set apart.

"For it is written, 'be holy, for I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:16. Ok, Lord, 'be holy' ... What does 'holy' mean? To be dedicated or consecrated to God; set apart. Ok, fair enough. But, what does this mean for my day to day living? Well, it means something HUGE. I want to dive into something that feels very heavy on my heart today. There is a big problem in the mainstream church today. The church is beginning to look more and more like the world. Yet, isn't this the polar opposite of what we were called to? Indeed, it is. We were not called to look like the world. We are called to BE HOLY, just as HE IS HOLY; to live set apart.
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So, let's sort this out. We know we will never be perfect this side of heaven. We have been justified, but we are still being sanctified until the time we are glorified. We do all fall short and fail time and time again, no doubt. And though we fall seven times, in Christ, by faith, we can stand up eight (Proverbs 24:16). We are indeed covered in grace, by the blood of Jesus. We are forgiven and set free. And nothing can separate us from the Love of the Father! Hallelujah! Amen. Yet, does this mean we are at liberty to live like the world? No. Of course not! "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too, may live a new life." Romans 6:1-4.  And moreso, why do we DESIRE to live like the world? Where is our Light? Why are we, as born again believers, not desiring to be SET APART? 

Set apart. We are in the world, yet not of the world (John 17:16). We are called to a higher calling. "For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light and find out what pleases the Lord." Ephesians 5:8-10. "Be careful then, how you live - not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, for the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:15-18. We have some very bold, very clear instructions on how we are to live...and with the Spirit within us, and the work of sanctification morphing us more and more into the image of Jesus, then why...oh WHY, are we still the people that play at a bar on Saturday night, and come with our hands raised in worship on Sunday morning? Why do our mouths curse in one breath and praise Him in the next? Why do we dress provocatively and come buttoned up to our necks on Sunday? Why do we play in the devil's playground whilst sealed with the Blood of Christ? Why do we give the enemy so many footstools? Why do we deny our Lord in word and deed, over and over? Why are we set apart for one hour Sunday morning, but the rest of the week, we look just like the rest. Friends, we are sealed...sealed with His Spirit, bought with His Blood, and we bear His image, as a created one by God, but also as a saved one of the Risen Christ. We are called to LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT.

Children of light don't belong playing in the darkness along with the darkness. We only venture into the darkness, to intentionally bring the Light into the darkness. Jesus told us... "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all of creation." Mark 16:15. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus...to bring the Gospel and to BE the Gospel. "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16. We have been given such a Light within us... the Light of the very Spirit of God, yet we parade around this world so dim, so prone to play in the playground of darkness. We were once darkness...but now we are light. 

It's time to rise up. It's time to say "No!" to the world...and say "YES!" to Jesus. It's time to say, "Get behind me, Satan...this world is not my home; I'm just passing through!" It's time. Now is the time. It's time to live SET APART - to be a city on a hill. It's time to sing loud, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" ...and it is time to live it! Live it out loud! It's time "to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:23-24. We must say goodbye to living on both sides of the fence. We must be sold out for Jesus. We don't confine Jesus into our Sunday mornings. He must be all...or be none. He must be in our day to day lives - and not just in our lives, but THE LORD of our lives. Jesus in the kitchen. Jesus on Friday night. Jesus in the workplace. Jesus in the gym. Jesus - everywhere. He must have our whole heart...in the LIGHT. "For what fellowship can light have with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14.

And the wonderful news, friends, is that we have been equipped... equipped for our calling... "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ ... standing firm in one Spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel." Philippians 1:27. That is quite a bold calling, right? Indeed, it is! But what a holy calling! What a joyous calling! What awesome GLORY and HOPE! So, how are we equipped you may ask? Well, by His Spirit...the Great Helper. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." John 14:26. Ahh, such great news! Thank You, Jesus. We have a Helper! And even beyond that - we have each other, the body of Christ - "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17, and His Word...His Living Word - "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16. I don't know about you, but this is cause for celebration... a celebration of LIGHT. Of LOVE. Of TRUTH! Living set apart is not something any of us are worthy of,  yet He, the Word made flesh, who died in our place, CHOSE US, and called us...and gave it ALL for us. Out of such humble gratitude, ought we not to find ourselves surrounded in darkness..? Instead, shouldn't we be surround by Light, in places of Light? We need to be a city on a hill, transformed by the One True Light...and shining that Light into all the world, for all to see, and to Light them on Holy Fire, by the grace of God, just as in fact at a point in time we were called from darkness into LIGHT! Lord, help us. Amen.
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LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT

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