Three Holy Habits

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – ESV)

God’s Word is His will and His will is the believer’s way. Sometimes as Christians we are guilty of using the Bible as a tool in order to make God a tool to do our will, but God wants the Bible to make us a tool to do His will. God’s will isn’t about getting there faster and avoiding all disaster. Think about John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and our Lord Jesus, and think about what it means to be in God’s will because they were definitely doing it. Sometimes we want some specific directional things when we aren’t even facing in the right direction in the first place.

This passage of scripture points us in the right direction. If we will do these three things that the text instructs us to do, and be concerned with developing them as holy habits in our lives, then we will be doing God’s will and be walking God’s way. Then as we move on, the path will become clearer, and we won’t have to be worried about asking for directions, we will be headed to the right place already.

Now Paul gives us instruction about God’s will also in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6, and so do the other books of the NT, and so on and so forth. Yet this text is especially important to the subject because it is the framework of how we should be focused when seeking, doing, and living in God’s will. This passage grounds and guides us to be doing His will on our way.

God cares about our future, He does help us make decisions, He does direct our lives, and He does give us wisdom. He does want us to pray about it. There is no doubt God sometimes guides us in such a strong way that we have no doubt about the direction we should go, but we shouldn’t always seek that, or wait for it, even with the biggest decisions we face. We can be frozen in fear, or superstition, and yet think we are being spiritual. God does not want us burdened about discovering some hidden pathway when He has already made the main path crystal clear. When we are looking for His will of direction it is found along the path of following His will of desire.

This text is one sentence; these three things are all bound together as the framework for doing God’s will. In other words, when we are in the process of seeking, doing, and living in God’s will, if we do these three things our ambition will be directed towards God. When we are living out the will of God wherever the path takes us, we will be on the right path.

Rejoice always – Philippians 4:4 (in the Lord, and our justification) / James 1:2-4 (in our fashioning, our sanctification) / 1 Peter 1:3-9 (in our future, our glorification)

Pray without ceasing – Luke 18:1 / 2 Corinthians 1:11 – a prayerful attitude, atmosphere, a willing sense of God’s presence, everywhere is a sanctuary

Give thanks in all circumstances – Ephesians 5:20 – “always” means timing – “everything” means events – in all circumstances not for all circumstances – in everything God is there.

When we are in the process of seeking, doing, and living in God’s will, we do it this way: we keep a joyful disposition, maintain a constant prayer life and cultivate a thankful attitude. When we will be developing these three holy habits, God will fashion us as a tool, as the instrument of His will. Be a tool in God’s hands and He will make sure you do His will.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Fire Extinguisher (Radio / Podcast)

…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

(Ephesians 6:16 – ESV)

Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
(1 Thessalonians 5:19 – NIV)

Learning to live the life of faith can be frustrating at times; especially if you don’t understand the battleground you are on. It seems like you are on fire for God one minute, and then later it is like you are in the burning pit of hell. Why is it like this, what is going on, you might say?

Well, most Christians know that we are in a spiritual war, but did you know that the devil is not your greatest enemy? Your old man of the flesh is your greatest enemy. What the devil tries to do is set on fire the fuel that is already there. The Holy Spirit within you is also trying to start a fire, but a holy one that envelops you with a burning passion for God.

The truth is that there are two fires we must tend to as Christians. One we must stoke (2 Timothy 1:6) and one we must stop. Both fires are trying to blaze, and you are always extinguishing one or the other. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, and those are darts aimed to enflame your flesh. Either you will quench those darts or quench the Spirit, quench the devil’s fire or the Spirit’s fire. It is one or the other, at all times. There is no neutral ground; the devil will rush in to set on fire the places you are leaving unguarded (Ephesians 4:27).

You will either deny yourself or deny the power of God. In those moments that you sense your new man and your old man at war, the Spirit is not just trying to get you through that moment, and not just trying to get you to do the right thing. The Spirit is trying to sustain your life force, the fire is going out, and He is putting kerosene on the pilot light that is why it can seem like such a flare up and perhaps painful. He is reminding you that you are dousing the life right out of you. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, the shield of the flesh quenches the Spirit. Don’t quench the Spirit’s fire.

Don’t deny the Spirit’s power to live a life sanctified increasingly to God. This would be the opposite of the list in 2 Timothy 3, which talks of having a form of godliness but denying the power. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 – ESV). The Spirit gives you the power to deny yourself instead of denying God in this way.

Satan doesn't need to read minds because he has at least 6000 years of reading behavior. He can plant thoughts perhaps, but he can definitely observe when a sinful stimulus appears and our response to it, and therefore know how to strategize. Our enemies in the spiritual war are allowed behind the lines, as it were, and we had better realize that. There are no secret sins; you are putting lighter fluid on one pilot light, and putting your fingers on the other.

In those moments where you have that choice you either choose life or death, and the problem for some is that the choice of life feels like death...and it is, it is death to self, and since they aren't used to it, it is a seemingly unbearable pain, but we must arm ourselves with this mind (1 Peter 4:1). At all times, the Spirit either is working in your life or He is becoming grieved (Ephesians 4:30). You are a fire extinguisher; the question is which one?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Indecent Exposure (Radio / Podcast)

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
(Hebrews 4:13 – ESV)

What are you exposing yourself to? What are you allowing into your eyes, your ears, your mind, and your heart? I am not talking about unavoidable things. We all get exposed to images and ideas and iniquity that we would rather never encounter, but it is going to happen at times. I am also not talking about isolating yourself from all of culture in order to avoid these unpleasant events. No, what I am talking about are those things you allow as a regular course.

Do you spend a lot of time wondering if we are allowed to do this or that certain thing? Conversely, do you care at all? I think the answer to many of these type of questions could be solved by first asking ourselves some other important questions. What do you allow to fill your time? What is the background music in the soundtrack of your life? How much time are you allowing the things of God to be impressed upon you? The Word of God is powerful, but if your frequency is overrun with other, worldly things, then all you will hear is a clouded mix.

Many people talk of wanting to change but they say it is too hard to do. They look for some magic formula, or expect God to just bail them out of working at it. They also overlook this whole idea of slowly changing, and slowly sliding back. So some think it is too hard to change. If this is you, I want to tell you the truth. The reason it seems so hard is because your heart is so hard. Your heart has become so hardened because of what you have let in.

Ever have someone say to you that they don’t have time for this or that? Well we all know what this means. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with having no time but it is actually about not wanting to use our time in that way. What they mean, and if you want to be direct what you would say is that you won’t make time for this or that. What are you “making time” for?

