Character Counts
What is character? A definition I once heard for character was that, “Character is that which we display even when we think no one is looking.” This is fine from the world's point of view, but the simple truth of the matter is, someone is always looking. God not only sees the deeds we do when we think they are being done in secret, he sees the attitude of our hearts when we do them; whether done in public or in private. Perhaps a better definition from a godly point of view would be, "Character is not forgetting that God is always watching and that everything we do is to bring honor and glory to Him. It is putting into practice the attributes of a holy, loving God."
In the study book, "The Man God Uses," Blackaby lists several godly character qualities he believes should be evident in the life of every Christian man. These character qualities, like so many other godly characteristics we strive to practice are not things that develop over night. They are characters that only the Spirit of God can help us achieve. Since there are several godly characters mentioned in The Man God Uses, instead of glossing over all of them at one time, I would like to look at each one individually over the course of the next several weeks. So, the first character we will look at is the character of “holiness.”
The Character Of Holiness
Character is developed in the life of a Christian as he continues to allow the Holiness of God to fill his life and become part of his own nature. In The Man God Uses, the author describes holiness as, “being set apart and separate from anything that does not please God.” It goes on to say that we cannot make ourselves holy. “We become holy only through the power of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.”
Though our holiness will never reach God’s level of holiness, we can learn through scripture about God’s holiness and strive to make the attribute of holiness a part of our own lives. [It is when we become aware of God’s holiness that we see our lack of holiness.] (1) Isaiah noticed this when in a vision he saw God seated on his throne and the Seraphim were calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3) In this vision he saw his own sinfulness and unworthiness and he cried out to God. Because Isaiah had a heart that wanted to serve the Lord God, God was able to shape him and mold him in the likeness of His own holiness. God was able to use Isaiah because of his willingness to surrender himself to God. Because of his desire to become holy as God is holy, Isaiah became a great voice for the Lord his God through out his life.
As stated in the Man God Uses, we can only become holy through the power of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit. That’s why Paul ended chapter seven of Romans as he did when he said, “Wretched man than that I am, Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” And because of what Christ did for us on the cross, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) We have been set free to live holy lives. Lives that do not have to be enslaved by the sin that is in us as we continue to live in our fleshly bodies. Paul saw that it was only through the redemptive power of Christ that we could live holy lives for God and be victorious over sin.
Living holy lives is like being on a spiritual journey as stated here in Isaiah 35:8 “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.” [God is building a highway of holiness that the wicked cannot travel. God desires that our lives be that highway, the road over which others may be drawn. An unholy heart and mind are barriers, roadblocks on that divine highway that keep us from effectively praying and seeking the Lord. If we choose to fill our minds with pornography, violence, immorality, hatred, promiscuity, and self-centeredness, it becomes spiritually impossible to produce fruit of an opposite condition, a holy condition. The condition of our hearts will reflect our actions, and our actions will reflect the condition of our hearts.] (2)
What Is Holy Living Some of the evidences we and others will see in our lives if we are living holy lives are outlined in the following Scripture.
II Corinthians 7:1a points out that if we are living holy lives our lives will be pure, "Purifying our bodies from everything that contaminates body and spirit." And 7:1b says that by living a holy life we are showing a "reverence to God."
I Thessolonians 4:3-5 defines holy living as avoiding sexual immorality, learning to control our own bodies in an honorable way. We are not to live our lives in passion and lust like the heathens. Verse 6 goes on to point out that a person who is living a holy life does no harm to his brother or takes advantage of him.
According to Ephesians 5:1, "Holy living is observing God's holiness and being imitators of Christ's love." Because Christ was the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), by imitating Christ's holiness, we are observing God's holiness.
Staying on Track So, just as Christ was pure, righteous, gracious, merciful, and loving to name just a few things, we too must practice these things in order to live holy lives. How then do we stay on track and continue living holy lives? First , we continue by spending time in God’s word on a daily basis. Just reading it is not enough. We must apply it to our hearts, memorize it, and let it be the thing we fill our minds with, not the garbage around us. Secondly, by constantly reviewing the Spiritual Check list mentioned at the beginning of this study. Thirdly, remember that there is an enemy out there who wants us to fail, so never take off the armor of God, keep it on at all times. Fourthly and most important of all, we continue by realizing that we cannot be holy on our own. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us and to empower us from within.
