11/29/2020
How can we love God, yet take up residence with sin? How can we say we are Christians but not do the things that Jesus has commanded us to do? Do we not see that to be with God we must separate ourselves from sin, and that if we truly love Jesus we must do as He asks, and walk in His footsteps?
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
1 John 2:15 ESV
Remaining tethered to the world is to stay bound to sin, and God cannot dwell with us when we are allied to evil. So, if we maintain a relationship with sin, then we are in alliance with Satan, the father of sin, and our Holy Father is repulsed by us, and indeed hates us by our choice of evil. There is no middle ground in which sin, and righteousness can coexist.
“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.”
Psalm 5:4-5 ESV
In this world we watch as gamblers hedge their bets by placing a bet both for and against the object on which they are gambling their fortunes. In this world politicians attempt to woo every voter by taking a stand that is ambiguous, and neither for nor against any issue. This is the world of Satan, the father of the sinful, a place where even lies are tolerated and called by such names as “white lies”, and murders are committed and then trivialized by calling them “crimes of passion”. Are we lukewarm children of this world, and do we know who our father is?
“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44 ESV
To love God is to detest Satan, the evil that is his character, and the very fiber of which he is comprised. Likewise, to be a Christian is to let Jesus come to dwell within us, and in so doing to claim His victory over sin, and death as our own. To do otherwise, or to attempt to please both God and Satan is not acceptable in the eyes of God, and separates us from Him... to do so also makes it impossible for Jesus to dwell in us.
““‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
Revelation 3:15-16 ESV
Have we made up our minds regarding our spiritual allegiance? Are we firmly decided? Do we think it is possible to be lukewarm spiritually and find solace in our indecision? Can we possibly find comfort in our indecisiveness? The answer is no, so a firm decision is required of us, and we must either love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, or declare Satan as our father. Think on this today, read these verses, and determine whose child you are, and if you will be known by Christ at the time of judgement...
““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:21-23 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us, even while we were children of the world. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to provide a means for us to overcome the sinful nature of the world and escape from the evil that is at home there. Thank you Lord for your mercy, and for giving us the ability to choose between Jesus, in whom you are well pleased, and Satan the father of all lies. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who saves us by grace, and leads us to be of one mind with Christ. Praised be your name Lord for every skirmish with sin in which you are the victor in our lives. Hear the sound of our worship Father, and know that there is no other that we kneel before, or call out to. This is the day that you have made, and we are rejoicing, and finding your song in it. Wash us clean of sin Father, and perfect us as the heirs, and joint heirs, of Christ. Bless us with ownership of a new world, and Jerusalem. Let our souls be yours alone, and our hearts be open to you, to Jesus, and to your Holy Spirit. Hear our prayers and proclamation as we declare you our one God, Jesus the one who has overcome the world, and your Spirit as our guide that is leading us to the decisiveness in you that is allowing Jesus to abide in us, and you to call us into eternity in your house. Give us the peace of Christ, as we shout victory through Him over the old world that has passed away, and hope in the new world that you have promised us.
“Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””
John 16:31-33 ESV
Rich Forbes