In my prayer time on this morning, I am ever concerned while very prayerful that no present evil within or without shall usurps the power and authority of God in all of this creation. As insane as America[and the world] is at present, I am writing the Body of Christ to remain committed to your first Love which is Christ, and to not compromise your heavenly position in Christ regardless of your current condition in this evil age.
The inspiration for today’s blog came after reading Romans 12:1-4. This short passage of Holy Scripture excited my soul with the very desire of our Heavenly Father’s exhortation for those who are motivated by His will as opposed to the will of this age; and or one’s personal quests that are indicative of conformity to the ‘olam hazeh [this world, this age].
I exhort you, therefore, each soul in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please Him; it is the logical “Temple Worship” for you. In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the “olam hazeh.”
Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what He wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed. For I am telling every single one of you, through the grace that has been given to me, not to have exaggerated ideas about your own importance.
Instead, develop a sober estimate of yourself based on the standard which God has given to each of you, namely trust.
The Complete Jewish Bible Translation.
This passage of Scriptures has many important life-changing directives for any soul that is motivated by their faith [trust] to not only to please God but also to become all that our Creator purpose for His children while living in this evil age.
The two most important implications that are to be considered by many is that first, our Creator delights in our willingness to forfeit our wills to that of His will. The visible sign of this is offering you as a living sacrifice unto Him and not to ourselves and his current evil age. Then and only then will we experience spiritual transformation, renewing of our minds; thus one will become personally informed by God, the very things that He wants. By pleasing God and serving Him, all that He purpose for us is Good, Satisfying thus we will Succeed.
The second factor that is not clearly indicated in the verse is the ill-effects that unmortified sin within the life of the follower. In his work Overcoming Sin and Temptation, John Owen lists six evil effects of sin–sin that we identify but are perhaps losing the inner battle to destroy.
- Sin deprives us of spiritual strength and comfort. “Every unmortified sin will do two things: it will weaken the soul and deprive it of its vigor. It will darken the soul and deprive it of its comfort and peace.”
- Sin weakens the soul and deprives it of its strength. “An unmortified lust will drink up the spirit and all the vigor of the soul, and weaken it for all duties.” When he speaks of duties, he speaks of the ordinary means of grace, and particularly reading Scripture, praying and gaining the spiritual benefit that comes from doing these things.
- Sin becomes the delight of the heart. “It diverts the heart from the spiritual frame that is required for vigorous communion with God; it lays hold on the affections, rendering its object beloved and desirable, so expelling the love of the Father.” Unmortified sin becomes our delight, and we come to love it and rejoice in it.
- Sin becomes the meditation of our minds. “Thoughts are the great purveyors of the soul to bring in the provision to satisfy its affections; and if sin remains unmortified in the heart, they must ever and anon be making provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” When sin goes untouched, it becomes the meditation of our heart, taking the place that should be filled with the Lord.
- Sin hinders our spiritual walk. “The ambitious man much be studying, and the worldling must be working or contriving, and the sensual, vain person providing himself for vanity when they should be engaged in the worship of God.” Sin steals the time, attention and affection that we need to maintain our communion with God.
- Sin darkens the soul. “It is a cloud, a thick cloud, that spreads itself over the face of the soul, and intercepts all the beams of God’s love and favor. It takes away all sense of the privilege of our adoption; and if the soul begins to gather up thoughts of consolation, sin quickly scatters them.” When we continually choose sin over godliness, sin destroys the comfort that the Holy Spirit seeks to provide. Our souls become darkened to his goodness and to the privileges of our adoption.
If each follower is to become victorious in this life, we must learn the mastery of self-denial and die to sin, [the sin within and without]. Much grace is to be applied to our efforts at becoming like Messiah, for these processes do not just happen overnight. The glaring difference in how this age determines success, as opposed to the standards of God, are noted in how we spiritually respond to evil and opposition. Paul the writer of Romans, later states that followers of Messiah should not:
- Let love be a mere outward show.
- Learn to recoil from what is evil.
- Cling to what is good.
- Love each other devotedly, thus setting examples of personal respect.
- Do all things well serving the Lord with spiritual fervor.
- Rejoice in your hope.
- Be patient in your troubles.
- Continue in steadfast prayer.
- Share with others, what God has provided you with the spirit of hospitality.
- Repay no one evil for evil, Adonai says, “Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.”
- Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
In closing, I pray the joy, peace, and strength of The Most High on you and your household during this holiday season.
Grace and Peace