Thursday, September
18, 2014, 6:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Full Release.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Romans 12 (ESV).
Your Spiritual
Worship
Therefore
I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living
and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of
worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Although Paul does not express this as a command here, that
does not mean this is optional or merely a suggestion or a recommendation. In
other passages of scripture we are instructed in the truth of what it means to
have faith in Jesus Christ. It means we die with Christ to our old lives of
living for sin and self, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of
God, and we now live holy lives pleasing to the Lord – all in the working,
power and strength of the Spirit within us (See Lu. 9:23-25; Ac. 26:16-18; Ro.
6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; & 1 Jn. 1-5). As
well, we are commanded in other scriptures to not be conformed to the world,
and to not love the world, but to be separate (unlike; different) from the
world, and to be holy, set apart to God and to his service.
Yet, just because we have come to know Christ as Savior and
Lord of our lives, it does not mean we will live in absolute perfection from
that moment on. We still have the propensity to sin, so we must be urged from
time to time to remember what Christ did for us in dying for our sins, and with
that in mind, to live like we say we believe. Our lives are to be given
completely over to the Lord Jesus as instruments of righteousness, to be used
for his purposes and for his glory. We were bought with a price. Our lives no
longer belong to us to do with them what we want. Our goal should be to please
our master in all we do. And, we should seek his righteousness and not seek
after the pleasures and treasures of this world. This is our true worship of
God, not merely just singing songs of praise to him.
Not Conceited
For
through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more
highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound
judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
I have come to realize, over the years, that even someone
who is constantly drawing attention to himself or to herself, by putting
themselves down all the time, can be just as guilty of pride (conceit) as
someone who boasts about his or her own accomplishments. Both an overly
developed sense of self-worth (pride in oneself) and an extremely low opinion
of ones worth, especially if continuously expressed to others, are focused on
self and on wanting or craving the attention of others and their acceptance.
True humility is not self-abasing. True humility does not focus on oneself, but
is more concerned with others. So, instead of boasting about ourselves in
public or cutting ourselves down all the time in front of others, we should
think of ourselves with sound (reasonable) judgment.
We were all born into sin. All have sinned. There is not one
of us who is righteous in his own merit. So, not one of us is better or worse
than others. We are all capable of any sin given the right circumstances. Yet,
in Christ we are his beloved, special, called, and chosen ones. We are saved
from slavery to sin, we have the hope of eternal life, and we have the Spirit
of God now within us transforming us to make us more like Jesus. Amen! All we possess
that is good has been given to us by God, so we have no reason to ever boast as
though we did not receive it from the Lord. As well, we never have cause to be
self-abasing, because we are God’s created works, Jesus Christ now dwells
within us, he has made us new creations in Christ Jesus, and he considers us
his very special people, loved of God, and called to his service. So, when we
think with sound self-judgment, we have no cause for pride.
One Body
For
just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the
same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace
given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according
to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches,
in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with
liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness.
1 Corinthians 12 expands on this teaching even more, so I
would recommend reading that chapter, in combination with this one, as well as
to read the first part of Ephesians 4, as they all teach how the body of Christ
is to operate. The institutional church of today, for the most part, I believe
misses the mark on what this teaches. The Spirit of God is the one who gifts
us, and it is the Spirit of God who gives us our assignments (roles; parts)
within the Body. The gifts we receive from the Spirit are not to be confused
with natural talents and abilities, which all humans have. These are
supernatural abilities and job assignments, and they are also not to be
confused with specific church ministries as assigned by humans, although we may
use our spiritual gifts within the framework of some church ministries.
So many institutional churches operate with man’s way of thinking
instead of with God’s. They determine what ministries they will have in their
churches, and anything outside of what they have determined is either treated
with suspicion and/or with scorn and contempt. Now, I realize there is a lot of
strange stuff going on out there in the name of Christ and in the name of
Christianity, so I agree we should exercise wisdom and discernment, yet we
should not go so far as to quench the Spirit or to put out the Spirit’s fire by
excluding members of Christ’s body from fellowship within the body just because
their gifts do not fit with our man-made goals and objectives for building earthly
kingdoms of human origin. We should never say to another part of the body, “We
don’t need you! Go someplace else!”
True Love
Let
love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in
honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing
to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
We live in a generation which was brought up on television,
movies, and the like. Over the course of time we have also introduced home computers,
laptops, tablets (IPads, et al), and smart phones, et al. So, we are
continually being bombarded with the philosophies, culture, thinking, and value
system of this sinful world, to the point to where we can become desensitized
and not even realize the kinds of things we are taking into our minds every
day. The media world mostly does not teach godly love, but it teaches a false
notion of what true love is all about, so that even Christians have adopted
this false love notion. Yet, even before that, our religions, cultures, family
heritage and upbringing have possibly introduced into our minds false ideas of
what true love is all about. So, we need to be discerning.
True love hates what it is evil. It does not embrace it,
play with it, nor is it entertained by it. And, it certainly does not placate
it or encourage it in others. It cares enough about others to weep over it, confront
sin, and to show the way out from underneath the bondage of sin. True love
clings (hangs on to) what is good (what is healthy spiritually and
emotionally). True love looks to how it can help others, so it does not take
advantage of others or treat others harmfully. It truly cares, not just about
physical or emotional needs, but it cares about the spiritual needs of other
people, which is evident in words and in actions. Hypocritical love is that
which is deceptive, which practices lies, and that which pretends one thing
outwardly in some situations while it expresses just the opposite in others. We
need to do more than just say “I love you,” but we need to show we love others
by what we do, yet by God’s standards of what it means to love others, not by
the world’s standards.
The Same Mind
Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who
rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another;
do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your
own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right
in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace
with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the
wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the
Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a
drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
It is difficult for one man and one woman who join together
in marriage to be of the same mind, let alone for the entire body of Christ to
be of one mind. We are all different. We all think differently from one
another. And, that’s ok. Variety is good. Yet, here this is speaking of the
same mind as the mind of Christ. Our unity in the church should be unity with
Christ and his word, and not unity with humans and with humanistic philosophies
and values. So, if we are of one mind with Christ, it is entirely possible in
this day and age that we may not be of one mind with the majority of the
institutional church. And, that is ok, too! The standard for unity and oneness
within the body of Christ is our Lord and his Word. Our lives, decisions,
thinking, etc. should be based in him, and from that all else should flow. We
should daily put into practice the things taught us by the Lord in his word, as
we daily walk in fellowship with him, growing in his grace, and living to
please him with our lives.
Full
Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking
daily with my Savior brings me joy.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus;
He’s
my Savior and my Lord.
Gently
leads me; follow Him.
I’ve
invited Him within.
Now
abiding in His presence, oh, what peace.
From
my self-life He has brought me,
By
His mercy, full release.
Hope
and comfort, peace and safety Jesus brings
When
I daily bow before Him;
Obey
freely; do His will.
Follow
Him where’er He leads.
Listen
to Him; His words heed.
Now
obeying his words fully, oh, what love
That
He gives me through salvation,
By
His Spirit, from above.
Loving
Father; precious Jesus, He’s my friend.
With
my Savior, by His Spirit,
I
will endure to the end.
Share
the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness
daily; His will do.
Tell
the world of how their Savior bled and died.
On
a cruel cross He suffered
So
that we might be alive.
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