Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Men of the Old Testament spoke of things to come but did not see them. Jesus spoke of the end of the age. Many have thought they lived in that time but did not see the fulfillment of the prophecies. Covenant gives us a pattern. The covenant made with David reveals an everlasting kingdom with a descendent of David sitting on the throne. Jesus came as the son of David and proclaimed Himself the Son of Man. He has won the right to sit on the throne. When you understand covenant fullfillment, you know that His coming is to rule. He will bring thousands of conquering warriors with Him. At His coming those who are prepared will receive resurrected bodies and join the throng coming with Him. He will subdue all opposition to His rule and He will rule justly. Now is the time for individuals to receive the Kingdom of God but at His coming, the time will be for nations to receive His Kingdom. His kingdom began when He came the first time. We learn to bow to our King and do His bidding now, with the time coming to rule and reign with Him.
The circumstances and dark days are opportunities to see the triumph of the kingdom of light over this realm's darkness. We learn to live in His kingdom while facing the opposition of this realm to His dominion. We see people trying to eliminate any reference to Him and to deny His victory. Perhaps because they do not see those who profess Him moving in His victory. We celebrate His victory by triumphing over this darkness. He promised that we were to do the works He did. Covenant response is to believe His word and act on it. Our lives to be poured out before Him to do His will. Our words confirming His Word. Our love to be evident to all. Our desire consumed by a love for the lost and see them set free in Him. We are His body obedient to the commands sent us by the Head. We live connected to Him. Pray for His supply to your need but trust that He hears and answers. Do not lose your confidence.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friend of Covenant
Abraham was called "the friend of God". This is covenant language. Those in covenant were called "friends". This denotes a relationship far deeper than what we consider when we speak of our friends. A passage of scripture that meant much to me as a teenager speaks of this relationship. I John 1:1-7 (NLT) 1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
James said faith without action is dead. Abraham knew covenant and he knew when God said for him to take his son Isaac to a certain mountain and sacrifice him there, this was a covenant demand and he acted immediately. When the disciples realized that Jesus was not a victim of hate but One Who was cutting a New Covenant, they acted on His Word as a covenant response. This is why John is explicit in his wording that we live in spiritual darkness when we do not act on (practice) the truth. Walking in the light, responding to His Word, is the way to fellowship with God. Look closely at verse 7. Living in covenant relationship with God means a life of fellowship with each other which results in an ever present cleansing. Jesus told us clearly that we are to love one another. John shows us this is covenant action. If we hate our brother that we have seen how can we say we love Jesus Whom we have not seen. This goes far beyond tolerating people because they go to the same church. This is fellowship of friends. Our response to God is to recognize His identification with us. We cannot truly love God and not love those with whom He identifies Himself. His death is total identification with all who have lived, now live and will yet live on this earth. He is totally identified with the baby about to be aborted. How we act toward those with whom He identifies will be how we are judged for it is a covenant response. Jesus identifies himself with the marriage covenant and how we treat our spouse will be accounted as a covenant response to Him. Kindness, gentleness, compassion and consideration are the building blocks of fellowship.
James said faith without action is dead. Abraham knew covenant and he knew when God said for him to take his son Isaac to a certain mountain and sacrifice him there, this was a covenant demand and he acted immediately. When the disciples realized that Jesus was not a victim of hate but One Who was cutting a New Covenant, they acted on His Word as a covenant response. This is why John is explicit in his wording that we live in spiritual darkness when we do not act on (practice) the truth. Walking in the light, responding to His Word, is the way to fellowship with God. Look closely at verse 7. Living in covenant relationship with God means a life of fellowship with each other which results in an ever present cleansing. Jesus told us clearly that we are to love one another. John shows us this is covenant action. If we hate our brother that we have seen how can we say we love Jesus Whom we have not seen. This goes far beyond tolerating people because they go to the same church. This is fellowship of friends. Our response to God is to recognize His identification with us. We cannot truly love God and not love those with whom He identifies Himself. His death is total identification with all who have lived, now live and will yet live on this earth. He is totally identified with the baby about to be aborted. How we act toward those with whom He identifies will be how we are judged for it is a covenant response. Jesus identifies himself with the marriage covenant and how we treat our spouse will be accounted as a covenant response to Him. Kindness, gentleness, compassion and consideration are the building blocks of fellowship.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Power of the Covenant
Darkness is a large subject. It is often mentioned but can be (and often is) passed over. Genesis starts with the mention of darkness and the covenant of light begins. I have always been intrigued with the darkness that covered Mt. Sinaii. Moses went up through darkness to meet God. That darkness must have been very frightening. But out of that darkness came the Law, the written part of the covenant signed by the finger of God. That covenant was brought to fullness by the Blood of the cross, which opened the New Covenant. This also was cut in darkness. It took the resurrection of Jesus to bring the glorious Light of the New Covenant. It was in His resurrected body that Jesus breathed on His disciples the Holy Spirit that ministered new birth to their spirits.
The full circle of Jesus being seated on the throne in victory became for all of us the transference into the Kingdom of Light. I Peter 2:9 (ESV) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Colossians 1:13 (NASB) For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
I John 1:5-7 (NLT) 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
This water realm fractures light. If we view the Light of the Gospel with the understanding of this realm, the light is fractured. We get many views and many opinions. But when seen through the eye of the Spirit, we get one view. We have to walk in the Light as He is in the Light, then we have connection. We do not view one another by our own opinion but in the Light of His love. We are connected by the Blood and His Spirit. We must identify with the risen Lord and walk in the light of His victory. Put off the depression of discouragement and rejection and experience His Love by letting His love flow through you to each member of His Body. We all have the same covenant.
The full circle of Jesus being seated on the throne in victory became for all of us the transference into the Kingdom of Light. I Peter 2:9 (ESV) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Colossians 1:13 (NASB) For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,
I John 1:5-7 (NLT) 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
This water realm fractures light. If we view the Light of the Gospel with the understanding of this realm, the light is fractured. We get many views and many opinions. But when seen through the eye of the Spirit, we get one view. We have to walk in the Light as He is in the Light, then we have connection. We do not view one another by our own opinion but in the Light of His love. We are connected by the Blood and His Spirit. We must identify with the risen Lord and walk in the light of His victory. Put off the depression of discouragement and rejection and experience His Love by letting His love flow through you to each member of His Body. We all have the same covenant.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Appreciating our Covenant
When God cut the covenant with Abraham, it was a miracle connection between God and man. Abraham knew this and respected it by giving the obedience of faith. His obedience was beyond any response most Christians are called on to give. It began a covenant that governed the response of the natural. What you did, wore, ate, and how you worshipped were all within the natural but bore spiritual results in acceptance and natural blessings. Jesus came and walked out this covenant before God meeting all the requirements but went beyond to please the heart of God by giving total obedience and worship.
The connection God sought in this New Covenant was not possible until the cutting of this covenant was complete. Jesus walked with His disciples, taught, ministered to them and the multitudes, healed the sick and cast out demons but that did not open the connection with God. His death and resurrection did. Jesus completed the work during the time His body lay in the grave. He released the believing and obedient ones to a better place and took the Blood of the sacrifice to the altar in heaven. The connection was complete when He ascended to the Father so the Holy Spirit could come and indwell us. The power that raised Jesus from the grave can now dwell in mortal man through the faithful obedience to His Word.
The covenant we have in Jesus, not only gives us the opportunity to give God the response of covenant, but opens to us the same connection Jesus had with the Father. His resurrection proved Him to be the Son of God. Romans 1:1-2 He has opened the door for us to be adopted as sons of God; God's workmanship in us to be in the image of God. The empty tomb means to us a very personal relationship to the victory of Jesus. The covenant Jesus cut is a covenant of power.
The connection God sought in this New Covenant was not possible until the cutting of this covenant was complete. Jesus walked with His disciples, taught, ministered to them and the multitudes, healed the sick and cast out demons but that did not open the connection with God. His death and resurrection did. Jesus completed the work during the time His body lay in the grave. He released the believing and obedient ones to a better place and took the Blood of the sacrifice to the altar in heaven. The connection was complete when He ascended to the Father so the Holy Spirit could come and indwell us. The power that raised Jesus from the grave can now dwell in mortal man through the faithful obedience to His Word.
The covenant we have in Jesus, not only gives us the opportunity to give God the response of covenant, but opens to us the same connection Jesus had with the Father. His resurrection proved Him to be the Son of God. Romans 1:1-2 He has opened the door for us to be adopted as sons of God; God's workmanship in us to be in the image of God. The empty tomb means to us a very personal relationship to the victory of Jesus. The covenant Jesus cut is a covenant of power.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The connection of exchange
When Jesus said, "the work that I do you, too, shall do, and greater than these...", He started a theological debate on what He meant. To me, the greatest work He did was to go to the cross and exchange our sinfull existance for His unlimited Life. You can't have a connection without exchange. Jesus took on our likeness and came and walked out a human life in our realm. But until He took the step that allowed exchange, there could be no connection for us with Him. We could not die to sin and self and be resurrected into His eternal likeness without that exchange.
We learned that exchange is the bottom line of covenant cutting. You exchange names, possessions, blood and vows in a cutting ceremony. I heard a sermon yesterday on the 7 exchanges Jesus made on the cross. I want to give you a very condensed outline of those seven exchanges and I will only give you the Scripture reference. If you take the time to look up these references and meditate on them, you will benefit greatly.
In John 19:16-19, Jesus describes the event (His crucifixion) that was to follow, as the time of His glorification. (If you can see your cross experience as glorification you are well on your way to maturity in Him!) This was not how any of the disciples, or any of us, would have viewed that horrible sight. It was the most cruel of all punishments Rome could devise. Hundreds of years before, Isaiah described this exchange. Isaiah 53.
1. The punishment for our sin and iniquity. God punished Jesus for our sin. He does not punish you. When you have cancer, any grave illness, financial trouble, sudden losses due to flood or fire, accident or any bad thing, God is not punishing you. He may be trying to get your attention or discipline you to bring you into a greater relationship with Him, but it is NOT punishment. The time of punishment for all who refuse His provision and Love is held for a time of judgment after this time of opportunity is over. You may reap what you sow, Galatians 6:7-8, but that is not God punishing you. That is a covenant law that governs all this realm.
2. He took our sin and iniquity. He gives you in exchange washing, forgiveness, salvation to righteousness. II Corinthians 5:21
3. He took our sickness. ALL sickness and illness so we could have wholeness. Isaiah 53:4 I Peter 2:24
4. He took our separation from God. Mark 15:24 His Presence is with us constantly even when we are in our darkest hours and cannot feel His Presence, He is there. He carries us, holds us in His hand and enfolds us in His love. Thessalonians 5:9-1I
5. Isaiah 53:12 Jesus took our poverty. Not just our financial poverty but the extreme poverty of our limitation in ability, understanding, flesh, emotion and relationship. When we come as little children, understanding our lack and need, He opens the storehouse of heaven and we can see and enter into His kingdom. Jesus ravaged the kingdom of Satan and took the spoils and will allot our portion with the great. II Corinthians 8:9 Philippians 4:19
6. Jesus took our shame. When Adam and Eve sinned, they knew they were naked. God provided a temporary covering that required the blood of an animal. Jesus took our shame, hanging naked on the cross, that He might become the covering for us. He gives us His glory. Isaiah 53:3 Hebrews 12:1-3 Romans 8:17-18 I Peter 2:4-10
7. Jesus took the curse of the broken covenant. Isaiah 53:6 Galatians 3:13-22Your covenant response to take up your cross and follow Him involves so much more than token actions and words. It is not complete until your adamic nature is nailed to that cross and you live in Him. The connection Jesus provided is a total connection with all of His fulness and it will involve the emptying of all of our self-life. Jesus said to come drink of Him and out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. You will walk in His steps.
We learned that exchange is the bottom line of covenant cutting. You exchange names, possessions, blood and vows in a cutting ceremony. I heard a sermon yesterday on the 7 exchanges Jesus made on the cross. I want to give you a very condensed outline of those seven exchanges and I will only give you the Scripture reference. If you take the time to look up these references and meditate on them, you will benefit greatly.
In John 19:16-19, Jesus describes the event (His crucifixion) that was to follow, as the time of His glorification. (If you can see your cross experience as glorification you are well on your way to maturity in Him!) This was not how any of the disciples, or any of us, would have viewed that horrible sight. It was the most cruel of all punishments Rome could devise. Hundreds of years before, Isaiah described this exchange. Isaiah 53.
