GOD'S WORD TO ME--Declare These Things

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GOD'S WORD TO ME:  "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.  Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority.  Let no one disregard you."  (Titus 2: 11-15)

This is the call of every believer, but God is calling me specifically to this lifestyle.  He calls me to not only be self-controlled, upright and godly in these days, but He has also called me to be a voice that renounces ungodliness and worldly lusts.  It is wonderful truth that the Lord has redeemed us, but now He wants to purify us and re-create our hearts to be without spot or wrinkle. Once we have been redeemed, and are in the process of being purified into His Holy Bride, it is then that we will become a people who are ZEALOUS for good works.  Rev.  19:9 tells us that these good works are the very clothing that we will wear when we marry the Bridegroom.  I want to make sure that I am properly dressed for that ceremony in Heaven!  

Lord Jesus, show me every day who of Your flock I am to declare these things to.  Let me exhort and rebuke any that You are drawing to Yourself.  Without fear, let me proclaim to them the good news with all authority, in such a way that none will disregard me.  By Your power and for Your glory, Amen!

The Distant Sound of the Trumpet Call

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Do you hear it?  It is not the blare of a trumpet, but it is a trumpet call nonetheless.  God is calling this Christian generation to a lifestyle of holiness.  For too long we have been "winking" at our sin or simply turning a blind eye to it.  But God neither winks at our sin, nor does He close His eyes to it.  

One of the biggest problems I see in Christianity today is that we are living lives that are sinful and impure, but we are not attacking our sin and impurity.  We seem to be quite content to peacefully co-exist with unholiness, with a great sense of "entitlement."  We know that we are believers and that our eternity will be spent in heaven, so we tend to let sin off of hook instead of daily dealing with it by surrendering to the Spirit and with the repentance that should follow our surrender.  We are very good at telling God we are sorry for the sins we commit, but are we good in the area of turning around from our sin so that we can walk back to God?  Do we really desire to walk on His highway to holiness?

While reading in Ezekiel the past several days, some truths jumped off the page for me to consider.  Ezekiel's message was to Israel because they, as God's elect and chosen ones, had fallen far away from His commandments, and were guilty of assumption that God would do them no harm.  They even had "prophets and priests" claiming that God didn't really see what they were doing!  My heart has taken notice that it would be easy to think, that because I am now in the family of God, my sin really is irrelevant now because I am covered by the covenant.  It is easy to think that now, and it was easy to think that just prior to God exiling His own people to Assyria and Babylon.  

Ezekiel 16: 1-14 outlines God's merciful grace to Israel when they were nothing but a sinful group, just like the rest of the world.  He declared to them, "Live!"  Then He entered into a covenant with them. Ezekiel reminds them that God then bathed them, washed off the blood on them, anointed them with oil, and clothed and adorned them.  Having done all of that, He made them beautiful, famous, and full of splendor.

Now I have to ask.  Isn't that exactly what He did for you and me?  He offered us eternal life through His Son, and when we accepted it, He entered into covenant with us, and us with Him.  He baptized us into His family, washing away our sin-stained hearts and continues to wash us with the water of the Word of God.  He anointed us with oil by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, and we wear robes of righteousness when we walk in the Spirit, obey the righteous commands of God.  God has made the Gentile believers, who were once no part of God's chosen,  to be beautiful and full of splendor now.

Ezekiel 16: 15-29 tells the sorrowful story of Israel's ultimate trust in themselves and their "beauty."  The result of that was their idol worship that took their trusting eyes off of God, focusing instead on the gods of their own making.  They exchanged the "jewels" of  God, His bountiful blessings, for those activities, thoughts, and beliefs that fed their own flesh.  Having forgotten the place out of which God had saved them, Israel now turned to their selfish ways and began to live again like the world around them, trusting more in the world than in their God.  Chasing every other god and idol around them, and doing whatever they wanted to do, they still seemed to think that their one true God didn't mind.  Yet He said to them just prior to taking them into exile, "Were your harlotries so small a matter?"  Israel never seemed to catch on that they never were satisfied living in the ways of the world.

Have we not, in this 21st century, created the exact same scenario for ourselves?  We trust more in our ticket to heaven than in the God who stamped the ticket with His own blood.  We have exchanged the many blessings He bestows on the repentant and obedient for what the world and our flesh can give us.  We, too, have forgotten the wretched state that our Savior pulled us up and out of, desiring more to jump back into that "miry clay," thinking that our lifestyle of "some" sin is okay with God, because He has saved us from sin and death.  And He is saying to you and me today, "Are your sins and the things you put before Me a small matter to Me?"  The answer seems obvious.

In Ezekiel 16: 30-43 God called His people harlots several times, and also referred to their lovers whom they had chosen far above Him.  Are we not His people, too, who have chosen so many lovers (mostly ourselves) over Him?

Finally, in Ezekiel 16: 44 an old proverb is quoted, "Like mother, like daughter."  For Ezekiel's day Israel was the mother, and Judah was the daughter.  But if we Gentile believers were grafted into the branch of Israel, adopted into the original family, then Israel is the mother, and we are the daughter.  God is saying we are just like them, doing exactly what they did.  He didn't like it then; He doesn't like it now.  If you look at verse 47, He also declares that what the daughter is doing is more corrupt than the mother.  That would seem to be true, given that Israel had no fulfilling Sacrifice, no Holy Spirit and no written Word of God.  We have the privilege to partake of all three, yet we are unwilling to surrender ourselves and turn from the wicked idol worship present in us all.