The things you expose yourself to do indeed have an effect on you. Now this is true for many areas, but lets take images, for one example. If you say that they don’t have an effect on you, well, then why do you expose yourself to them? As you can see, it is not about the fact that they have an effect, that cannot be denied, it is whether or not they have a lasting effect, that is the real question, isn’t it?

Well, not completely. It is also about cumulative effect, and setting patterns of behavior for yourself as well. Since we know for sure that doing something over time is creating habits, it IS a habit, and multiplied images bring multiple chances for long term retention, then the only excuse you might have is to say that you will not be affected long term, that you can withdraw yourself from this behavior if it gets too much. But saying that in light of the other, undeniable evidence is playing games with your mind, your heart, and with God.

Even if we were to hypothetically admit that exposure creates no long-term effect, however preposterous that may be, we still have a major problem because it would still be, as long as you keep doing it, an ongoing effect. One exposure, one image may not stay with you, but it leads to a chain of events, multiple exposures, and this leads to an ongoing problem. How can you say exposure has no long-term effect when you keep exposing yourself to it?

A.W. Tozer said, “Every one of us is the sum of what we secretly admire, what we think about and what we would like to do most if we become free to do what we wanted to do.” Think about that. If money, jail time, conscience, family, friends, and God were not constraints, would you spend your time following Christ, learning of Him? Be honest, because the way you truthfully answer this question will reveal to you a lot about where you are in your walk with God. What do you want to be exposed to when you have the opportunity? What is lighting your fire, and where is the light going out?

Many want to be allowed to expose themselves to all sorts of things, anything except the Word of God, and they harden their hearts so as to not feel the sting of the Sword of the Spirit. Their consciences are seared and their minds are cleared from the transforming power of the Word and they are instead filled with all sorts of distraction, deception, and destruction. Nevertheless, they are exposed, we all are exposed before the Mighty, Living Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself, and His Word is His Sword in His hand. Christ will either be our physician or our executioner. If His Word is not the instrument of our life, it will be the instrument of our death, if not the instrument of our justification, then the instrument of our judgment.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Secret to Spiritual Life (Radio / Podcast)

…and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
(Judges 13:5)

Samson began to deliver Israel but he didn’t finish the job. Although he finished in faith, he never fully committed so he never fully entered into what God had given him the power to achieve. David finished off the Philistines nearly 100 years later. You see, they were going to be delivered, God’s purposes cannot be thwarted, but Samson did not see it in his lifetime because he did not enter into all the fullness of what God had given him the power to do.

You are delivered from the power of sin but you may not see it in your lifetime because you will not fully give your life to God as He shows you areas to give to Him. Like Samson, you don’t really want it because you don’t think it’s worth it. If that is the case, you may see deliverance, but you will never walk in the fullness of the great deliverance on this side of heaven as much as God would allow you to. Most believers are just like Samson in this, the question is why?

I want to reveal something as to why we don’t walk in God’s fullness and why we don’t want to. We never seem to get our want to in gear, and it is because we don’t understand something. Almost no one has considered this, and that is why almost no one today walks in God’s fullness.

Think about how Samson’s exploits became more and more pronounced, his deliverance was greater and greater, yet his sin actually was worse and worse. The lion (14:5-6) and the linen (the thirty) (14:19), then the foxes and the fire (15:4-8), then Judah and the jawbone (15:11-16), then the fortress (the escape from being surrounded) (16:2-3), and the festival (16:23-30). First he wanted someone outside (liken this to an unbeliever), then he wanted a harlot, then he actually wanted the sworn enemy. His deliverance was increasing, but his discernment was decreasing. How could Samson be seemingly growing in the power of God and yet still turn back to his sins, and why would he want to? He was growing in the power of God, but not the person of God.

Through Jesus Christ, God has given all believers the Holy Spirit, God has given you the power to enter into His fullness, but we look aside to lesser things! We don’t value God high enough, we don’t really want it because we don’t think it’s worth it, or when we have a measure of it, we think we can’t lose it! Learn from Samson.

Samson was using more and more power, God’s deliverance was greater and greater, but he got worse and worse in sin because he never did fully sell out to God, and eventually that power becomes the very thing that destroys you. It keeps you, not from walking in the fullness at all, but from living in it, because you never fully surrender you life and so you stop short of all that God has for you. You thought it was all about power to perform, but it is more about power to deliver you and then to deliver others from sin and oppression. That is what walking in God’s fullness is, because in heaven, amongst God’s fullness there will be no sickness or sorrow. Why, not because He will use power to take it away but because it won’t be there in the first place because sin is what causes these things!

Now here is the answer as short as I can give it. We only taste of the fullness and think that this is all there is, and so we are still tempted by the other things, we thought we have arrived when we see and feel and know the power of God, but we haven’t done all the itinerary yet, there is more. We taste of the fullness, but we are only at the table, there is much more there. The secret to the spiritual life: stay hungry. You won’t live in it until you taste and see, and then instead of saying it is not enough and going back, you say it is not enough and you go forward. Stay hungry for God, not for self, and you will not only know the fullness you will walk in it. And you may even be one of the few who live in it.

Samson got to a place where he had a choice, and he chose his fleshly wants time after time, compulsively. When you get to that place that you have a choice, you won’t feel God’s power to deliver right then, that is what people expect and when they don’t feel it that is why they fail. Don’t expect to feel the power, what you will feel is the pain, the hurt of not doing what you wanted to do, and then later you will feel God’s power. It doesn’t seem worth it now, in fact it seems worse, it seems negative, but later you will not regret it when you know God’s fullness in a greater measure. Remember that feeling, and think about that, renew your mind to that when the temptation comes. It will hurt, perhaps worse and worse for a while, maybe a long while, depending on how much flesh has to die, but when you come through it will be more than worth it. When walking in the fullness you never fully taste all there is at the table, and so you stay hungry. The others achieve a measure and think they are full and so other delights look appealing, and familiar food (sins) seems to satisfy. Deny yourself, learn what it is like to continue in God’s fullness, and to stay hungry for Him.

