‘The Spirit of God has set a great many people
free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no
true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today
is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ.
“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should
keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of
it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16).
We must never allow anything to interfere with the
consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God’s
service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made
holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested
only in what God is interested.’ CHAMBERS
So you are saved …. But you still live in the
world .. in the culture … in the mess … you are meant to be like the fish in
the sea … you are living in salt water but are not affected by the salt. How
are you doing with that? Although Jesus
was in the world .. walked, talked and ate with sinners … He was not affected
by those around Him. He did not crave
the things of the world, but to do the will of His Father. ‘For I have come down from heaven not to do
my will but to do the will of him who sent me.’ John 6:38
‘…So the disciples were saying to one another,
"No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?" Jesus said to them,
"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. "Do
you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest '? Behold,
I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for
harvest.…’ John 4:33-35
The question we need to ask ourselves is not ‘What
would Jesus do?’ Instead ‘What did Jesus do?’
‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and
they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I
will ask the Father, and he will give
you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.
The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and
will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before
long, the world will not see me anymore,
but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you
will realize that I am in my Father, and
you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is
the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
too will love them and show myself to them.”’ John 14:12-21
So you see .. what keeps the ‘salt’ (the influence
of the world) out of you as you swim along in this world is Jesus .. not your
desire to be good or right before God. It
is Jesus in you … the presence of the Holy Spirit ….. Jesus said the world will
not see Him any longer but, instead, will see you – reflecting Him. So let your light shine .. let it shine ..
let it shine.
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
