Tag: Consecration

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Separate and Unequal

“Be ye separate.”—2 Corinthians 6:17.  Holiness-of-God-Revised-5-13

HE Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world. He should be distinguished from it in the great object of his life. To him, “to live,” should be “Christ.” Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God’s glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal. You may strive to be rich; but be it your ambition to be “rich in faith,” and good works.

You may have pleasure; but when you are merry, sing psalms and make melody in your hearts to the Lord. In your spirit, as well as in your aim, you should differ from the world. Waiting humbly before God, always conscious of His presence, delighting in communion with Him, and seeking to know His will, you will prove that you are of heavenly race. And you should be separate from the world in your actions. If a thing be right, though you lose by it, it must be done; if it be wrong, though you would gain by it, you must scorn the sin for your Master’s sake. You must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Walk worthy of your high calling and dignity.

Remember, O Christian, that thou art a son of the King of kings. Therefore, keep thyself unspotted from the world. Soil not the fingers which are soon to sweep celestial strings; let not these eyes become the windows of lust which are soon to see the King in His beauty—let not those feet be defiled in miry places, which are soon to walk the golden streets—let not those hearts be filled with pride and bitterness which are ere long to be filled with heaven, and to overflow with ecstatic joy.
Then rise my soul! and soar away, Above the thoughtless crowd; Above the pleasures of the gay, And splendours of the proud; Up where eternal beauties bloom, And pleasures all divine; Where wealth, that never can consume, And endless glories shine.  C. H. Spurgeon

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Side with God’s Afflicted People.

Even thou wast as one of them.”—Obadiah 1:11.

ROTHERLY kindness was due from Edom to Israel in the time of need, but instead thereof, the men of Esau made common cause with Israel’s foes. Special stress in the sentence before us is laid upon the word thou; as when Caesar cried to Brutus, “and thou Brutus”; a bad action may be all the worse, because of the person who has committed it. When we sin, who are the chosen favorites of heaven, we sin with an emphasis; ours is a crying offence, because we are so peculiarly indulged. If an angel should lay his hand upon us when we are doing evil, he need not use any other rebuke than the question, “What thou? What dost thou here?” Much forgiven, much delivered, much instructed, much enriched, much blessed, shall we dare to put forth our hand unto evil? God forbid!

A few minutes of confession may be beneficial to thee, gentle reader, this morning. Hast thou never been as the wicked? At an evening party certain men laughed at uncleanness, and the joke was not altogether offensive to thine ear, even thou wast as one of them. When hard things were spoken concerning the ways of God, thou wast bashfully silent; and so, to on-lookers, thou wast as one of them. When worldlings were bartering in the market, and driving hard bargains, wast thou not as one of them? When they were pursuing vanity with a hunter’s foot, wert thou not as greedy for gain as they were? Could any difference be discerned between thee and them? Is there any difference?

Here we come to close quarters. Be honest with thine own soul, and make sure that thou art a new creature in Christ Jesus; but when this is sure, walk jealously, lest any should again be able to say, “Even thou wast as one of them.” Thou wouldst not desire to share their eternal doom, why then be like them here? Come not thou into their secret, lest thou come into their ruin. Side with the afflicted people of God, and not with the world.

C. H. Spurgeon

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Happier New Year

Begin 2015 with a period of consecration is that God’s will may be done in our lives.  The Bible says, “Now the God of peace. . . make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST….”Hebrews 13:20, 21

It is really the Lord Jesus who does God’s will.    The Gospels tell us how the Lord Jesus did His Father’s will when He lived here on earth. The book of Acts tells us how He continued to do the Father’s will through the apostles and disciples of that day. Now, the Lord Jesus wants to work through us to do God’s will. To do this, He needs us to offer our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice.

The Lord Jesus has no hands to do God’s work here on earth except our hands. He has no feet to take God’s message to the lost except our feet. He has no lips to tell men of God’s salvation except our lips.

When we give ourselves completely to the Lord Jesus, He will work through us even as the Father worked through Him.   He loves us and wants to give you and me an abundant life.

So take some time for prayer, fasting, solitude and seek the Lord for 2015, and have a happier new year.

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Take Out The Trash

I’ve been reading through the Bible for the past few months, and I am always amazed by the majesty and the preciseness of our God.  The past two days, since the beginning of Holy Week, a persistence phrase keeps coming up – “Take out the Trash.”  It arose quite strongly yesterday during my meditation time, and again today while reading through the book of Numbers.  Now I know for some the OT can be a little confusing especially in Numbers and Leviticus, but this is where you see the majesty and precision of God.  Those wonderful details, if taken slowly and with reverence, can yield a mountain of revelation about our God.  What does this have to do with Take out the Trash?  Well in Numbers Chapter 4:1-49, God gives specific instructions to Moses and Aaron the priest on how to dissemble the Tabernacle, and whose is responsible for this enormous task.  There is a registration of men from the priestly tribe of Levi, those between the age of 30-50 years old who must prepare each sacred item for transporting during their wilderness journey. Meticulous planning and arrangements, even down to where these men are stationed within the camp were given by God to Moses and Aaron. Simply amazing.  And as I read this and reflected on the fact that this is Holy Week, I thought about how careless we’ve become during this sacred time leading up to Resurrection Sunday.  We go through the day not stopping to carefully arranged “sacred moments” for God, nor for ourselves.  Our Jewish brethren have begun Passover, where all “regular” activity has stopped, and story of the Exodus is told in great detail. This festival, commanded by God is a time of remembrance of about who they are and where they came from. It is shared, particularly with the young so they will know and understand their legacy and history, but more importantly how God brought them up out of bondage to freedom. There are preparations which included the purging and removal all food items containing “leaven” from their homes.  The house is cleared, and the “sacred” is highlighted, so mind and hearts can express appreciation to God for His gifts and blessings.

We, on the over hand spend nights watching “Scandal” or “Criminal Minds” filling our hearts and spirits with images designed to clog us with debris, and trash which robs us from experiencing God’s fullness.  The “sacred” is overshadowed by the fields of brokenness, pain, suffering, worry, pride, violence, envy, shame, guilt and the sin that so easily besets us.  Paul under the anointing of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16-17 NLT), stated “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and YOU are that temple.”  We failed to recognize who we are and where we came from.  This important announcement is highlighted God’s word.  We, who profess the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior have a duty; a sacred responsibility to maintain this temple(us) for God’s work.  It can’t and should not be littered with trash of this world.   He built us for greatness.  He created us in His image.  We are His workmen destined to show forth His majesty, dominion, power and love to the world.

Shouldn’t we consider how carefully we are approaching this sacred time?  Are we preparing our hearts and minds for His return?  Will Resurrection Sunday be just another date on the calendar, or will we show the world, by our example that we have taken out the trash?

Yes, there is much trash that needs to be removed, not just during Holy Week, but each and every day.  We must with intent and love, remove the build up of trash that has plugged, plagued and prevented our Holy Temples from being beacons of life, light and hope.  trash people 08

 

 

 

We need to stop feeding on the “dead carcasses” of the world, and prepare our Temples to transportation.  I guess that’s why the message of taking out the trash has been so pressing.  We all need to clear the way for Christ’s return, and prepare ourselves for his rightful position on the throne of our earthly temples.  Ready to take out the trash?  I hope so.  Let’s consider ways to consecrate this week to Him, and make His light shine.

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