Will I Bring Myself Up to This Level?

March 18th, 2014 by Dave Leave a reply »

. . . perfecting holiness in the fear of God —2 Corinthians 7:1

Therefore, having these promises. . . .” I claim God’s promises for my life and look to their fulfillment, and rightly so, but that shows only the human perspective on them. God’s perspective is that through His promises I will come to recognize His claim of ownership on me. For example, do I realize that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,” or am I condoning some habit in my body which clearly could not withstand the light of God on it? (1 Corinthians 6:19). God formed His Son in me through sanctification, setting me apart from sin and making me holy in His sight (see Galatians 4:19). But I must begin to transform my natural life into spiritual life by obedience to Him. God instructs us even in the smallest details of life. And when He brings you conviction of sin, do not “confer with flesh and blood,” but cleanse yourself from it at once (Galatians 1:16). Keep yourself cleansed in your daily walk.

I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived-a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?

Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone. Literally put God first in your life.

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Some of this sounds like Sin Management … which I do so poorly at. In fact I always fail. It seems that in life there are invitations to join into this race, game or however we look at it. And we (I) want to do well and be approved … so I step right up and sign up for the checklists and accountability groups and holiness measurement mechanisms. And always fall flat. Kind of like Paul said in Romans 7.

14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.c For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful natured a slave to the law of sin.

Now I’m seeing that it’s best to choose not to play that game. And to choose another game. Checklists seem to lead measurement and therefore failure, because you could always have done better … and someone else probably has. Checklists of righteousness seem to lead down the same road the Pharisees were on. And Jesus wasn’t impressed. Called it “filthy rags, whitewashed tombs full of dead mens bones etc” So a better game is in the last line of today’s devotional:

Be serious in your commitment to God and gladly leave everything else alone.

If we do that we can follow in Jesus footsteps and do only what he saw the Father doing and say only what he heard the Father saying. John 5:19

Because the urge to make checklists and schedules is so strong, we’ve found it helpful to have a few words that help us keep the main thing the main thing.

Staying Curious … about what you are doing and what you’re going to do next Listening and Watching.
Attitude of Gratitude … Being thankful for all the good things you send
Expectation … Expecting that you have good plans for us and those you send us. Jeremiah 29:11
Ready to quickly obey …

When we live in these attitudes, we dont need checklists to confirm our holiness.

Prayer: Lord, help us this day, To live Curious, Grateful, Expecting and ready to obey.

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