1. The punishment for our sin and iniquity. God punished Jesus for our sin. He does not punish you. When you have cancer, any grave illness, financial trouble, sudden losses due to flood or fire, accident or any bad thing, God is not punishing you. He may be trying to get your attention or discipline you to bring you into a greater relationship with Him, but it is NOT punishment. The time of punishment for all who refuse His provision and Love is held for a time of judgment after this time of opportunity is over. You may reap what you sow, Galatians 6:7-8, but that is not God punishing you. That is a covenant law that governs all this realm.
2. He took our sin and iniquity. He gives you in exchange washing, forgiveness, salvation to righteousness. II Corinthians 5:21
3. He took our sickness. ALL sickness and illness so we could have wholeness. Isaiah 53:4 I Peter 2:24
4. He took our separation from God. Mark 15:24 His Presence is with us constantly even when we are in our darkest hours and cannot feel His Presence, He is there. He carries us, holds us in His hand and enfolds us in His love. Thessalonians 5:9-1I
5. Isaiah 53:12 Jesus took our poverty. Not just our financial poverty but the extreme poverty of our limitation in ability, understanding, flesh, emotion and relationship. When we come as little children, understanding our lack and need, He opens the storehouse of heaven and we can see and enter into His kingdom. Jesus ravaged the kingdom of Satan and took the spoils and will allot our portion with the great. II Corinthians 8:9 Philippians 4:19
6. Jesus took our shame. When Adam and Eve sinned, they knew they were naked. God provided a temporary covering that required the blood of an animal. Jesus took our shame, hanging naked on the cross, that He might become the covering for us. He gives us His glory. Isaiah 53:3 Hebrews 12:1-3 Romans 8:17-18 I Peter 2:4-10
7. Jesus took the curse of the broken covenant. Isaiah 53:6 Galatians 3:13-22Your covenant response to take up your cross and follow Him involves so much more than token actions and words. It is not complete until your adamic nature is nailed to that cross and you live in Him. The connection Jesus provided is a total connection with all of His fulness and it will involve the emptying of all of our self-life. Jesus said to come drink of Him and out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. You will walk in His steps.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Why Connection?
The necessity for a connection to God is understood. But it should be checked just as a trailer-hitch is checked before pulling. Is the connection resulting in the flow of God to you and through you? Is your whole being involved in the connection? Is it resulting in fruitfulness? If not, the connection could be just a mental acceptance or a religious opinion concerning a ritualistic justification. I have often confronted a superstitous reliance on repeated action as the justification, such as chapters read in the Bible, prayers said, how much was done for charity, church attendance, etc. All of these are part of a connection but not the connection itself. Your spirit must be connected and the soul will follow. This is what Jesus was explaining to Nichodemus. You must be born again. Your mind can learn the facts concerning God, your emotions can be stirred and your body be trained to follow commands, but your spirit not be involved. Jesus said it was necessary for Him to return to the Father so the Comforter could come to live within the believer. He had to pay the price for your spirit to be born anew.
It takes connection to have a relationship. You expose yourself to hurt, rejection, and time. You have to share yourself and be available to help in time of need. It is actually the basic relationship of covenant. This is what Body ministry is all about. You give and you take. You help and you are helped. You give love and receive love. Your sorrow and your discouragement are visible, your success and your failures are shared. We are members of His Body.
It takes connection to have a relationship. You expose yourself to hurt, rejection, and time. You have to share yourself and be available to help in time of need. It is actually the basic relationship of covenant. This is what Body ministry is all about. You give and you take. You help and you are helped. You give love and receive love. Your sorrow and your discouragement are visible, your success and your failures are shared. We are members of His Body.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Making Connection
When meditating on the life of Joseph, I realized God was showing us a very important element in His making us in His image. It is the truth concerning connection. Joseph lost all connection with his family. Family was very important in Joseph's day for God was relating to this realm through the family line. With no significant connection to anyone in this realm, Joseph focused on his connection to God through the dreams God had given him and through his covenant God had made with his ancester.
