Imitation!

When I think of something being an imitation, I think of it as cheap in value. Like imitation cheese or cologne. The quality is just not the same. Most people are an imitation of other people. We imitate what we see in order to fit in. Very few people are real and genuine.

Things that are rare are what others value, they can even be priceless. We treat things with value carefully. Things that have little value we treat carelessly. Many of us are careless in regards to life decisions because we don't value ourselves.

The maker of something is the one who has the authority to place the value on it. If we had the authority of placing value on the things we buy we would not pay the cost that we do. If our worth comes from others and not the one who made us our self-worth will always be under valued. When someone does not have self-worth the choices they make reflect it. They allow themselves to be used and abused.

Our worth is so great to God that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. We are His only creation that is made in His image. We are priceless in His sight. He sees us not as we are but as we can be. If this truth can be believed then self-worth will follow.

If I have something that is rare and precious I am not going to just let anyone touch it. So when we have self-worth we don't just let anyone touch us. Sexual sin is no longer worth the price of devaluing ourselves. Our bodies our no longer just objects for others pleasure. They are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we will not allow God's temple to be defiled.

Our worth comes from being in the hands of our maker. Obedience is our love for God acted out. As we obey Him we remain in Him and His value is made evident as His glory radiates from our skin like sun light shining on a jewel.

Apart from God all we can become is an imitation of others. In Christ we become who we were created to be. No longer fakes, frauds, and phonies, doing whatever it takes to just fit it. We become the real deal. Each of us reflecting God in our own unique and rare way. Just like there is no snowflake that falls from heaven that is exactly the same neither are we His most prized creation. God created each of us to reflect how great He is.


Reference:  Leviticus 18, Deut. 20:18, 1 Kings 14:24, 1 Kings 12:32, 2 Kings 17:15, Matt. 13:44-46, 2 Cor. 1:17, Matt. 16:26, John 3:16, Luke 7:46, Song of Solomon 5:9, 2 Cor. 6:14-18, Is. 43:7, Rev. 4:11, Jer. 13:11, John 1:3, 

Our Scapegoat!

Since Adam it is our nature to make excuses and blame others for our sins.  We don't like to have to fes up, we want to be seen in a certain light where others have a positive perception of us even if it is false. 

We have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. None are righteous no not one.  We do not need to live a lie, to play the hypocrite.  We just need to be real and honest.  We are all in a process and purity does not happen overnight.  If we ever reach perfection then our purpose on earth is complete, only Enoch and Elijah born in sin ever reached this place and were taken up without experiencing physical death.

God provided a way for the Children of Israel to be in His presence.  Once a year a scapegoat was provided in which the Priest would confess the sins of the people of Israel upon it and then the goat would be driven into the wilderness carrying the people's sins away with it.

Christ became our ultimate scapegoat, He has taken our sins away, as far as the east is from the west.  The blood of Jesus has washed our sins away and we are pure in Him.  We can now boldly come before His throne daily and receive mercy and grace.

The children of Israel had to wait until this ceremony once a year to be free from the guilt of sin.  We no longer have to wait for a ceremony.  Christ is our High Priest and we can confess our sins as soon as we commit them.

The process of purification depends on our willingness to repent through the confession of our sins.  God can only work in our life to the degree of our transparency. We must not let our pride get in the way of change.  All sin will be exposed it will be less shameful to be honest now than to get caught in the act later.

Freedom only comes when we have nothing to hide. Darkness in our life keeps us bound.  We can be free from sin all we have to do is confess and Christ our scapegoat takes our sin away.

Biblical Reference:  Leviticus 16, Romans 5:12, Romans 3:23, Romans 3:10, 1 John 3:5, Romans 11:27, Rev. 1:5, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 3:1, 1 Cor. 14:25, 

In & Out!

    To be holy means to be set apart.  Holiness is not an outward appearance but an inward characteristic.  How does one reach holiness therefore?  We cannot copy, imitate or act out what we think holiness is for it is impossible for man to achieve.  God alone is holy and His holiness can only be attained through Him.  It is an inward transformation through the manifestation of His Glory.  As we encounter Him we are changed.

    The only work necessary in the process of holiness is seeking.  He never will enforce Himself on us, we must seek Him for Him to be found.  If we draw near to Him He draws near to us.  It is like when I play hide and go seek with my son, he hides in order to be found, the pleasure of the game for my son is my desire to find him.

     Sanctification is the process of God changing us from the inside out.  Holiness is a state of the heart.  How do we know where we are at in this process?  Through examining the heart.  The bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  In the midst of pressure, when we are squeezed, what comes out of the mouth will determine the state of the heart.

    So if evil comes forth then repentance must follow.  Once one repents, cleansing takes place, we then need to replace evil with good, the renewing of the mind.  Replacing worldly thoughts with the mind of Christ, the word of God.  Once we are continually brought through the fire of trials and tests.  The Word we have placed in our minds will transform the heart and holiness will be the result.

    The old covenant was the outward form of the inward transformation we now in the new covenant have in Christ. In Leviticus 15 it talks about bodily discharges, and the rituals that must follow to be ceremonially clean.  It was all part of the purification process.  We see the purpose of these laws and rituals were to lead the children of Israel to Christ.  They were bound to fail so that Christ could be received.  The laws and rituals are wise in the areas of good health, but true holiness can only be found through the process of sanctification by the Holy Spirit in relationship with Jesus Christ.

