Living as an Outlaw

 

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.  Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.  And in him is no sin."" I John 3:1-2

 

Today, we have more of a "lawless" mindset than we once did.  People used to have a greater reverence for God, the Bible, and authority in general.  Respect for parents, teachers, police and government used to be regularly taught to children.  But unfortunately we have adopted an attitude of "nobody is going to tell me anything."  We are unwilling for our kids to be disciplined, we won't put our shopping carts where the signs ask us too, etc...

But as Christians, our absolute values cannot afford to shift with the culture.  We still must reverence the Word of God, the Man (or Woman) of God, civic and governmental authorities and police.  All of this was set in place for our benefit.  Humanistic mindsets have crept into the church to the point we now believe that each person gets to decide for themselves who they will listen to and to what extent.  We have a "buffet" mentality where we pick and choose the rules we are willing to adhere to and those we elect to decline. Brothers and sisters, this should not be!

Our goal  has always been, and always  will be, to live a "low-sin" lifestyle.  We are human, we have weaknesses,  we stumble and we fall; but all the time, we must be aiming for the high mark of not sinning.   We must change our hearts, actions and mind to line up with the Bible and with the convictions that the Holy Spirit places within our heart. Christians should be the most benevolent, respectful and peaceful people on the planet. We must avoid the mentality that life owes us something, but choose instead, to take up our cross and follow Jesus.  That means we deny our wants,  our opinions and our rights.  Conversely,  we obey, submit and serve.  But that is the best life you will ever experience.  As we surrender our will and way to the Lord,  he rises up and becomes our shield of defense to fight on our behalf when others treat us wrongfully and say things that are untrue against us. There is no greater peace, joy or contentment than striving every moment of every day to live a holy, sanctified and set apart life.  As a child of God, you are a vessel carrying the precious commodity of the Holy Spirit.  You cannot do that in a vessel that is encrusted  with the filth of the world!  Strive for purity and reverence, walking in the steps of Jesus.

Dear Lord, help me to be blameless and above reproach in the way I conduct myself. Convict me in the areas that I fail you and help me to submit, even when it costs me something. in Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Sherri

What Has Reverence Got to Do With It?

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  II Corinthians 7:1

 

“These promises” referred to here are listed in the preceding chapter.  The list includes:  God will live with us; walk with us; be our God, and allow us to be His people.  It also says He will receive us, be a Father to us, and we will be His sons and daughters.  All of this will occur, according to Chapter 6, if we come out; be separate; and not touch unclean things.

If we do those things, it results in us purifying ourselves from these things that contaminate.  What things are there in your life that contaminates you?  Are there habits, thoughts, temper issues, lusts, gossip or other things that contaminate your spirit?  Come out from among these things and be separate!

I love the last part of this verse that talks about perfecting holiness. As long as we are alive- and saved- we are constantly in a place of perfecting holiness.  When we stand before Him one day whether it be through death or rapture, we will stand in perfected holiness.  But until then, we are credited as righteous in His sight because of Jesus’ sacrifice.  However, we must continue to work at walking in the holiness we are called to.  This means that I may mess up, I may fall short, but I keep working at it.

Holiness is hard.  Holiness is strange to others.  Why would we want to be holy?  Because of our reverence for God.   My Bible dictionary says that reverence is to adore, highly respect and worship.  Because I adore Him; because I highly respect Him; because I worship Him; I must walk in holiness. The things I give up, I give up because I love him.  The places I don’t go, I stay away because I adore Him.  The times I don’t get my way?  Because I highly respect Him.  When adoration, worship and high respect are in the heart, holiness follows.

As you go about your day today, look for ways you can reverence Him in your life.  Can you say a kind word rather than an angry one?  Can you spend money to help another even if you have to sacrifice something you want?  Reverence Him in what you and do and in what you do not do. Reverence Him when you do not watch sexually explicit comedy.  Reverence Him when you do not join in sexually perverted banter at lunch with your co-workers. Reverence Him when the clerk gives you too much change.  Out of adoration, worship and high respect; perfect holiness.  And then begin to enjoy all of the promises listed in chapter six!

Dear Lord, help me to walk closer to you today than I did yesterday.  Help me to be mindful that every decision I make today either shows reverence or irreverence toward You.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri