Sunday, September 21, 2014

HOLY IS A “FOUR LETTER WORD”

 
Hello Everyone, I'm BACK!

We had an absolutely wonderful message today in church so I thought I would share some thoughts with you.

It is a sad thing to see today. People running around claiming to be Christians, yet they think “holy” is a bad word. They want to be known as Christians because “they believe in God”, yet when it comes to His Word and living according to HIS Holiness Standards, either they have no clue, or they mistakenly think they can do what they want, how they want and when they want, because “grace covers it”. We are SAVED BY GRACE.

Yes, this is true, but while we're at it, why not finish the whole thought. According to Titus 2: 11-12 states: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

Why is this scripture so hard for people to understand? Or is that they understand it but choose to “pick and choose” what they believe? If we believe in God, then we should also believe in His Word and KNOW that what He says is settled in heaven and shall come to pass. This life is not and SHOULD NOT be a “FREE RIDE”. Salvation is free to anyone who wants it, but it is for those who love the Lord and will abide by His will and His Word.
We must remember that Jesus paid the price for our Salvation, therefore it was not “free”. All He asks in return is to LOVE HIM, thereby obeying His Word. After all, he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is all powerful, all knowing and everywhere. He knows what is best for us, so doesn't it stand to reason that it would be best for us if we were to follow His instructions? This INCLUDES the Holiness Standards. God tells us how He wants us to conduct our behavior and how to dress. He goes as far as to explain to us why, yet people seem to ignore this part of the scripture.

I have had people tell me, “God looks at the heart”. He doesn't care how you dress. So Wrong. If he didn't care, why would He include “modest apparel” in the holiness scripture? The thing is WE are not supposed to judge how people are dressed. We are supposed to leave it up to God to do the changing. (And He WILL).

I don't judge how people dress, even in church, but I will show them in the Bible where it speaks about it if given the chance. I always tell them though, that it doesn't matter TO ME what they wear as long as I get to see them in church.

Not only does the Holiness Standard apply to dress, but also how we are to act, speak, and live. Titus 2:1-12 goes into detail on how women and men should act.

    (1) But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: (2) That the aged men be sober, grave temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. (3) The aged women likewise, that they be in behavioras becometh holiness, not false aaccusers not given to much wine, teachers of good things; (4) That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. (5) To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. (6) Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. (7) In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity and sincerity. (8) Sound speech that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. (9) Exhort servants to be obedient to their own asters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; (10) Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of our Saviour in all things.

If we as Christians don't read God's Holy Word and abide by what He teaches, then HOW CAN WE CALL OURSELVES CHRISTIANS? A Christian is a FOLLOWER OF CHRIST AND HIS WORD.

This being said, grace is a wonderful thing, but we CANNOT use it as a “crutch”. Again, yes we are saved by His Grace, but not because it is a “get out of jail free card”. We are saved by grace, because it TEACHES us How to Live for God, how to understand and abide by His Word.

We as Christians must remember, that we are to “Come out from among them and be ye separate”. This means we are not to conform to this world's way of doing things. We are to separate ourselves from the sin in this world, even if we “don't see anything wrong” with what is going on, we must check our spirit with God's Word and back away if what is happening doesn't line up with the Word of God. There is too much deception going on. The devil (the ruler of this world) is an expert at this. He knows just how to put a tiny bit of truth in with a multitude of lies and cause us to fall. We have to know God's Word and be diligent at keeping him at bay.

Being Holy is NOT A BAD THING. So many of the churches today are “afraid to preach on Holiness because they don't want to “scare people off”. Well, I say what good is church if they aren't going to teach what GOD wants them to teach? Holiness is in His Word, it should be taught. How else are we going to know? That is what a shepherd is for, to lead his flock. If he doesn't teach God's requirements for getting into heaven, then how are we supposed to get there. Using the excuse “I didn't know won't cut it”.

Well, I guess I've said my piece for today. I am going to try and get my blogging going again. So I hope you will join me on my journey into God's Word.


Have a Wonderful Evening and May God Bless!






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2 comments:

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear PJ,

It's good to see you back! God bless.

Unknown said...

"PJ's Prayer Line" has been included in our A Sunday Drive. Be assured that we hope this helps to point even more new visitors in your direction.

http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-sunday-drive_28.html