In His
Word- 10-1-12
Why should
we care about how we behave around non-Christians or Christians for that matter?
After all we are saved and going to heaven so we are perfect right?
Well,
maybe not, but we are on our way. Still there are things we need to do to keep
ourselves undamaged by the world we live. We are responsible to follow the
directions in the Word of God about our lives. It does matter what others think
because they may follow us the wrong way if we do not follow the Lord's teaching
correctly. If we allow messed up thoughts to enter into our thought patter we
can clutter up our lives, and those around us. So what should we do? We know we
can't be good enough to please God ourselves but lets look in the Word and see
what the Lord says we should do.
For I am
the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am
holy. Leviticus 11:44
I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Hebrews
12:1
H- holy “be holy for I am holy”
Leviticus 11:44
O- Only One: For there is only one God and one Mediator who can
reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy
2:5
L -” Love one another as I have
loved you”. Jesus loves us unconditionally, so we too should love one another
regardless of the stupid things we have seen or heard about one another,
regardless of the sin we have seen or heard God loves us and so we too should
love one another in the same way.
I am
writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is
not a new
commandment, but one we have
had from the beginning. 2 John 1:5
Y-Your will be done. Not my will,
not my wants but your desire in our lives is what we should yearn for.
He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to
the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering
be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to
be done, not
mine.”
Matthew 26:39
P-Purify
me from my sins, and I will be
clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalm
51:7
We can try our hardest to be perfect, but
it wont happen. We can attempt to be good; but we can't. There is only one who
can be that good, and that is God. The good news is that He has made a way to
make us good, to purify us of our sins just like the purification process of
gold. He refines us and cleans up our souls, so that we can clean up our lives.
Our part is walking in the clean life He has put before us and not allowing
anything to damage the process, not allowing anything impure to enter into our
lives.
Stinking-thinking, visual images, even
some people; they can all damage the purification process if we allow them into
our lives. Sometimes we just have to stop hanging around with someone because
they are weighing us down; they are keeping us complaining, or walking on the
edge of the world instead of in the promises God has given us.
U- Understanding “lean not in your
own understanding” Proverbs 3:5 Do not try to figure it out in our own ways, but
look to God via the Holy Spirit to understand just what God is doing in our
lives each day. Sometimes it is hard to get through a trial or a test, or just
'one of those days'. Sometimes though, God will give us a supernatural
understanding of why we have to live through a situation, however hard it may be
to suffer through we can do it if we remember Jesus' words “not my will but
thine be done”.
R-Repent, restart and renew! The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will
not reject a broken and
repentant heart, O
God. Psalm 51:17
Dear
friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have
had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same
message you heard before. 1 John 2:4
It's the same message, but with a new
light. God is the giver of second chances and we can restart or reboot our lives
and become the very persons He wants us to be; it is not too late to change.
I long to
obey your commandments! Renew
my life with your
goodness. Psalm 119:40
E-Examine our hearts and minds, get
rid of all that bad stuff and we will live eternally with Him.
People may
be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives. Proverbs
16:12
My
conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself
who will examine
me and
decide. 1 Corinthians 4:4.
Ask the Lord to examine our hearts and
minds, and accept what He finds as truth and then walk through the cleansing
process. Sometimes the examining of our hearts brings out dirt we did not
realize we had kept; or sort of like that left over dish that got pushed to the
back of the refrigerator that no one wants to touch to clean the bowl. We would
be tempted to just throw it out, but we know the bowl is good just the contents
are rotten. God sees us the same way; the heart is good just the contents are
rotten. Do not be sad, all is not lost, our God will remove the lid dump out the
nasty, fuzzy, smelliness from our hearts and minds and cleans us. We can renew
our minds daily in the Word and with prayer. This will take us back to the
rebuilding stage but then when we examine our hearts, comparing them to what God
desires for us to have in there; we can rejoice knowing He has made us pure and
holy.
So what are we going to do with this
knowledge?
Follow the steps, ask Him to help us
become Pure and Holy just as He is holy today.
The mess that we all walk though each day
is sure to cause us to pick up some gunk or muck to get rid of; remember to pray
daily to get it removed.
Daily pray; Lord see if there is any
wicked way in me and try me and cleanse me and make me free!
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know
my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that
offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting
life. Psalm 139:23,24
It may take tears, and weeping beyond
control at times but God will have His way and cleanse us and make us whole. It
is His desire that we would all come to Him this way, but it is up to us to make
the choice to change. We are never too old or too lost to be found by Jesus and
restored to the life He promises us.
A life of love, guidance and peace; when
we keep our minds on Him.
You will
keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you, all
whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah
26:3
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to keep our
eyes on You that we may not be persuaded by the world we live in. Help us to
keep our thoughts pure and acceptable to you, in Jesus name, amen.
Suggested readings: Titus2:1-15, 1 John
2:1-29,John 5:1-30, 1 Timothy 2:1-30,