February 26
Lev 19:1-20:21 | PS 42:1-11 | Prov 10:17 | Mark 8:11-38
How desperate are you to be in an authentic relationship with God? It's not a game, and it is nothing to dabble in. Either you are all in or you are not. Recently our pastor, Lloyd Pulley described an individual's walk with God, as that faith moves from generation to generation as going from conviction to belief to opinion. Which of those three words best describes you? In another message from our Pastor, he quoted a young man, Evan Roberts who was pivotal in the Welsh revival of 1905, who made four points which are worth considering: 1) Confess any known sin. 2) Put away any doubtful habit. 3) Obey the Spirit promptly. and 4) Confess Christ openly. Many are looking for revival in this place or that. It is time to stop looking outwards. If you are truly desperate for Him, let revival begin in your own heart. Take God's Word to heart. Take it not as an opinion or a helpful bit of advice. Take it in as your very breath, the actual Word of God.
We read in Leviticus 19:1-2, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." God was reminding the people to be separated unto Him. As the multitude of laws are written, often the phrase is inserted, "I am the Lord your God", as a reminder that this was not a list of opinions or human rules, but commands from God, Himself. Most prefer to dabble, but Jesus also lets His followers know that this is not an option, as we read in Mark 8:34-38, "...“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”" Is there anything vague about these statements from Jesus, Himself?
We read in Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God." David might have messed up, as we all do, but you can't mistake just how desperate David was to knit his heart to that of God's. This is not a game. Ignorance is never an excuse. No sin is cute or innocent. It is time for those who are called according to His name to be that. We stand. We don't remain silent while sin is paraded around as truth. God is real. His Word is real. The question that begs to be answered is, "Is your faith real?"
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: