Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

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Victory Lap

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Philippians 3:12-16 (KJB), “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”

We are all running in a race. Some are racing towards certain destruction; others are racing towards a glorified body and a life in paradise. We who have accepted the atoning work of Christ have already attained Heaven. He gave eternal life to us freely. We have it right now! However, we still have a race to run. There is a finish line. Paul isn’t being double minded in our verses from Philippians. When he says that he hasn’t already attained, he is referring to the finish line. The attainment we have already is the finished work of Christ. We know He already ran this race and the wonderful news (the Gospel) is that He won! He ran this “track” before we ever even put on our running shoes. Not only did He run the race He removed the hurdles and the stones. He laid the path straight.

Luke 3:5 (NIV), “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.”

A leader always “goes there first” and Jesus was the ultimate leader. If you get lost just go back to the spot where you left your lane on the track, and step back in line, take a deep breath and run. Follow those who follow Christ.

I Corinthians 11:1 (KJB), “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Philippians 3:17 (DBT), “Be imitators [all] together of me, brethren, and fix your eyes on those walking thus as you have us for a model;”

If Jesus has cleared our path, why do we stumble and even sometimes come crashing down with the road rash to prove our failures? Think of it this way. Jesus removed the obstacles in our way, it’s done. Picture a bowling alley. There is a device that sweeps away the pins that have fallen before every frame, clearing the way for a potential strike. Now, picture that track. Jesus cleared it, yet our enemy continues to put things in our path to distract us and cause us to get off track. All we need to do is use the authority Jesus already gave us and push the “clear” button to sweep those things off of our lane. Sometimes we lack faith and we either run smack dab into those hurdles or we think we can just go around them. The consequences can be rough. Sometimes it takes some skinned knees to get us to admit we weren’t allowing His Spirit to lead us, or we forgot that His word lights our path. It’s not the end of the race! We get up, realign ourselves by focusing on God and repent from our lack of faith, and begin again.

I love the fact that in this race there isn’t only one winner. It isn’t the fastest runner who wins. All we have to do is finish the race. You might be the last one who crosses that finish line, but that doesn’t mean your prize is any less than the first person who crossed (Jesus Himself). Sometimes I get discouraged when I think that finish line is so far away. I feel like I have run a marathon, but looking back it was the fifty yard dash, or worse yet I was only on my treadmill and didn’t move a foot. Thankfully the Holy Spirit faithfully reminds me of the truth: Christ already ran the race and won, so we are really just taking the victory lap. Then I can see that finish line and it looks right there. The path looks clear, not a pebble or a banana peel in sight. On the other side of that line…is Jesus and man is He cheering! I see some others there too. They have already finished their race, but instead of soaking in a hot tub relaxing sore muscles, they are encouraging me to run.

We win. Take that victory lap!

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV), “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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Live Your Life Worthy Of God

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I Peter 1:13-24 (ESV), “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 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.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

We aren’t worthy; nothing we could have ever done would have made us so. God knew that, He still does. That’s why He sent One who was. His Son, Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God With Us, is worthy. So in His worthiness we are accepted by God the Father. After having said all of that I don’t want you to think that there isn’t anything we have to do. We can’t just accept all of that wonderful, precious sacrifice and continue on with a life in this world. It isn’t just a free ticket to heaven and a get out of hell free card. We can’t continue to be conformed to this worlds passions and lusts.

God saved us for a purpose. His desire is that all men might be saved. It wasn’t just me, even though His plan wouldn’t have changed if I had been the only one who sinned. How selfish would it be if we had the means to help every poor person in the world, but didn’t want to share our money? We have been given something so much more than finances. Shouldn’t we want every person we meet to have this same salvation?

I Timothy 2:4 (Douay-Rheims Bible), “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Jesus said that if we loved Him, we would do what He said. Then He told us to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and to cast out demons. We are supposed to live a life that glorifies God, lives that are worthy of Him. No, there wasn’t anything we could do to earn this worthiness, but now that it has been given to us, aught we not to walk in it, to live like we are? Our verse in I Peter tells us to prepare our minds for action. It isn’t about what we aren’t supposed to do. It’s not a long list of things and activities we are never to participate in, clothes we shouldn’t wear, things not to eat and drink. It is all about what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to live a life worthy of Him. Doing what Jesus asked us to do. Help others, serve one another, pray at all times, love the brethren, encourage and exhort one another, and the list goes on. Just because it is a long list, doesn’t mean it isn’t attainable.

I Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NIV), “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

God is the one who sanctifies us, sets us apart. We are now blameless. It is time we stop trying to do penance, or to somehow live by a certain set of rules and guidelines to earn anything from God, or worse yet to be accepted by men. If our total concentration is on trying to clean our own mess up, how will we ever fulfill the purposes that God has planned for us?

I Thessalonians 5:23 (AMP), “And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).”

It’s time to be the Church and stop playing Church.

Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV), “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, For our God is a consuming fire.”

Romans 14:17-18 (ESV), “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”

Matthew 15:8 (KJB), “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

God gave us free will. We have a choice. Are we really going to live for Him, or live for ourselves? Are we His children or are we products of this worlds systems?

When our live here is over what do you want to hear Him say? “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:21) Or, “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Matthew 25:30)

I know that is a little extreme, that you are probably thinking to yourself, “but that man wasn’t saved.” I also know that you can accept Jesus as your savior, be guaranteed heaven, and still live a pretty carnal life. I also have to admit than when people persistently, constantly, and stubbornly continue to live this way, I can’t help but wonder if they are truly saved. Salvation is a process. We all have to work it out with fear and trembling. However, a living thing is a growing thing. Are you maturing in the things of God? Can other see changes in your life? Are you making an effort to draw closer to God? The more we know Him, the greater our love grows. The more we love Him, the greater our desire is to please Him.

Are you living a life worthy of God?

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Are You Sure?

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II Peter 1:10a (KJB), “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:”

God has called you, chosen you, elected you for a certain position. He has a plan and a purpose for your life and it isn’t just to make due and just get by until you get to Heaven. There is something (things) that He wants you to do here. He created you to do them. Peter knew how important this is so when God revealed to him that his life here on earth would soon come to an end, Peter took this opportunity to give a final warning to the Church.

II Peter 1:1-12 (NIV), “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.”

He needed them to be sure of their calling! If we aren’t completely convinced and sure of the fact that we have been chosen, handpicked, by God, we will never do what He called us to do. We will never fulfill our divine purpose. Peter warns about those who have turned their backs on God’s purpose for their lives and have made it their sole purpose to get us to walk away from God and His plans for us. (John warns us of the same thing in John 2:26)..

II Peter 2:14 (KJB), “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:”

Look at some of the words used in the different versions of this scripture: They beguile (KJB), bait and lure (AMP), and they seduce (NASB) those who are unstable (all of these versions use the word unstable). The only way we can remain stable is to know God and be sure of our calling. In a healthy marriage no one can lure or seduce one of them away from their spouse. It just isn’t going to happen. Seduction happens when there is some type of instability. Just as in a marriage covenant, we have to remain vigilant in our relationship with Christ.

II Peter 3:17 (NIV), “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.”

Be sure! Be sure of who He is- that He is able to perfect and finish the work that He has started in you.
Be sure of who you are- you are His child and you are accepted in the beloved.
Be sure of His calling on your life- He has called you to liberty!

When we are totally convinced of these things, when we are sure, no person, no devil in Hell will be able to seduce us away. We will see right through the lies.

We are destined for Glory- Be sure of that!

Romans 8:5-6 (NASB) “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

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What is Binding You?

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Romans 8:15 (KJB), “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

We are all slaves to something or someone. Once we were slaves to impurity, to sin. What we thought would bring us pleasure had only ended up ruling our lives. When we wanted to do good, we ended up doing bad and when we were determined not to sin again, we did. Paul had the same problem (Romans 7). Our human nature is weak.

Romans 6:19 (NLT), “Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.”

Thank God, He provided a way to be free. In fact He has called us to liberty.

Galatians 5:13 (KJB), “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

When we finally accept the finished work of the cross and Jesus’ shed blood, we have been set free from sin and death. The law doesn’t rule us anymore. We now have the law of liberty, the law of grace and love. The more we know the truth, the freer we get. Sin has no rule in heaven, so it now has no rule for us. It is bound in heaven, so it is bound in our lives. We are now citizens of heaven. “But I still mess up!” I hear you say. Of course, we aren’t perfect…yet. It will not enslave us again if we are quick to repent and move on. We don’t want to return to that yoke of bondage by refusing to repent. We have to let God deal with our hearts.

Matthew 18:18 (NIV), “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Bind sin and loose liberty. Bind the lies of Satan and loose the truth of God’s word.

Galatians 5:1 (KJB), “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

You are not a sinner anymore, no matter what you do. You aren’t what you do; you are a child of God because of what He has done. Don’t hang your head, look up! Stand fast in your faith. Don’t let anything hold you in chains. You have been set free!

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I Am What I Am

I Corinthians 15:10 (NIV), “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Paul said, “I am what I am” that it was by grace that he was so drastically changed. We can’t have an encounter with the living God and stay the same, but we aren’t the one who is responsible for the change. It is God’s grace, His love that changes us. Our hearts were once filled with evil, selfish desires.

Ecclesiastes 9:3 (KJV), “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

I Corinthians 6:9-11 (NASV), “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

But, don’t you love it when you see this word in the Bible. “But you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” God’s grace and mercy, the shed blood of Jesus has justified us. We now live “just as if” we had never sinned. There is no separation between us and God. The veil has been torn.

So it is time to stop saying we are “sinners saved by grace.” We are no longer sinners, God calls us “saints, dear children, more than conquers, beloved” and He is the one who has changed us into all of these things. No, we aren’t perfect, but we are being perfected. Who I was before God wasn’t lovely, or lovable. Yet, He loved me and because He loved me He didn’t allow me to stay the same. Every day I am becoming more like Him, my true Father. We have to allow Him to change our hearts. It’s an inner work.

Acts 2:38 (NIV), “And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.”

I Samuel 10:6 (NIV), “The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”

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Are You Ready?

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I Thessalonians 5:1-11 (NLT), “Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

I don’t know about you, but I happen to think we are living in the last days. So much of Biblical prophecy has come to pass and all you need to do is read the headlines to see that things are going from bad to worse. Sometimes I get sickened by the evil that runs rampant in our fallen world. I stopped watching the news years ago, same with reading the newspapers. First off they are very biased and secondly, I just don’t want my mind filled with bad news. I do peruse some of the headlines and of course I hear about all of the stuff going on, just not the details. I prefer to think of all the good news! To me, the best news is that if we are in the last days, Jesus is returning soon! Can I get a Hallelujah?

I understand that I won’t ever know the exact hour that He is coming, but I do understand that I am a child of the light, a child of Almighty God, so I will know the season. So I decided a long time ago that I was going to be ready. I am reminded of the Jews during WWII. They eventually figured out that those trains weren’t going anywhere that had been promised and for some fortunate ones, they had people to help smuggle them out or hide them away. They had to have their bags packed and be ready to go. They had to leave behind everything and only take a few necessities or maybe a very small trinket of sentimental value. That’s the way I want to live. Not in fear of being found, or killed, but ready to go, mind made up bags packed. My senior pastor, Dr. William Hohman said it something like this: “I am going to live like He is coming today, and work like He is going to tarry awhile.” That says it all. We don’t sit down and look to the sky as if we don’t have anything else to do. The Father has a job for us, and the closeness of Jesus’ return should be prompting us to do that job well. We are building His Kingdom, leading others to Christ, encouraging and building up His Church. Jesus said in Luke 18:8, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Yes, we may be caught unaware by His return, but I am determined to be caught doing good, full of faith when He does.

We need to be mindful of the time. Use it wisely. Seek the things above, stop worrying, and start working. We can only do this if we have completely surrendered to Him. We will mess up, but we get back up. He is quick to forgive and as we wash our minds in the word of God, we will be changing into His image and those sins that once so easily beset us won’t be a temptation anymore. He is coming for a spotless Bride. I am going to prepare for The Bridegroom.

How about you? Are you ready?

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Without Hypocrisy

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Romans 12:9 (NASB), “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

James 3:17 (KJB), “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

There is nothing that irritates me more than phony people. After years of working with kids, it was obvious that they can spot a phony from a mile away. Jesus railed on the Pharisees for being fake and phony.

Matthew 23:23-33 (NIV), “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”

There were a lot of things He could have found fault with, their non acceptance of Him for one, but what He calls them on the carpet for is their hypocrisy, their phoniness, the fact that they wanted to appear righteous, but on the inside were still full of sin. I love the analogy of the whitewashed tomb! Now, before we judge those Pharisees too harshly, let’s take a quick look at The Church. Historically, we have spent more time trying to change our out word appearance than our hearts and minds. Some denominations have lists of what you can wear, what you can eat, and who you can hang out with; they even want to regulate how you can pray. Again, if you don’t go to one of those Churches, let me caution you not to judge before we take a look at our own lives.

How many of us put on our “Christian Mask” before going to Church on Sunday, or when we invite the Pastors over to our house for dinner? How many of us behave and talk one way at work and at home, but behave in a completely different manner at Church? Do you hide your past? Are you afraid to share what is in your heart, the temptations that you face? Then we are a new breed of Pharisee. It ought not to be so!

It is time that we are real. We have not been perfected yet. We are all working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Putting on a “mask” is detrimental to the Body of Christ. People can see through the cracks and they will label you as a hypocrite. This never brings glory to God. The whole concept of the mask is to either hide your insecurities, or because you are full of pride. It’s either one or the other. Neither one is about Him, and neither one will build the Kingdom. When we accept the liberty that Jesus bought for us, that God has called us to, we don’t have to wear a mask. Our security and confidence isn’t in what we can do, it’s in the finished work of Christ. We also have nothing to be proud of, it wasn’t our righteousness, it was and is all His.

This is the way God showed me the whole concept of being real: I saw a scarecrow in the middle of my garden; he had the shabby clothes, the worn hat, the burlap bag face, and straw sticking out everywhere. His job, his calling was to keep pests out of the garden. God then asked me a simple question, “Why does the scarecrow look like a man?” My immediate answer was that crows and other little garden pests are afraid of men. So, the scarecrow is a fake man. He isn’t real, he can’t move, talk, or yell at the pests. He can’t fire a BB gun, or bang a few pans together. He just stands in one place and pretends to be a real man. That is a picture of us when we “play Church” or put on our Christian mask. Just like Pinocchio wanted to be a real boy, shouldn’t we want to be real Christians? That scarecrow will work for a while, maybe longer on some of the less than sharp minded pests, but eventually they will figure it out. We have all seen scarecrows with crows perching right on their heads or outstretched arms. That is like us trying to wear our mask and rebuking the devil. He is smarter than any crow or rabbit. He knows who is really surrendered to God and who isn’t. He has to obey those that don’t wear the mask. He doesn’t have to obey the ones who are pretending to follow Christ.

We don’t even have to be perfect! To walk in our calling and fulfill the purposes and plans God has for us, we just have to be real and to allow the Spirit to lead us, humbly allowing ourselves to grow in the things of the Lord. So what if you are still a babe in Christ, that’s better than being a carnal Christian. Determine to grow up and in the meantime, serve Him. Let’s go back to the garden analogy again. Let’s say the pests have gotten wise to our friendly scarecrow, so instead we put a three year old in the garden. Can that little one fulfill the call? You bet! They may trample a few plants, and get distracted by a few bugs and butterflies, but they will make enough noise and move around enough to keep every pest away. The few plants that get lost can’t compare to the damage that those pesky pests can destroy. I know I had every bean and pea plant destroyed by those cute little bunnies! The goal would be that as that little one grew up, less damage would be done, and there would be more focus and fewer distractions.
God is that patient with us. He isn’t waiting for us to be perfect to use us. He doesn’t want us to pretend that we are, that again is either pride or insecurity. We are real, we make mistakes, we get distracted, and we stumble. However, God tells us that the righteous may stumble, but that they keep getting back up. (Romans 24:16, Psalm 27:34)He also promises that those who obey Him, and love Him, that even if they make a mistake, He will turn in around for our good. (Romans 8:28) He chose us, the messed up ones, on purpose. When we get something done for the Kingdom, or stand up and rebuke the enemy, or resist temptation, it’s not us, it’s Him in us, and He gets all the glory!

God has called us to liberty. In this freedom, through Christ, there is never any reason to put on an act, to pretend we are something we aren’t. We aren’t sinners saved by grace. We were sinners, now we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. No, we aren’t perfect, far from it in fact, but God chose us, He called us, and if anyone has an issue with who we are then they can take it up with God. This is never permission to sin, or to cause others to stumble. We stay humble and acknowledge our need for Him. We allow the Holy Spirit to use us. The key word is USE. God wants to use you. He wants to use us. He has big plans for us. Walk in the liberty He gave you. You can’t earn it, it is a gift.

Get real with God, with each other, and most importantly with yourself. Be who God created you to be.

Take off the mask.