SET APART

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: This week we start praying for the 4th largest island in the world, the exotic island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, off the East Coast of Africa. Madagascar is home to unique species of vegetation and 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on earth. Of Madagascar's 26 1/2 million people, 50% follow the traditional religion honoring Zanahary the powerful creator and family ancestors, 25% protestant, 16% Catholic, and 7% Islam. Pray for the growth of God's kingdom in Madagascar.

 
 Madagascar, fourth largest island in world and home to unique vegetation and wildlife




Just a simple reminder this morning about the word "holy". I was reading again this week how the primary meaning of the word holy in the Bible is set apart from the rest, and is used of any person or thing that is set apart unto God for His use or destruction. It also has as a secondary meaning which includes the idea of purity, to be set apart from what does not reflect the character of God's purity. So as God's people we are called to be set apart from the rest of sinful humanity unto God's own purpose to reflect His purity in our lives to His Glory. By extension this means that we are to separate from all sin which as 1 John 2.15-16 and James 4.4 explain is love for the world, described in terms of desire, pride and adultery.

 In our union with Christ we are dead to the realm and power of sin (Romans 6.1-11). Let us feed our minds on God's Word daily so that our minds might be renewed with understanding about who we are in Christ and about the will of God and our place of service in the body of Christ and in this world (Romans 12.1-8). Let us renew our spirits by often worshiping our God. Let us be holy unto God but not isolated from those who need to know the Savior, Jesus Christ. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you had not received mercy, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2.9-10

Good Articles This Week:
 Thoughts on Revoice [This paragraph is particularly insightful:
I’ve discussed some of this issue in my blog post Gay + Christian. My main point was that it is inappropriate for a Christian to self-identify according to any pattern of sin or struggle. Paul proclaims this astonishing news: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The compelling and controlling power of corrupted characteristics, desires, drives, and compulsions (sin) that used to characterize us begin to fall away in our union with Christ. No prior life, or identity, should redefine who we are in Christ, as Christians.
Revoice must realize that advocating for the use of such terms is not an insignificant thing. It is one charged with meaning, ripe for being continually misunderstood, and one which will encourage those who call themselves “gay” or “queer Christians” to further identify with, or long for, the broken and sinful characteristics associated with those labels.]

7 Life Changing Prayers for Your Church

THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED AND GOD'S RESPONSE

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: Bible translation work is in progress for 18 languages. Only 8 Malian languages have a New Testament and only one has the entire Bible. Pray for these translators and for God to use His Word in Mali. Literacy is only 19% and life expectancy is under 50 years so pray for literacy projects and oral and radio ministries. Pray for work among students. Pray for Mali.

 Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali was built in 1327 of local clay and is still in use today, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.




This week my attention has been drawn to how God responds to the righteous and the wicked. In reading Kings and Psalms and Revelation, the theme is evident and consistent - God loves the righteous and hates the wicked, and God cares and blesses the righteous but abandons and curses the wicked. This truth is most prominent in Revelation as all people stand before God in judgement. The righteous, those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, are ushered into God's eternal kingdom, but the wicked, whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, are cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

It will do you no good to complain against the Holy character of God and His promise of wrath and judgement on the wicked for this is reality. No human-rights tribunal can change the Holy character of God into our self-centered view of righteousness and justice and reduce God's judgement to what we call "fair".
We the righteous before God know without a doubt that we are not or could ever be righteous in ourselves and by our works. We have humbly accepted the reality of our rebellion against God, of our sinful nature, of our inability to ever please God and be righteous before Him, and with worship and gratitude have accepted the offer of God's free gift of salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ is our righteousness so we make no boast of being better than others or make no claim of achievement. We are the righteous and blessed of God by Grace and by His mercy.
So if you are one of the righteous ones in Christ, rejoice and serve and worship and enjoy God and the hope that lies ahead. If you now see that you are unrighteous and unholy and a sinner before God, ask for the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God".

Good Articles This Week:
China Detaining Muslims: The Goal "Transformation"‎
How to Avoid a Wonderful Retirement
A Time to Pray for Idlib

NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST JESUS

MISSION TRIP TO LIBERIA: I have signed up for a teaching trip to Liberia from December 6 to 15. We will be teaching the books of Ruth and Jonah along with preaching training. Please begin to pray for these 85 Pastors mostly from Liberia but also from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: Praise God for unity and partnership among all protestants working in Mali, with a focus on the seven largest and most strategic peoples in Mali and West Africa. Pray for God to empower these workers and to prepare hearts for conversion under the Gospel message. For now population growth outpaces Christian growth. Mali is very poor and aided by Libya and Saudi Arabia which promote Islam. God can work in Mali. Please pray!

FLAG OF MALI

 Green stands for fertility of the land, Gold for purity and mineral wealth, and Red for blood shed for independence from the French





I abound with joy and praise to God in the truth and reality of Romans 8.1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". In union with the death and resurrection of Christ the believer is justified, declared right with God and fully accepted by God without condition or reservation, even when he may sin. In union with the death and resurrection of Christ the believer is dead to law, and will never ever again fall under the condemnation of law. O, what glorious liberty is ours in Christ Jesus.
My friend, I ask you today, do you know this glorious liberty in Christ? Do you know and have you applied the truth of justification by faith and all its implications to your life? Do you understand that the Law has no more power over you to condemn you and that you have the Holy Spirit of life in you so that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in you? Do you condemn yourself when in Christ Jesus there is no more condemnation?

 As Lloyd-Jones write, "You may and you should feel ashamed (when you sin), but you should not feel condemnation, because to do so is to put yourself back 'under the law'. If we are in this position, 'in Christ', we are there for ever; there is no condemnation, past, present or future". As we will learn in our Sunday study of Galatians "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (5.1).
Ask God to enable you to understand and embrace this wonderful truth of justification and the resulting peace and hope (Romans 5.1-2) and no condemnation (Romans 8.1-4) that is the result. You will overflow with abounding praise to God for his marvelous salvation in Jesus Christ.

Good Articles This Week:
Why Gospel Proclamation Requires Social Activism 
Army Chaplain Squires Cleared

BACK TO SCHOOL

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: For the next few weeks I want to focus on the Republic of Mali. This is the country where a number of our Canadian peace keepers will be serving. Mali is in West Africa, a former French colony and where you can find Timbuktu. Mali is 95% Muslim, 2.5% Christian (mostly Catholic) and 2% Animist with freedom of religion. Muslims are in the North and Central region and the Christians in the South. Pray for a movement of God to enlarge His Church in Mali.

West Africa - Republic of Mali

Today most students return to structured learning. We educate our children so that they may might learn to think and make decisions for themselves, in order for them to have the knowledge needed for future work in order to sustain themselves and their families, and for them to learn social skills.
As God's people we are born-again in order that we might grow both in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Knowledge is a basic component of spiritual maturity. When we add to this knowledge Christ-like attitudes, wisdom and love, which become part of our nature as we learn to walk in the Spirit, we are equipped for service and a full entry into the eternal kingdom. (Read and meditate on 2 Peter 1.3-15 and 3.18 this week)
I want to encourage you in this new season of learning to grow in your knowledge of God's truth by:
1) Determining to consciously and carefully read a portion of God's Word every day and perhaps even to make some notes to yourself of what you learned.

2) Join a formal Bible Study group and make sure to do your reading and study during the week to prepare for the next class.

3) Take time to pray every day. Begin with worship and communion with God and then pray for others. Make a prayer list

4) Be aware of how you can serve others in the name of Jesus Christ and do 

 

  
Many students would choose not to go to school if that choice was available. The future would bring profound regret over that decision. Many Christians choose not to participate in the struggle to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and therefore show little spiritual maturity. A Christian does not coast to spiritual maturity nor is spiritual maturity absorbed by osmosis. You need to choose and then fight against those circumstances that hinder true knowledge and spiritual maturity, but remember God and His resources are there to help you even  when you show the smallest desire to grow. So make some choices this week - not too many - and then pursue those choices in the power of God.

Good Articles This Week: 
How to Choose Good Books 
Let me add to the list above "Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur" by Frank L. Houghton 
Church Growth God's Way 
Will you become a Crossroads Mentor?