God did not tell us we had to be perfect, He knew that as long as we were clothed in human flesh we would never be perfect. He did however, tell us to be holy as He is holy, "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.' (Leviticus 19:2). Therefore if it is something he has commanded us to do we can know first of all that it is not something that will be impossible for us to do and secondly it is something He will help us to do.
Let us continue to strive for holiness as we press on to be all that God has created us to be.
Garry....
1. The Man God Uses, Henry & Tom Blackaby, 1998 The Way Press, 8th printing 2005
2. The Man God Uses, Henry & Tom Blackaby, 1998 The Way Press, 8th printing 2005
Wednesday, November 21
Thankful for the heroes; past, present, and future.
Remember that song by Bonnie Tyler, "Holding Out for A Hero"? You know the one where she belts out the question, "Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?" She isn't the only one who is "holding out for a hero….."
The world is crying out for a hero, who meets the description in Tyler's song of being "Strong…..Fast…..and Fresh from the fight." And, of course, there is the major requirement for our heroes today; they have to be 'larger than life' beyond any realm of uncertainty and untimely reactions.
In Zechariah 10:7 (NASB), we can see a biblical reference to heroes of old. "Ephraim will be like a mighty man, And their heart will be glad as if from wine; Indeed, their children will see it and be glad, Their heart will rejoice in the LORD." The Young's Literal Translation has the first part as "And Ephraim hath been as a hero."
In Genesis 10:9, we have "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." Again, Young's has "mighty hunter" as "hero in the land" and the reference to Nimrod as "hero".
In Zechariah 9:13, "For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior's sword." Young's shows the last part of the verse to be, "And I have set thee as the sword of a hero."
Jeremiah 50:9 of the Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB) version states, "For behold I raise up, and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken: their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain." Again, "like those of a mighty man," is referenced in Young's "as a skilful hero."
We see what the hero means in biblical terms; strong, skillful, and true. A hunter of exceptional strength and courage. And we can point to those in our society who meet those qualities.....
Most of us can point to the last time America saw its wealth of heroes displayed before the world stage, on 9-11. From the rescue workers that comprised Fire Fighters, Police, Transit Authority officers and common citizenry; our nation stood in painful awe as we watch them rush into the bulidings and work to bring those trapped out, and cried out in sorrowful loss when the Towers fell and took them from us. Or listen to the reports in the hours and days to come of those on the plane who declared, "Let's roll …" and gave their lives so others might be spared, namely our Nation's capital buliding and those who lead us.
Still others will point to those who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting for a people that the media would have us believe don't want us there. Who stand the watches, the lonely patrols, and the dangerous interaction with enemy forces and cherish that one child who smiles at the gift of candy, that one parents who thanks them for standing the gap. While their own countrymen say, "We support you," while voting to limit funds for equipment or giving the enemy the upper hand by declaring the soldiers overburden and incapable of victory and calling for a withdrawal.
All of these heroes, past and present, either in wartime or peacetime attacks are heroes true. They fought for the overburden, the oppressed, the starved, the battered, those in dangerous situations, and those in need of a hand. They are heroes. And, I am extremely grateful for them, who so valiantly and effortlessly put their own lives upon the line to rescue those who are in need of their heroic efforts.
A hero, who is strong, fast, timely, and fresh from the fight……that is what is needed in the churches of today to seek out the battlefield of the souls, where the Christian faith is rapidly losing ground by inactivity. Someone who will stand up, much like our heroes upon Flight 19, who said, "No more!" These spiritual heroes, who labor under the darkness and out of the limelight, are as vital as those heroes who gave their lives in those Twin Towers.
I am thankful this Thanksgiving Day for those who fight; whether it be overseas in a battle between democracy and dictatorship, at home in the political halls of power where abuse is rampant and heroes are few, to the darken streets of America's lost where they labor for the souls of those in desperate need of a Savior.
I raise my sword in salute, I bang my shield in declaration, and I bow my head in humble honorarium of those I have stood with wearing the uniform, or those I kneel with in grateful communication, and those who take the banner from the fallen and raise it high.