A truth about connection that is very important for us to see is the carefulness Joseph took in making connections to this realm. He connected to Potiphar as his master and treated that connection in reverance to God. He treated his connection to the warden in prison in the same way. This allowed these men to see God in Joseph. We need to be very careful how we treat the connections to this realm. Many people are brought to acceptance to Christ after marriage. If the spouse does not follow, there is a connection with this realm that is dangerous if not treated with reverance to God. Peter tells us that the wife of an unsaved husband can be a witness of the new life in God by submission. Paul explains this more extensively in Ephesians by showing the submission is as to the Lord. In school and in the work place, in any relationship we have with the unsaved of this world, must be treated with focus on the Lord. Remember who you are in Christ and follow Him. He was in this realm but not of it. He prayed to the Father that He would keep us safe in this world.
Our civilization is constantly defined by the television that exposes the good and the bad. We have to be careful how we connect to the television and the computer. Both are in our world with dangerous elements to our relationship to God. Treat them with respect and reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
But I first came to see this important lesson as I meditated on Joseph's reaction to seeing his brothers. He saw the opportunity for the connection he needed. He did not rush to make it, but allowed God to lead him. It was God Who was making the connection and Joseph had to be sensitive to this. It is God Who sets us in His Body as it pleases Him, and we need to be sensitive to this. It is not our privilege to make that connection or to break it. If we are to know God and He is to know us, we have to allow Him to work in us. He leads, we must follow. When the way is not to our liking, we focus on Him and seek to see His Face. If the connection is not of Him, He will break it. If it is His will, we will see our will tested until we learn to yield to Him.
The connection to His Body is so much of God that you will look back on His leading and marvel at His mercy. The other most important connection you will make in this life is your marriage. Seek God for wisdom in this connection if you are married or not. We can form opinions that bind us and prevent the connection that God can use in you. God said it is not good for man to be alone. You will understand God's covenant better when you live it in the connections God provides. You will understand need and provision better. The hand cannot say of the foot, I have no need of you. We need to respect all connections to the Body of Christ. Seeing Christ in each one needs focus on Jesus and not the flesh of the person. This works in your church family and the members of other churches. It works in your family relaltionships and in your marriage. Focus on what the Lord is doing in them and not what you see needs yet to be done. Thankfulness and praise keeps us focused on Him and helps us to be kind in our dealings with one another.
A truth about connection that is very important for us to see is the carefulness Joseph took in making connections to this realm. He connected to Potiphar as his master and treated that connection in reverance to God. He treated his connection to the warden in prison in the same way. This allowed these men to see God in Joseph. We need to be very careful how we treat the connections to this realm. Many people are brought to acceptance to Christ after marriage. If the spouse does not follow, there is a connection with this realm that is dangerous if not treated with reverance to God. Peter tells us that the wife of an unsaved husband can be a witness of the new life in God by submission. Paul explains this more extensively in Ephesians by showing the submission is as to the Lord. In school and in the work place, in any relationship we have with the unsaved of this world, must be treated with focus on the Lord. Remember who you are in Christ and follow Him. He was in this realm but not of it. He prayed to the Father that He would keep us safe in this world.
Our civilization is constantly defined by the television that exposes the good and the bad. We have to be careful how we connect to the television and the computer. Both are in our world with dangerous elements to our relationship to God. Treat them with respect and reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
But I first came to see this important lesson as I meditated on Joseph's reaction to seeing his brothers. He saw the opportunity for the connection he needed. He did not rush to make it, but allowed God to lead him. It was God Who was making the connection and Joseph had to be sensitive to this. It is God Who sets us in His Body as it pleases Him, and we need to be sensitive to this. It is not our privilege to make that connection or to break it. If we are to know God and He is to know us, we have to allow Him to work in us. He leads, we must follow. When the way is not to our liking, we focus on Him and seek to see His Face. If the connection is not of Him, He will break it. If it is His will, we will see our will tested until we learn to yield to Him.
The connection to His Body is so much of God that you will look back on His leading and marvel at His mercy. The other most important connection you will make in this life is your marriage. Seek God for wisdom in this connection if you are married or not. We can form opinions that bind us and prevent the connection that God can use in you. God said it is not good for man to be alone. You will understand God's covenant better when you live it in the connections God provides. You will understand need and provision better. The hand cannot say of the foot, I have no need of you. We need to respect all connections to the Body of Christ. Seeing Christ in each one needs focus on Jesus and not the flesh of the person. This works in your church family and the members of other churches. It works in your family relaltionships and in your marriage. Focus on what the Lord is doing in them and not what you see needs yet to be done. Thankfulness and praise keeps us focused on Him and helps us to be kind in our dealings with one another.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Attaining Purity
Joseph is an excellant example of attainig purity. We can see his immature handling of the revelation of God to him in the reaction of his family. Sadly, he was only being human. The consequent events were not only to fulfill the covenant word by God to Abraham, but, also, to bring Joseph to the relationship with God that would allow God to move through him. This truth reveals the necessity for each of us to come to maturity and purity.
