Purity is Unreachable without Jesus Christ

Matthew15:19

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Have you ever stubbed your toe on a piece of furniture or perhaps leaned up quickly and hit your head on something?  I am sure you have.  We all have.  Did the unexpected jolt of pain result in words of love and praise flowing from your mouth?  For most of us, the answer would be no.  More likely, we may have let out a few words that we were not too proud of.  

Found in the core structure of the flesh is sin.  Thus our response to trials can often be categorized as something less than holy.  To think that we are capable of avoiding the trappings of our flesh on our own would be spiritually naive.  In fact, we would be thinking contrary to the Word of God if we thought we had such control over ourselves.  We are firmly bound to sin without the indwelling of Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

We can lead good lives by worldly standards, but we cannot lead Godly lives without the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Purity is too deep down for man to get to naturally.  We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ so that we may live in accordance with His unsullied purity.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Son, Jesus, to be the supreme authority over our hearts.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us in our battle to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to You.  By Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace, may we repent of everything in our lives that displeases You.  We pray that we may surrender all that we have and all that we are to You.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who is Perfect and Holy, Jesus Christ.

The Darkness of Our Natural Way

Revelation3:17

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

In Jesus' message to the church of Laodicea, He warns of the danger of becoming lukewarm in our relationship with Him and lukewarm in our application of His teachings in our lives.  His message is so relevant today as we allow the work of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Word to be largely diminished as we find ourselves trying to fit into the norms of our deviant society.  

The teachings of Jesus can seem out of all proportion with our natural way of considering things.  In fact, reading His teachings can lead to astonishing discomfort.  Without the Holy Spirit's guidance, it may be challenging for us to rationalize the inerrant teaching in the Word.

The corruption of the world has become so commonplace that it is often overlooked and at times completely approved of as acceptable behavior.  The Word of God magnifies the differences between the ways of Our Risen Lord and the ways of the world.  When the Holy Spirit leads us to see the power and joy in the lifestyle of Jesus Christ, we begin the process of gaining victory over the wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked man we once were.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to show us the way, the truth and the life that is available to us through our salvation and the daily working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We pray that You will shine Your light on the world so that all the darkness is exposed for what it is.  We ask You to show us where we are moving toward the darkness and away from Your perfect light.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct us and strengthen us as we fully surrender to living in the fullness of Jesus Christ, settling for nothing less that the world might offer.  May we be set on fire as disciples of Jesus.  May we boldly proclaim the truth in Your Holy Word.  May we be light to the darkness in the world around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of all the earth, Jesus Christ.

Standing in the Presence of Almighty God

Matthew 5:20

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

No one can stand before the eternal light and consummate holiness of Almighty God with the slightest taint of sin.  Thus the need for us to accept Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is He, and He alone, that washes us clean of our sin.  It is His shed blood that makes us worthy to stand before the Most Holy, Almighty God of the Universe.  It is the Son of God that secures our eternal destination in heaven. 

As babes in Christ, we joyfully celebrate our eternal gift as heirs to the kingdom of God.  But our joy is quickly challenged when we realize that we must still deal with the sin nature within us.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we become cognizant of how wretched we are in our carnal nature.  We also come to the place we recognize that we are incapable of overcoming our wretchedness on our own.  But we must not let this steal our joy.  In fact, we should experience an even greater joy as the Holy Spirit teaches us just how essential our decision was to accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior.

For no man can make himself pure enough to enter heaven by obeying the laws.  The Pharisees created laws upon laws that were supposedly put in place to prepare them for their way to heaven.  Jesus put to rest the folly in their thinking.  Jesus taught that there was no possibility for anyone to enter heaven without accepting Him as Savior.

Let us not lose our joy as we struggle with our carnal nature.  Let us remain in the joy that we experienced as new babes in Christ.  Let us rejoice in knowing that we will stand before Almighty God with the assurance in Christ that the Father in heaven will only see our holiness. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for making it possible for us to stand in Your presence one day.  We praise You for making The Word flesh so that we could be inheritors of the only bloodline without sin.  We rejoice in knowing that one day our holiness will be complete as we shed our earthly bodies and take on the pure, supernatural bodies that You have set aside for us.  We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us as we learn to shed the corruption of our flesh here on earth in preparation for the time that we go to our full glory with You in heaven.  We ask all these things in the name of the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

Fit for Service

1 Corinthians 1:30

God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

Without Jesus Christ in our lives, we are depraved and corrupt.  With the regenerating grace of God through His Son, Jesus, we are benefactors of the redemptive process.  We are freed from sin and made pure and holy in the eyes of Almighty God.  Through this salvation process, we receive all the fullness of the treasures of heaven so that we are fit for the service to which we have been called.  

