DOES IT REALLY MATTER HOW WE LIVE?

We have all heard this question asked at some point, but what is the answer? Can Christians live any way that they choose because Christ died for all sins, past, present, and future, or are we, as Christians, called to live lives that are holy?

The only way to answer such a question is to look at the Bible. I looked up the word “holy” in a concordance (a book that lists all of the occurrences of a specific word in the Bible) and here is what I found.

“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” 
~Leviticus 11:44-45

“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” 
~Leviticus 19:2

“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” 
~Leviticus 20:26

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'” 
~1 Peter 1:14-16

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”
~Ephesians 1:4

The entire book of James deals with showing/proving our faith by our works.

As I was recently studying through the book of Ephesians, I found that is has quite a bit to say about holiness as well. Chapter 2 tells us that we are hopeless and helpless without Christ, but because of Christ, we can do good and be holy. Chapters 4 and 5 give many examples of what holy living looks like.

Do you see a pattern in these verses? The Israelites were given the law to show that they were different, that they belonged to God, that they had been set apart. These laws were intended to make them holy because GOD IS HOLY. I found the same things was commanded of Christians in the New Testament. Peter said, “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”

So, does it really matter how we live? Absolutely! It matters because God commands it. It matters because it is how we prove that we have faith. It matters because God is holy and we are made in His image, to reflect His holiness. Does that mean that God has always wanted us to be holy? Read Ephesians 2. Verse 10 say we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” God created man to do good works, to be holy. Chapter 1 verse 4 says God desired man to be holy and blameless. “before the foundation of the world.” It has always been His intention for man to live a holy life.

Once we have come to the conclusion that we should live holy lives, how do we do that? We plead with God to help us. We cannot do it by our own strength and power, but with God, nothing is impossible. If God wants you to do something, He will give you the strength to do it. You may have to ask for this strength daily, but God has promised to always be with us and He will give us that strength daily.

Seven Things We Can Pray For Lost People

A few weeks ago, Pastor Howard preached a sermon called "Having a Heart for Lost People."  In this sermon, he gave us a list of things that we can pray for people that we know are lost.  I wanted to share that list here on the blog for those who may not have heard the sermon and as a reminder for those of us who did hear it.

Seven Things We Can Pray For Lost People

1. That God would convict them of their sin.
        "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" John 16:8
   
2.  That their eyes would be opened to the truth.
        "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4
   
3. That laborers would be sent to them.
        "therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:38
   
4. That their hearts would soften to the Gospel.
        "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12
   
5. That they would be protected from the enemy.
        "do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." John 17:15
   
6. That they would have no peace until they get saved.
        "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27
   
7. That God would draw them to Himself.
        "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." John 6:44

I hope that this will help you as you pray for your family and friends who do not know Christ.

More on the Love of God

While I was writing the previous blog post about the love of God, there were a couple of songs that came to mind.  I thought that I would share them with you this week.

The first one is The Love of God written by Frederick M. Lehman.  The final verse of this song was actually an almost thousand year old Jewish hymn that was sung before the reading of the Ten Commandments at Jewish festivals.  When Lehman heard the words of this Jewish hymn quoted, he was moved to adapt it into a hymn.  He sat down on a lemon box and wrote the first two verses and the chorus on a scrap of paper with a pencil stub.

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

(The information about this hymn came from Hymns – Inspiring Stories about 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen & Ardythe Petersen)

The second song that came to mind while I was dwelling on the love of God was one written by George Amon Webster.  Webster sang and played the piano for the Cathedral Quartet during the 1970's.  His most well-known song is called He Loves Me.  Here are the words and a video where you can watch the Cathedrals sing this song.

Why did He go to Calvary?
Why was His life’s blood shed for me?
Why did He suffer as no man has ever done?
There’s just one reason–I am the one
He loves me, He loves me
Jesus loves me
He loves me, He loves me
Jesus loves me

When I’m sad, He loves me
Even when I’m bad, He loves
When it seems no one cares for me
I talk to Jesus, He loves me

The Love of God

For the past week or two I have been studying the book of Hosea and dwelling on the steadfast love of God.  When I think about how far away from God Israel had gone and how much God still loved them and held off punishing them, I'm amazed.  I cannot imagine still loving someone and showing them mercy after all that they put Him through, but then, I'm not God and that is a good thing.

The story of Hosea is a great parable of God's never-ending love.  Hosea was a prophet who warned the people to turn back to God.  One day, God spoke to him and told him to take a specific woman to be his wife.  God knew that this woman would not be faithful to Hosea in their marriage, but he told Hosea to marry her anyway.  Things seemed to be pretty good at first, and they even had a son.  But soon, Gomer became unfaithful and Hosea knew it, yet he did not turn her away or divorce her.  He took care of her and even raised her next two children who most likely were fathered by another man.

Before long, Gomer's discontentment led her to leave Hosea.  She had found something better, or so she thought, and was happy until she ended up as a slave who was being sold to the highest bidder.  Then, no one wanted her...except Hosea.  He came and bought her for a very low price, but bought her nonetheless.  You see, Hosea still loved Gomer and had never divorced her, even though she had left him and turned her back on him.

God's relationship with Israel started out good, but soon they began to stray from Him and started to look for other gods to serve.  As they walked away, God sent prophets to warn them of what would happen if they didn't turn back to Him, but they would not listen.  God put off punishment as long as He could, but when it could wait no longer, He allowed them to be taken captive by some of the other nations.  It was only then, once they had hit rock bottom, that they remembered God and turned back to Him. And because God is a loving God, He brought them out of captivity and back to their homeland.

Just like Israel, we sometimes stray from God and do not give Him the love that we should.  We allow other things in our lives to become higher priorities than God.  We neglect to spend time with Him each day, we start missing church services, and maybe even get to the point where we do not think about Him very often.  No matter what we do to hurt Him, God still loves us and is waiting for us to turn back to Him and love Him the way we should.  Sometimes God has to punish us because we are too stubborn to realize we need Him without being reprimanded, but even then, He is waiting for us with open arms.  All we have to do is call out to Him in repentance.

Book Review: A Place of Quiet Rest

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Well, I should read the Bible daily, but I just don't have time."  Or maybe you are like me and you have been guilty of going through the motions of a daily quiet time, but not paying attention enough to actually gain anything from it.  Perhaps you have never even considered the need to spend time with God each day.

Whichever one of these categories you fall into, or even if you don't fall into any of these, this book is for you.  A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss takes a look at what it means to truly have a daily devotional time with God.  It begins by outlining the importance of spending time with God each day, and giving some biblical examples of people who walked with God.

The second part of the book lists some of the common excuses that we give for not having a daily quiet time and gives some helpful suggestions on how to combat these excuses.

Lastly, DeMoss discusses the benefits of having a daily devotional time.  At the end of each chapter, there are personal accounts from several well-known Christian leaders about their daily quiet times.  There are also questions and sometimes exercises at the end of each chapter to help the reader assess his own devotional life and apply the principles that are being taught.

Reading this book really changed the way I "do" devotions.  I was very encouraged and challenged by what I read.  As I spend time with God each day, I am becoming more and more aware of what a privilege it is to be able to meet with God on a daily basis and I am developing a greater desire to always make this time a priority.  Because of what I have learned personally, I am recommending this book to any Christian who is seeking to know God more.