To be blameless!
Genesis 17:1”When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
Though I titled this message, ‘to be blameless,’ yet I would like to talk about His love in the beginning, because our commitment to live for Him and live holy for Him should be birthed from our knowledge of His love for you. Because He loved you first! He gave His all for you!
Abraham goofed up, sinned, ran away from God, struggled with faith, had a relationship with Hagar, gave birth to Ishmael….. YET, what follows is amazing! God showed up to Abraham! I read the scriptures with tears in my eyes! One day I heard (okay, okay eavesdropping is wrong, I agree!) my teenage daughter tell her friend: ”even though I fight with my mom and scream, yet she is the first one to come and speak with me, I love her for that!” God’s love is several tons more vast! I love you Jesus!
God calls out Abraham to leave his folks, town and follow Him; which he does dutifully, however, when there was a delay in the fulfillment of God’s promise, Abraham strays away from the right path. For 13 years Abraham did not hear from God! Those must have been agonizing years for Abraham! During my initial days of salvation, even if I sensed the presence of God leave me a bit, I would run inside closed doors and say: ’sorry, sorry…please, don’t leave me Lord!’ Such was the childish, sweet fellowship that I experienced-and still experiencing!
God told Abraham: "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. ”Further the next scripture says: ‘And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Here we see a command and blessing being beautifully juxtaposed by God! God said in simple words:” you be blameless, then I would bless you-not sparingly-but exceedingly! God approached a sinner and showed Him the way to be a winner! Is there anybody like Him? None! Give Him a shout of praise! He deserves it! I repeat exceedingly!
Now, give an attentive ear to what comes after this! Having talked about His bountiful love, we need to know of His commandments too! We cannot live recklessly and still expect God to bless us. Can we? His words are clear: be blameless! Bring your life under the microscope to unravel the mess, dirt and deep hidden sins that is buried in the dark crevices. The heavenly torch would see it all!
When children fair poorly in their exams, their immediate answer to their parents would be: ‘the correction was strict’ or ‘that teacher does not like me,’ or “I was sick on that day’ never would they accept their mistakes. Do we not do something similar with God? Don’t we run, hide, and refuse to accept that we are sinners? Don’t we want to refuse to accept the blame for our actions? We give excuses:’ Lord, I am not the only one doing it, the whole world is doing it!’ I am talking to someone out there!
How lovely would it be to boldly confess like Paul: “You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:10). That's a staggering statement indeed - to call on God as a witness to your holiness! Yet, without flinching, Paul boasted! I want to quote another confession of Paul: ’For I wish that all men were even as I myself.’ (1 Cor 7:7)Only a man living an upright life can say such things! How long would we keep confessing: I am a sinner, I am a worm, I am an insect, I am worthless, I am no good? Answer me! One hundred percent holiness seems to be farfetched for some Christians! LET THAT BE YOUR GOAL! When would we triumphantly say like Paul, “Imitate me?”
It does not come without determination, though! If you are lackadaisical in your attitude towards God, then you would remain so, but if you strive hard to grow in Christ, then He would help you do so.
Today, if I talk about holiness, integrity and quote my life, people brandish their knives to come and attack me and call me a ‘religious nut.’ If I point out ‘mistakes’ and tell them the consequences, they say ‘I am condemning!’ My advices dished out every day, might sound mundane, repetitive and clichéd, nevertheless, you need to hear them to escape the torment of hell. In order to get to heaven, we need to be BLAMELESS! We may go to church, read the Bible, attend spiritual conferences, but if we do not live a 100 percent blameless life, then we may not have a safe landing in heaven! May be you don’t care to think of heaven or hell now, because you are busy playing with your worldly toys; yet the flames and worms in hell are real! Preachers yell, not because they hate you, but because they want to save you from hell.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Friend, I started this message, stating the love of Jesus, because this is the foundation on which our whole life should be built. We cannot try to be holy, blameless and good on our own, we would fail miserably, we need heaps and heaps of His help. Jesus clearly stated: “Abide in My love!” (John 15:9) What sparks me to leave this world and live for Him? His unconditional love for a wretch like me!
