HOLY LIVING

“Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies" (Psalm 141:4 NKJV).

Like the Psalmist, we all need to pray for holiness of life. Thus our verse speaks of consecration, separation, and temptation in regards to this matter of holy living.

Consecration – “Do not incline my heart to any evil thing.” This matter of holy living begins in the heart. If we can keep our heart holy, the rest of the body will be holy. In His rebuke of the religious leaders for their unwarranted concern about the ritual washing of hands but their lack of concern about their heart, the Lord Jesus said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19). It was not soiled hands but a soiled heart that produced evil.

Separation – “Practice wicked works with men who work iniquity.” If we associate with the wicked, we will practice evil. The apostle Paul states in 1 Cor. 15:33, “Evil company corrupts good habits” (NKJV). Thus we must be diligent to practice personal separation if we would be holy in our lives. This means we must not associate with evil persons. Our practice of separation may be criticized by many as a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude. However, lack of separation will lead to defilement.

Temptation – “Do not let me eat of their delicacies.” “Delicacies” refers to choice foods, to sweet morsels and appealing foods. And temptation always comes to us in the most appealing ways. Yet sin never shows its true color and character when it is appealing to us. It is like choice morsels and is very appealing to the physical senses. Adam and Eve fell to this temptation. We must not be deceived by the attractiveness of evil. To live holy, we must overcome temptation.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Doers

In Jam. 1:22 we read, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves!” (NKJV).

Doers is the Greek word poiētēs (ποιητής = poy-ay-tace'). It means a maker, a poet, an author. In Classical Greek poiētēs refers to one who does something, a maker or workman. Poiētēs occurs only once in the Septuagint and refers not to the maker but to the doer of the Law. In the New Testament, poiētēs carries the idea of a doer, and was the word used for a poet. Poiētēs carries with it the idea of creativity. It depicts someone putting forth his fullest creative abilities to achieve something. When it comes to being a “doer of the word,” we must put forth our fullest efforts and most creative abilities in doing what we have heard preached!

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah would be a stranger to His own brethren (Psalm 69:8)

New Testament Fulfillment – John 1:11; 7:5

Did You Know…

In Luke 2:42-46, the 12 year old Jesus is nowhere to be found. After 3 days, Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the temple, preaching to the elders. After the crucifixion, Jesus was dead for three days and nowhere to be found. Peter says that He was preaching to the spirits in prison (1 Peter 3:18-19).

Bible Quiz

Upon which mountain did Elijah and the prophets of Baal meet to see whose god was real?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: Who fed Elijah while he was camped by the Brook of Cherith? Ravens (1 Kings 17:4)

Everyday Expressions Alluded to in the Bible

"Doubting Thomas”

“Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, we have seen the Lord. So he said to them, unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe!” (John 20:24-25 NKJV).

“Doubting Thomas” - The expression “doubting Thomas” carries the idea of someone who is always skeptical. Thomas was very stubborn in his unbelief. He would not believe the testimony of the other disciples. This unbelief in Thomas was willful. It was not an intellectual problem but a heart problem. It was not a lack of evidence but a lack of faith.

Unbelief puts the emphasis on the physical senses. Here, Thomas put it on sight and feelings. But God has a different emphasis – Heb. 11:1 declares, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Thomas is also a good warning to all of us not to miss church. Because Thomas was not there, he missed seeing the Lord Jesus Christ, hearing His words of peace, and receiving His commission and gift of spiritual life.

Did You Know – Christian History

Jeremiah McAuley was born in 1839 in County Kerry, Ireland. He was the founder of the Water Street Mission in Lower Manhattan.

Jerry McAuley never knew his father and his mother was unable to care for him. He was then sent to live with his grandmother at an early age. Eventually she sent him to live with relatives in New York. He ran away from this home and lived by stealing, drifting in and out of prison. When he was nineteen, Jerry was convicted on trumped up robbery charges. He was sentenced to fifteen years in Sing Sing prison. For the first time in his life, Jerry found himself obeying rules.

The event that transformed him from an impossible case to a soul winner was the testimony of a former pal who had become a Christian. Jerry wanted the hope he saw in his pal Orville Gardner. He began reading the Bible and tried desperately to pray. Finally, one night a supernatural presence appeared in his cell and a voice seemed to say, ‘Son, your sins which are many are forgiven. That night Jerry was converted.

Pardoned by Governor Horatio Seymour, he went free on March 8, 1864. After a renewal of his faith, Jerry McAuley began to work for God. He saved money and on October 8, 1871, opened the Water Street mission in New York City to reclaim men like himself. That mission still exists as the New York City Rescue Mission. And there are now over 300 rescue missions in almost every major city of the United States and are represented by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions.

Hundreds of men were turned from lives of sin and misery to hope in Christ. Jerry also inspired Emma Mott Whittemore to begin her Door of Hope mission for fallen women. Jerry’s life demonstrates the power of God to do the impossible: to change lives that are rotten to the core.

On a fall afternoon in September 1884, Jerry died from tuberculosis contracted while in Sing Sing. It seemed as if all of New York came to his funeral to see this unique man who had the vision to open the first rescue mission for the people of the slums.

A Little Humor

Harry walked over to the Priest after services, “You know Father, I am really stuck in a quandary I would like to attend church next week but I just can’t miss the big game next Sunday, it’s just out of the question.” “Oh Harry Harry” said the Priest putting his arm around Harry, “don’t you know? That’s what recorders are for.” Harry’s face lit up “you mean I could record your sermon?”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Christ’s cleansing power can remove the most stubborn stain of sin!”