Ray Reed- A message for this crisis time in which we live is found in Romans 13:11-14. It reads:
"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." (Google image, Traditional alarm clock)
Awake Out of Sleep! The first call we have is to awake out of sleep. Verse 11 says, ". . . knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep . . . " We need to heed the call, knowing the time, the crisis situation. The hour is late. It is time we wake up.
It is time we become serious and put away lesser things and get down to this business of living for Jesus Christ, and being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, having some impact on this decaying society all around us, and fulfilling God's purpose in putting us here.
Christian friends, we must recognize the hour in which we live and realize that this is our day of opportunity! We were called into the kingdom for such a time as this and our God is sufficient.
If that infant church in Rome could survive and become strong through the power of the indwelling Spirit, surely we in this day and generation can also have an impact upon our society as we heed the Word of God and get down to business and become serious regarding the things of the Lord.
Cast Off the Works of Darkness. The second call is to cast off the works of darkness. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." The words "cast off" mean divest yourself, excommunicate it, fling it away, throw it aside. There is some sorting out to do in our lives. This is the admonition the apostle brings to the church.
It is the same idea basically in Hebrews chapter 12—"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily best us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (v. 1). To lay aside means to divest yourself of, to put off. The figure here is the athlete in contest, and idea is that he would take off any superfluous clothing that would impede his progress.
The apostle says, "You are in a race. It is the greatest race under heaven and this is your time to run. Now put out of your life anything that would be an obstacle to you, that would impede your progress; throw it out and just wear the appropriate clothing to win the race and be successful at the end."
Do we need that kind of call? It is a call to divest ourselves, to sort ourselves out of those things which, perhaps of themselves are not wrong, but they are weights. Maybe as far as others are concerned they do not appear to be too bad, but we know they are weights in our lives.
They are holding us back, and we have to throw them out and get down to business for the Lord Jesus Christ. He is calling for a life of discipleship and commitment, to a dedicated, separated life.
Oh, friend, who knows what is ahead? We look at our society and we see what is happening. The hour is an hour of crisis. It is time for Christians to heed the call. Awake out of sleep! Cast off the works of darkness! Put on the armor of God! Walk honestly! Put on Christ! God help us to hear! HERALD OF HIS COMING magazine, Vol. 79 No. 11/12 (947-948) (pp. 1, 3).
Father, we see that it is high time to awake out of our sleep, for the night is far spent, and the day of salvation is at hand. We ask that You help us see the works of darkness that have taken hold on us.
Help us be willing to put on the armor of light, to deal honestly, not acting in strife and envying and drunkenness. May we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and stop making provision for our flesh, to fulfill our lusts.
Help us see what is hindering our full commitment to Jesus; things that are weighing us down and which are holding us back. May we be willing to throw them out of our lives and get down to business, as You've called us to dedicated and separated lives.
May we understand that this is an hour of crisis, a time for Christians to heed Your call to awake out of sleep! May we cast off works of darkness and put on the armor You've provided for us. We ask for Your help to accomplish this. We pray for this in Jesus' name, Amen
421-425 one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-
So, instead of promising a future prayer, stop right at that moment and pray. Then and there. It’s funny how many are thrown off guard by the immediate action. 'You mean, right now?!' 'Yes, let's pray right now.' In the restaurant, in the car, on the phone, through text or email, start praying as your response. Not only will it help to follow through on your promise to pray, but it will also show the mighty power of prayer in action."
Jason Yates info@myfaithvotes.org |
~ Our existence depends upon the breath that we breathe, so in our arrogance of self-sufficiency, may we remember that we're actually dependent on the Lord to sustain us. Keep this in mind when you're tempted to think that you are in charge.
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Awake, I love this
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