I cannot speak for you, but I know that this message has convicted my heart and causes me to desire to walk according to the calling on my life, to be holy because God is holy, using the "everything" that has been given to me for life and godliness.

These are the ideas that God spoke to me about in His word this morning.  They are a trumpet call to me.  Maybe they will be to you, as well.  The trumpet is calling me to put away my sin for good.  Is it calling you to do the same?

Saying Is Not Doing

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Great acts of courage can elevate a man. Gideon humbly assumed the role of "judge" and fought for Israel's freedom. Israel wanted him to rule over them, and with great sincerity he refused, saying no man would be their ruler, only the Lord. But immediately he began acting like a king. Out of his spoils of war (that he required from each man), Gideon made an ephod for Israel to worship, and it became a snare to them.

There are many quotable quotes from Gone With the Wind, but there is one that applies here.  While this may be a more "formal" use of the language, the quote is perfect for today's blog.  Saying simply is NOT doing.

Gideon had chased an army, far larger than his own, 150 miles and defeated them, killed their kings, and secured peace, both militarily and domestically, for his nation.  When he returned to his people, they cried out for him to be their ruler.  With what appeared to be a sincerely humble heart, Gideon declared that neither he or his bloodline would be their ruler because the Lord was the only ruler that they needed.

When you read that passage in the Bible your first though, like mine, was that this is a man of great integrity.  It would be pretty difficult to turn down such a request, with all of its power, prestige, and financial blessing! My own heart was challenged as I question what my true response would have been. Yet Gideon declines.  I trusted in the true and humble integrity of a man who had been born into a family considered to be the "least in Manasseh."   And in his own family Gideon was also the "youngest in his father's house."  He seemed to know his place while at the same time knowing God's.

But something wasn't right in Gideon's heart.  His actions did not match his words!  While he refused to be become Israel's ruler, he had no problem asking each of his soldiers to give him part of their spoils.  Though they might have offered it to him because he had led them well, to ask for what was theirs revealed a heart that elevated itself above others.  What he received from them was more than 50 pounds of gold, making his "take" far greater than theirs. 

Not only did he require what was not his, adding it to his own portion, Gideon also took the exquisite ornaments and purple robes of the two Midianite kings and the neck bands of the camels of the Midianite army.  Then Gideon made an ephod out of the metals and set it up in his city.  The people were so enamored with it that they came and worshiped before it.  Gideon, the great judge of Israel, introduced another form of idolatry to God's people.  Gideon had led the army well in defeat of their physical enemies, but he led his people astray to worship the enemy of their heart!

Gideon's success as a leader brought out the "god" of his heart.  Success corrupted him to the level that he was able to convince Israel by his words of his sincerity of heart, when all along his heart was stained with pride, self-interest, self-elevation, and idolatry.

Integrity is heart- defining.  It can't be faked for very long.  What you say must be followed up with actions that are in line with your words.  Saying is not doing.  Integrity is the character trait of aligning your words with your actions. Do your actions match the words that you speak?  Can you be described by your actions as "full of integrity?"  Are you winning the spiritual battle in your heart?  Or are you just saying that you are?  Remember. . . saying is not doing!

Obedience is Wisdom

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If God is never-changing, then there is always something to be learned from what He told His chosen people, Israel. Before they entered the Promised Land He reminds them (again) to look within, correct what is wrong, stay on the right path, and teach their children this way of life. Deuteronomy 4 could be a textbook for believers today! We must learn to live by its precepts and lead others by the instruction found there. In this, there is no hypocrisy.

Christians today have had the blessing of the written Word of God in every conceivable form.  If our Bibles are to big to carry to church, we can just bring our phones.  If our Bibles are at home, and we are at work, we can look up anything, in any version, on our computers.  We have books galore to teach us more, speakers and seminars to help us grow.  The Word is out there in abundance, so we have no excuse for not knowing what God has to say to us!

But knowing isn't doing!  We can know, yet never do.  This is foolishness!  But if we know, and then obey, this is wisdom!  However, obedience rarely, if ever occurs, without taking a close inventory of what is really hidden inside our hearts.  If we do not see the wickedness there, if we never look at our sinful attitudes and the sinful actions that follow as just that...sin...it will be unlikely that we will just begin to be obedient.  When was the last time you took close spiritual inventory of your sin-stained heart?  Are you aware of what hides deep in the crevices?  Or are you perfectly content being blind to what makes God jealous for all of your heart?  God says, "Give heed to yourself."  Look in, see what's there, take what you see into account when you assess your walk!

Once you have seen what lurks in your heart, drawing you away from God, you must determine to take charge of your soul with diligence.  But remember, you cannot "take charge" by self-works.  To see true heart transformation, you "take charge" by letting go!  Surrender!  You cannot change your heart, but the Holy Spirit can!  Daily praying a surrender prayer regarding those sins in your life releases your control (and inability to change) into the hands of the One God sent to do just that--change you and mold you into the image of the Son!

As you begin to notice those changes being done in you, but not by you, continue to walk in those new ways and attitudes.  This is "walking in the Spirit," for it is Him doing the walking as you daily yield yourself to His power and control.  Then as you see your life changing, share that with others.  You are a teacher to all who are watching you, your natural children or your spiritual children.  Steer clear of the hypocritical walk that demands of them what you yourself refuse to bend to.  Be the example that can be followed!  

You have a God that is so near to you that He is inside of you--the Holy Spirit!  You have a God that has given you His very words to obey.  In these, you have everything you need for life and godliness!  We really have no excuse, then, do we?  What is your choice?  Will you know but not do?  Or will you be wise and "know and obey"?       (Deuteronomy 4: 5-9)