Many have indeed tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8 / 1 Peter 2:3), but some take no more in and starve (Hebrews 6:5). Jesus says we must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, not to simply try it on our lips and tongue, but to swallow it all. Not just taste and see, but swallow and be. Some do go further and eat, some make it a meal, and some, precious few, but some make it their regular diet, and feed on nothing else.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

I Want To (Radio / Podcast)

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:13)

Most believers, and especially those that have been a Christian for more than a couple of years, will certainly identify with the ongoing struggle for sanctification. It just doesn’t happen overnight, and all the secrets, keys, steps, and principles, all the seminars, conferences, churches, books, and preaching we have heard never seems to quite get us over the hump. Or perhaps it seems to for a while, but then we fall back down, get frustrated, and we wonder what to do next until the new thing comes along, and we go right back on the boom and bust bicycle.

We can articulate it like this. We start out with what we might call “riotism”, where the operative phrase describing our pursuit of sanctification would be “don't go, forget God”. However, when we find that our distaste for life and our desire for God increases, we want our “want to” to increase more. Not knowing what to do next, we start by trying harder. We then move on to pietism, where we strive to serve King Jesus with all the discipline we can muster, with the operative phrase being “go and get God”. Eventually, all our meager efforts at self-sanctification are just that, meager, and we meet someone who introduces us to the concept of “absolute surrender”, or a promise of a deeper life, or some sort of thing. This is when we have entered the realm of quietism, its operative phrase being “let go and let God”.

Finally, hopefully, we mature to the truth about sanctification, with its operative phrase being “don't let go of God”. We see Him as more beautiful than anything else, and we foster and feed this into our minds, and it sinks down into our hearts, it comes out of our mouths, and it is what we increasingly want to be all about. It is less and less a fight to get there, and only a fight to keep other things at bay, until we see them as less also, and when they arrive on the scene they are more easily dismissed. We progress and develop into maturity, using flawed means until we get the picture and enter in to the resting of the Gospel.

We start out, when we are serious, with a patterned discipline and measured devotion, which most often leads to a boom and bust spirituality, we try next to "absolutely surrender", which seems closer, but is still not there yet. When we get the real picture of our sorry state, and have glimpses of what TRUE fellowship is like (not Schleirmacher's "feeling of absolute dependence" but a cleansing of our will in conformity to God's), then we "want it".

When we finally realize that fellowship with God is incomparable with anything else, it has a pronounced effect. Not so much that people don't see us sin, we probably already had that licked, the outside that is, but that now, to our own hearts, we know that we just don't "want" that stuff anymore, at all, its rubbish. Our “want to” has changed.

Its like, for a crude example, having a toy that is deteriorating, a car, lets say, and then getting a car that is new, and runs on batteries, and makes noises, etc. We have no DESIRE to have the old car anymore. Of course that is a weak example, in that Christ is not just a "better car", He is in a totally different category than anything else, as we said, incomparable. Oh, that we might find this in our daily walk, EVERY DAY! To God be the glory, as we become light bearers, and more than just a dimmer switch.

If you act in accordance with God’s “want to”, and you “don’t let go of God” (cf. Philippians 2:12), then you will find that He will increase your “want to” because as our text above says, not only does God cause us to do His good pleasure, He gives us the will to do it. Do you want to?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Stress-Free Sinning? (Radio / Podcast)

But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."

(2 Timothy 2:19 – ESV)

Not every true Christian will experience the same degree of personal, practical sanctification. The thief on the cross was saved but since he died that same day he didn’t have the time that the Apostle Paul had to show forth the fruits of righteousness. We instinctively and interpretively understand that some believers will progress further into the sanctification process, they will press on to the mark in a more pronounced fashion than some others. On the other end of the spectrum, some might seem to be acting like unbelievers, while they may truly be born again.

This brings an interesting question. Why are there so many genuine Christians who persist in the same patterns of sin, apparently without pangs of conscience, and without repentance, apparently hard-hearted against the communion of Christ, the conviction of the Spirit and the commands of the Word? Why do they sin without stress, without struggle, and seemingly without significance?

Well, first off, the inward sins of the heart that perhaps do not manifest as overt, “big time” sins that everyone condemns are sins nonetheless. We all have sin; it is just that Christians are supposed to be striving toward holiness, wanting to be blameless while realizing they will never be completely sinless in this lifetime. Still, what about those who don’t even try? How do you tell the Christians from the non-believers, in that some professing believers live “worse” moral lives than some non-believers? Why would God even allow this?

We know this for sure; it is all a part of God’s plan. Jesus said it would be so, and that we won’t know until the end who the real believers were, and also that many think they are true believers but they aren’t. The answer is in our personal valuing of practical sanctification, both temporal and eternal. God is giving us opportunity.

Peter says to make your calling and election sure by growing in fruitfulness (2 Peter 1:5-10). Now when he says this he is not saying that you are making your calling and election sure to God, but to yourself, because the Lord knows those who are His, and because the second inscription on the sure foundation of God says that those who are His, those who claim the name of Christ are to depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19). We also make our calling and election sure to others we know (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4), others we meet (1 Thessalonians 1:6-9), and perhaps even to Satan and the demonic realm (2 Timothy 2:26).

Those that are doing this are being made useful and ready for every good work by cleansing themselves from sin (2 Timothy 2:20-25). Here in 2 Timothy Paul speaks about a cleansing that isn’t just something God does for us as we sit passively. This is a self-cleansing for service that goes beyond a general cleansing for sin. 1 John 1:9 would be speaking of the general cleansing from the guilt and penalty of sin, but Paul and the Bible talks of another type of cleansing. We sanctify, or set apart ourselves because He has sanctified us (Leviticus 20:7-8 / 1 Corinthians 1:30).

It is not a salvation issue but an assurance of salvation issue. It is not a “make it to heaven” issue, but a “rewards in heaven” issue. It is about fruitfulness and usefulness in this life. It is about working out from our cleansing from sin, and cleansing ourselves in God’s power so that we are separated for service. It is about being prepared for production. It is about our cooperation with God’s Spirit so that we are set apart and made useful and closer to God.

However, what many do not realize is that this voluntary, temporal cleansing has eternal consequence as well as temporal aspects. They don’t go for it because they don’t see the worth; they haven’t realized it, made it real, cashed in on this truth. There are temporal aspects, such as an assurance of salvation and communion with Christ by the Holy Spirit, and eternal aspects, as with rewards in heaven. We have not stressed the practical presence of God and rewards in heaven enough.

In sanctification, God allows us to store up treasures in heaven, and allows us to win crowns that we may cast at the Master’s feet. To some, that may not seem to be all that big a deal, as long as they make it, but believe me, and believe the Bible, it will be a great big deal on that day, and you, me, and all of us will want to have more to give than we will then. We need to see this as it really is, and stress to believers the importance of the eternal state, not just as the resting place from wrath, but the place where we make an eternal statement about how we honored the glory of the Lord with our lives. For some this isn’t enough motivation, but we must endeavor to renew our minds to this truth.

