if it's just to teach her the word, I don't want her to have a memory of daddy saying a certain word.

There are certain things that no longer fit in the mouth of a Christian. They are not only dirty but under our dignity. I am a son of the King, how can I speak certain things? That was a very important moment for us. But my daughter gave it back to me because preparing for her presentation we found that Normal Rockwell always had a pipe, like my dad, and I say, okay, my daughter, let's get you a plastic pipe and you can have the pipe and stuff. It's going to be like a prop so they know you're Normal Rockwell. He says, "Daddy, I can't." And I, "but why? It's just an illustration." And she says, "No, daddy, it's not appropriate, it's not convenient." You told me, didn't you? my daughter caught me

It is not appropriate for a girl to have a pipe in her mouth. And the word says that there are certain words, certain conversations that should not be in the mouth of a Christian. It's not appropriate, it doesn't fit, there's an incongruity, it's out of place. I am not for that. We are a holy people and then he says that before you were darkness but now you are light in the Lord. You have to walk as children of light, brothers.

And then he says something very strong, in verse 5, “for you know this, that no fornicator or unclean or greedy who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ or of God. Let no one deceive you with vain words, because for these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience."

But you are not a child of disobedience, so do not be partakers with them. Brothers, sometimes we have to make a difference between Christians and the world. We must be different, brothers.

I say this very carefully because I am not better than anyone or you. We are all sinners forgiven and saved by grace. We can't be pointing fingers at anyone. Neither in this church do we believe in being isolated from the world. We want to be in the world and touch lives and participate in society. Jesus was friends with sinners and prostitutes and tax collectors, and ate with them, so we want to be in the world, but we don't want to be of the world.

And brothers, sometimes the problem with us mixing is that we mix so much that we don't notice anything different between us and them. Maybe you have your friends from before, your family and friends from before. I hope so, I hope you share with them for this so we are going to win them. But sometimes we have to decide if this friendship or this connection, if I am having influence with them or if they are winning over me. And if every time after spending time with them one feels, oh, I screwed up again. Look, they don't have the same heritage that you have. You are going to a kingdom, not at this time, we hope that they change, that they accept Christ, that they come as they are and that they experience the life of Jesus among us and enter into the process of change, of knowing Christ.

But sometimes you have to know, look, we're going in opposite directions, I'm not going to share more, sorry. I'm not for that. sometimes we have to make a difference and move on. Amen. So it's time to define. There are vain words, deceitful words.

It says here, let no one deceive you with vain words. There were people who said, we are saved by grace. God loves you, forgives you, so keep doing what you want, no problem. Let no one deceive you with vain words. There is no excuse for living a double life. We are light, it's time to shine, brothers.

And this is not ugly, it is not being a Pharisee and proud, it is being joyful and letting my life be an influence in the world. Amen. It is another perspective. Let's go ahead. It says, verse 8, “For in another time, not now, in another time you were darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

It is time to live like this, in the light, all the fruit of goodness, justice and truth. and it says in verse 10, “proving what is pleasing to the Lord.” There are going to be complicated situations in life. When we are very tempted and sometimes we don't know what to do. The Bible says that we can seek to prove what the will of the Lord is. But how do you know? Sometimes one thinks, Lord, I want to do your will but I don't know what to do. And there is some confusion. I don't know how to do well in this situation, because it is a confusing situation.

The book of Romans 12 gives us a beautiful answer. Says Romans 12, verses 1 to 2, “Therefore, brothers, I beg you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your true worship. Do not conform to this world but transform yourselves through the renewal of your understanding so that you may verify what is the good and perfect will of God.” Amen.

If I am not sure what to do, I am sure that God wants me to give myself to him. And I say, Lord, I am your sacrifice, I belong to you, I give you my life, I give you this situation, my family, my annoying boss, my complicated and dysfunctional family, my character, my anxiety, my depression, it is not mine nothing more, I give it to you. I already leave it on the altar. I am a living sacrifice for you, whatever it is and wisdom of what to do will come. Because if I am his, he is in charge of guiding my path.

So sometimes it starts with surrender, surrender, and we must be different, we must be like light. It says, do not participate, verse 11, in the unfruitful works of darkness but rather rebuke them.

