Wednesday, August 7, 2013

August 8, 2013


“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.Proverbs 3:5-7

 
Once upon a time in a nice little forest, there lived an orphaned bunny and an orphaned snake. Coincidentally, both were blind from birth.

 
As the bunny was hopping through the forest one day and the snake was slithering around, the bunny tripped over the snake and fell down.

 
"I'm sorry," said the bunny to the snake, "but I've been blind since birth. I can't see where I'm going. More than that, since I'm an orphan, I don't even know what I am."

 
"It's O.K.," replied the snake, "because I'm blind and orphaned too; and I don't know what I am either."

 
The snake paused and then said, "I've got an idea. I'll slither all over you and figure out what you are!"

 
So the snake slithered over the bunny and then said, "Well, you're covered with soft fur, you have long ears, your nose twitches, and you have a soft cottony tail. So I'd say you're a bunny rabbit."

 
"Thank you," said the bunny, "and now let me paw all over you and figure out what you are!"

 
So the bunny pawed over the snake and then said, "Well, you're very smooth and slick, you have a forked tongue, no backbone, and no strength. I'd say you must be a Liberal.

 
Adam and Eve were created by a Perfect God to be perfect and were placed in a perfect place!

 
God’s will was for this perfect pair to walk with Him and work with Him to tend this perfect paradise and reproduce a perfect race.

 
One selfish act of disobedience ruined all of that in a moment and though man lost his perfection in that moment he did not lose his desire for perfection.

 
So, for generations humanity has been haunted by the frustration of a Paradise lost and a perfection lost. Many have given up on the notion of perfection and consider it an impossible dream while others devote themselves to the dream of developing an earthly utopia.

 
It is quite obvious that, like the rabbit and the snake, we have been blinded to who we are and what we can become in Christ.

 
There IS a perfection that is possible and available! It is called holiness and it can be imparted to you by God’s Spirit through the redemptive work of Christ!

 
Holiness requires a consecration. You must set yourself apart wholly to a Holy God through Christ.

 
Holiness requires a crucifixion. You must die to yourself by crucifying the old, sinful nature.

 
Holiness requires a cleansing. You must plead the cleansing of your sinful nature by the blood of Jesus Christ.


Holiness requires an infilling. After the consecration and the crucifying and the cleaning you can then be filled with the Holy Spirit of God!


That’s holiness!

 
It takes some backbone to become holy – but it’s possible!