To be a servant of the Lord, a vessel of honor for Him, we must be empty, clean, and available. If we refuse to empty ourselves, clean ourselves, and make ourselves available to the Lord, we will find ourselves captive to the devil in one sense or another. When you commit a sin, you let the devil win. If someone does not have the desire or the actions to depart from iniquity at all, it is fair to ask if they really belong to Jesus or if they have just deceived themselves. The sanctified, feeling God’s love, imitate it, and the more they imitate it, the more they feel it. It is worth striving for. At best, stress-free sinning is success-free sinning.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Majesty of the Master (Radio / Podcast)

Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty.
(Isaiah 2:10 – ESV)

As human beings we stink, and in saying that it is not self loathing but realizing that the higher we get up into God the further we have to go. We don’t preach and teach the depravity of man so as to keep men down, but so as to show them the only way up. That way is Christ, but even when we have been redeemed, in our flesh we are still low down dirty rotten scoundrels compared to God. It is only that now He has condescended to us in the person of Jesus, and having come down to save us and to bring us to God we are positioned with Him in the heavenlies. In His grace we are already arrived at our destination, we simply await glorification.

Now then, in this life we can because of His grace become more and more sanctified, we can scale the heights of God holiness. On this side of eternity we can get a small glimpse of the reality of God, because we now climb up to God on the back of our beloved Savior. And this we do by God’s grace. We are still imperfect, and as Paul said we haven’t arrived in fullness, but we can press on toward the upward call, we don’t have to stay in our sin.

So realize that when we say we stink, we stink less than we did before, but the more we see of God the more we realize our stink. No I am not worse than I was before, by the grace of God I am more holy than I have ever been, and by the grace of God I am becoming more holy every second of every day, all praise to His name. But the more light that we have the more dust that we see. We do go up into the heights, but then we see just how much higher the Lord is than we had thought.

The more holy I become, the more holy I realize He is, and how much further from Him I am than I ever could have imagined had He not graciously allowed me to ascend to the heights I now scale. The higher I get the more beautiful He appears, even as the more awful my sin appears. I am sick of the false humility that says we cannot dare ascend higher up in the mountain of God’s majesty. Having said that, I want to go higher up into God, not so as to glory in my climb, or in its own heights, or to look down on others, but so as to revel in the majesty of my Master. Oh, just how lofty are you, my Lord? Only heaven will begin to reveal it, and even then, it will take forever to explore it.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Indecent Exposure (with audio)

USE THE PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THIS POST

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
(Hebrews 4:13 – ESV)

What are you exposing yourself to? What are you allowing into your eyes, your ears, your mind, and your heart? I am not talking about unavoidable things. We all get exposed to images and ideas and iniquity that we would rather never encounter, but it is going to happen at times. I am also not talking about isolating yourself from all of culture in order to avoid these unpleasant events. No, what I am talking about are those things you allow as a regular course.

Do you spend a lot of time wondering if we are allowed to do this or that certain thing? Conversely, do you care at all? I think the answer to many of these type of questions could be solved by first asking ourselves some other important questions. What do you allow to fill your time? What is the background music in the soundtrack of your life? How much time are you allowing the things of God to be impressed upon you? The Word of God is powerful, but if your frequency is overrun with other, worldly things, then all you will hear is a clouded mix.

Many people talk of wanting to change but they say it is too hard to do. They look for some magic formula, or expect God to just bail them out of working at it. They also overlook this whole idea of slowly changing, and slowly sliding back. So some think it is too hard to change. If this is you, I want to tell you the truth. The reason it seems so hard is because your heart is so hard. Your heart has become so hardened because of what you have let in.

Ever have someone say to you that they don’t have time for this or that? Well we all know what this means. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with having no time but it is actually about not wanting to use our time in that way. What they mean, and if you want to be direct what you would say is that you won’t make time for this or that. What are you “making time” for?

The things you expose yourself to do indeed have an effect on you. Now this is true for many areas, but lets take images, for one example. If you say that they don’t have an effect on you, well, then why do you expose yourself to them? As you can see, it is not about the fact that they have an effect, that cannot be denied, it is whether or not they have a lasting effect, that is the real question, isn’t it?

Well, not completely. It is also about cumulative effect, and setting patterns of behavior for yourself as well. Since we know for sure that doing something over time is creating habits, it IS a habit, and multiplied images bring multiple chances for long term retention, then the only excuse you might have is to say that you will not be affected long term, that you can withdraw yourself from this behavior if it gets too much. But saying that in light of the other, undeniable evidence is playing games with your mind, your heart, and with God.

Even if we were to hypothetically admit that exposure creates no long-term effect, however preposterous that may be, we still have a major problem because it would still be, as long as you keep doing it, an ongoing effect. One exposure, one image may not stay with you, but it leads to a chain of events, multiple exposures, and this leads to an ongoing problem. How can you say exposure has no long-term effect when you keep exposing yourself to it?

A.W. Tozer said, “Every one of us is the sum of what we secretly admire, what we think about and what we would like to do most if we become free to do what we wanted to do.” Think about that. If money, jail time, conscience, family, friends, and God were not constraints, would you spend your time following Christ, learning of Him? Be honest, because the way you truthfully answer this question will reveal to you a lot about where you are in your walk with God. What do you want to be exposed to when you have the opportunity? What is lighting your fire, and where is the light going out?

Many want to be allowed to expose themselves to all sorts of things, anything except the Word of God, and they harden their hearts so as to not feel the sting of the Sword of the Spirit. Their consciences are seared and their minds are cleared from the transforming power of the Word and they are instead filled with all sorts of distraction, deception, and destruction. Nevertheless, they are exposed, we all are exposed before the Mighty, Living Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself, and His Word is His Sword in His hand. Christ will either be our physician or our executioner. If His Word is not the instrument of our life, it will be the instrument of our death, if not the instrument of our justification, then the instrument of our judgment.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Secret to the Spiritual Life (with audio)

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…and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
(Judges 13:5)

Samson began to deliver Israel but he didn’t finish the job. Although he finished in faith, he never fully committed so he never fully entered into what God had given him the power to achieve. David finished off the Philistines nearly 100 years later. You see, they were going to be delivered, God’s purposes cannot be thwarted, but Samson did not see it in his lifetime because he did not enter into all the fullness of what God had given him the power to do.

