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Tag: purity

  • Godly Living in a Godless Age, Part 1

    Godly Living in a Godless Age, Part 1

    Our Greatest Challenge

    It’s clearly the greatest challenge any believer faces in following Jesus today: How can I remain godly in a godless age? This week I’m doing something a bit differently in the blogs. I’m going to share with you an abbreviated list of Bible verses that I’ve compiled over time to keep myself in check.

    I’ve arranged them into different categories and tried to encapsulate their meaning in a single phrase or sentence. So, the thoughts about each of these verses are mine, but perhaps the Lord will give you a different insight as you prayerfully contemplate each one.

    Again, I use these in my own times of spiritual reflection, and I can honestly say that it’s pleased the Lord to use them over and over again to keep my heart right. I hope they’ll challenge you as well.

    The Psalmist, in what was certainly the darkest hour of his life, asked the question, ‘How can I stay godly amidst such ungodliness?’ The questioned was asked and answered – and he even wrote it down so that we might bathe in its glorious light! Psalm 119:9-11:

    “How can a young man keep his way pure?

    By guarding it according to your word.

    With my whole heart I seek you;

    let me not wander from your commandments!

    I have stored up your word in my heart,

    that I might not sin against you.”

    I truly believe that. Do you?

    So, how can I preserve my purity? How can I walk before God in such a difficult time? Only by hiding His Word in my heart.

    It’s the Word that delivers us, and the Word that keeps us.

    You won’t find questions for consideration at the end of these blogs as you normally do. That’s because each of these verses carry with them their own inherent questions:

    ‘Am I living up to this?’

    ‘What needs to change?’

    ‘Is this something I need to talk with Jesus about?’

    So, soak in these verses. Let them convict you. Let them convince you. Let them encourage you. Let them change you.

    Don’t feel like you have to rush through them. Spread them over several days weeks or months, as I do.

    Let them challenge you to stay on mission and to give you perspective.

    Hide them in your heart and let them do their purifying work. “You are clean,” Jesus said, “because of the word I’ve spoken to you” (John 15:3). O, the cleansing power of God’s Words!

    Obviously, each of these verses are worthy of careful meditation in their own right. They offer spiritual enlightenment and guidance for life. But, most importantly of all, they show us how to live life in a way that pleases the Lord.

    P. Gene

     

    God’s Word is Enough

    God’s Word is alive – a LIVING Word – and it scrutinizes my heart.

    Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

    God’s Word is profitable for EVERYTHING.

    2 Timothy 3:16-17: “Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

    God’s Word can renew my thinking TODAY!

    Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind …”

    God’s Word will guide me through the darkness.

    Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

     

    Warnings to Those in Exile

    Remember: This world is not my home. I’m in exile here.

    1 Peter 2:11: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

    I need to present my body daily for the Lord’s use – my feet, my tongue, my hands, my ears, etc.

    Romans 12:1: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

    These are treacherous times. Precede with caution!

    2 Timothy 3:1-9: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

    ‘Lord, help me to walk worthy of my calling today.’

    Ephesians 4:1-6: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

    I need to steer clear of evil, all of it, TODAY!

    1 Thessalonians 5:22: “Abstain from every form of evil.”

     

    The Deceitfulness of Riches

    What Jesus has given me is enough.

    Hebrews 13:5: “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

    Faithfulness must be my occupation.

    Proverbs 28:20: “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”

    I must serve the Giver and never the gift.

    Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

     

    Staying Pure

    I need to be more like Jesus today! Period.

    1 Corinthians 11:1: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

    God will pour into me all the power I need to accomplish His will.

    Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

    I need to keep VERY short accounts with God.

    1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

    The nearer I am to God, the further I am from sin.

    Galatians 5:16: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

    I can decide what my mind will dwell upon; I can be selective in my thought-life.

    Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

     

    A Transformed Life

    I want to ‘wear’ these things TODAY!

    Colossians 3:12-14: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

    I want God to kill these things in me TODAY!

    Colossians 3:5-10: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry … In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.”

    I need to shuck off anything that will slow me down in the ‘race’ of righteousness TODAY!

    Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

    I want to grab hold of eternal life RIGHT NOW! TODAY!

    1 Timothy 6:12: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

    I want this! I want this! I want this! I want to experience this joyful manifestation of the Spirit’s presence TODAY!

    John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

     

    My Big Mouth

    I must always speak as though the Lord were in the room listening (because He is).