First, let us look at purity. What is purity? Jesus was pure. I have heard the response to that statement so many times that it is almost the common response. "Yes, but that was Jesus. I can't have that until I get to heaven." Jesus is the plumbline to which we will be judged. Before you get riled by that statement, let me explain. Jesus came to reveal the Father and the relationship possible for a person in this realm to attain to the same relationship with the Father that He had by prayer, obedience to the Spirit's leading, and submission to the will of the Father. These are part of the process toward relationship with God, but are also the elements of your path to purity. Purity demands we outgrow our self involvement. Losing our dependence on the wrong motivation, i.e., acting out what we think people want to see, reaching for a higher position for our own glory, or for self-justification.
What would Jesus do? This becomes a check with purity. The Word of God reveals what Jesus did, but the Spirit is our guide for that inner response. Forgiveness and thankfulness are two elements of purity that have to be practiced to become a part of us. Practice forgiveness among strangers when you are out driving or shopping or relaxing instead of giving way to criticism. Practice turning your eyes away from anything that would drive your mind to temptation. Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
The purity of Jesus that God is seeking to find in all of us is not a product of our own works. It requires our focus, our response and our carefulness to avoid vital connection with this world. We may be in it but we are not to be of it. But we do not achieve this by our own will power. The Holy Spirit in us nudges us toward that which pleases God. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
David cried, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a stedfast spirit within me. And in the same fifty-first psalm, he prayed that God would save him from bloodguilt. There are things we do out of human-adamic nature that we would not do when we are focused on our relationship with God and that we regret bitterly later. But David realized his blood was guilty. The fountain of his life stood condemned. Only God could deliver him from his guilt. This is what Jesus took into Himself and paid for with His blood. We can be pure because of Jesus' sacrifice and we can walk in His way. We choose to follow and in so doing, we choose purity. Repentance is the cane that keeps us from falling from the way.
First, let us look at purity. What is purity? Jesus was pure. I have heard the response to that statement so many times that it is almost the common response. "Yes, but that was Jesus. I can't have that until I get to heaven." Jesus is the plumbline to which we will be judged. Before you get riled by that statement, let me explain. Jesus came to reveal the Father and the relationship possible for a person in this realm to attain to the same relationship with the Father that He had by prayer, obedience to the Spirit's leading, and submission to the will of the Father. These are part of the process toward relationship with God, but are also the elements of your path to purity. Purity demands we outgrow our self involvement. Losing our dependence on the wrong motivation, i.e., acting out what we think people want to see, reaching for a higher position for our own glory, or for self-justification.
What would Jesus do? This becomes a check with purity. The Word of God reveals what Jesus did, but the Spirit is our guide for that inner response. Forgiveness and thankfulness are two elements of purity that have to be practiced to become a part of us. Practice forgiveness among strangers when you are out driving or shopping or relaxing instead of giving way to criticism. Practice turning your eyes away from anything that would drive your mind to temptation. Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
The purity of Jesus that God is seeking to find in all of us is not a product of our own works. It requires our focus, our response and our carefulness to avoid vital connection with this world. We may be in it but we are not to be of it. But we do not achieve this by our own will power. The Holy Spirit in us nudges us toward that which pleases God. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
David cried, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a stedfast spirit within me. And in the same fifty-first psalm, he prayed that God would save him from bloodguilt. There are things we do out of human-adamic nature that we would not do when we are focused on our relationship with God and that we regret bitterly later. But David realized his blood was guilty. The fountain of his life stood condemned. Only God could deliver him from his guilt. This is what Jesus took into Himself and paid for with His blood. We can be pure because of Jesus' sacrifice and we can walk in His way. We choose to follow and in so doing, we choose purity. Repentance is the cane that keeps us from falling from the way.
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