Call to Purity

Call to purity

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
         Ephesians 5:3,4

The above verses are a challenge to Christians. It’s a call to purity. We as Christians are called to live a life that is different from the world. And Paul is very specific in what he is saying we are called to not even have a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of sin.
I was once told by a pastor, that those around us must see we are Christians without us as much as saying a word.
Our lives must reflect Christ.
This dose not mean we should have a “holier-than-thou” attitude. We should not called to shout out “LOOK AT HOW RIGHTEOUS I AM!” that was what Jesus said was wrong with the hypocrites when he said,
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”
We must remember the words of Isaiah when wrote,
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away”
                                                                                                     Isaiah 64:5
Isaiah’s words must humble us. They should make us take stock of our life and remember that we cannot be good enough to stand before a Holy God.
We must remember that it only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that we can come before God without fear.
We must remember that as Christians we are not perfect just progressing and that as we become aware of our sin we need to confess that sin, remembering the words of John when he writes,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
We must also remember the words that follow 1 John 1:9 that read,
“If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
      My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.   He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
            1 John 1:10- 2:2
These are words for all Christians. They should keep us humble and set a goal for our lives to as Jesus said,

Read Hebrews 13

Let brotherly love continue.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, 

for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

Remember the prisoners as if chained with them--

those who are mistreated–

since you yourselves are in the body also.

Marriage is honourable among all,

 and the bed undefiled; 

but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

           Let your conduct be without covetousness;

 be content with such things as you have.

  For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So we may boldly say:

“The LORD is my helper,

 I will not fear what can man do to me?”

                                                                                                      Hebrews 13:1-6
“Brotherly love,” do we really show it?  Do we entertain strangers?  Do we remember the prisoners?  Is marriage still considered honourable?   Are we content with what we have?  Do we really believe God will never leave us or forsake us.  Do we believe the LORD is our helper?  Questions we all must resolve.
Many times brotherly love seems to have completely been lost in the world and in some churches.
The world is becoming, especially, in the west increasingly a “me first” society.  We do not look out for the other guy.  Yet, the people we tend to call heros are those who, many times, put their lives on the line for others or do unselfish acts for others.
Just take a look around, and we see marriage is not considered as sacred, as it once was.  For some, it just seems to be an honest way to have sex or simply a nice tax break, until they get tired of each other and move on.
The only thing we hear about prisoners is about those who have committed a major crime, and belong in jail.
 We hardly hear of those political and religious prisoners around the world who are suffering.  When was the last time a church congregation sent a letter of protest to a government about something like that.
The only thing, we should be discontented with in the church, is that we are not closer to Jesus today, than we were yesterday.
We should be studying His teachings and practising them, we should not rely on a designated greeter to welcome the stranger in the church.   We should be greeting those we haven’t seen in our church before.
We should be paying tribute to families and marriages, recognize all the marriage anniversaries in the church.  Encouraging people to be satisfied.
And we should be protesting religious and political prisoners around the world.

Something to think about

Take a good look at your life are you practising what Hebrews 13 states? 

How much of Hebrews 13:1-6 are you practising?

Meditate on these things

Read Psalms 148, 149, 150

"Finally, brethren,

 whatever things are true,

 whatever things are noble,

 whatever things are just, 

whatever things are pure, 

whatever things are lovely, 

whatever things are of good report,

 if there is anything praise-worthy–

meditate on these things."

                                                                                          Philippians 4:8
It is so easy to see the bad things of this world.  It seems to be in man’s nature to complain.  “It’s too hot, it’s too cold, the government taxes us too much, what a rotten day I’ve had,” the list goes on and on.
A friend of mine once taught me a rather unique lesson, one day when we were praying. He said and I quote, “LORD I hate being broke.  But LORD I pray that if I learn nothing else from this experience, I will learn how to use my money wisely and rely on you more fully.”
My friend was the kind of person who could find good in anything.  He always looked to the good.  Which is what we should do.
Bad things happen to us all.  It’s the nature of things in this life.  Still, if we have complete trust in God, we can find meaning in it all.
The Scripture reading for today, is the last three Psalms, they give praise to God.  Something we should try to do each day and I don’t mean by just putting on a praise album.
We should take time to praise God for who He is.  Thank Him for who He is and what we have no matter how little or how much we have.
The enemy would rob us of our happiness, by always pointing out the bad things.  This is something we cannot let him do.
If you need an example of how to be happy in trouble, just look to Paul and his companion in prison.  They praised God and things worked together for good.  The jailor and his family came to know Christ as LORD and Saviour.

Something too think about:

Do you do,

 whatever things are true,

 whatever things are noble,

 whatever things are just, 

whatever things are pure, 

whatever things are lovely, 

whatever things are of good report,

 if there is anything praise-worthy–

meditate on these things?

                                                                                        Philippians 4:8

Life

Read John 12

“He who loves his life will lose it, 

and he who hates his life in this world 

will keep it for eternal life.

“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me;

 and where I am there My servant will be also. 

 If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour."

                                                                                                                John 12:25-26
Even after performing miracles, many did not believe Jesus was who He said He was.  Yet He made it clear to all what believing in Him meant.
If we love our life, the status we have, the position we have, our possessions and such, we will loose it all one day.  But, if serving God is the most important thing in our life, more than life itself, then we will have eternal life.
Jesus made it clear:

“If anyone serves Me, 

let him follow Me;

 and where I am there My servant will be also. 

 If anyone serves Me,

 him My Father will honour.”

We must chose who we will serve.  What is the most important thing in our life is.  There is no sitting on the fence with Jesus.
What greater honour can we have than standing before God and having Him say “well done thou good and faithful servant.”?
Something to think about:

“Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of

           the Pharisees they did not confess Him; lest they should be put out of the 

 synagogue;” 

                                                                                       John 12:41

Something  to think about

Are you hiding your belief in Christ for fear of being cast out?

Do those around you in your workplace know that you believe in Christ?

Of Two Masters

Read Matthew 6:19-34

“No one can serve two masters;

for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon.”

                                                                                                                        Matthew 6:24,
Who do you serve?  We live busy lives, we run here and there, work eight, ten, twelve or more hours a day to try and make a good life for ourselves.
When we get home, we have to go do this thing and that.
If we have children, we take them to sports events, or dance or music lessons or whatever.  Where does God fit in to all of this? Are you content with your life?
A recent survey of Canadians revealed that just as many Canadians that earn under $20,000 are content with their lives as those earning over $80,000. So, at least, according to this survey money doesn’t bring contentment.
All too many people rush around, chasing after money, only to find it doesn’t bring happiness.
We try to balance work, family, and God, unfortunately, usually in that order. When it should be God, family, work.
We do need to work and should do our best for our employer all the time.
We must at times however take a stand, say to our employer if necessary. “Thankyou for employing me, but my God and my family come first.”

“No one can serve two masters;

for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon.”

                                                                                          The words of Jesus.
We have to make choices in life. There are times when we need to work long hours. There are times when we need to give that little extra to our employer. But it should never be at the expense of our relationship to God and our family.
We need to trust God to provide for us. To lead us to a good employer one who has values similar to our own.
I believe if more Christians did this we could change our society.

Something to think about:

Do you have the strength of your convictions?

Do you love God and put Him first in your life?