Devoted

You and I are God’s people in the devil’s world. There is so much evil in all around us that we can’t avoid unless we crawl into a cave and never come out. As tempting as that is , but it’s not the way to fulfill our purpose to be “salt and light in the world” (Matt. 5:13-16).  We have to be “in the world, but not of the world” (paraphrased from John 17:14-16). It’s not a “balance” as I’ve heard some say. It comes down to an all-in choice for holiness and a determination to never compromise.

Holiness means to be “set apart” for a special purpose. The Bible tells us that God sets us His people apart for His divine purposes. It’s powerfully displayed in Isaiah’s commissioning as a prophet of God in Isaiah 6. God gave Isaiah a vision of Himself – and a call to repentance. Isaiah knew that he was not worthy – he said, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (6:5). Isaiah lived in the unclean world, and even before the Lord’s call he had preached the judgment of God to Judah. But the filth of the world still clung to him. You cannot walk down a dirt road without collecting some of its dust. God cleansed his unclean lips – then set him apart to declare His Word. All through the Bible God convicts, cleanses, and sets people apart when He is going to do something big.

I believe God is getting ready to do a great work in the world. But it will require people who are consecrated to Him, willing to set everything aside to join Him. That means whole-hearted devotion to Christ and an unwillingness to compromise with the world – even as we live in it. I also believe a great battle is coming in this nation; the lines have already been drawn in our culture and our courts. Unfortunately, it has also been drawn through the Church, and some have chosen to side with the world. Only a people with pure, consecrated hearts will be able to stand firm in the face of it.

The Lord posed a question in Jeremiah’s day that rings loud and clear in our own: “’Who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 30:21). My hand is up.

How will you answer, Beloved?

Godly People in an Ungodly World

“Be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil” (Romans 16:19). Turn on the television, open a newspaper, log onto the internet and you are face-to-face with evil. You don’t even have to look for it; it’s on roadside billboards, flashed in commercials, and reported daily in the news. Satan rules the world – for now. Yet believers are called to live godly lives in an ungodly world. How?

Jesus said, “Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). I love this verse and the two contrasting words. “Shrewd” means “wise, sensible” and comes from “thinking and understanding.” Simply put, we need to think, then make a wise determination. Let’s be honest – we can become mentally and spiritually lazy – accepting as truth whatever we are told. If you don’t believe me, spend a day on Facebook. We need to be discerning about everything our minds take in. Because we must live in this world, Jesus tells us to “think and come to a sensible conclusion.”

In contrast to being shrewd, Jesus commands us to be innocent which means pure, not mixed with evil. His command here is to not allow ourselves to be mixed up with the world’s philosophies and ideas; to not allow them to be poured into our minds and hearts. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel tried to compromise with the Lord and the world, believing that they could dabble in paganism as long as they continued to also follow the sacrificial Law of God. They “poured” paganism into with their worship of God Almighty, and in their dulled minds, believed they were still being obedient to the Lord. Despite what the bumper sticker claims, God’s people cannot “coexist” with ungodliness. It didn’t work for Israel and it won’t work for you and me.

We must let the Word of God be the determining factor in everything we do and say and think. The world will not tell you the truth. The Word will never tell you a lie. Beloved, be wise – consider everything through the lens of Scripture. It will never steer you wrong. Be innocent – keep your mind and heart pure from the world’s philosophies and attitudes. It might help to turn off the T.V., put down the newspaper, and log off of the internet. That’s how we live “in the world,” but not “of the world” (John 17:15-16).