{"id":6586,"date":"2022-09-26T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=6586"},"modified":"2022-08-03T13:16:17","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T18:16:17","slug":"futility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/09\/26\/futility\/","title":{"rendered":"FUTILITY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Daily Reading:<\/strong> Isaiah 48:12-50:11 ESV<\/a>, Ephesians 4:17-32 ESV,<\/a> Psalm 69:1-18 ESV<\/a>, Proverbs 24:5-6 ESV<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Verse:<\/strong> \u201cNow this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility<\/em> of their minds.\u201d (Ephesians 4:17 ESV<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MATAIOTES (3153): <\/strong>\u201cThis word stresses emptiness as to results and is used of the mind which governs the manner of life of the Gentiles (Eph. 4:17).\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empty minds.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul doesn\u2019t want the Ephesians to step back into their self-indulgent ways.\u00a0 Futile thinking comes from aimless, empty minds.\u00a0 Our actions come from our thoughts, awareness of what fills our minds helps us change what we do.\u00a0 But if we slip back into our old thinking patterns, we will fall back into our old ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, I battled low self-esteem from internalizing lies and forming my life around them.  False thoughts such as, \u201cNo one cares about me,\u201d or \u201cNo one listens to me,\u201d caused me to create defense mechanisms and shut people out of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning my life over to Jesus revealed the lies and helped me change my actions.  Instead of self-destructive behavior, I began to live a healthier lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full hearts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submitting my life to Jesus and giving Him access to my heart filled it with love like no other.  As I gave more of myself to Christ, the more He revealed to me.  And I began to realize that people care and listen to me.  Life changed as I began to receive God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the minute a bond breaks, the devil attacks.  One night, at a social event, I shared how God exposed the lie about \u201cNo one listens to me\u201d in my life.  Immediately after telling the story, one of the guests said, \u201cAre you done? Because no one wants to hear what you have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the person meant the words as a joke, but the reply stung me for someone trying to overcome the lie.  Futile thoughts immediately came into my mind, but God\u2019s love won the battle.  Jesus\u2019s grace helped me forgive and let the statement go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep your thoughts focused on Jesus by\u00a0daily spending time with Him.\u00a0 Read God\u2019s word and apply it to your life.\u00a0 Without a doubt, God will reveal futile thinking and fill your heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible<\/em>. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em> (p. 158) Thomas Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 minute read. Daily Reading: Isaiah 48:12-50:11 ESV, Ephesians 4:17-32 ESV, Psalm 69:1-18 ESV, Proverbs 24:5-6 ESV Daily Verse: \u201cNow this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.\u201d (Ephesians 4:17 ESV) MATAIOTES (3153): \u201cThis word stresses emptiness as to results and is… Continue reading FUTILITY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6586"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6597,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions\/6597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}