Holiness cannot be seen in the way we dress, or what we eat or drink, Holiness is all about character.  The fruit of the Spirit evident in our life.  Holiness and fruitfulness go hand in hand.

For further Reference and Study:  (Mark 7:1-19, Leviticus 20:26, 1 Peter 1:15, 1 Cor. 15:50-58, Matt. 15:8, James 4:8, Psalm 26:2, Psalm 17:3, 1 Tim. 3:10, Luke 6:45, Matthew 12:34, 2 Thess 2:17, Luke 3:3, Eph. 5:26, Romans 12:1-2, James 1:1-2, Gal. 2:16, Gal. 5:16-26

The Process of Purification!

God our great High Priest has a way of purifying us.  Everything we go through is for the purpose of purity.  Each trial we face is so that we can be more like Him.  The bible says the pure in heart shall see God!  The more we see God the more He is seen in us.  The more pure our heart is the more God can entrust us in His service.  With each test comes promotion.  God is the one who promotes us not man.  

Our personal accomplishments can elevate us to positions of authority but our ability to maintain these positions will be determined only if we can pass the tests of purity.  Character is what God uses to qualify us not mere knowledge and experience.  If we are not where we want to be, we got to ask ourselves, how well have we handled life's tests?  Jesus was promoted in ministry through being tested and so will we.  

Our ministry is be based on what we have been through.  God takes us through so we can lead others through.  I have been tested to the core this year, I have failed at times, but I have not given up, and therefore I believe this next year will bring me great promotion.  Each year we should be at a higher level that the previous one.  Each level means more devils but more grace and greater Glory! 

God has been purifying every area of my life especially at home.  I must first be a minister in private before God promotes me in public.   My home is my proving ground, it reveals who I really am.  Unless my home is pure of all defilement, I cannot expect to be God's agent in purifying others.  I see myself in my children, their weaknesses are a reflection of my own.  My ability to train them in the right way to go will determine if I am qualified to train others.  The bible says to love my wife as Christ loves the church.  If I cannot love right those closest to me how can I expect to give genuine love to others.

How far I go in fulfilling my call will be determined by how faithful in being a good steward in what He has already given me.     

We must pass the tests of the wilderness before we enter into the Promised Land, or defeating the Giants in the land will not be believable.  Since 2001 the church in America has been under serious attack.  God is calling us in 2011 to no longer just be on the defense but to get on the offense.  The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.  It is time to walk in our dominion mandate, until the kingdom's of this world have become the kingdom of God.

Read Leviticus 14  

Have You Been Examined Lately?

I have never been one to go to the doctor often, except for mandatory physicals over the years.  I actually don't even have a physician.  I have only went to the hospital a few times when I couldn't stand throwing up anymore or itching because of a rash.   Over the last few years I did have a few appointments with a skin doctor to have my moles examined but I didn't show up for the follow-up to get the results.  I do know that it is wise to be examined in order to catch the spread of possible diseases.  I just choose to ignore wisdom and believe everything will be okay as I walk in blind faith, what I need is a balance between faith and common sense.

I take my spiritual health much more seriously I meet monthly with experienced leaders who I am accountable to and I have credibility through.  I believe by doing this I am ahead of the game, I am able through their experience correct things in my life before they grow and I am able to be prepared for the things I may face ahead.

In Leviticus 13 it talks about how to deal with skin disease.  The individual is brought to the priest to examine the condition and see how affected the rash has become.  If the affected area is only skin deep the person will only go through a short period of quarantine and if the disease does not spread the person is pronounced ceremonially clean.  Now if the skin disease develops to something more serious and has spread and become an open sore the person must tear their clothes, leave their hair uncombed, cover their mouth and call out, 'Unclean! Unclean!'.  As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean and must live in isolation from the rest of the camp.

Certain sins have different effects, some sin we can easily get free from while other sin seem to be more difficult.  When I got saved certain things left me, I no longer had the desire for them, these were surface sins.  While other sin would be harder to shake, it seems that no matter how many times I asked God to forgive me, I repeated the same sin.  These are deeply rooted sins. The born-again experience is like buying a new field.  God the new owner of my heart wants to uproot my worldly ways and plant His righteousness within me.  The surface sins are easy to clear while the deep sins that are brought on because of hurt and pain go deep and need special attention.

If wounds are not bandaged up they become infectious and spread throughout the body.  Hurting people hurt people.  One bad apple can spoil a bunch.  When a wounded individual is placed in leadership and they were not thoroughly examined much division can take place.  Many times anyone who seems to be available is used and it can cause much more damage than good.

Each ministry needs to have in place proper training where each individual is processed through and proven to be healed and whole before they participate in leadership.  The goal is not to get rid of those found in habitual sin but to lead them through a process of restoration.  So they will be ones who unite the body not divide it.  Hurting people operate in the flesh and manifest the works of the flesh, Healed people operate in the spirit and manifest the fruits of the spirit.  Each believer needs to be placed where their works can be properly examined by a proven leader in a position that has little interaction with others so sin doesn't spread.   Even when we are found to be free of our past as long as we have flesh and blood we are prone to sin and need to continue to have regular examinations by proven Godly leaders.

Read Leviticus 13, Gal. 6:1-3, Psalm 147:3, Psalm 38, Gal. 5: 16-26, Jer. 8:18-22, 1 Cor. 11:31-32,