Spiritual Survival (Part 18)

Reblogged from servehiminthewaiting.com   

Separation
by Rayola Kelley
 

       We have been on a journey to discover what it will mean to survive the end days. This is the last article in this series. We can look at the great challenges before us and conclude that we are facing some exciting times, but are we ready for the possible challenges that could shake our worlds? As believers, we need to keep in mind that to spiritually survive involves preparing the inner man to stand in trials and testings, with the intent of walking out the Christian life in an appropriate way. Therefore, the real culprit that we must face will not always come from the outside, but from within our own personal camps.

      When we consider what it means to survive, we think in terms of managing to survive the odds of something that would normally be considered impossible to endure. If we come out on the other side of such a situation, we figure we have survived it, and now belong to that unique club of survivors that serve as shining beacons of hope. However, in the kingdom of God, the concept of survival is a bit different. It is not a matter of coming out on top of an impossible matter; rather, the real issue is who will come out on top in our lives.

      I have often shared with others that the world is a big classroom, and life the main teacher. In America, before the invasion of Communistic indoctrination in our schools, academia was designed to prepare students for a different life outside of their controlled or confined worlds of family, friends, and education. 

      Likewise, when it comes to spiritual survival, the world serves as a classroom that is meant to prepare and challenge us in light of a new existence. Eventually, we will even graduate from this classroom to embrace a completely different way of living. As we consider the idea of the world, we will discover that much of what it stands for is vanity, and its goal is to tantalize the fleshly appetites to pursue its deadly fruit and temporary glory. However, it brings a viable contrast to us when it comes to what constitutes life.

      When it comes to the harsh reality of life being our teacher, it clearly stipulates that all is a cruel joke unless there is something beyond the activities of the present world. This was brought home by the tragic shootings that have recently taken place in Oregon and Connecticut. The tragedy will be blamed on guns, but the real culprit rests with society that has taken God and morality out of the equation. What you end up with is a society that will run a muck in a world of fanaticism which will prove lawless, indifferent, militant, and insane.

      It is for this reason that so much of the world’s activities seem senseless. It becomes clearer each new day that life proves to be an astute teacher. Its shrewdness can cause people to become utter skeptics if they do not understand its ultimate goal. However, it will teach open, receptive students that their very existence does not make sense unless there is a God who has a purpose, plan, and design for their lives. In order for each of us to secure real purpose for our being, we must come to terms with God. In order to benefit from His plan, we must come to a place of agreement with Him. And, to discover our place in His kingdom, we must come to a place of total separation from what was in order to discover what can be. 

      According to the Bible, transformation of the inner man is a necessity while reformation of the outer man is a means to whitewash tombs that contain the dead bones of the old ways and of man’s religious best. The reason is the old must die so that the new can live. The “old” will defile the new, and the “new” will render the old ineffective. The Bible clearly brings this principle out in the parable in Matthew 9:16-17 and the example found in Haggai 2:11-14.

      Clearly, when it comes to the matters of holiness, saints cannot make what is considered to be “common”, “profane”, and what is “unclean” acceptable to God. That which is considered profane by God will be judged and consumed by His holy fire. The reason for this is because holiness is a state. If you expose and touch the unclean, it will make you unclean in your state. Since God is holy, His Church must be holy as well. The members of His Body must come out and separate from that which is unholy, in order to separate themselves to that which is holy. This is the only way to ensure the integrity of their inward state. Click here To Read Further