Peter 1:13-16
King James Version
(KJV)
13 Wherefore
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As
obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in
your ignorance:
15 But as he
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation;
16 Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Don't Try. Be.
John
reminds us that "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
(John 1:1). Jesus has always been the Word of God. Jesus came to Earth
completely unblemished and took on all sin to restore humankind to the Father.
Period.
As
Jesus entered His earthly ministry, He set a path for those of us who would
become followers. He never gave possibilities or generalities. Jesus gave
specifics. There was never 'think about believing' but believe. He never said
'according to the general gist of your faith...' but 'according to it, be...'.
Jesus dealt in absolutes.
And
so should we.
We
can spend alot of energy justifying our actions and our resistance to living
holy. We'll compare ourselves to other people. We'll measure our mistakes
against how we see others' mistakes and make sure that we always come out in the
'not that bad' category.
But
that's not our call. Jesus didn't tell us to be holy as a general sort of
direction. We were told to be holy because holiness is available...to us...now.
But, like salvation, we have a decision to make.
The
Holy Spirit is available to lead believers in all righteousness. He has to be
received, and followed. If His guidance is the path of holiness, then the path
without Him isn't. There's no opinion. There's no interpretation for context.
It's walking a path obediently, or disobediently.
This isn't a call to condemnation. It's an offering for
clarity. We get so many messages..self talk in our heads, television, radio,
work, email, co-workers, family, friends, enemies...seems like everyone and
everything is vying for our attention that it gets hard to hear, see or
understand. If we lump the clear voice of God on this heap, it's really easy to
start filtering what He says through our justifications and clarifications, as
if God needed help saying what He means.
Holiness
is a choice. We can be holy or not. So we make a choice. Some days we get it
right. Other days, not so much. But it doesn't change the choice. It just
removes the excuses for why we're not. Once discipleship gets that clear, it's
easier to dismiss the distractions and walk as we're called...in
holiness.
The
Church at Laodicea was called out in the book of Revelation for being neither
hot nor cold (Revelation 3:14-16). If we're cold in God, He is ready and able
to fire us up. If we're hot, we're already following after the Holy Spirit.
But lukewarm is no place to be in Christ. Lukewarm is being nothing. Be hot.
Be cold. Just be something.
And,
if I may suggest, BE holy. Don't try to be holy. Don't strive to be holy.
Don't work on being holy. Just be holy. Will we come up short? Yep. But
that's what grace is for.
You can do this. So can I. The Holy Spirit
will lead, comfort, correct and console. Let's get beyond trying. Let's
be.
John 17:20-26
King James Version (KJV)
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;
that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I
have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare
it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in
them.
Lifeline
is produced from the Evangelistic Ministry of Fellowship
Church in
Jonesboro, GA. You are encouraged to share this message. The Fellowship Church
website (www.fcchosengeneration.com)
includes a link to the Lifeline Blog (www.lifelineatfellowship.blogspot.com)
where you can find previous messages.
Evangelist
Robinson also posts her entries on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to the
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Fellowship Church can be reached at chosen.gen@att.net.
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