Power In A Clean Life!
Holiness means we are set apart for God’s use!
1 Thessalonians 4: 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.
*We are being reminded here that our body is holy and created by God, and even more so once we invite Jesus into our lives.
*do we realize that when we sin we aren’t just hurting ourselves but God and the other person.
* God wants us to be pure, holy and follow him.
*When we don’t follow these rules we aren’t sinning against humans only but we are also hurting God.
*The fact that I have accepted God should make me want to live for him more and more.
* Growing in my time with him should be a daily joy.
*In my growth I need to learn how to be more self-controlled, deal with issues with God as they come up and this is all to become closer and closer to God’s will for me to be made holy.
Being a Christian is more than just lip service. It’s living your life in such a way that others see a difference in you. So as you go throughout your life, let others see God’s grace and love in you!
THE POWER OF A CLEAN AND
BLAMELESS LIFE
When you set your heart to walk blameless before God—living in a way that is pleasing to the Lord—you will be feared and despised by those who have lost the favor and blessing of God.
Lukewarm or compromised Christians will be absolutely disturbed and repelled by your life!
We see this illustrated vividly in 1 Samuel: “Now Saul was afraid of David,
because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul… And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him” (1 Samuel 18:12-15).
David’s blameless behavior struck fear in Saul’s heart! Whenever Saul was
around David, he remembered the time he had enjoyed the favor of God and the high esteem of men.
** But disobedience, envy, pride and self-will had cost Saul every bit of power with God. And it robbed him of all respect of the people.
Now, Saul had come face to face with a younger man—a less experienced,
probably less articulate, man—who exuded the power and integrity of holiness.
He was pure in heart, full of the Holy Spirit and Saul was afraid of him!
Keep in mind that this was no idolatrous pagan who was afraid of David. No,
Saul was a man who had known the power of the Holy Spirit!
He had once been God’s anointed, a mighty man chosen of God!
David was simply living a clean life and God was pouring out favor upon him!
“All Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them” (1 Samuel 18:16).
Saul did not want to be around David. Scripture says “Therefore Saul removed
him from his presence” (1 Samuel 18:13).
* Sadly, Saul represents the
compromised church of today, those Christians who have compromised and lost the anointing of God.
* He is a type of the believer who once was full of the Holy Spirit, baptized, on fire for God, but has been robbed of everything they once knew of God by their disobedience, pride and lust.
There is nothing scarier to a compromised Christian than a holy blameless life!!!!
And the more your life lines up with the Lord’s will and His holiness, the
more repelling you will become to backslidden believers.
Taking up Our Cross?
Jesus said that if we are to truly be His disciples we are to “take up our cross daily and follow Him” (Luke 9:23). But what does that mean?
Jesus’ call on the disciples’ lives is complete. He reminds them of who is in charge, then he calls them to a lifestyle of self-sacrifice.
Hosea 6:6 I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
**To lose one’s life IS to really live and find ‘life’ in the kingdom of God.
I am reminded of how easy it is to default into a place of self-centeredness and avoid the life of sacrifice.
Yet, I know that it is the place of freedom, joy and service in the kingdom of God.
God wants us to be holy in an unholy world. Easier said than done.
* God sent Jesus to walk on this earth with man.
* Jesus was sinless and different from normal people in every way.
* God wants us to be that way, different from normal in every way possible.
* He wants us to live our lives on earth just as Jesus did.
**Jesus dedicated his life to serving others, loving others, and spreading the gospel. And at the end, he died on the cross for my sins and the world’s sin.
* God doesn’t want us to die on a cross for everyone’s sin, but he does want us to act like Jesus did while on earth.
* God doesn’t expect us to do this alone, he sends his Holy Spirit to guide us in Christ ways and help us to avoid sin.
* It’s very difficult to be holy in an unholy world when we rub shoulders with sin daily.
** But it can be done with God’s help and the Holy Spirits guidance.
Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
Dear Heavenly Father, help me to be holy, like you, in an unholy world. God help me to block out the sins of the world and be set apart, different from normal. Allow my desire to follow you to continue to grow and to always be on track for you. God you’ve blessed me with so much and I don’t deserve it. Thank you for my salvation.
Help me Lord, to follow you by living a life of loving self-sacrifice! Help me renew my mind with Your word because it’s the way how we have permanent change from our former self? Thank you Lord for showing me that following You is not religion it’s a relationship and a lifestyle. Lord, help me see the body you given me the way you see it. Change my heart so I can learn to appreciate and respect your temple. Lord give me more Holiness in order to be more set apart for Your use for Your Glory! Amen
Hebrews 10:10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.