As for the gods that society gives for the succor of the lost, I cannot tell you where those creative, powerless, and unrealistic gods are but I can point you to the One who is Above All....who loves you, and wants you for His own. He is my Captain and my King, Lord and Savior...Jesus Christ.
May the Lord Bless you, May the Good Lord keep you and turn His face towards you. May the Lord keep you and bring you peace on this day of national Thanksgiving. And may the soul I touch today understand the eternal gift for tomorrow, so that they too may know the power of thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father.
Happy Thanksgiving all.
The world is crying out for a hero, who meets the description in Tyler's song of being "Strong…..Fast…..and Fresh from the fight." And, of course, there is the major requirement for our heroes today; they have to be 'larger than life' beyond any realm of uncertainty and untimely reactions.
In Zechariah 10:7 (NASB), we can see a biblical reference to heroes of old. "Ephraim will be like a mighty man, And their heart will be glad as if from wine; Indeed, their children will see it and be glad, Their heart will rejoice in the LORD." The Young's Literal Translation has the first part as "And Ephraim hath been as a hero."
In Genesis 10:9, we have "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." Again, Young's has "mighty hunter" as "hero in the land" and the reference to Nimrod as "hero".
In Zechariah 9:13, "For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior's sword." Young's shows the last part of the verse to be, "And I have set thee as the sword of a hero."
Jeremiah 50:9 of the Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB) version states, "For behold I raise up, and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken: their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain." Again, "like those of a mighty man," is referenced in Young's "as a skilful hero."
We see what the hero means in biblical terms; strong, skillful, and true. A hunter of exceptional strength and courage. And we can point to those in our society who meet those qualities.....
Most of us can point to the last time America saw its wealth of heroes displayed before the world stage, on 9-11. From the rescue workers that comprised Fire Fighters, Police, Transit Authority officers and common citizenry; our nation stood in painful awe as we watch them rush into the bulidings and work to bring those trapped out, and cried out in sorrowful loss when the Towers fell and took them from us. Or listen to the reports in the hours and days to come of those on the plane who declared, "Let's roll …" and gave their lives so others might be spared, namely our Nation's capital buliding and those who lead us.
Still others will point to those who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting for a people that the media would have us believe don't want us there. Who stand the watches, the lonely patrols, and the dangerous interaction with enemy forces and cherish that one child who smiles at the gift of candy, that one parents who thanks them for standing the gap. While their own countrymen say, "We support you," while voting to limit funds for equipment or giving the enemy the upper hand by declaring the soldiers overburden and incapable of victory and calling for a withdrawal.
All of these heroes, past and present, either in wartime or peacetime attacks are heroes true. They fought for the overburden, the oppressed, the starved, the battered, those in dangerous situations, and those in need of a hand. They are heroes. And, I am extremely grateful for them, who so valiantly and effortlessly put their own lives upon the line to rescue those who are in need of their heroic efforts.
A hero, who is strong, fast, timely, and fresh from the fight……that is what is needed in the churches of today to seek out the battlefield of the souls, where the Christian faith is rapidly losing ground by inactivity. Someone who will stand up, much like our heroes upon Flight 19, who said, "No more!" These spiritual heroes, who labor under the darkness and out of the limelight, are as vital as those heroes who gave their lives in those Twin Towers.
I am thankful this Thanksgiving Day for those who fight; whether it be overseas in a battle between democracy and dictatorship, at home in the political halls of power where abuse is rampant and heroes are few, to the darken streets of America's lost where they labor for the souls of those in desperate need of a Savior.
I raise my sword in salute, I bang my shield in declaration, and I bow my head in humble honorarium of those I have stood with wearing the uniform, or those I kneel with in grateful communication, and those who take the banner from the fallen and raise it high.
As for the gods that society gives for the succor of the lost, I cannot tell you where those creative, powerless, and unrealistic gods are but I can point you to the One who is Above All....who loves you, and wants you for His own. He is my Captain and my King, Lord and Savior...Jesus Christ.
May the Lord Bless you, May the Good Lord keep you and turn His face towards you. May the Lord keep you and bring you peace on this day of national Thanksgiving. And may the soul I touch today understand the eternal gift for tomorrow, so that they too may know the power of thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father.
Happy Thanksgiving all.
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