Are we willing for God to make sanctification as real in us as it is in His Son, Jesus?  The sanctification process begins with submission.  The submission process begins when we humbly receive Jesus Christ as Our Redeemer.  Our sanctification begins immediately upon our submission to Our Savior.  The sanctification process flourishes as we deny ourselves and rely entirely on Jesus to release His holiness in our lives.  The sanctification process continues until the day we stand before the Lord in the fullness of our completed holiness.

Sanctification is impossible in our flesh alone.  It is only possible with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in full operation in our lives.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we access all the perfections of Jesus and slowly, but surely, begin to live a life of holiness on this earth.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking us from the corruption of our old man into a condition of holiness in our new man in Christ.  We worship You and bless Your name from the fount of holiness that Our Savior has created within us.  We pray that we will receive the grace that we need to remain steadfast on our journey of sanctification.  We seek to have our journey become a living testimony to those who you have placed in our lives.  We pray for the wisdom and the courage to share our sanctification story with the flock that you have given us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Holy One of God, Jesus Christ.

For the Two Cannot Abide Together

Hebrews 13:20-21

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Upon receiving Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to show us what sanctification means. The job of the Holy Spirit is to show us what is pleasing in the sight of Our Savior.  As a result of this process, everything that we do that is displeasing to the Lord also comes to light. Thus begins the struggle of the old man versus the new man.

Jesus became man so that He could die for our sins.  When He comes to dwell within us, there is no room for the sins of the old man.  We must allow our old selves to die as we assume our new life in Christ.  The two cannot abide together.  To try and hold on to our old lives once Jesus has arrived is to enter into a struggle that is filled with endless pain. The new life of joy is found only in the death of our old lives.

As we work toward a life that is well pleasing in the sight of Jesus, we must recognize that the work of grace is necessary.  Without the good work of grace, we are not capable of overcoming the nature of the old man within us.  But be certain, the work of grace is not the work of man.  It is the work of God alone.  It is an internal work done in the heart of men by Him.  It is a gradual and progressive work.  It will not be perfected until we stand before Him.  But indeed, when we stand before Him all the displeasing things in us will be gone forever and all the pleasing things in His sight will shine brightly for all eternity.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Holy Word that defines the things that please you.  We praise You for revealing to us all the things in our lives that displease you.  We bless the name of Jesus for giving us victory over the sins that try to defeat us.  We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us in our struggles to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May the Holy Spirit enlighten us in the areas that the world tries to redefine as acceptable when You have already defined it as sin. May all that we do be acceptable in Your eyes. May it all be for Your glory.  We ask all these things in the name of the Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

The Beatitudes Are About Relationship, Not Behavior

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught about the good behavior that was required to earn the treasures of heaven and the rewards of the earth.  These teachings became known as The Beatitudes.  

All in all, for most people, The Beatitudes seem to offer rewards that do not seem reachable and require behavior that seems out of touch with what the world has to offer.  Our difficulty in understanding the Beatitudes lies in our frame of reference.  The Beatitudes become much clearer when we realize that The Beatitudes are not about our behavior, but all about our relationship with Jesus Christ and how it impacts our lives.   

It becomes even easier to understand The Beatitudes when we break them down into two sections and analyze them accordingly.  The first four Beatitudes specifically address our relationship with Jesus.  The remainder of the Beatitudes address how our lives will change when we accept Our Savior.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit" speaks to how far we fall short of the glory of God without His Son's redemption.   "Blessed are those that mourn" speaks to our need to express our sorrow for our sinful ways.  "Blessed are the meek" speaks to our need to humble ourselves before Our Savior and accept the salvation that He offers us.  "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" speaks to our need to become new men and women in Christ.

When we have responded to the teachings of the first four Beatitudes by accepting Jesus as Our Savior, the character and actions in our lives become a reflection of the rest of the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.  With Christ indwelling in us, we are able to be merciful, be pure of heart and be peacemakers.  As a result, we will receive the rewards of this earth as promised by Jesus, but we will also be persecuted for our righteousness in Christ.  When all these things have happened to us and for us, we can rejoice and be glad for our reward will be great in the kingdom of God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing to us our great need in Our Savior, Jesus.  We exalt the name of Jesus for it is through Him that we are given the kingdom of heaven.  We pray, Lord, for the humility to recognize our filthy and condemned nature without the saving grace of the Cross.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit will come along side of us and help us so that we will allow the power of the presence of Your Son in our lives to change how we serve You.  We pray that we receive the fullness of the blessings that are promised in the Beatitudes.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Rewarder, Jesus Christ.

