<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Ephesians 4;17-19<div><br></div><div><b>17. &nbsp;Now this&nbsp;I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;</b></div><div><b>18. &nbsp;they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart;</b></div><div><b>19. &nbsp;They have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Is it not amazing&nbsp;that even though we <i>“have been given the Mind of Christ” </i>(1Corinthians 2;16)</div><div><u>AND</u>&nbsp;even though we have been <i>“sprinkled with clean water, and have been cleansed from all our uncleanness, from our old idols God has cleansed us,</i>&nbsp;<u>AND</u>&nbsp;even though God promised, <i>“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances, &nbsp;</i>(Ezekiel 36;25-27)</div><div><span>still, Paul,</span><span> speaking for God,</span><span> must admonish us Believers to no longer live like Unbelievers.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Unbelievers at least have an excuse, their minds are darkened, their hearts are hardened. &nbsp;But, we have no such excuse. &nbsp;We have been given new hearts and new minds, (the very Mind of Christ),</div><div>yet we still are guilty of yielding to our old Adam and&nbsp;conform ourselves to lives of uncleanness, blending in with Unbelievers. &nbsp; Why?</div><div><br></div><div>There is only one answer:&nbsp;We still have the ability to resist and disobey the will of God. &nbsp;We are without excuse. &nbsp;Certainly, Believers who insist and persist in living like Unbelievers are doubly worthy of God’s wrath. &nbsp;They have been set free from their prisons of darkness, sin, and death,&nbsp;but freely chose to still live as prisoners in cells with doors wide open! &nbsp;They love darkness!</div><div><br></div><div>Yet, we are no longer helpless victims of the fall into sin. &nbsp;We have been Baptized <u>into Christ.</u>&nbsp; Sin no longer has dominion over us. (see, Romans 6).&nbsp;Although we can still be tempted, and do sometimes fall to that temptation, we have been given the Holy Spirit by which we now have power to walk in newness of life. &nbsp;We are no longer slaves to sin. &nbsp;</div><div><i>&nbsp;“For freedom Christ has set us free.” </i>(Galatians 5;1)</div><div><br></div><div>Yes, the Church of Jesus Christ must still be exhorted to,<i>&nbsp;“by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body.” &nbsp;</i>(Romans 8) &nbsp; The Lord in his wisdom has allowed us to share in the sufferings of Christ by learning to deny ourselves. &nbsp;Our warfare is between our ears and in our hearts.<br><br>Christian living is <u>intended</u>&nbsp;by God to be a struggle which can only be won through faith in Christ indwelling us. &nbsp;This faith &nbsp;believes &nbsp;<i>“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in me; a</i><i>nd the&nbsp;</i><i>Iife I&nbsp;now live in the flesh, I&nbsp;live by faith in the Son of God who loved me&nbsp;and gave himself for me.” &nbsp; </i><span>(Galatians 2;20).&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><i></i></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>As we by faith in Christ indwelling us, learn to deny ourselves, putting to death the deeds of the body,</span></div><div><span>we truly walk in newness of life, eternal life, in mature manhood, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of&nbsp;Christ.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, we praise you for setting us free from the powers of sin and death. &nbsp;Bless us to by faith walk in the Spirit in newness of life—the very <i>“life of God,” &nbsp;</i>denying our&nbsp;passions and the&nbsp;appetites of the flesh, truly free, loving God,&nbsp;our neighbor, and our enemies. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His!”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Ephesians 4;17-19
17.  Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds;18.  they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart;19.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness.
Is it not amazing that even though we “have been given the Mind of Christ” (1Corinthians 2;16)AND even though we have been “sprinkled with clean water, and have been cleansed from all our uncleanness, from our old idols God has cleansed us, AND even though God promised, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances,  (Ezekiel 36;25-27)still, Paul, speaking for God, must admonish us Believers to no longer live like Unbelievers.
Unbelievers at least have an excuse, their minds are darkened, their hearts are hardened.  But, we have no such excuse.  We have been given new hearts and new minds, (the very Mind of Christ),yet we still are guilty of yielding to our old Adam and conform ourselves to lives of uncleanness, blending in with Unbelievers.   Why?
There is only one answer: We still have the ability to resist and disobey the will of God.  We are without excuse.  Certainly, Believers who insist and persist in living like Unbelievers are doubly worthy of God’s wrath.  They have been set free from their prisons of darkness, sin, and death, but freely chose to still live as prisoners in cells with doors wide open!  They love darkness!
Yet, we are no longer helpless victims of the fall into sin.  We have been Baptized into Christ.  Sin no longer has dominion over us. (see, Romans 6). Although we can still be tempted, and do sometimes fall to that temptation, we have been given the Holy Spirit by which we now have power to walk in newness of life.  We are no longer slaves to sin.   “For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5;1)
Yes, the Church of Jesus Christ must still be exhorted to, “by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body.”  (Romans 8)   The Lord in his wisdom has allowed us to share in the sufferings of Christ by learning to deny ourselves.  Our warfare is between our ears and in our hearts.

Christian living is intended by God to be a struggle which can only be won through faith in Christ indwelling us.  This faith  believes  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in me; and the Iife I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”   (Galatians 2;20). 
As we by faith in Christ indwelling us, learn to deny ourselves, putting to death the deeds of the body,we truly walk in newness of life, eternal life, in mature manhood, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, we praise you for setting us free from the powers of sin and death.  Bless us to by faith walk in the Spirit in newness of life—the very “life of God,”  denying our passions and the appetites of the flesh, truly free, loving God, our neighbor, and our enemies.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His!”




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