Christianity Oasis Forum

[logi bear]

A devotional from my church : )

Are You a Buzz-Kill?

Genesis 37:4 says ". . . They hated Joseph, and could not speak peaceably unto him." Genesis 37 begins the story of Joseph. A.W. Pink says there are 100 points of analogy between Joseph and Jesus. Joseph was an amazing character. He chose to honor the Lord instead of honoring his flesh. Joseph is a tremendous example for you and me. He was a man of integrity and holiness. Just like Daniel, Joseph was a man who purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the things of the world.

Joseph is representative of Jesus Christ. The only way that you can have fellowship with the Father is by WALKING IN THE LIGHT (1 John 1:7). And when we walk in the light, we are going to be despised. When we walk in the light, we will be ridiculed—sometimes even by other Christians. Count on it. You’ll be accused of being, “holier than thou.” People will say that you think you’re so much better than everyone else—and that you think you’re just something special living such a holy life. They may even call you that name with the big capital “L” . . . you Legalist!

There is a very fine line between holiness and legalism. Sometimes we accuse others of being legalistic because we are convicted! Don’t let yourself so easily off the hook. Are you willing to raise the bar in your life unto holiness? Are you ready to increase the standard of JESUS in your life? Many times we don’t do this, and we call others who do, legalists. Why? So we can continue to compromise and to do what is status quo in the church.

Instead of having the light put onto our own lives, so we can walk in the light with the Father, we want that light off of us, so we reject others—we don’t want to hang with them because they’re a buzz-kill . All they want to do is talk about Jesus. They don’t listen to secular music. They don’t watch R-rated movies. Maybe you’ve started to think, “Hey, what am I supposed to do? I live in this world.” So you begin to label those who seek to live holy, as some kind of extreme Christian. As far as I’m concerned, there is no extreme Christianity. There’s just Biblical Christianity. Amen? We are not to pass it off or dismiss it because another person’s life has so much of the light of Jesus in them that it shines on a dark area of our life. Instead, we should embrace it.

As the Proverbs say, the wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy. Someone whose life shines so bright that it reveals to you a dark spot or spots in your own life--or through their life, it reveals to you an area in your life that needs to be dealt with--is better for you in the long run, even if it hurts up-front. That is better for you than someone who will pat you on the back and say, “Hey man, it’s okay, we’re all just trying to get through this life.” We let ourselves too easily off the hook. The Scripture says that iron sharpens iron!!! We should be edifying each other and encouraging each other unto holiness as we see the day of the Lord approaching. Let’s hold each other to a higher standard. Joseph was holy and a man of integrity. His brothers hated him. The world hated Jesus because He spoke the Truth! Jesus was rejected because He lived in the light. Let’s raise the bar and live Biblical Christianity. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

[ServeGod]

Thanking you once again for posting these awesome devotions from your church.
Love the way your Pastor brings light to the truth.
GBU