I want to talk about it. what does that mean? that we must not share in sin but rebuke. So says the word. It means we have to grab people by the shirt and say, look, repent. Publish what they have done on Facebook because you have to expose it to the light. Amen. No.

Look what the word says next, verse 12, "Shameful it is to even speak of what they do in secret." We rebuke them, not for being critical or condemning, but for leading a different life. And the shining light exposes the darkness.

Brothers, in our life, I don't know if you have had this experience, you want to change and you behave differently in a situation and a friend or relative asks you, what do you think? That you are better than us now? what's happening? are you criticizing me? He says, no, he just says I don't want to drink milk instead of what it was. And they say, oh, your better than us now! No, it's just that we are reprimanding like that, but life sometimes brings with it a certain rebuke. But if they see love, they will see that this is not to criticize, that is light and this light is something pleasant and admirable, according to the word of God. Amen.

I don't think we should be people who are known to think we are better than others. This is not like this. But I do hope that our life exposes the difference between what is good and what is bad by contrast and not by condemnation. Live a life of light.

But what about our own darkness? We all know that we are in the process. If there is someone perfect here, they are already dead, because your spirit is in heaven. I told him in Discipleship II that the goal is to be completely like Christ, spirit, heart, and soul. And then I told them, when you finish this class you are going to be completely sanctified, without problems, without blemish, and everyone says, wow! what a tough class But the truth is that it is a lifelong process that God is always moving us.

But just because it's a lifelong process doesn't mean we have to be dealing with the same problems every day. You can be free of certain things. There are some who think, look, it's my character, I'm an angry person, and that's how I am and I don't change, I can't change. Excuse me, that's how I am. The truth is that yes, you can be free, you can be different. You don't have to live with it. There are some who have lived with anxiety for so many years that they don't know how to function without anxiety. I have good news for you, you don't have to live in fear anymore, you can be free.

There are people who live with addictions to drugs, to alcohol, to pornography and it is difficult to stop it because it is a habit, it is so difficult. You can be free. Where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom, brothers. There is a light shining and God calls us to rise from the dead because Christ is shining on us.

The Bible says in First John, verse 1, "If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin."

Step into the light, confess my reality and seek help and the light is the best disinfectant there is. That's a saying by a man named Brandais, speaking of governments, but it also works with the heart. When the light enters my heart, the cockroaches and the mice are scared that no longer have a place because the devil is the prince of darkness. If I take away the darkness, then where will it live inside of me? This requires if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In level II we talk a lot about the importance of entering the light through confession. The confession of our struggles and sins. Some may be asking the question, Gregory, we are no longer Catholic. I know your last name is Bishop but you've already gone half crazy. You want us to confess our sins to the pastor and we assign you some prayers… The word says, “don't confess your sins, – not to a priest, although there's nothing wrong with that if you want to, – but confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that they are healed.”

You are already forgiven for confessing Christ. You are already forgiven. But it is possible to be forgiven but not yet healed. It is possible to know, I know that God has forgiven me but I continue with the struggle and live with shame. There is nothing more healing than finding an appropriate, trustworthy person and saying, look brother, pray for me, I have a struggle. And you share with this person. What kind of person should he be? A mature person, don't confess your sins to a 7 year old please. It's not her fault you screwed up, okay?

I've seen that, mind you, that's why I say it. I did some very amazing things. Do not confess to a child, do not confess to a person who is going to give you bad advice, who is going to say, but what does it matter, keep doing it, it's not a big deal. You're a man, aren't you? What kind of man are you? But you also don't want to shock a new believer who says, what did you do? You did that? It never occurred to me to do this. Then the person is left thinking and is tempted, right?

You have to choose someone spiritually mature. Maduro, who can pray for you. Usually make it the same gender so that it is nothing to form inappropriate intimacy. Although you can confess to your grandmother if you want, but I don't know... Also that it's someone discreet, someone has been burned with it. You don't want the person to put everything you did on Facebook. Wow! How interesting, this is a juicy sin, let's put it out there for everyone to read. Find someone, a trustworthy person.

