Purified Lives

The Holy Bible says….

All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.

(Bible Translation and Location: The Good News Translation – 2 Corinthians 7:1)

Thoughts:

I once heard that there are over 5,000 promises in the Word of God! Do you make promises to strangers that you really intend to keep? I doubt it, so friend if I was you, I wouldn't go on banking on these promises from God if you are but a stranger to Him. However, there is one promise that I'm sure He will honor for the non-Christian, or the unconcerned, and that is: if you admit you are a sinner, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, confess your unworthiness and your sin before Him, and ask Him to come into your heart and be Lord of your life, then I have no doubt that He will honor His promise to accept you as His very own child, because He declared in His Word to us that, "whosoever believes in Him" (John 3:16) will be saved, and have eternal life. Now, the second part of this verse is equally as important, for it says that we are to live in respect (awe) of God and therefore keep ourselves pure and stay away from sin and/or sinning. I once heard a story about a drunk who had followed the plan I just spoke of, and committed himself to the Lord. He was so afraid of the power of sin, and the entrapment of sin that always kept him hostage, that he walked an extra block on the way home, just to avoid passing the bar where he used to hang out with his drinking buddies. You see friend, God will save you of your sin, and He will be near and dear to help You in life's struggles and temptations, but He also wants to know that you are serious enough about your commitment to Him that you will also do your part in making every effort to avoid the entrapments that once overpowered you and caused separation between you and Him. To keep yourself pure means that you are doing everything possible to avoid impurities. Think about the medical field and all that they do to avoid the impurities in order to save a human life. This is what we must do to keep ourselves pure before a Holy and righteous God! Paul even told us how to accomplish this: by living in awe, or reverence, of God. You know, the kind of respect that you had for your parents when you were growing up. You did what they taught you out of respect and love for them. God is out to help you way more than He's out to get you!
 
Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for all You have done, and continue to do in my life. Thank You for Your limitless blessings that You pour out on me each day. I'm sure that You are well aware of the power of Satan to destroy Your children in particular, so it will be no surprise to You that I need Your power more and more each day to stand firm in my faith and to honor You in every facet of my life. I stand in awe of Your many blessings, and I want to be so loyal to You and Your Word that I might even feel that I am not only a child of the King, but actually feel honored as in royalty. This is in no way a wish that would result in pride, but Father, it is so humbling to read, hear and understand that the God of this universe, the King of all kings, the Savior of all mankind could ever love me as much as You do. I really need to wrap my head around that! Please deal in the heart of my unsaved loved ones and friends again today, so that they may gain an appreciation for Your love, and desire a relationship with You. Only You can accomplish this dear Jesus, so I humbly ask all this in Your precious name, AMEN!

 
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day's devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL!