[Pastor Ralph]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

[Commissioned]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity?
Every opportunity is a moment to walk in obedience to the Will of God.

Why do we resist that?
Our resistance come because we sometimes miss the moment, we don't see an opportunity and it just escapes us. Then there are times when the opportunity is there and we wait for someone else to step in and do what we were supposed to do. There are also times when out of fear we allow a moment to pass by without us seizing the opportunity.

What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?
To be ready for opportunities, we must spent time in the Word of God, spend time with God and spend time with the people of God. Then when the opportunities come we'd be ready. Ready because we've leard thru the Word and in spending time with God, to trust that He will enable us to accomplish the plans that he have for us.

[cct1106]

Because of the wickedness in the world if we do not keep strict watch we can be engulfed into wickedness. We must continually be on watch/guard so to not bring calamity on ourselves.

[Ken7]

My wife and I did not mature in our Love without taking full advantage of every moment we each have - together. We did not get get to the point of 'knowing' one another without a lot of communication, understanding, pain, and joy. We have tried to take advantage of every moment together as effectively as we can. We are human and don't "get it right the first time" that often - but we do keep on keepin' on trying - if you will.

We resist for many reasons: 1) It is WORK 2) It is uncomfortable at first 3) It is contrary to our nature.

We must be changed by God at the Heart level of our spiritual lives.

[Helenmm]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Whatever we do has repercussions in our lives. Everything we do is a seed sown for the future which cannot be undone. We can repent, but we cannot undo the past. Seeing that we are active every moment of our lives (even doing nothing is using the moment!) Then we need to make good use of every moment so that the consequence will be advantageous and beneficial. If the days are evil, then we have to be very aware of what is good and what is evil, so we must be careful to study the Word to know truth, and make wise choices. Wisdom, says the proverb, is the utimate thing.

Every moment represents an opportunity to do good. Every good thing that we o is recorded in Heaven as a jewel for our crown. This is our treasure in Heaven (not our means of getting there - that is jesus alone). We can take nothing to Heaven except other people, so we need to use the time to be kind, to help and to sow seeds of faith in others. These are the opportunities we have while we are here.

Why do we resist that? In our western world we seek above all things convenience. We hardly know that we do it, it is so ingrained. We hate to be inconvenienced by weather, people we don't like so well, by God's reasonable expectations of us. We simply tend not to see what we don't want to see. We are short on time to tune in with God. We allow ignorance to run its course rather than sharpen up and be aware of the time and opportunity. We run in ruts rather than with the Holy Spirit of the living God.

I think if we pay more attention to the time we spend with God quietly, we will become more aware of the opportunities we have to do the works that He has prepared for us to walk in. If we are truly in love with Jesus we will do His will. As we truly seek God in prayer about the people around about us, we will have increasing desire to win them for Him.

[Stan]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

He wants us to understand that time is short, we don't knpw how long we will be here are how many opportunities we will have to spread God's Good News, Jesus and His love for us so we need ato make the most out of every moment.

We resist out of fear, not knowing how to approach some one on the matter of their salvation. We fall into the worldly frame of mind let them find out for them selves. We let go of the ideal that Jesus taught love your neighbor, go into all the world and seek and save the lost.

We must repel the worldly view and remain stedfast in the knowledge that Jesus will do what He says He will do and that we need not fear, we must plant the seeds and God will make them grow.

[kiqstart]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?


Because no one knows when Christ will return, so we should make the most of every opportunity, we resist because we feel we don't how to explain it, and we would have to get out of our comfort zone.

