« March 1, 2006 | March 1, 2006 | March 1, 2006 »

Music Ministry

Posted on March 1, 2006 ...

?¢‚Ǩ?ì14 As Obedient Children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: ?¢‚Ǩ?ìBe holy, because I am Holy.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù 1 Peter 1:14-16

God Himself called us to a greater life than we are living in these days. We have become so distracted by the things of this world that we have conformed to the evil desires of this world that are trying to entangle us in sin. We may not have intended to, but we have failed to set ourselves apart from the world. In doing so, we have put a veil of sin between us and God?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s presence. We are struggling as a church to reach the lost with the gospel because non-believers don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t see anything different in us than they see in themselves. God sent His son to die on a cross, to rip down the veil that kept His presence from us. Like the priest, we keep trying to put that veil back up to separate us for the glory of God. The purifying fire of the Holy Spirit burns off all the impurities of the world.

The Word says in James 1:21, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìTherefore, get rid of all filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which will save you.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù We spend more time watching things on TV and on movies and listening to the crude jokes of a co-worker than we do listening to the Word that is planted in us and spending quiet time with God. My grandfather use to say, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWhat?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s down in the well is going to come up in the bucket.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù That is true, what ever we are feeding into our spirits is what is going to come out in our language, actions, and reactions.

Philippians 4:8-9 states, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWhatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù We have a promise that if we think on God and put into practice the things that He has taught and shown us, He, the God of peace, will live in us. We will never reach complete perfection (holiness) here on this earth but we are commanded to strive after it and that means putting away the things of this world and totally running after God. God Bless, Lanny