Step into the light as Christ is in the light and let the blood of Christ do the work to clear your conscience and set you free. Because, brothers, the days are bad. It says in verse 15: “Watch therefore carefully how you walk, not as fools, but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are bad.”

Brethren, we live in a time when many things that are sin are presented as good and many good things are presented as bad. They have put salt for sweet, darkness for light and if we are passive we will not survive. You have to tread carefully. Here in Boston there is a lot of ice, you have to be careful. Amen. Some of us learned that, to tread carefully and be proactive in cultivating a spiritual mindset in our daily walk.

There is a saying that I learned very deeply, I think it was written by Solomon, it says in Proverbs 5:13 "shrimp that falls asleep is carried away by the current." It is a joke. May we not be sleeping shrimp, brothers. You have to walk in the spirit. Look what it says, verse 18, this is the positive part of how to put into practice everything we are talking about:

"Do not be drunk with wine, in which there is excess - that means too much, excess - rather be filled with the Holy Spirit." Amen, brothers. the wine fills and soaks the neurons and the feelings, the Holy Spirit makes it better and does not leave you with a headache afterwards.

I want to be drunk with the Holy Spirit because that drunkenness does not turn off your sensitivity, but rather awakens you, makes you sensitive to the world of the spirit so that you resist temptations and walk in the things that God has for you. And there are ways to do it, 3 practical tips on how to enter that spiritual zone.

It says in verse 19, "speaking among yourselves with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." Singing and praising the Lord in your hearts. Brothers, I don't know if you have had the experience of coming to church dull, sad, depressed and the people singing and you feel, oh, it would be hypocritical to sing with them. But you force yourself and then you begin to feel better. The burdens go away, the light shines in because he is speaking among the people in a public context with psalms, songs from the Bible , hymns that are psalms written by Christians.

The book of Psalms continues to be written. There are songs written today that are anointed, that are inspired, not like the Bible is inspired, please, but they are anointed with the power of the Holy Ghost. And there is another song that you can do in church, and by the way, I hope that no one comes to church as a spectator, someone who is there to watch. We all come as a royal priesthood, we all come to make an offering to the Lord, the praise of mouths that confess his name, that is the new offering in this spiritual tabernacle that we are as the people of God.

Brothers, the Lord wants to hear your voice. Your voice pleases even if you sing ugly, even if you sing badly, if you sing from the heart it's not ugly. Not my girl, I'm already talking about her a lot. How many more years can… I can get away with this. She's learning to sing and she likes to sing sometimes like an opera singer, with that opera voice, it's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life. And it's the sweetest sound I can hear There is nothing better than that, listening to my girl singing, there is nothing better than that. And there is nothing uglier than listening to children teasing each other.

If I am like this as a human being, how would God be with me? When he hears my ugly voice, singing like a dying animal, but with a nice heart. It is a fragrant smell to him. Amen. And focus your heart on him.

There is another kind of song in the list, hymns and psalms, but there is another song, what is the other song mentioned here? spiritual songs. What's that? I believe that in the services that each one of us has the capacity to unleash a new song from my heart at some point, that the Holy Spirit begins to improvise a new song in a language, in Spanish, in English, in Swahili, in tongues, in whatever, a song of my spirit to God. Wow! that's rich.

Not only that, look at what it says, if I am worshiping God and singing in public it is more likely that I will sing and worship God in private. If I am faithful with what God has given me for Sunday morning, it is more likely that I will be faithful to God on Monday morning. Amen.

Because the proof of this message is not today, it is tomorrow at 7 in the morning. Saturday night, Friday night, Wednesday at 10 in the morning. If I'm walking with a song in my mouth and in my heart always. We have some crazy people here who go around singing to the Lord all day. There will be some who are driving and people looking at the glass, saying, look what that crazy woman is doing? Is singing. There is music playing, worship music.

Maybe at work you're singing a song, do your job. It is much more difficult to screw up if you are singing a praise to the Lord. It is still possible but it is more difficult to do it. And if you happen to be driving and you're worshiping and somebody cuts you off on the street, and if you're worshiping the flesh is less likely to manifest because you're in the flow of the Holy Spirit, brother.

