This
week, Michael writes that the call to worship for Israel in Deuteronomy says,
"the Lord your God is one Lord. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, with all thy soul, and with
all thy might." As we move ahead upon our “Christian Journey”, we
encourage each other to look ahead. We cannot “rest upon our laurels”
(meaning to be satisfied with one's past success and to consider further effort
unnecessary). When we record our failures, we need to remember that these are
the stepping stones to success. When we miss the mark, we can triangulate
toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Our mission is
to create an environment where men and women can be encouraged in their faith,
where our prayer is "Lord come help yourself to our lives." Not looking back to that which is behind,
but pressing forward on the life path that God has prepared for us to
walk. In this life, mortality is 100%. Between now and then we are
encouraged to make our lives count for Christ. The beauty of walking with
the Lord is that morning by morning new
mercies I see. God's gracious goodness is new each day. Each new
day is a clean slate to walk in fellowship with Him. Our sins are not held
against us, for He who knew no sin was
made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the
righteousness of God in Him.
Our
adversary, the devil, is up to his old tricks. We are still in the midst of the
spiritual battle that has raged since “the fall of man”. Secular leaders
influenced by the "god of this world” – Satan, continue to lead in the
wrong direction. The right direction can only be viewed through the eyes
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He said, I
am the way the truth and the life. It's not what we stand against that
matters, rather, it's what we stand for that matters. Therefore, stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again in
the yoke of bondage.
Jesus,
himself, was "narrow minded" when He said the truth, "I am the
only way." Today, Christians are attacked for being narrow minded for
following the Lord and Savior of the world. They are ridiculed and ostracized
by political correctness because Christians follow the truth of “the Word of
God” and not “the word of man”. Holiness or sanctification means to be set
apart for the purpose intended by the Creator. We are called to be
discriminating and to set ourselves apart for the false word of man for God's
purpose. God's still in charge whether or not the "priests of secular
humanism" and the prevailing religion of our land acknowledge His
sovereignty. This is no different than when the prophet Ezekiel reproved
Israel in Ezekiel 25: 26, "Her priests have violated my law, and have
profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and
profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean..."
Sanctification starts with discrimination: understanding the difference
between the righteous standard of the Word of God and the God-rejecting world's
standard, where "everyone did right
in his own eyes." In this world, we will be tested every
day. Life is a series of choices. As Joshua said, "Choose ye this day whom ye shall
serve. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord"
Let’s
continue Michael’s message on being a blessing to others: in the next post.
In
Christ, Brian
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