A few morning thoughts

Just a few thoughts from my study this morning. 

God decided to remind me first thing of who He is. Multiple times in my reading this morning, He declared..."I AM GOD, YOUR GOD". How many times do we live our lives as if that is not true. In fact, by my actions, I am often times saying...MARK is god. Just this last Monday, at The Well, we were discussing the act of refusing God's forgiveness. Basically what we came down to is that every selfish act on our part is essentially the refusal of His love & forgiveness. Have you ever thought of it that way? It was good for me to put it in those terms.

To add to the declaration of who He is, God said, "Live a holy life, because I am God, your God". Holiness...to be set apart. How are we set apart from the world? Keeping in mind that God has also called us to be in the world, not of it. I ran across a great article in a website called gotquestions.org. Here's a snippet from it:

"It's not a matter of should or should not be of the world. Believers in Jesus Christ are simply no longer of the world; in the world, but not of it (John 17:14-15). What believers *should* do is to be set apart from the world. This is the meaning of being holy and living a holy, righteous life--to be set apart. We are not to engage in the sinful activities the world promotes, nor are we to retain the insipid, corrupt mind that the world creates. Rather, we are to conform ourselves, and our minds, to that of Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2). This is a daily activity; a daily commitment. We can enjoy the things of the world, but we are not to immerse ourselves in the world. Pleasure is no longer our calling in life, but rather the worship of God."

I leave you with this one last thought. In my study this morning, I finished with God stating in His Word, "I am the God who makes you holy". Did you catch that. Let's read it again...

"I AM THE GOD WHO MAKES YOU HOLY".

We can't do it on our own! We must submit to His authority to do this thing called life.

Joy in the journey!