Tuesday, July 24, 2018

God Called Us To Be Holy In An Unholy World – Did You Forget That?


…unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 5:20

“The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. … The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption… The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.”  OSWALD CHAMBERS 

(Isaiah 6:5) "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 

When Isaiah was in the presence of the Lord, he was suddenly and painfully aware of his sinful nature. That awareness was inescapable.  His very nature was laid bare before God.  There was nothing He could do to make it right or to hide it.  It was necessary for God to intervene on Isaiah’s behalf. 

(Isaiah 6:6-7) “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

In the same way God intervened on our behalf on the day of our rebirth through Jesus. The question that came to my mind this morning is this. After so many days, months or years have passed, are we still aware of our dependence upon the Father’s intervention in our lives? That we are a people of unclean lips and cannot stand in the presence of a holy God on our own merit.  Or have we “adjusted” to our new life and really don’t see our sins as being significant. As far as we are concerned, we are maintain our sin life at an acceptable level.  The truth of the matter is displayed in the way we live our lives. We must all be on our guard. 

(1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

Well ……. Do you?   CHARLEY

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