The Awesome Convergence of Salvation and Sanctification

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Every born again believer stands in the same place.  We are not what we ought to be, but we are not what we use to be either.  This is the awesome convergence of salvation and sanctification.  We are at once saved when when we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior.  From that moment on, we enter into the process of letting go of who we used to be in order to become who we will be in Christ.

Jesus loves us just as we are, but He loves us so much that He cannot allow us to stay where we are.  With His indwelling, we find ourselves in the constant battle of our old man (flesh) and our new man (our new spirit in Christ).  We must let go of everything old - guilt, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, addiction, depression, despair, fear.  These are the things of the flesh.  These are the things that hinder us in our process of sanctification.  These are the things that Jesus Christ freed us from when He died on the Cross. 

The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the work of the renewal of our minds.  This work will continue until the day we stand before Almighty God as He sees us in the image of His Son. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to die for our sins so that we may be free from the corruption of our flesh.  We praise You for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us live as new men in Christ instead of men and women of the world.  Help us, Lord, to let go of everything in the old man that is hindering our relationship with You.  We pray that You strengthen us so that we may cling to Your grace as we continue in our journey of sanctification.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Our Purifier, Jesus Christ. 

Crushed by Our Trials

Matthew 13:32

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

The mustard seed is very small.  To look at it, one might assume that this seed could never be anything significant.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  When the mustard seed germinates from the tiniest of beginnings, it blossoms into one of the largest plants in any garden.  But more impressive than its growth is its utility.  As a tree, it provides food and shelter for the birds that it attracts.  But it is as an herb that it provides its greater value as a savory delight for man.  Is it not interesting to note that the true value of the mustard seed is seen only after it has been crushed?

The mustard seed parable was taught by Jesus in order to illustrate the growth, development and power of our faith.  Our faith starts out as a seed planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  It starts out small at first, but when properly nourished grows into something so large that it changes how we live and how we serve God.  In the early stages of our development as disciples of Jesus Christ, it is likely that we will draw others to us for peace and comfort.  But our greater value to them will come later as we mature in Christ.  When we have been pressed by our trials, perhaps even crushed by them, the best that we have to offer to anyone will be released.  It will be then that those who have been drawn to us will receive the full power of who we are in Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for planting a seed of love within our hearts.  Thank You for the nurturing care of the Holy Spirit in our lives that that stirs our hearts and feeds our faith   We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to nourish and care for the seed of eternal love within us.  We pray for the grace and the strength that we need to endure the trials in our lives which will press the best from us as we mature in our relationship with Our Savior.  May the world be drawn to us to savor the fullness of Christ within us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb Slain, Jesus Christ.

Obey and Wait to Hear from God

Acts 9:6

But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

Paul's writings provide the foundational truths upon which our faith in Jesus Christ is built.  But as great as Paul's writings were, his living testimony may have provided even more valuable teachings to those who are seeking to be disciples of Our Savior.   

In Acts, we read that before Paul was given any responsibility, before he was given any spiritual task, he was simply asked to "rise and enter the city."  If Paul had failed to be obedient in following this simple command, we would not have all the writings of Paul in the Bible.  Some other obedient man would be there in his place.  But Paul was obedient in this first dramatic calling and to all the others that the Lord issued to Him, so he became one of the greatest men in all of the Bible.  His teachings have been a blessing to generations of people throughout the ages.  His legacy continues to live on today.

The other thing that we learn about Paul is that he never sought the favor he received. He only sought the one who called Him.  So it is with us.  We will receive favor from the Lord, not because we seek favor but because we seek Him.  Let us be mindful of Paul's example.  All the good things that we receive from the Lord here on earth and in heaven will be because we sought the Lord and we were obedient to his calling.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to Yourself.  We seek You, Lord.  We humbly come before You and ask forgiveness for all the times that we have fallen short in our obedience to You.  We pray that You will strike us down like You did Paul, so that we may see how we have offended You and so that we may turn our lives toward the path that You direct us.  May the Holy Spirit guide us, inspire us and provide our strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May we learn to be slaves to Jesus Christ and not slaves to this world.  May Your grace be with us always.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.