Number 2, look at what he says, so practice number 1, public and private praise. Number 2, verse 20, “always giving thanks.” Only when things are going well and I'm happy and my team wins the super bowl. Always giving thanks for everything to God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brethren, I don't want to give the wrong message here. There are hard things in life. We do not have to thank God for tragedies, for sins in the world, but I can always recognize that even as Habakkuk says, even though the fig tree does not blossom and there are no figs and there are no fruits and there are no cows and everything is going wrong, still so I will praise my Lord. Although things are ugly, I thank you Jehovah because you are good and your mercy is forever, even in this trial that I am experiencing I know that my redeemer lives. Those are the most beautiful graces there are.

I am not saying that it is right that things are bad, but I am saying thank you that you are with me still in the valley of the shadow of death, your rod and your staff give me breath. Thank. The complaint, brothers, quenches the spirit. The complaint quenches the spirit. Every time I preach this the Lord convicts me not long after.

I think I talked about that recently. I preached this message and then there was snow and cold and rain and I arrived at the church and a little sister who comes from Santo Domingo next to Bocachica, comes here all wrapped up and rain and cold, and I say, “Oh, sister, what an ugly day,” she says, “I'm not complaining, I thank God that he's with me. And you?" Oops. I messed up. Because she was walking in the spirit, brethren.

We can't control if the sun is shining but I can control the interior climate of my life. I can control my attitude, my thanksgiving. I can thank God for everything and in everything.

When we do this we live a life that is centered on God because not only is it a beautiful day, but it is a day that you have made, Lord, thank you. It is not just a rich chop but one that you have given me and I thank you. God is in everything with me when I live a life of thanksgiving, brothers.

Adoration, thanksgiving and that the complaint is our enemy of the spirit. In the last one, and I want to mention it and then we're going to talk about it more next week, it's in verse 21, it's a key practice to lead a spiritual and Christ-centered life, “submit to one another in the fear of God .”

Some quiet amens. Submit yourselves, because in the original it says, "be filled with the Holy Spirit praising, giving thanks and submitting to others." The 3 things are the means of living an anointed life in the daily walk. The thing is, I can't be rebellious with my boss and walk in the spirit at work. I cannot disrespect in the house and think that I am going to live an anointed life in the house.

Respect and honor for the people in life. Not out of love for the person because some people do not deserve honor but out of reverence for Christ, out of fear of Christ. So in the relationship with the person I am always thinking of God.

We're going to talk about that more next week so you can make other plans if you want. But I want to end with that, that God calls us to live lives that shine, brothers. We have a great calling as a congregation, God has done wonders among us. Many of us shouldn't even be here and here we are. We are diamonds of his grace. God has raised us up and in the spirit we are already seated with Christ. It is time to walk like this, brothers. It is time to put on the uniform of Christ and walk worthy of the call with which we were called. Walk in the light as children of light.

I am going to invite you to pray with me but I want you to think not only about this moment but also tomorrow, tonight at home, tomorrow at work, in life situations because this is what spiritual walking is all about.

Let's stand up. Let's pray. Father, it is good to be your beloved son, Lord. It's good to be your beloved daughter. I hope you'll take a moment to think about that. You are the Lord's favorite, the beloved, the apple of his eyes, the son of his right hand. Thanks, Dad.

It's good to be special in front of you. I do not deserve it. We are sinners, Lord, but by your grace, you have made us new. We are your workmanship, Lord, for good works, prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Father, I ask you in the name of Jesus for a spirit of deliverance among us. Father, I ask you for precious brothers and sisters here, whom you love, who are struggling with things that weigh them down. Father, may they know that they can rise from the dead because Christ is shining and may Christ shine on you, brother.

God loves you. The light of Christ heals you, it does not punish you. And Father, I pray that that light will shine upon us and within us and through us. Lord, may we be lights in this city, Lord, and may the darkness flee before you, Lord. May we be a warrior people, ready to walk in the steps that you have prepared for us. Lord, we were darkness but now, Lord, we are light in the Lord. Thank you, Father, we will walk as children of light in the name of Jesus. Amen.