You are delivered from the power of sin but you may not see it in your lifetime because you will not fully give your life to God as He shows you areas to give to Him. Like Samson, you don’t really want it because you don’t think it’s worth it. If that is the case, you may see deliverance, but you will never walk in the fullness of the great deliverance on this side of heaven as much as God would allow you to. Most believers are just like Samson in this, the question is why?

I want to reveal something as to why we don’t walk in God’s fullness and why we don’t want to. We never seem to get our want to in gear, and it is because we don’t understand something. Almost no one has considered this, and that is why almost no one today walks in God’s fullness.

Think about how Samson’s exploits became more and more pronounced, his deliverance was greater and greater, yet his sin actually was worse and worse. The lion (14:5-6) and the linen (the thirty) (14:19), then the foxes and the fire (15:4-8), then Judah and the jawbone (15:11-16), then the fortress (the escape from being surrounded) (16:2-3), and the festival (16:23-30). First he wanted someone outside (liken this to an unbeliever), then he wanted a harlot, then he actually wanted the sworn enemy. His deliverance was increasing, but his discernment was decreasing. How could Samson be seemingly growing in the power of God and yet still turn back to his sins, and why would he want to? He was growing in the power of God, but not the person of God.

Through Jesus Christ, God has given all believers the Holy Spirit, God has given you the power to enter into His fullness, but we look aside to lesser things! We don’t value God high enough, we don’t really want it because we don’t think it’s worth it, or when we have a measure of it, we think we can’t lose it! Learn from Samson.

Samson was using more and more power, God’s deliverance was greater and greater, but he got worse and worse in sin because he never did fully sell out to God, and eventually that power becomes the very thing that destroys you. It keeps you, not from walking in the fullness at all, but from living in it, because you never fully surrender you life and so you stop short of all that God has for you. You thought it was all about power to perform, but it is more about power to deliver you and then to deliver others from sin and oppression. That is what walking in God’s fullness is, because in heaven, amongst God’s fullness there will be no sickness or sorrow. Why, not because He will use power to take it away but because it won’t be there in the first place because sin is what causes these things!

Now here is the answer as short as I can give it. We only taste of the fullness and think that this is all there is, and so we are still tempted by the other things, we thought we have arrived when we see and feel and know the power of God, but we haven’t done all the itinerary yet, there is more. We taste of the fullness, but we are only at the table, there is much more there. The secret to the spiritual life: stay hungry. You won’t live in it until you taste and see, and then instead of saying it is not enough and going back, you say it is not enough and you go forward. Stay hungry for God, not for self, and you will not only know the fullness you will walk in it. And you may even be one of the few who live in it.

Samson got to a place where he had a choice, and he chose his fleshly wants time after time, compulsively. When you get to that place that you have a choice, you won’t feel God’s power to deliver right then, that is what people expect and when they don’t feel it that is why they fail. Don’t expect to feel the power, what you will feel is the pain, the hurt of not doing what you wanted to do, and then later you will feel God’s power. It doesn’t seem worth it now, in fact it seems worse, it seems negative, but later you will not regret it when you know God’s fullness in a greater measure. Remember that feeling, and think about that, renew your mind to that when the temptation comes. It will hurt, perhaps worse and worse for a while, maybe a long while, depending on how much flesh has to die, but when you come through it will be more than worth it. When walking in the fullness you never fully taste all there is at the table, and so you stay hungry. The others achieve a measure and think they are full and so other delights look appealing, and familiar food (sins) seems to satisfy. Deny yourself, learn what it is like to continue in God’s fullness, and to stay hungry for Him.

Many have indeed tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8 / 1 Peter 2:3), but some take no more in and starve (Hebrews 6:5). Jesus says we must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, not to simply try it on our lips and tongue, but to swallow it all. Not just taste and see, but swallow and be. Some do go further and eat, some make it a meal, and some, precious few, but some make it their regular diet, and feed on nothing else.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

I Want To (with audio)

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For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:13)

Most believers, and especially those that have been a Christian for more than a couple of years, will certainly identify with the ongoing struggle for sanctification. It just doesn’t happen overnight, and all the secrets, keys, steps, and principles, all the seminars, conferences, churches, books, and preaching we have heard never seems to quite get us over the hump. Or perhaps it seems to for a while, but then we fall back down, get frustrated, and we wonder what to do next until the new thing comes along, and we go right back on the boom and bust bicycle.

We can articulate it like this. We start out with what we might call “riotism”, where the operative phrase describing our pursuit of sanctification would be “don't go, forget God”. However, when we find that our distaste for life and our desire for God increases, we want our “want to” to increase more. Not knowing what to do next, we start by trying harder. We then move on to pietism, where we strive to serve King Jesus with all the discipline we can muster, with the operative phrase being “go and get God”. Eventually, all our meager efforts at self-sanctification are just that, meager, and we meet someone who introduces us to the concept of “absolute surrender”, or a promise of a deeper life, or some sort of thing. This is when we have entered the realm of quietism, its operative phrase being “let go and let God”.

Finally, hopefully, we mature to the truth about sanctification, with its operative phrase being “don't let go of God”. We see Him as more beautiful than anything else, and we foster and feed this into our minds, and it sinks down into our hearts, it comes out of our mouths, and it is what we increasingly want to be all about. It is less and less a fight to get there, and only a fight to keep other things at bay, until we see them as less also, and when they arrive on the scene they are more easily dismissed. We progress and develop into maturity, using flawed means until we get the picture and enter in to the resting of the Gospel.

We start out, when we are serious, with a patterned discipline and measured devotion, which most often leads to a boom and bust spirituality, we try next to "absolutely surrender", which seems closer, but is still not there yet. When we get the real picture of our sorry state, and have glimpses of what TRUE fellowship is like (not Schleirmacher's "feeling of absolute dependence" but a cleansing of our will in conformity to God's), then we "want it".

When we finally realize that fellowship with God is incomparable with anything else, it has a pronounced effect. Not so much that people don't see us sin, we probably already had that licked, the outside that is, but that now, to our own hearts, we know that we just don't "want" that stuff anymore, at all, its rubbish. Our “want to” has changed.

Its like, for a crude example, having a toy that is deteriorating, a car, lets say, and then getting a car that is new, and runs on batteries, and makes noises, etc. We have no DESIRE to have the old car anymore. Of course that is a weak example, in that Christ is not just a "better car", He is in a totally different category than anything else, as we said, incomparable. Oh, that we might find this in our daily walk, EVERY DAY! To God be the glory, as we become light bearers, and more than just a dimmer switch.

If you act in accordance with God’s “want to”, and you “don’t let go of God” (cf. Philippians 2:12), then you will find that He will increase your “want to” because as our text above says, not only does God cause us to do His good pleasure, He gives us the will to do it. Do you want to?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Stress-Free Sinning? (with audio)

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But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity."

(2 Timothy 2:19 – ESV)

Not every true Christian will experience the same degree of personal, practical sanctification. The thief on the cross was saved but since he died that same day he didn’t have the time that the Apostle Paul had to show forth the fruits of righteousness. We instinctively and interpretively understand that some believers will progress further into the sanctification process, they will press on to the mark in a more pronounced fashion than some others. On the other end of the spectrum, some might seem to be acting like unbelievers, while they may truly be born again.

This brings an interesting question. Why are there so many genuine Christians who persist in the same patterns of sin, apparently without pangs of conscience, and without repentance, apparently hard-hearted against the communion of Christ, the conviction of the Spirit and the commands of the Word? Why do they sin without stress, without struggle, and seemingly without significance?

Well, first off, the inward sins of the heart that perhaps do not manifest as overt, “big time” sins that everyone condemns are sins nonetheless. We all have sin; it is just that Christians are supposed to be striving toward holiness, wanting to be blameless while realizing they will never be completely sinless in this lifetime. Still, what about those who don’t even try? How do you tell the Christians from the non-believers, in that some professing believers live “worse” moral lives than some non-believers? Why would God even allow this?

We know this for sure; it is all a part of God’s plan. Jesus said it would be so, and that we won’t know until the end who the real believers were, and also that many think they are true believers but they aren’t. The answer is in our personal valuing of practical sanctification, both temporal and eternal. God is giving us opportunity.

Peter says to make your calling and election sure by growing in fruitfulness (2 Peter 1:5-10). Now when he says this he is not saying that you are making your calling and election sure to God, but to yourself, because the Lord knows those who are His, and because the second inscription on the sure foundation of God says that those who are His, those who claim the name of Christ are to depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19). We also make our calling and election sure to others we know (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4), others we meet (1 Thessalonians 1:6-9), and perhaps even to Satan and the demonic realm (2 Timothy 2:26).

Those that are doing this are being made useful and ready for every good work by cleansing themselves from sin (2 Timothy 2:20-25). Here in 2 Timothy Paul speaks about a cleansing that isn’t just something God does for us as we sit passively. This is a self-cleansing for service that goes beyond a general cleansing for sin. 1 John 1:9 would be speaking of the general cleansing from the guilt and penalty of sin, but Paul and the Bible talks of another type of cleansing. We sanctify, or set apart ourselves because He has sanctified us (Leviticus 20:7-8 / 1 Corinthians 1:30).

It is not a salvation issue but an assurance of salvation issue. It is not a “make it to heaven” issue, but a “rewards in heaven” issue. It is about fruitfulness and usefulness in this life. It is about working out from our cleansing from sin, and cleansing ourselves in God’s power so that we are separated for service. It is about being prepared for production. It is about our cooperation with God’s Spirit so that we are set apart and made useful and closer to God.

However, what many do not realize is that this voluntary, temporal cleansing has eternal consequence as well as temporal aspects. They don’t go for it because they don’t see the worth; they haven’t realized it, made it real, cashed in on this truth. There are temporal aspects, such as an assurance of salvation and communion with Christ by the Holy Spirit, and eternal aspects, as with rewards in heaven. We have not stressed the practical presence of God and rewards in heaven enough.

In sanctification, God allows us to store up treasures in heaven, and allows us to win crowns that we may cast at the Master’s feet. To some, that may not seem to be all that big a deal, as long as they make it, but believe me, and believe the Bible, it will be a great big deal on that day, and you, me, and all of us will want to have more to give than we will then. We need to see this as it really is, and stress to believers the importance of the eternal state, not just as the resting place from wrath, but the place where we make an eternal statement about how we honored the glory of the Lord with our lives. For some this isn’t enough motivation, but we must endeavor to renew our minds to this truth.

To be a servant of the Lord, a vessel of honor for Him, we must be empty, clean, and available. If we refuse to empty ourselves, clean ourselves, and make ourselves available to the Lord, we will find ourselves captive to the devil in one sense or another. When you commit a sin, you let the devil win. If someone does not have the desire or the actions to depart from iniquity at all, it is fair to ask if they really belong to Jesus or if they have just deceived themselves. The sanctified, feeling God’s love, imitate it, and the more they imitate it, the more they feel it. It is worth striving for. At best, stress-free sinning is success-free sinning.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The Majesty of the Master (with audio)

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Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty.
(Isaiah 2:10 – ESV)

As human beings we stink, and in saying that it is not self loathing but realizing that the higher we get up into God the further we have to go. We don’t preach and teach the depravity of man so as to keep men down, but so as to show them the only way up. That way is Christ, but even when we have been redeemed, in our flesh we are still low down dirty rotten scoundrels compared to God. It is only that now He has condescended to us in the person of Jesus, and having come down to save us and to bring us to God we are positioned with Him in the heavenlies. In His grace we are already arrived at our destination, we simply await glorification.

Now then, in this life we can because of His grace become more and more sanctified, we can scale the heights of God holiness. On this side of eternity we can get a small glimpse of the reality of God, because we now climb up to God on the back of our beloved Savior. And this we do by God’s grace. We are still imperfect, and as Paul said we haven’t arrived in fullness, but we can press on toward the upward call, we don’t have to stay in our sin.

So realize that when we say we stink, we stink less than we did before, but the more we see of God the more we realize our stink. No I am not worse than I was before, by the grace of God I am more holy than I have ever been, and by the grace of God I am becoming more holy every second of every day, all praise to His name. But the more light that we have the more dust that we see. We do go up into the heights, but then we see just how much higher the Lord is than we had thought.

The more holy I become, the more holy I realize He is, and how much further from Him I am than I ever could have imagined had He not graciously allowed me to ascend to the heights I now scale. The higher I get the more beautiful He appears, even as the more awful my sin appears. I am sick of the false humility that says we cannot dare ascend higher up in the mountain of God’s majesty. Having said that, I want to go higher up into God, not so as to glory in my climb, or in its own heights, or to look down on others, but so as to revel in the majesty of my Master. Oh, just how lofty are you, my Lord? Only heaven will begin to reveal it, and even then, it will take forever to explore it.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Fire Extinguisher

…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

(Ephesians 6:16 – ESV)

Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
(1 Thessalonians 5:19 – NIV)

Learning to live the life of faith can be frustrating at times; especially if you don’t understand the battleground you are on. It seems like you are on fire for God one minute, and then later it is like you are in the burning pit of hell. Why is it like this, what is going on, you might say?

Well, most Christians know that we are in a spiritual war, but did you know that the devil is not your greatest enemy? Your old man of the flesh is your greatest enemy. What the devil tries to do is set on fire the fuel that is already there. The Holy Spirit within you is also trying to start a fire, but a holy one that envelops you with a burning passion for God.

The truth is that there are two fires we must tend to as Christians. One we must stoke (2 Timothy 1:6) and one we must stop. Both fires are trying to blaze, and you are always extinguishing one or the other. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, and those are darts aimed to enflame your flesh. Either you will quench those darts or quench the Spirit, quench the devil’s fire or the Spirit’s fire. It is one or the other, at all times. There is no neutral ground; the devil will rush in to set on fire the places you are leaving unguarded (Ephesians 4:27).

You will either deny yourself or deny the power of God. In those moments that you sense your new man and your old man at war, the Spirit is not just trying to get you through that moment, and not just trying to get you to do the right thing. The Spirit is trying to sustain your life force, the fire is going out, and He is putting kerosene on the pilot light that is why it can seem like such a flare up and perhaps painful. He is reminding you that you are dousing the life right out of you. The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, the shield of the flesh quenches the Spirit. Don’t quench the Spirit’s fire.

Don’t deny the Spirit’s power to live a life sanctified increasingly to God. This would be the opposite of the list in 2 Timothy 3, which talks of having a form of godliness but denying the power. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 – ESV). The Spirit gives you the power to deny yourself instead of denying God in this way.

Satan doesn't need to read minds because he has at least 6000 years of reading behavior. He can plant thoughts perhaps, but he can definitely observe when a sinful stimulus appears and our response to it, and therefore know how to strategize. Our enemies in the spiritual war are allowed behind the lines, as it were, and we had better realize that. There are no secret sins; you are putting lighter fluid on one pilot light, and putting your fingers on the other.

In those moments where you have that choice you either choose life or death, and the problem for some is that the choice of life feels like death...and it is, it is death to self, and since they aren't used to it, it is a seemingly unbearable pain, but we must arm ourselves with this mind (1 Peter 4:1). At all times, the Spirit either is working in your life or He is becoming grieved (Ephesians 4:30). You are a fire extinguisher; the question is which one?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Devil’s Food

Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
(1 Peter 5:8 – ESV)

It can be easy to over indulge ourselves during the holidays. Our eyes are filled with many delights as everyone we know is tempting us with tasty treats and mouthwatering morsels of fabulous food. It would seem as if we somehow develop an extra space in our stomach during certain times of the year.

Well Satan is on hells’ holiday until Judgment Day, and he has the most insatiable appetite, and an unquenchable thirst for destruction. The devil is wandering around, looking for fresh flesh to sink his teeth into.

However, we often don’t realize when our spiritual lives are being eaten alive. Believe me, you may think you aren’t being consumed by the enemy, but if your desires and deeds are not godly you are already in the enemy’s camp! You cannot stay in the cage with a hungry animal and not expect to have to defend yourself at some point.

Yes I know for sure that Christians can be oppressed by the devil, and obsessed with the world and their own sinful flesh. I want to encourage you that God can deliver you, and I exhort you to understand that you will never overcome the devil doing it your way. I know you’re battered, I know you’re weary, but that is because you are too often fighting in your own strength and with your own wisdom. I know that not doing what you want to feels like a fire burning you up. It is. You have got to commit yourself to God’s way, and allow the fire to purify you.

With sin, you will either be committed to kill it,

or you will be committed to do it.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Which Switch?

not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
(Ephesians 6:6 – ESV)

People sometimes think they can behave as they want to and still make themselves be good when “it really counts”, but they are fooling themselves. You’ll get caught off guard, unprepared, vulnerable in the darkness of your own deception, and in a moment that really counts. You see, holiness is not something you just turn on and off, like a switch. Holiness is a change of direction, a path, switching the road you are on and following a new way. It is actually switching into new life.

Now there is the false light switch, the one you turn on and off as you wish, and then there is the true light switch, the one Jesus turns on and doesn’t ever turn off, the light just gets brighter as you go along. The true light dispels the darkness, the false light just means you can see a little better but you are still walking in darkness all the same. The real tragedy is that when you are walking in darkness with a little false light you are recognizing that you need some light because you see how bad it really is to stumble around in the dark all the time, but you won’t let Jesus turn on the true light. Are you one of those who are walking in perpetual night?

Jesus isn’t some friend who lives inside your house that you invite out to play only when you feel like you are supposed to, or when you need it, or when it suits you. Friends that is artificial, sort of like a flashlight; the battery will eventually run out. The switch to holiness doesn’t just come on like a light you can turn off later, it is a light that stays on all the time, and it is a life. Are you following the flickers of a false light? It is time to make the switch that counts. To think you can just switch into holiness mode means that when you flip the lever, it isn’t actually the holiness switch but the hypocrisy switch you turned on.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Holy Ground

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
(Hebrews 12:28-29 – ESV)

If we are holy we declare that He is holy not that we are holy, and we do what He wants us to do, not use our supposed holiness to do what we want to do. He declares the holy; we acknowledge it by taking off our shoes, walking circumspectly, carefully. The fear of the Lord, reverential awe, does not simply mean being afraid of God. That will drive us away from Him. It isn’t the same as feeling sentimental about God. That is only a projection of our own feelings, and makes God into a grandpa in the sky type of thing. That leads to presumption, not faith. But when we are in awe of God we are aware of His power and goodness and we are compelled to worship. Awe is more than some singular emotion, and reverence is more than a singular facet, but reverential awe will result in our response to it in worship (Genesis 28:17).

God is working in our lives, capturing us, redeeming each part of us for His kingdom work on this earth, making us into holy ground that we might make where we travel into holy ground, redeeming the time, renewing our mind, revealing the Lord, making our workplace holy work, our family time holy time, our recreation giving glory to the Lord, anywhere and everywhere we are. As we become holy we bring holiness to the situation. As the world continues down this path of despair we see happening so fast we will stand out like burning bushes in the midst of this generation as we declare that we have seen God and that He is holy and that He is still redeeming people today, and that we are standing on holy ground.

Don’t give up ground to the devil (Ephesians 4:27) make it holy ground. Don’t profane the places you walk; remember you are supposed to be walking with God. If we reverence God in all we do He will start showing up in all we do. If we will repent from profaning the name of God by treating those things He calls holy as common, if we will hallow Him in our hearts and treat the things of God as holy and not common then He can restore all those wasted years by granting us abundant fruit in the time to come (Joel 2:16-27). Let us live our lives on holy ground.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Holy Temples

Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
(Hebrews 10:29 – NKJV)

When God declares something holy He is declaring that His presence is there and that a work is being done. Too often we say we want to see God work in our lives but we fail to realize God is still doing His redemptive work in the earth. The ground where God works is holy and we dare not treat it as common. If we repent of that He can restore what we have wasted. The biblical stories about holy ground are about what we call redemptive history but you and I also have a personal redemptive history. God is buying back time, setting more of you free in practical ways, leading more of you to conquer the sin in your life and lead others to the Lord. It is time to repent of commonplace Christianity. It is time to stand on holy ground.

To treat as common means to treat as unholy, to profane something holy as if it were not that big of a deal. This is someone who hasn’t “taken off his shoes”; he treats the blood, the things of God as common. Where God is working to change your life we had best not treat this as a common thing. God is trying to set us apart to be more than a common, or we could say carnal, Christian, as if they actually exist, which is debatable. Indeed Christians shouldn’t be common but be portraits of grace, testimonies of changed lives and changing lives that give God glory. The things of God are not profane; they are graced in the supernatural.

Ephesians 4 speaks about telling the truth in love, and believing lies. When we see these things we start to immediately think of our own personal holiness. But if you keep that exhortation firmly planted in the context of Ephesians 3, it’s clear that Paul has more than one person in mind here. He’s talking to a group of people, not just individuals. Cultivating a holy unity based on truth is our responsibility as church members.

Some people may make individual witness to Christ but they are not contributing to the corporate witness of Christ. God calls out a people, not just individuals, but individuals to reflect a group witness. Church is one way we magnify God’s name in this world.

It is the entire church that has been gifted by the Spirit, and so Paul calls the entire church to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). Individuals are holy temples (1 Corinthians 6:17-20), but the church is also holy ground, and those whom treat it as common, those who destroy God’s temple God will destroy (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Familiar Ground?

Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
And the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
(Exodus 3:5 / Joshua 5:15 – ESV)

Both of these scenarios were transformational encounters, we could say, but they were for corporate movement. God calls us as individuals for our corporate mission as well as our personal holiness. We see that we are not holy and not worthy to lead but God cleanses us and equips us to do what He wants us to do. God is still in that business today. That is why we have holy ground moments, because God is not trying to give us a thrill, but to lead us on.

God was near, in a special way for a special purpose. We may not ever have a burning bush or mountaintop moment, but God will still expose us to His burning light that He might change us and we might change our world – Ephesians 5:13-15 – God was revealing something about Himself and about us – we must know our true state. He doesn’t deliver us from bondage without us first understanding our own weakness to deliver ourselves. God was speaking to them then and He speaks to us now by His written and preached word. This ground is also holy.

When God is working something is changing and we have to start to change to get it. Moses and Joshua had to take off their shoes. This is not a ritual to be performed in approaching God. Rather the shoes represent protection for the sensitive flesh. Holy ground is where no flesh shall glory in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:29). It is also the place where sins are exposed, for God sees our hearts. It is taking away self-sufficiency, which is blasphemy before the Lord. The bible talks about the beautiful feet of those whose are wearing the gospel of peace as their shoes.

We must continue to set ourselves apart for God’s work as He is working in us (Leviticus 20:7-8 / Philippians 2:12-13). We can become too familiar with God – consider Moses and the rock (Numbers 20:10-12). Even if God has called us, failure to sanctify ourselves in His sight will lead to consequences. If we fail to take off our shoes when we know He wants to do a work in us, we will fail to see Him work, and we will become bitter against God and others as we become envious of what we see elsewhere when we could have seen that in ourselves if we would continue to sanctify Him in out hearts (Hebrews 12:14-15). Moses did sanctify himself to deliver the people out of Egypt but it took years. Don’t give up on God, continue to sanctify Him in you heart and He will deliver you.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

An Uncommon Honor

So the honor is for you who believe…
(1 Peter 2:7 – ESV)

What makes something holy ground? When God declares it, when He is working in that place. God has declared believers as holy ground (Romans 8:29 / 1 Corinthians 6:17-20). 1 Peter 1:18-19 – We had better consider ourselves as holy ground or we treat the blood of Christ as less than precious. 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 – if we disregard holiness we disregard God. We need to become holy ground in our lives as individuals, in our families, and in our churches, and also see to it that our communities know where they can go to be set apart.

Where God is acting we cannot treat as common. Common grace is different from saving and sanctifying grace. Going to church, studying the Bible, praying, fellowshipping with other true believers, fasting, worshipping through song, hearing the Word preached, and living the Christian life with increasing submission and sanctification, these things might appear to be common things. However, they only seem like common things to unbelievers, to believers they are valuable and precious, they are special, they are not common. Only saved or about to be saved people can get any true benefit from them, they are holy things.

1 Peter 2:4-10 – This is special not common, but our common heritage as Christians. Look at the words Peter uses to describe the things of God. We dare not treat these things God calls chosen, precious, holy, acceptable, honor, royal, his own possession, excellent, and marvelous, we dare not treat these things as common. If God Himself thinks they are special, we commit a horrible sin to call them common by treating them as routine and not special. Our salvation, our spiritual sacrifices, and our being built together as living stones that proclaim the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, these things are valuable and precious to God.

Every Sunday is a special time. Just because we get to do it every Sunday doesn’t mean we should treat it as run of the mill. It is God in His abundant grace that gives us the opportunity to meet with Him in the context of meeting with other believers to worship Him. It is a glorious, wondrous, marvelous, precious thing, not some take it or leave it thing. That would be profaning it. That would be treating it as common. Perhaps that is all it is to you, common, but if you are truly growing as a Christian you will have a growing appreciation for just how special this all truly is. Worshipping and working together is an opportunity you don’t get when you are by yourself. It isn’t common and if you think it is that is why you don’t get much out of it because you denigrate its importance. Don’t dishonor God when He has so honored you. Don’t treat as common what God has made clean (Acts 10:15).

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©