[masika]

Paul was communicating the sense of urgency because of evil pervesiveness.
Our days are difficult and we also need the same sense of urgence - We must keep our standard high , act wisely and do good whenever we can.
We must allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our inner being because we can not make with our own strength.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?
Paul tells us to make the very most of the opportunities we are provided in "the light" not lingering in the "darkness" because the light is the way of the Lord. We must be that example that Jesus has provided us, living in a new self, living a Christ-like life. Throwing away our old habits and ways. We seldom resist giving up our old habit and ways because we were taught that these ways are exceptable in our worldly standards. So these ways were ingrained into our beings as exceptable behavior. We being sinful creatures find it hard to except change, especially a change that we believe has been pleasing and desirable toward our worldly standards and beliefs. What we must do to change this behavior is "put on a new self" as Paul has told us, we must walk in the light and not in the darkness of the unwise. We must study and seek the answers that Jesus has provided for us in our studies of the word. We must live an example that Christ has shown us through his behavior following the pattern that he has revealed to be approproate doing his stay. We must wear this behavior as it is our coat of protection, a symbol of our love and dedication, which will shine a light through our ever being, shining and glowing with the love and understanding of Christ.

[charisbarak]

Paul exhorts us to make the most of every opportunity because our lives on earth are so short, so we need to prioritize what is important to us. Becoming more Christ-like in our behavior & attitude has to be the primary goal. In seeking to reach that goal, we draw others to Christ. We see things in a different light.

We resist that because it takes much work & we fall short by easily seeking to fulfil our own desires.

Our lives, attitude & the reason for living has to change. When Christ is foremost in our lives, it will show. He will give us the strength to live the way He wants us to.

[JustJeff]

As our world grows darker each day our chance to win souls to the Lord diminishes. A secular society has little need for a loving God. So too, our lives are fleeting and we can ill afford to let an opportunity to be a witness, to someone who the Lord has sent our way, pass us by. Carpi diem as the saying goes. We must seize the moment. Sadly though, our flesh always seems to hinder us, taking our boldness away. Political correctness is the catchall to justify our fears and another soul sails by.
We need to stand firm in the faith, not fearing what man can do to us but God. We cannot be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but must go forth each day boldly with the knowledge that a person's life may depend upon a meeting with us that day.

[haar]

Paul exhorts us to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. As children of light in a dark wolrd, we have o tuse every chance available to let our light shine by exposing the truth, doing an act of righteousness to show the world that is still posible to be different.

We probably are just careless and lukewarm Christians that is why we do not make the most of evry opportunity that comes our way.

We need to be revived in our Christian lives; to surrender our lives to the controll of the Holy Spirit so that we can be sensitive to the various opportunities tha will come our way.

[PCHRIS]

we need to make the most of what God has given to us otherwise we wouldn't be obedient. We have a job to do either in spreading the good news, being a living testimony, or being there for people. We have to be the light in this dark world.

Why we don't? because sometimes its fear, maybe we are not attuned to what opportunities God is giving to us.

We need to be constantly in tune with the Father and thats through prayer, worship and feeding in God's Word daily.

[June]

We are to live wisely and make the most of every opportunity to shine for God. To do what is right , to say the right things whenever the opportunity arises and not be too timid or shy - or too fear speaking out for Christ. We must be born again and let the Holy Spirit work through us. We must get self out of the way and let God work in and through us. We need a constant renewal and refilling of the Holy Spirit.

[Helen Williams]

Some opportunties come once in a life time. There have been times in all our lives when we should have taken advantage and we didn't. We have had opportunties to witness and we let them passed. Forgive us Lord Jesus! We have opportunities to shine daily and be a light. We are living in dangerous and evil days, so let us be watchful in out daily living. We resist because we are fearful, what might be said to hurt our feeling, and there might be time you might hear what you use to do or be. We must keep an alert mind, be prayful, ask God to give us strength to make the most of every opportunity.

[Eudora]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity?

We each are given a limited amount of time on this earth. The Bible tells us that The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet our boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. In order to get the most out of these years that we are blessed with, we should always be in the Word, learning all that we can so that when an opportunity arises, we can share what we have learned.

We are told to watch and pray too. This is a verse to be on guard watching and praying in the latter days stuff but I think that it applies to us every day. We are a people in constant prayer through out the day, either in audible voice or in our hearts and our mind or perhaps in the spirit.

