In Christ - I'm Not Normal

 

1 PETER 2:9

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him Who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous Light. 

    What does it mean to be peculiar according to how it is used here in this verse? It means to be "brought into", "union" and "motion into" alignment with God's purposes for the Christian's life. 

    By continuing in a self-disciplined lifestyle which obeys God's commands and follows God's directions, we are immediately set apart from the world around us. Our actions and our words speak quite loudly, for we are are a reflection of The Word living within us. 

    Our faith in Jesus Christ offends many people. The fact that we believe Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to save people from going to hell and being eternally damned puts a target on us. Some people will merely point at us, some will make fun of us (mock), some will even laugh at us. But other people will physically and verbally attack us, torture us (to get us to recant our faith in Christ), and even kill us. 

     We are more than strange to some folks: we are perceived as evil by an evil generation. This evil generation denies God and, therefore, concludes in its delusional state of mind and heart that God's Word is irrelevant in today's world. They are mistaken and will die in their sins if they don't repent. 

    Our peculiarity is immediately known by our family and our peers. We choose not to imbibe liquor like we used to. We choose not to swear and be verbally offensive like we used to. We choose not to go out clubbing, not to flirt, not to engage in socially acceptable behavior like we used to. It is not that we can't: it is that now that we know Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we want to please and honor Him, not ourselves. We are not like we "used to be": we are new creations in Christ. 

    We are not normal. We are filled with The Holy Spirit of God, Who has written on our hearts The WORD of GOD, which is alive and thriving and growing in our hearts. This Spirit has six aspects to Himself, which are active within us as well: Isaiah 11:2 "...The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, The Spirit of Counsel (advice) and Might, The Spirit of Knowledge and of The (reverent) Fear of The LORD." 

    We are known by people who have never met us, nor interacted with us, because strange news travels fast. To some it is a warning to "watch out for that person" because they won't stop talking about Jesus. To others it is a "watching for that person to arrive" that they may hear about this Jesus Who has made them strange, peculiar. Either way, we are JESUS FREAKS now, and there's no going back to who we used to be. We're not normal and we're happy about it. 

BULLETPROOF -- Citizen Way

OCEAN FLOOR - Audio Adrenaline 

I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS -- Lydia Walker

Heart & Soul - - God's People

 

Psalm 7:9

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 7451

Wickedness: badness, evilness, adversity

From the Hebrew word 'ra'' (pronounced rah).

REPENTANT PEOPLE

    In this part of David's prayer, he prays for the end of sin in his own heart and in others' hearts. He prays, "Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end."       Here, too, the Christian desires the same thing: I turn my heart and my face to You, Lord. I turn my back on the unlawful things I have done and I commit to obeying Your Word and following Your ways. I repent of the wickedness of my heart and ask that You remain in me and clean Your tabernacle, that I might be made presentable to God. 

    "We pray that adversity towards God be overthrown and that our hearts be made clean and pure for His Name's sake. We determine in our hearts and our minds to be steadfast and sure, not moving from our foundation of faith in God through Christ."

ESTABLISHED PEOPLE

    David asks that God establish the just, that He build a firm immovable foundation in the believer. The deeper we dig into the Word of God, the longer and deeper our roots will be. As oaks of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3) we need to know this. We are the planted of The Lord. We plant (read and study our Bibles) ourselves in His Word and He plants (John 15:4, 5) His Word in us. 

    Being both planted in Him and built up in Him we are stronger than many of us realize. Just before The Lord ascended into heaven, He gave instructions  to His disciples (and to us):

Matthew 28:18-20

Mark 16:15-18

Luke 24:45-49

John 20:21-23

Acts 1:8

    Being planted in Christ through His death and His resurrection, we are now being built up in Him through the power of His Holy Spirit. As long as we trust God and obey His Word and live a holy life, we will see God and remain with HIm when we die. God is holy. His holiness demands a holy people, for sin cannot be present where God is. 

    1 Peter 2:9 tells us that as believers, as God's people, we are not like the people of the world, the people who still live in darkness. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. The chosen generation is the generation of they who seek Him (Psalm 24:1-6). 

    He has called us to be His royal priests. We are a holy nation. Though we are to pray for the leaders who rule over us in this world, that they may be saved and sanctified, our allegiance is to our God. His laws are higher than men's laws. When the law of the land is lawlessness, the law of God must still be obeyed. Know you that we are living under such laws even now? It's only going to get worse.

PECULIAR PEOPLE

    We are a peculiar people. Strange. Odd. Weird. To many people God's people are foolish. Why? We believe God. It is more than believing God's existence, it is believing God's Word is Real, Faithful, Truth. It is a knowing and an understanding. 

    But to the people who live outside of God's reality we are unusual. And so we should be. We should shine as lights in a dark world, shining with the light of God's love bursting through us. Radiance lights up our faces from the Joy that is within us: the love of God in Christ which we received when we believed. 

    For "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might shame the strong." (1 Corinthians 1:27). To quite a few folks, God's plan of salvation is foolishness. Unable to recognize their own sin they refuse to believe that God's Son would die in such a shameful manner, if they even believe that God has a Son. 

POWERFUL PEOPLE

    We are fools for Christ, as Paul says to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:10). We choose to live in obedience to God's Word and God's commands. We choose to share Christ, the Light of God's Love, with everyone whom God places in our path. We choose to live a life that glorifies God. 

    And we are able to do these things because Christ is our foundation, the Chief Cornerstone upon Whom our lives are built. We are trees whose roots are planted near a living flowing water, and whose strength is in Him. We are the established of God. And we have overcome the wickedness of this world.

    Unless a person is a born again, Spirit-filled believer they will not be able to fully and faithfully serve God in the way in which He has ordained His people to serve Him. Every organization, whether small like a club or large like a nation, must have a set of rules by which to live in peace. So it is with God. He has set up the ways in which His people should walk, should live, should serve. 

    It takes an immense amount of power to live God's way. This power is only available from God and it is in the form of His Spirit living and moving through His people by faith. If you don't have His Holy Spirit, just ask God for it. He knows what we need and He's waiting for us to ask because He's not a pushy overbearing God who rams His way into people's hearts and lives. He's a patient (longsuffering) God who waits to hear from us. 

    Now is the time to talk with God. And remember, a conversation is a two way street, not a monologue. 

     

GOD'S PEOPLE