"You wives must submit to your
husbands' leadership in the same way you submit to the Lord...And you husbands,
show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the church when He
died for her, to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's Word...
"Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has
placed them in authority over you. Honor your father and mother...
"And now a word to you parents. Don't keep on scolding and nagging your
children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving
discipline the Lord Himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice"
(Ephesians 5:22,25-26; 6:1-4).
When a dear Christian friend came to me for counsel one day, he and I agreed that something was obviously wrong in his relationship with Christ.
"Do you know for sure that you are filled with the Holy Spirit?" I asked.
"Yes, I know all about the Holy Spirit and I know that I am filled."
"Here's a good test," I suggested. Then I read him the above passage from Ephesians, whereupon the Holy Spirit helped him to realize, as he compared to this passage the daily reality of his walk with Christ, that he was not truly filled with the Holy Spirit. He was honest and confessed that he did not even begin to love his wife as Christ loved the church, nor did he have a good relationship with his children, but he wanted to measure up to the scriptural standard in both cases.
As we bowed together in prayer, by faith he claimed the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and God gave to him a joyful new relationship with Christ and with his wife and children, as well as with everybody else around him.
TODAY'S ACTION POINT: I will meditate on this passage from Ephesians 5. If these experiences are not real in my life, I will claim by faith the fullness and control of God's Holy Spirit and ask Him to make them a reality in my daily relationship with the Lord, with my loved ones and with all others.
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