0:00Welcome to Life Point with your host, Pastor Tom Dordey. Top of the morning to you today, thank you for listening to Life Point. I am certainly glad you're here with me today. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for all you do, all you want to do, all you're going to do, and Lord may we listen carefully to you and be obedient to your Word. I thank you, Lord, for all those listeners that are out there, been listening some for years and years. I pray you'd bless them, and those who've just tuned in, pray you'd bless their lives. Lord, I thank you for my friends that I have even across the states that listen. I thank you for my friend, Julie Lord, in Vancouver, Washington. I pray you'd bless her, Lord, and thank you that you've given her all these years, and Lord, being the oldest living girl or person with Spina Bifida, Lord, is amazing, and her love for you is amazing.

1:01Thank you for her. Thank you for those that are faithful around the valley that are always encouraging me. And Lord, thank you for this radio station, and for Beth Shaffer, and leading her God, and giving her wisdom. I pray you'd direct her as she continues to lead this station, and all the shows that come on the station, that they'd bring glory to you in Jesus' name, amen. And by the way, I am going to do something special for you all here, oh, sometime, hopefully in the next month, I'm not going to say exact date, but years ago, the station gave me the opportunity to interview Chuck Swindall. And Chuck, if you don't know about Chuck, he's one of the great preachers of our day and a great writer of books, and he granted some interviews across the nation, and we happened to be able to be one of them, and they asked me to do the interview, and it'll be a two day, because it's like a 30-minute interview, but it was such a neat interview, and I'm going to recall it.

2:02It must have been 10 to 15 years ago, but I think I still have it on the archive if I do. I will warn you, because I'm going to announce it so people can listen, because I think it was just a great interview. Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you that ahead of time. So today, I want to talk about Ephesians chapter 5 for a moment, and it's a very straightforward book. It's one that you hear a lot about, because there's so much to be said about who we are and how we live, and we want to be people who live for the Lord, and we want to walk worthy in a dark world, and virtually that's what this is talking about, and he's kind of giving you a glimpse of the direction and the glimpse of things we need to avoid, and what we should do now for Christ. And so I think I'll just read to you if you don't mind, and I hope you don't. You can't tell me, because I can't hear you, but the first 14 verses of chapter 5, and

3:04then we'll talk about it. The imitators of God, therefore, is dearly loved children, and live a life of love. That's good by itself, isn't it, folks? The imitators of God, therefore, and dearly loved children, therefore dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us, and gave himself up for us, and a fragment offering, a fragrant offering, and sacrifice to God. And among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Now nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving, so we have an alternative. For this you can be sure, no immoral, impure, or greedy person, such a man as an idolater,

4:05as any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, or because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient, therefore do not be partners with them, or you are once darkness, but now you are lied in the Lord, live as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. And find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful, even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine in you. So we find in the first seven verses that we are to walk in love, not in the way of the

5:10world, not with all the world things that satisfy us, you know, the things that will all make us feel good, or this is a joy, this is so fun, you know, the Lord tells us what is good and what is right and what is pure, and we need to live by those things. And he opens up this passage by saying, be imitators of God, therefore dearly loved children, imitate God's example, to live a life worthy of his praise, to live a life that is pleasing to him, not a life of sin, and personal satisfaction, because sin sometimes is fun, and it's not fun at the end, folks. I can tell you that when we continue to live in sin, we don't imitate God to earn his love. We imitate God because we already loved Paul highlights behavior, and in any contradicts, the human nature of immorality, immorality, premarital sex, adultery, sex outside of marriage,

6:18impurity, things that are not good, things we should stay away from, anything that's impure, and you know what that is, greed, the love of money, the love of materialism, stay away from it, careless speech, and this is one that probably affects many people, and many Christian people, we get caught up in speech, and sometimes we say things we should, and I know I have, I know that I had to say, Lord, forgive me, I shouldn't say that, I shouldn't even think that, and I know those things, they come to mind sometimes, but God wants us to clear our hearts and minds of those, some things are just bad habits, you know, and greed, for example, is called a Dollar Tree because it replaces God itself. You know how many people dishonor God with greed, and they won't honor God with anything they have, they won't honor God with any fruits of their labor, they won't honor God in any way, but yet they want the hand of God, we want God to give us everything, but we don't

7:19want to give him anything, and that's just truth, and I can tell you that from all my years of ministry, watching things happen, but I've watched people who have been faithful to the things of God, and God continues to bless him over and over again, grace changes that we desire, not just what we stand away from, you know, grace is God's amazing gift to us, His unmerited favor to us, well who are we imitating? Are we imitating God? Are we entertaining the traditions of the world, the things all around us? What are we entertaining, entertaining? So we need to walk as children of light as we find in the 8th verse through 14, which I read, for you were one's darkness, right? Yes, you were darkness until you accepted Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, but now you are the light in the Lord. Notice Paul doesn't say we were in darkness, he says we were darkness, but now through

8:23Christ our dignity has changed, we have God's fruit, we have righteousness, we have honesty, we have truth, we have His goodness, and you know what, what does light do? It exposes and hides the dark, you know, if you get a flashlight out, you can see through the dark, the light sees through there, you can find things at night, in the middle of the night sometimes I'll take my phone so I don't disturb my wife and I'll use that light to kind of go around, you know, but that can be uncomfortable, it exposes, you know, but exposure leads to healing, we need healing in our life, if you realize there are some things you're struggling with your life, give it to God, let God do the healing. He says wake up sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Wake up, why does he say that? Because he knows many people are spiritually sleeping, many people are so caught up in the world and the spirituality of their life is not there, their faithfulness of God is

9:25not there, their faithfulness to the house of God is not there, their personal relationship to the God is not there, they just say, well, I believe so I'm fine. Well, folks, if I'm you, if I was you, I would certainly be concerned about judgment day, if that is your spirit, if that is your attitude, because God says to wake up, word of God says to wake up, and that's exactly what the revelator John Jesus says in, and in revelation, wake up. He says that on several, he says that to the seven churches, wake up, recognize where you're at, recognize where you're at with God, where are you at with God today? Wake up today, folks, we have to wake up. Sometimes I got to slap my face spiritually and say wake up, Tom, wake up and get it together. Make sure that you're staying in line with what I want for you. You know, many believers, I like this, I've read this the other day, many believers are saved, but they're sleepy. They're saved, but they're sleepy.

10:27They fall, fell into a path of just surviving. You know, light doesn't blend in, folks. Light stands out. Your house is dark until your lamp comes on. I have a friend of mine who everything in their house is electric, I mean, it, it's on a timer. So lights come on, blinds go down, blinds go up, it's kind of amazing. All of a sudden, when it's dark, we stayed at this place for a couple of months, why our apartment was getting ready and you can be sitting there all of a sudden, it's dark because I'll get out and all of a sudden, there goes the blinds go up and all of a sudden this light comes in and it's light and light shines so you can see everything around you. Well, folks, Bible says in the Word of God, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. That's in Matthew 6. And you know what, God will show you his way. God will show you his light when you wake up, be alert to the spirit of God and allow the

11:34spirit of God to move in your life. He wants to move in your life and he's moving in many of your lives and I am so thankful for that. You know, let's praise him together today. Let's thank him together today. Lord, I thank you for this day and I thank you for every single listener and I pray God you would bless them and the light of God would shine through them and they would see you clearly. Thank you in Jesus' name. Life point is a ministry of the Cloverdale Church of God. If you would like a copy of today's broadcast or would like more information about the church, please call us at 208-362-1,700 or right to Cloverdale Church of God, 37-55 South Cloverdale Road, or C.I.D. Road, 837-09. You may also visit us at our website, www.cloverdalechurch.org. Thank you for listening and have a blessed day.