Being Set Apart

"You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." Leviticus 20:26 (NIV)

The following is a quote taken from The Wake Up Call by John Mulinde and Mark Daniel:

"People sometimes ask me what it means to be set apart for Christ. Simply put, being set apart means releasing myself into the hands of God and not believing that I have to be a victim to sin, to the world, or to the prince of the power of the air. As I give myself to Christ, there is victory in him, power in him, and authority in him. I do not have to submit to these things as though I am their slave. Being set apart is choosing to be free in Christ!"

God's Plumb Line

"And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" I answered, "A plumb line." And the Lord replied, "I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins." Amos 7:8 (NLT)

God was fed up with His people. He had given the prophet Amos visions of destruction, but Amos' earnest pleading convinced God to relent. Nevertheless, God would no longer show grace to His people. He would set a standard (plumb line) that the people must follow or face destruction. Do you think this can be applied to our world today?

The sins of Israel were no worse than our sins. We have turned to idols and forgotten the true and living God. We have allowed the world to influence us rather than influencing the world for God. Is He any more pleased with us than He was with the people of Amos' time? I doubt it.

God wants us to measure ourselves by His plumb line--no other measurement will do. We can't compare ourselves to others, or say that we're better than we used to be. The time is now for taking God seriously. He wants us to be set apart, as Noah was. If we want others to turn to God because of the holy life that we lead, we cannot measure ourselves by any other standard. His plumb line is His Word. That is our only way to measure righteousness and it is the only measurement that counts in His eyes.

How We Live Matters

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith." Hebrews 11:7 (NIV)

How we live matters. That was the topic of discussion In our Life Group on Sunday. The lesson compared the life of Noah with the life of Lot, and it was all about being set apart and the effect it has on our families. Think about it--God asked Noah to prepare for a flood by building an ark. At that time, there had never been rain on the earth. The people of that time knew nothing about rain or floods. No one had even heard of a boat or ark, let alone seen one being built. I can imagine people ridiculing him as if he were out of his mind. Yet Noah was faithful to God, regardless of what people said about him. He was singularly focused on obeying God, no matter what anyone else thought of him. Hebrews 11:7 says that he did this "to deliver his family" and that is exactly what happened--because of his faith, his children chose to enter the ark and were saved from the flood.

Lot, on the other hand, was laying low. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. Instead of standing for God in Sodom and influencing others to live holy lives, he chose to blend in to his community. That wicked city influenced him, rather than the other way around. When Lot warned his family about God's judgement, they acted as if he were joking. His warning carried no weight because he had not lived a godly life before them.

God has given us a message of impending judgement--Jesus is coming back soon. The stakes are too high to live as Lot lived. The Bible says that in the time of Noah, everyone was going about business as usual--just like today. I want my children, family and friends to hear what I have to say and climb aboard the ark.

Testing...

"Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Revelation 3:21 (NIV)

We all have them. Ears. Why is it, then, that people are not hearing what the Spirit says to the churches? Has God stopped up our ears? In each of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, Jesus gives the same orders--pay attention to this, this is important! Yet, in most churches today, it is business as usual--as if we had never heard of the Book of Revelation, as if the return of Jesus was just a myth. Pray that God will burden pastors over the condition of the church as God reveals it in Revelation. Pray, too, that God will remove all spiritual deafness and give the church ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.

 

A Tough Assignment

"He said, 'Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.' Then I said, 'For how long, Lord?' And he answered: 'Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.'" Isaiah 6:9-12 (NIV)

This was a tough assignment for Isaiah--a tough assignment for any preacher. Essentially, God is saying, "go and preach to a people who will not respond to anything you say". Who would want to waste their time doing that? Yet God thought it was important. In fact, when Isaiah asked how long this assignment would last, God told him he would have to stick it out to the bitter end--til there was no one or no thing left to preach to.

Is this what is happening in America today? Or in the world? This is no job for the faint-hearted. If you have answered God's call to speak out for revival, let Him encourage you--don't expect others to do it. They may not be able to hear.

Running God's Race

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)

Think about the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us--Abraham, Noah, Moses, Rahab, Joseph, and many others who lived out the life of faith. They are our examples and encouragement to finish the race well in spite of everything that is going on around us. God has given each of us a unique race to run and He doesn't want us to be hindered by extra weight--we are to get rid of everything that slows us down. Some of those weights are mere distractions, but others that trip us up, He calls sin. There are plenty of distractions around--family, jobs, hobbies, even good works. What sins are we unaware of, or unwilling to give up, that may cause us to stumble and be disqualified? Just picture a runner at the starting line, with heavy chains draped around his neck and dragging on the ground, iron weights on his hands and feet--what are the chances he will finish that race? How much lighter and stronger he will be if he throws off those weights and keeps his focus on the one who ran the greatest race of all!

Turning Off the Ringer

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them." James 4:17 (NIV)

Maybe God isn't asking us to do something. Maybe He's asking us to undo something. Maybe there is sin in our life that needs to be confessed, forgiveness that needs to be asked for, or given. Whatever the reason for God's call, He wants us to answer the phone. When we consistently ignore the calls from God, some of us just decide to turn off the ringer. James says this is sin--knowing that God wants us to do something but refusing to do it. Maybe we are dealing with distractions in our life and it's just not a good time--we'll get back to God later. Sometimes we use those distractions as excuses for not doing business with God. We need to be honest with ourselves, and with God, about the things that keep us from fully obeying His call. What things do we stubbornly prefer to hold on to, rather than going to the next level with God?

Putting God on Hold

"As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.' He said to another man, 'Follow me.' But he replied, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Still another said, 'I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.' Jesus replied, 'No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:57-62 (NIV)

What is your response when God calls? Is it "Yes, Sir! Right away, Sir!" or is it "I'll get back to you on that."? Hard to imagine that we would put God on "hold" but it happens all the time. Maybe He's not asking you drop everything and go to Africa--maybe He's just asking you to talk to your neighbor about Jesus. It doesn't really matter if it's a big request or a small one, God expects our obedience when He asks, not when we feel like it. We have plenty of excuses, things we have to do first, just as these men who were called to follow Jesus did. But notice Jesus' response to those excuses--when it comes to serving in the Kingdom, delayed obedience disqualifies us.

The Power of Obedience

"Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience." - A. W. Tozer

"A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God." -Charles Finney