Rise Up

This post was proceeded by my watching the session 5 video of Beth Moore's study of the Book of Daniel. The central theme to this study was the fact there are articles consecrated by God..things that were designated as holy. The New Testament doctrine takes this point further defining Christians as holy, consecrated, blessed, set aside by the Holy for holy.

As I thought about these things, truth began to spread through me and take hold. I am holy? I have been set aside for divine purposes? I have been consecrated by God himself? But I've done terrible things, and I have certainly never done anything spectacular. I'm not this...I'm not that. But, I am a child of God. I do make that claim. Well, with that claim comes the blessings of being consecrated by God.

Christians, it is time we lay claim to our blessings. We are living in bad times, but these are our times. We weren't alive 100 years ago, and chances are we will not be alive 100 years from now. We are alive now, and this now is a failing democracy and crashing economy. Our freedoms are slipping through our fingers before we feel it, let alone grab it.

Our culture has blinded us to holy. We will arrange an entire day around a T.V. show. We will break prior commitments to attend a sporting event. We will spend money we don't have to buy bigger homes, faster cars, and jeans that don't fit. As we blindly search for what will make us happy, extremists are taking over our country.

Extremists...isn't that just the word of the decade? Well, Christians, I say we take that word back. We are holy, consecrated, and set aside to do the things of God. What are the things of God? What does our Bible refer to as the greatest command? LOVE. We need to be loving to the extreme...not loving out of convenience or loving to suit a purpose. We need to be loving as much as God equips us to love. Notice, I did NOT say love as much as we can love. Loving to the extreme is the love of God. We are not capable of such alone.

For example, tomorrow on the highway, someone will cut me off or slow me down. Now, when this pleasant driving event occurs, I can give my fellow driver a finger salute (which is what I will want to do). I can also attach my front end to his bumper and follow him all the way home (which I did once in my pre-Jesus days). On the other hand, I can slow down and give him some room. I can even ask God to protect him and bless him. If you know my driving history, you will know this reaction would definitely be loving to the extreme.

Tomorrow at work someone will irritate me. Actually, a few people will probably irritate me (I am NOT referring to my co-workers; in case you are reading :) ). I can become angry, vent my frustrations, and plan my counter attack. I can also let things roll right off my back. I can choose not to be offended. I can be kind and compassionate to every person in every situation. Again, I cannot do this on my own. This kind of loving extremism is God alone.

It is Thanksgiving week...a time for families to come together...maybe good...maybe not so good. Do you have a family member you have had a falling out with? Is there a relationship that has been damaged and not repaired? You can continue telling yourself you were right, and they were wrong. You can continue withholding love. You're not being hateful...right? Sure, but you aren't being loving either. Why don't you ask for God's grace and take the steps to repair that relationship...not necessarily because you want to but because you are holy, consecrated, set aside to commit such acts of love.

Christians, it is time we take this world back over. I don't know if we have become too complacent, too afraid (which is a sign of weak faith), or we're just totally paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of not knowing what to do. Maybe we are waiting for a sermon on the mount type event. Maybe we are waiting for the second coming. Sitting on the pew and waiting is just not enough. Showing up at church and pretending to be good is just not going to do it this time. We have a holy calling. I have a holy calling. I am not going to wait until I'm in Africa feeding starving children. I am not going to wait until I'm teaching in underground churches in the Middle East. I am not going to wait until I have opened a free health clinic for HIV/Aids patients. Chances are none of these things are my calling. My calling may be to love EVERY single person I come in contact with EVERY single moment of EVERY single day.

You think love is too simple a solution? You think love cannot conquer this world, during these times? My friends, we are here for such a time as this...to love! Not enough? There is nothing else.

God has given us an opportunity to be holy. Bless His heart. He even lets us choose.