When we are out and about, we are always watching what or who is on our path for that day. We should always be looking for The Lord. So when we are always on the look out, we will see where He is leading us. We are Kingdom thinkers, seekers and builders. Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. It is when we see the part of the kingdom that God has laid out for us to walk into, that we can at that time, utilize what we have learned from Him and share it with the person or the event that God has placed on our path.


Why do we resist that? I don’t have any idea why anyone would resist being used by The Lord. He promises to walk with us each step of the way and that He will never forsake us. The Lord God, spoke through the prophet Zechariah and told him to tell Zerubbabel that the building of the temple would not be built by his might, nor by his power but that it would be built by His Spirit. When we walk in and by the power of The Holy Spirit, we too will see into the Kingdom, things that are not seen by the naked eye of an un spirit filled human being. But we don’t need to resist it at all. I am not saying that I haven’t because I have.

I was coming back from the city one day and on the freeway, I was prompted by the spirit to stop in at the city that precedes where I live out in the country and stop at one particular home and go in and lay hands on their autistic son and pray for him. This family just moved back and even though I have known the father of this child, I have never met the mother or their other children. It just didn’t seem right that I should just waltz into their home and do this, but I have always wondered what God would have done, what miracle that I had prevented by not obeying what The Spirit of The Lord had told me to do.

I kind of feel like perhaps how Jesus might have felt when just before God raised Him from the dead, Jesus was called to the home of a friend Lazarus and was to raise him from the dead. Did Jesus have to go through that in order to build His faith that He too would be risen from the dead? Now here I am , about a month later and a friend of mine has been sentenced to death by a Dr. who has pronounced that he has a month left to live and has cancer of the liver. He has no signs of this at all. Yet my friend has literally walked right into a death bed and has given up.

I wonder now if I had been a witness to a healing of a young child whom I have never met before, that my faith would have been so elevated that I could walk up to my friend now and lay hands on him, and stand in the gap for his lack of faith and pray that he be healed and witness another miracle and watch God be glorified by a great big family who has all come to be with this monarch of our community.


What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity? Well speaking for myself, I believe that I have a lot of faith. The only answers to pray that I have not received have been prayers of death and life for other people. Their healing and complete restoration. I know that Jesus still heals today. I know that Jesus still raises people from the dead. I have not personally witnessed it but I read about these remarkable miracles every day. I see people testify of their having witnessed these miracles. I know that God will one day strengthen my faith by showing me this type of healing. He has in my own body. But know one really knows for sure that this has happened because they did not see the Drs report of how a lump was there and then was completely gone. They only have my word for it. Some day I will walk though that fire and not even let my feet slip or fall behind. One day I will just trust that when He tells me to go and lay hands on a person and pray for them that they will be healed and I will witness this type of healing ministry that Jesus had while He walked this earth. Then God will be glorified like He should have been the day that I was told to go into that young boy's home. I let God down and for that I repent. I let that child down, but that doesn't mean that God will not send someone else.

[linda bass]

Paul exhorts us to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. We only have a limited amount of time on earth to make an impact for Christ.
We resist this because often we are afraid of what others will think of us.
We need to be ready for an opportunity to share are faith, by praying and by being on the lookout for them.

[sis. dee]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

Because these are desperate/evil time that we are living in. I think that we resist this because often we are afraid of what others will think/say of us. We need a renewing and outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our life.

[Minchar]

Q2. (Ephesians 5:15-16) Why does Paul exhort us to make the most of every opportunity? Why do we resist that? What must happen in our lives so we can be ready for the opportunity?

We must make the most of every opportunity because certain moments only come once. You want to always be prepared to share godly words to someone who may desperately need it at that moment. You could possibly save someone's life. They could be on the verge of committing suicide or killing someone else. These are evil and desperate times and we must be carefule with the words we choose and also not to keep silent when we are to share. Alot time we resist to make most out of every opportunity because we have become lazy and fearful Christians. We do no more and no less at times and miss great opportunity due to our complacent and timidy spirits. We must pray for boldness and not be afraid when it comes to sharing a godly word or even living a godly life before men even if it means that we will cost of friendships...or anything else. As Paul says "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness."