being holy...is not enough.

[Endure2]

God showed me something today that messed me up in my quiet time.

in ephesians 6. God tells us to put on the whole armor of God.
and it says to put on the BREAST PLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

and constantly we are told by the word and by our pastors to stay holy, pure, clean, seperated and consecrated unto the Lord, but i saw it today that being clean, being holy, being righteous, is not enough...

becuase the breast plate of righteosness is only PART of the WHOLE armor of God!

but before God tells us to be holy or righteous in verse 14, it tells us to girt up our LOINS WITH TRUTH.
and our loins represent the REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS or PARTS of our lives.

this is all i want to say...
God wants us to do more than be holy for him, he wants us to go into the world make disciples of Christ, it dont matter how holy and pure and righteous and set free you are... if you arent winning souls for the Lord, then you ARE NOT fullfilling the call and command of God on your life.

my God! its not enough to stop looking at the web sites, and smoking the weed and flirting with that woman at work! its not enough break the evil habits and chains of sin, its not enough to just worry about staying holy, its not enough to be free from sin! Men its not enough to just stop pleasing yourself!
when was the last time you led someone to the lord? when was the last time some body got saved becuase you were Jesus in their life?

but the today, you dont here much about HEAVON AND HELL, and JUST SAVING SOULS FOR THE LORD! we talk about being all WE ARE CALLED TO BE! FULLFILLING OUR callings. BUILDING UP OUR LIVES.
our families, our self esteem, our doctrines, lots of motivation self help speaking, and theres nothing wrong with that...but we have the lost the passion and purpose of Christ... and that is to bring the gospel to a lost and dying world!

but this so spoke to me today, its all about winning souls for the Lord...
it doesnt matter who you are or what your called to do, we are all called to win souls for the Lord.
and weve justified the lack of passion for souls and empty altars by blaming it on what we call "having diffrent gifts or callings" BUT WE ARE ALL CALLED TO WIN SOULS FOR GOD! SAVING PEOPLE FROM A BURNING HELL!

the bible says those who have been reconciled to Christ, now have the ministry of reconciliation given to them.
we are all called to more than just be holy and pure unto God... we are called to win souls for the Lord!

 

[brianc20]

I see what your saying and I agree with you somewhat but I am confused as to what your saying. Are you saying that Christians have to bring the Good News in addition with puirity to go to heaven or just that we as Christains are becoming lazy?

Love in Christ,
Brian

 

[Endure2]

no im not talking about heavon and hell,

im just saying that somewhere along the line i became consumed with building up myself and being all that i am called to be, true, holy, pure, meeting Gods standards for my life. but i forgot about the lost and dying people around me...
im not in danger of hell, but i am not fullfilling Gods ultamite calling and purpose on my life.

i wanted the quality of life that God had called me to (and i do need it), but i forgot the purpose...souls.

because sometimes the devil sees he cant make us go back to the sin, so the next best thing he can do is kill our ministries instead.
like the fig tree that God cursed, it didnt seem to be doing anything wrong, except that when it was supposed to be bearing fruit, it wasnt... like we arent or atleast i know im not... and Jesus cursed it.

im not afraid that Gods going to curse me, it was just a plant, and made am example, but i get the point.

you see?

we need a greater passion to see the lost people we know and see everyday, won to the Lord.
when we get to heavon, we wont receive any jewels or rewards for how well we understood perfect theology, controlled ourselves to be pure in body, but paul said that the people who were won to the Lord in his ministry would be his reward, thats what well be rewarded for. becuase thats the point of it all. Jesus didnt die so we could have our prayers answered, or so we could master theology or so we could have healthy self esteems, he died for people, he died to save souls. eveything is may be part of God but they are menial.

 

[Daughter of His]

Whew---thanks for sharing, it's talking to me. Please Lord burn in us that passion you want us to have so someday we may stand before you smiling and hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." I need to reevaluate a ministry that I've often wondered if the enemy "killed" it.
Blessing to you all

 

[whatseekye]

girt up our LOINS WITH TRUTH.
and our loins represent the REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS or PARTS of our lives.

Good point. I did a little study not long ago on what it means to "gird up your loins" in the bible. I learned that the image is often used when someone is willing to do the Will of God by some action or work for him. An example is when Jesus girded himself with a piece of linen and then kneeled down and washed the feet of the disciples. One commentary I read said that in those times, men wore long robes, and if you were to do your work with your long robes down, you'd get your clothing all dirty. So they would wrap a belt or a piece of cloth around their waists in a supportive manner, and then tuck all their long robes up between their legs and in to this belt. The belt was very supportive of a vulnerable area: the lower back, stomach, and loins. If you think about it, to "gird yourself in truth" is to take the word of God and become a doer of the word. Because you have the truth, and you act and become a part of the truth, you are protected and braced up for stronger action for the Lord. It also means to *stand* up strong and tall, being *ready* to do the work needed according to the truth of God's Will. It's a very very cool image. Thank you for bringing this up. We do need to be doers of the word. I believe this includes sharing the truth with others by our words and our deeds. We need to live the truth. We also need to live out all the other truths that God shared with us such as loving others, forgiving, serving others in love, etc.