    1 Timothy 4:7: “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.”

    NEVER, NEVER, NEVER downspeak God’s people.

    James 4:11: “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.”

    ‘Lord, help me to be kinder and discreet in all that I say.’

    Proverbs 11:12-13: “Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent. Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.”

    Always tell the truth, no matter what the consequence.

    1 Peter 3:10: “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.”

  • Living Inside Out

    It’s a theme that runs throughout the New Testament: to follow Jesus means to live inside out. That’s not to say that the outside doesn’t matter – it does! God holds us accountable for what we do and say. He expects obedience of us, and a good testimony – and confession, if sin has broken our fellowship with Him.

    The problem is this: while were often more concerned with the ‘outside,’ God is always more concerned with the ‘inside.’ In fact, over and over again in Scripture we’re reminded that if what’s ‘inside’ is pure, what’s ‘outside’ will be too.

    A Vessel Useful to the Master

    Paul talked about what it means to be a vessel useful to the Master. He wrote:

    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.”

    Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work (2 Timothy 2:19-21).

    So, before the Lord’s worker can effectively join Him in His “good work,” he must first cleanse himself from all that is dishonorable.

    The Trouble With Pharisees

    Jesus, as most of us know, often tangled with the scribes and the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders famous for their haughty hypocrisy. They ALWAYS did what was right. They were meticulous about their religious garb – they certainly looked the part! They tithed carefully and gave publicly. But Jesus had a word or two to say about their ostentatiousness. The scribes and Pharisees, He said ….

    “ … do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Matthew 23:5a).

    “They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long” [there’s the religious garb I was talking about!] (Matthew 23:5b).

    “They love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others” (Matthew 23:6-7).

    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you TITHE mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matthew 23:23-24)

    [Yikes! Jesus says they were meticulously avoiding swallowing a gnat (listed as an unclean thing in Leviticus 11:42), but they were happily gulping down a camel (also listed as an unclean thing in Leviticus 11:4)! In other words, they were majoring in the minors and missing the heart of God entirely in the process!]

    Oh, but here’s the corker! He challenged them to repent and to live the only way that truly pleases the Father: inside out!

    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean!” (Matthew 23:25-26)

    And the Lord was NOT DONE!

    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28).

    Now, I wish I could report otherwise, but I’ve done some of these things. I’ve certainly been guilty of tithing my salt while forgetting about mercy. You?

    Outer Purity Flows from Inner Purity

    See what I mean about living inside out? This personal cleansing – this ‘cleaning the inside of the cup’ – is a continual cleansing. It’s living our lives as imitators of God as beloved children, children who long to be like their Father. It’s asking Him to remove from us anything impure and godless. And that purity will find its way out!

    Paul encouraged believer to seek an outer purity that naturally flows from an inner purity. He urged us to walk as what we truly are: “children of light!”

    Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

    But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

    Therefore, do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret (Ephesians 5:1-10).

    O Christian, you ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD! And Paul says that the “fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true”! So, we should take pains to be sure that what’s on the outside is flowing from what’s truly on the inside – and to do all we can to discover what is truly pleasing to the Lord.

    Let it Rain!

    Each time we break up the hard ground of our hearts and present them to the Lord we’re sowing righteousness – righteousness that will somehow find its way out! And as such we can expect a harvest of God’s steadfast love! I love Hosea 10:12: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you!”

    O, Lord, let it rain!

    Jesus beautifully challenged those who give alms to “give as alms those things that are within.” But let’s not forget the entire quote! Jesus said, “Give as alms those things that are within and behold, everything is clean for you” (Luke 11:41).

    There it is: Inside out. And if we are diligent to tend to what’s within, all that flows out from us will be clean.

    To consider …

    • This is a good time to take a long, hard look at our spiritual lives.

    The outside might look great – available, attending, serving – but how do things look inside?

    Are you struggling with purity?

    Do you give your heart to Jesus each morning, or do you hold some of it back?

    Do you feel that you’re a vessel useful to the Master at this point in your life? Or is some lack of inner purity limiting your effectiveness as a witness of the truth?

    Is your own agenda for your life clashing with God’s agenda?

    • Did you get zinged by any of Paul’s statements quoted in this blog?

    “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

    “If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”

    “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us …”

    “Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you.”

    “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking … but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

    “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).”

    “Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

    “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

    • Which of these do you find particularly challenging? Being honest about them is the first step in conquering them in the Spirit.
    • How about Jesus’ words to the Pharisees? Any zings there?

    “They do all their deeds to be seen by others.”

    “They love the place of honor …”

    “You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”

    • Do you think it’s time to do some inner cleansing? To ask the Father to remove from us anything that is impure and godless so that genuine purity can work its way out?
  • ‘Being’ the Lights

    “God is light” (1 John 1:5).

    “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:4-9).

    Think about light again.

    God is light and, in Jesus, the true light, which gives light to everyone, came into the world. “And,” John wrote, “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

    Jesus made it clear: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

    Disciples, the following ones, are people who walk through a dark world, but are never in darkness. We know the Light. He shines upon us. He illumines our path. And He fellowships with us in the light – “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7a).

    Jesus is the Light. God is light. Jesus is God. “With you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9).

    And with Jesus will come the dawn of a new era in which righteousness will fill the earth! “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2). The “sun of righteousness” is the dawning of the new day in which the Righteous One will reign.

    Jesus. The Light. The Morning Star. The One who will bring the healing rays of “the sun of righteousness” to bathe the earth in its golden light! As C. A. Blaising writes, “In the kingdom, righteousness will pervade like the sun!”

    Were that all there was to it, it would be enough to contemplate for a thousand eternities. But that’s not all there is to it!

    Just when I think I’ve seen it all, I’m reminded: I’ve never seen it all!

    Just when I think I’ve finally got a handle on this Jesus-is-the-light-of-the-world thing, He pulls the rug out from under my feet and I wind up on my nose!

    When I finally accept that He – Jesus – is the light of the world, He smiles and says, “YOU are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14a).

    Huh?

    Yup. YOU!

    Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus and called them “light in the Lord.” He did not say that they have the light of the Lord, but that they ARE light in the Lord.

    What does this mean? It means that God’s people are the rays that He uses to cover the unbelieving world in His golden light. ‘Seeing’ the light is one thing; ‘being’ the light is something else again. ‘Being’ God’s light means that our primary spiritual occupation is to shine.

    We are the shiners, the phosphorescent ones. We belong to the day and not to the night. We get out of bed each day determined to get to work shining!

    To shirk our responsibility as a shiner is a terrible thing! “You are the light of the world,” Jesus said. “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

    Notice that the light they “see” is our “good works” – not just what we say, but what we do.

    We shine our light by embracing what Paul called the “fruit of light” and by having nothing to do with the “unfruitful works of darkness.”

    It’s purity in the life of a Christian that causes his or her light to shine clean and strong.

    “For at one time,” Paul says, “you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:8-13).

    It’s for this reason that Paul warns Christians to “do all things without grumbling or disputing.” Why? So that “you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14-15).

    Allowing any darkness into our lives will most assuredly dim the light that God’s called us to shine. Just as Israel was to be “a light for the nations that [God’s] salvation may reach to the end of the earth,” so believers today are to be light-bearers.

    This is our job, Church. And we need to be careful too! For if we fail to be a shiner, God may give us one!

     

    To Consider …

    • Put yourself in the story. You’re sitting and listening to Jesus speak. And then, all at once, He turns to face you and says, “YOU are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14a).

    Gulp.

    What do you do with that?

    What do these words of Jesus mean to you personally? Specifically, not generally.

    • Do you agree that “God’s people are the rays that He uses to cover the unbelieving world in His golden light”?

    How has God used you in the past month to shine His light?  Six months?

    • Are you intentional about being a light for Jesus, one of the phosphorescent ones?

    Do you consider that this is your job as a follower of Jesus?

    Do you get out of bed each day determined to get to work shining!

    • Consider Ephesians 5:8-14 carefully.

    Does Paul’s admonition to embrace the “fruit of light” speak to you? What does it say?

    Paul uses the light/darkness motif in two ways in this passage:

                   1.  To describe our new identity in Christ: “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”

                   2.  To describe our new walk in Christ: “Walk as children of light.”

    What do you think it means to “walk as children of light”?

    Paul also contrasts what he calls “the fruit of light” with the “unfruitful works of darkness.”

    The “the fruit of light,” he says, is “is found in all that is good and right and true.”

    What are some of these fruits you can identify in your own life?

    As for the “unfruitful works of darkness,” he warns us to “take no part in “them, but rather, “expose them”.

    What do you think exposing them means?

    Are any of these “works of darkness” present in your life?

    What makes them “unfruitful”? (Hint: Consider the context of shining as lights).

    • How are you doing as a shiner?