If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
2 Timothy 2:21
I have been so cleaned up by the LORD!
I mean to tell you- cleaned up!
Of course, I still have numerous faults and shortcomings…I still have plenty of room for improvement! I know, because God makes it clear on a daily basis, that there is much work left to be done in me before I reach perfection! I trust that He will accomplish that goal in me just as His word promises He will!
What’s the problem for me then?
Let me be honest and say one of my problems, one of the challenges I am dealing with now, is the lack of discipline and obedience- the what appears to be absence of urgency or care for pleasing the LORD which I am witnessing amongst those that profess to believe on the LORD Jesus Christ!
Sure we are all at different stages of sanctification! Sure the LORD reveals truths to us at different times- usually based on our obedience to previously revealed truths. Sure we are not all called to the same ministry!
But come on!
Come on!
Jesus died for my sins!
He died for your sins!
Don’t we owe Him our lives????
I know that none of us can match Him but He charges us to try!
Not in our power but through His- through the Holy Spirit!
This is not an impossibility because I have seen the miracle work of His hand in my life over and over again!
Yet I find myself looking out there at my brothers and sisters in Christ who are all but turning up their noses, giving a blind eye to the ONE who died for them!
They seem to be in no hurry to surrender!
They seem to be under the delusion that it’s not necessary!
They make up their own rules and I watch as the blessings they could have are forfeited by their own doing!
I watch as they suffer under the burden of sins that could so easily be lifted if only they would surrender- if only they would obey!
It seems impossible for them!
It doesn’t look like fun!
They are not really having fun anyway despite the lies they tell themselves!
They are out of Gods will- their consciences being eaten up with unnecessary guilt!
It’s all unnecessary!
It’s heartbreaking to watch!
Jesus has given them the way but they stubbornly refuse to trust Him- they honestly do not believe He can do it!
Or if they do believe that He can they refuse to let go because their flesh loves the sin they are in and they are afraid to be without it!
So I watch them and I pray!
I watch them and see the old me in their toil-filled eyes!
I pray and watch!
I testify and pray!
I share the Word of God with them in hopes it sparks their heart back to life and into a burning fire that no man, including themselves, will ever be able to put out!
A heart on fire for the will of the LORD to be done in their lives- and on earth as it is in Heaven! Amen!
As You Rise 