Watch 1000+ men of God cry out for a blessing upon each other that the grace and love of the Lord would be to each other and that their brothers would be blameless until He comes!!
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This post follows out discussion on the Discipline of Integrity.
This was one of the topics and came out of the section on "The Benefits of Integrity", with respect to having a clean conscience. God desires that we would have our conscience clear, and we know we do, based on His character and the work of His Son, Jesus Christ; but this is not a salvation issue - it's a walk with Christ issue. In a time when statistically, it is as common for Christian men to act and live like the secular world, to cheat, to lie, and to do "whatever it takes" to get ahead in this world, we need to ask God to search our hearts and we need to stay the course. It is not popular to be righteous; it's not popular to tell the truth; it's not popular to allow loss at the cost of righteousness. After all, everybody's doing it: lying, cheating, looking out for number one. The scriptures tell a different story. We have been saved for a purpose and that is for God's very pleasure. After all, He, being God; the Creator of all created things, ought to be able to make the rules. The funny thing is, even with all of His rules, His grace truly does abound so much more, because He is willing to forgive the vilest of offences, if the offender will but repent and turn to Him and accept Christ as his Savior and his Lord. But here are some Scriptures we looked at about being blameless. These passages indicate that we ought to be blameless or without offense: - Psalm 19:13 - Psalm 37:37 - Psalm 51:6 - Psalm 119:80 - Proverbs 2:21 - Proverbs 11:5 - Proverbs 11:20 * - Proverbs 13:6 - Proverbs 28:10 - Proverbs 28:13 - Proverbs 28:18 - 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (8) * - Philippians 1:9-11 (10) - Colossians 1:22 * - 1 Thessalonians 3:13 * - 1 Thessalonians 5:23 * - 1 Timothy 3:2 * - 1 Timothy 6:14 * - Titus 1:7 - 2 Peter 3:13-14 (14) * * God specifically states in some way that we are to be blameless or He wants us to be blameless. HOW TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS (This is not the only scripture that tells instructs us, but is one that indicates that the power to be blameless comes not from us, but from being in Christ) Philippians 3:8-14 (NKJV) 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which [is] from the law, but that which [is] through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. BOTTOM LINE IS: BEING IN CHRIST JESUS Review Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, but especially, Ephesians which has a strong theme of being in Christ. Then consider John 15 where Jesus teaches His disciples about how they, as branches, can do nothing apart from Him, the vine, and the working of our Father as the husbandman who prunes and nurtures our fruitful growth through the knowledge of the power of His resurrection! How much power does it take to resurrect a dead body? I can say I know the answer, but I know God has that power because He raised Christ from the dead, and He's raised this hell-bound soul from a sure grave to everlasting life! I want to be blameless until my Lord returns! Perhaps this is a first post on the subject, but we'll adjust the title when another post happens.
I was thinking about one of the many facets of what Integrity means and I came across another good Tozer devotional. The book (Disciplines of a Godly Man by Hughes) gives several examples of the lack of integrity in our day and age and the disturbing trend is that there isn't much difference between the secular world and Christianity. Is it any wonder why the world calls us hypocrites? Well the following devotion goes into the idea that we are called out of the world - called to be different. We aren't to be like the world, just like the Psalmist said, the man that sits NOT in the way of sinners is blessed. So men, men of God, I challenge you to be holy. I challenge you to do what is needed to be blameless! If you don't we may not see the quick and tragic and costly retribution that Ananias and Saphira received, but we will receive it eventually. Sin costs! But also, that sin, and lack of character no doubt grieves our God! So here it is: ----------------------------------------------------- DIFFERENT FROM THE WORLD Tozer on Christian Leadership – July 23 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. —2 Corinthians 6:17 The church’s mightiest influence is felt when she is different from the world in which she lives. Her power lies in her being different, rises with the degree in which she differs and sinks as the difference diminishes. This is so fully and clearly taught in the Scriptures and so well illustrated in Church history that it is hard to see how we can miss it. But miss it we do, for we hear constantly that the Church must try to be as much like the world as possible, excepting, of course, where the world is too, too sinful…. Let us plant ourselves on the hill of Zion and invite the world to come over to us, but never under any circumstances will we go over to them. The cross is the symbol of Christianity, and the cross speaks of death and separation, never of compromise. No one ever compromised with a cross. The cross separated between the dead and the living. The timid and the fearful will cry “Extreme!” and they will be right. The cross is the essence of all that is extreme and final. The message of Christ is a call across a gulf from death to life, from sin to righteousness and from Satan to God. SOS035-036 Lord, help me to be willing to be different. Forgive me for the sin of blending in. I pray that our neighbors would see something different in our church and our people and be drawn to the Savior. Amen. ----------------------------------------------------- Additional notes: Jesus saved us and sanctifies us (sets us apart) from the world so that we can be a light unto the world, not so we can blend in. Besides, who when they blend in, brings about change, or even brings an inkling that change is necessary? Nobody. Jesus was different. Paul was different. When Paul said he was all things to all people, he was not saying he stooped to live like them. He did not practice what they practiced, let alone practice their sin. He simply did not judge them unto condemnation. And that is another thing to consider. If the Bible is saying not to judge, meaning not to make an informed assessment about the things people do, then how in the world would a Christian ever know who to preach the Gospel to? Therefore, it is not the assessment that God tells us not to do, but it is the judging unto condemnation. We ought to be making judgments all the time – assessment – about other things external to us, as well as continually, making daily judgments about our own thoughts and actions (the Bible calls it searching our hearts). If we don’t we will be hypocrites because it will mean that we act differently than we think. We can think the Bible is true and is the Word of God, but we may be living like any other unforgiven sinner. And then we justify that lifestyle by claiming that we must be like them to win them to Christ. Hogwash! That will not win them to Christ but it will drag you into the muck that you were once saved from! So don’t do it! Instead, be the light that God intended you to be! |
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