Wednesday, July 23, 2014
"Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has
caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled
and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the
power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time." (I Peter 1:3-5).
Hey Gang: Do you know what God’s
desire is for you today? “That the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are
the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians.
1:18-19a)
And how do we make this happen?
We don’t. “It comes through the working of the strength of His (God’s)
might.” (vs. 19b). Did you know that God is a compulsive
decorator? Let Him live long enough in your heart, and change will take
place.
This might account for some of the
discomfort we fee-l when we die to self and place Him (Jesus) in control of our
lives. Remodeling of the heart can be a very uncomfortable trip. We don’t
mind it much when a new coat of paint is added or new carpet is laid, but God
is not satisfied with superficial changes, He desires to dig deep into the
recesses of our hearts with the spade and shovel and do some serious digging.
Why? Because He has such high
hopes and aspirations for each of those into whom He breathes life. When
God has a chore that He needs done, He looks for a broken vessel and smashes it
and molds it into His Son’s image. There was a saying, a few years back, that
stated, "God does not make junk".
Paul wrote, "Be imitators of
God, as beloved children." He also said, "Be an imitator
of me" (1Corinthians. 4:16. Do you think your life would look
different if you were an imitator of Jesus or Paul? Is it
even possible, in this hectic, sin-filled world, to be an imitator of Jesus or
Paul?
Paul goes on to list a smorgasbord of
how to be an imitator: "Walk in love, just as Christ also loved
you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a
fragrant aroma" (Ephesians. 5:2).
In years gone by we had a friend who was an wonderful teacher of the
word. He said, "When I am going to teach on a particular section of
the Scriptures, I read it no less than fifty times. And, when he stood on
holy ground and taught what God had taught him in those fifty readings, there
was something very special about what came out of his mouth. There was a
'fragrant aroma' when in His presence.
But, one day in one of his seminars
there was a pretty young lady who caught his eye and Satan began to do a work
in his heart. To make the long story short - he left his wife and
family, and entered into an adulterous relationship with this chick which
placed his ministry on hold. He later committed a crime that sent him to
the ‘big house’ for a number of years, but God did a mighty work in his heart
and restored him to fellowship with Jesus.
Soooo. Friends and neighbors, we
do make choices, each and every, as to whether we will be a 'fragrant aroma' or
'stinketh'. Paul went on in the sixth chapter of Ephesians to give us a
formula for being a "fragrant aroma for Jesus"- by being
strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might". How?
"By putting on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to
stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Ephesians.
6:10-11). When we are clothed with the armor of God, Satan cannot
tell us from Jesus – especially if you keep your helmet on!
Blessings,
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