We all have a unique work to do for time and eternity.
I can not do your work….and you can not do mine. We are each made for our Purpose of God….made especially for this time and place.
We have been made uniquely….I am “wonderfully made”
Psalm 139:14 “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
“Wonderfully made” here, means…”to distinguish, to put a difference, set apart”
That is why our personalities are so important to God…..we must be us….freed from the bondage of sin….and the constraints which we and the world place on us (The world would make us after their fashion: you can’t like them, You should wear this, you must be athletic, You must agree with me.)
He does not want us to be robots….or all alike, except we are all to have the characteristics of Christ formed in us, as believers.
He wants me to be me…..and you to be you….for He loves us.
(I wish I could get this across to our youth…..God loves them….not because they can hit a ball, or run a race, or because they are being like every other girl or boy in school….but because He saw and made you….and loves your personality….again, freed from sin.)
Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Here He is praised as Creator….of all things….of me.
The reason entire for my existence…..is His Pleasure (or in the Greek…”determination.”)
But for this to be done as it ought to be….I must get it down to an everyday existence, the things I am to do today.
I can never acquire that to which I am to be finally….if I fail to pass through those experiences that must lead to it. Acquiring now, to a degree, that to which I will be fully then.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Now it is His pleasure that I be empowered to do what must be done.
As I can in no way, do it, of myself.
But to Whom is it, by the mercies of God, are we to present our bodies?
God the Father sits on His Throne.
God the Son has His own body, as the Man, Christ Jesus.
God the Holy Spirit is the member of the Godhead we present our bodies to.
God gives us the privilege and the honor of presenting our bodies to the Holy Spirit to be His dwelling place on earth.
We lost the presence of the Holy Spirit in our spirits, at the fall…
….He comes back into our spirits at Regeneration….”Ye must be born again.”
From that time forward….for all eternity….the Holy Spirit is within us. He is the Paraclete…which means He comes beside us to uphold us, He lifts us up and keeps us.
But the scriptures call us to be filled with the Spirit.
And this is an act of the will….for we must choose to be emptied of self…..to get out of the way of the Spirit’s influence and power in our lives….for He will free us from sin, and the constraints of the world.
(A brief explanation of “self” might be helpful:
Self is not our personalities.
Our personalities were formed within us, even in the womb….they are the real us. They continue to be formed by all that we go through….our likes and dislikes, our “favorites” food, color, place. If we were honest, our personalities are often not like the rest of our family….though we share heritage and circumstances.
For our personalities, are what we are really like…a gift from the Creator to us…..we are each unique…each personality especially fitted for God’s Purpose and Plan.
Self, on the other hand, is that part of me which rebels against authority….especially God’s authority in my life.
Self is: I have been running my life by emotions and reasons….I will, and I do, as I please….in my thoughts and imaginations, if not in my actions. This is self.
Self may do “good” things…..or “bad” things….this is the result of the Tree of Good and Evil….
….but self can never please God….except we deny ourselves, and let Him free the real us,…to be His praise and glory.
Perhaps, an example might be good….I love to read! It is a choice blessing that I can still at my age see clearly (glasses included).
But a few years ago, I was having to do a great deal of reading for a study I was doing….and I noticed I began to be disgruntled about it! At first I shrugged it off….I was tired,…something.
But then I began to dislike picking up my study….and reading! Yes, self and the adversary had made it burdensome! Why?
It began one day, when I went to study, and I remembered I had not done something I had said I would. Frustration! And instead of instantly going to God about it….I resented both my saying I would do this…and my study.
A little sin…..grows. But self was at the back…..”Why do I forget these things? Oh, hurry up and get this reading done, and go do it!”
You can see self was the problem…..which the Holy Spirit would have instantly seen to, if I had gone to Him…..
……but instead, I thought these things, finished my study, and went and did…….but,….what I loved had started to become a burden! Silly me.
Praise God for all His help, to point it out, and when it was confessed…..joy replaced burden!
Self is that part of us which says….my feelings, my thoughts, my anything is more important than taking the time to seek God.)
Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Will you so present yourself to Him….to be emptied of self, that you might be filled by Him, with all the fullness of God?
To the degree you are willing to be emptied, He will fill you!
For the fulfilling of His Purpose for you!
Because this is what this is all about.
As He speaks to you, will you will it, to be so?
Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 