Following Jesus is to obey His Word, before the rain slashes and bashes us: Mathew 7:24,25 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “
After I walked out of my secular job to work for Him as a full time servant, I resorted initially to write spiritual devotions, books and also do whatever He inspired me to do. However, what followed in my life were scary and indiscernible at that moment; all my computers conked out on one single day. Believe me, it happened! Since I had resigned, finances were low and I sat flummoxed! I had closed shop on my writing work for the time being. During that time, God directed me to explore about pirated soft ware and as I learnt more and more about them, I began to understand that my computers were loaded with pirated soft wares and also some of our ministerial work were being done through them. THIS WAS TERRIBLE SIN! He was weeding out the sins first, before taking me forward in my life. We destroyed all the pirated soft wares that we had copied unknowingly. We waited until we got the finances to buy original soft wares and then we resumed work. Cleansing is not an overnight process, as we learn, we need to keep wiping the slate…..
There was one young man who wrote to me, ‘each time you talk to me about pirated soft ware, I know it is wrong, but I still can’t get myself to revamp my life!’ How long would you procrastinate friend? Don’t wait for the thunder to strike you! When I talk about such matters, people give me a sheepish look as to say, ‘leave me, I have better things to think of.’ Even though people know the good and the bad; YET they daringly CONTINUE in it…………
Look around and you can see the stench of sins all around: Premarital sex, homosexuality, adultery, cheating, stealing, violence, perversion and what not!
Stay away from the wicked crowd that draw you to sin, say ‘no’ to every temptation be it small or big, strive to be one hundred percent pure for God! A fresh aroma for God!
Let us hear God call out: Live blamelessly!
We are jeered and mocked at when we tend to be scrupulously clean. Everybody left me when I refused to sit in the canteen and listen to either the gossip that was dished out in front of me or the cinema music that was blaring all around. When the entire floor left for a movie, I would sit and answer phone calls, it was indeed a lonely life, painful life, but the ones who are ready to pay the price would enjoy the rich fellowship of God. You can have His favor shield you! People would come to you and say, ”can you check out what God is telling you regarding me!’ Such would be the impact of a godly life!
Friend, this is not the time to be jeering at servants of God who speak the Truth, let us
embrace their teachings. All the people who mocked at Noah died in the floods. Beware! Dads and moms! Hear me out today! Your disobedience would bring curses into the life of the entire family. When Achan sinned and felt that he was just hiding a Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, he thought it was no big deal, but God called it the ‘accursed things.’
The pirated soft wares in your computer are accursed things…
The illegal possessions in your home, office, or anywhere are accursed things..
The fake certificates that you are carrying are accursed things……
If our ministry is based on man-made, home-made, self-made doctrines and filled with dishonesty and evil, then even that is an accursed thing………..
The religious song, sermon albums that are released, if done in an illegal way, are accursed things…
The other woman or man in your life outside marriage is an accursed thing……….
You need to hear what God told the Israelites that day, because one man sinned:
“Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.”
God clearly stated ‘neither will I be with you anymore!” (Joshua 7:12)
There are Christians who sit on a mountain of accursed things and loftily claim: GOD IS WITH ME! How is that? Analyze your life based on Biblical scriptures, Bible is God’s spoken words. Proverbs 28:18 ‘Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved, But he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.’ Observe the word, ‘suddenly!’ Calamites in life do not announce before hand, they bounce on you suddenly!
Achan did not die alone but his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had were destroyed! Let this make us tremble before our true Living God! He loves us alright, but He would punish us too!
Willful disobedience is dangerous! If you are struggling with sin, ask God to give you the strength to overcome it. If you are living with a married man, come out immediately, even if you have a kid from him, God will take care of you. Don’t linger too long like Lot’s wife and become a flavorless salt! I plead you people to walk out of sin, throw away the trash and surrender your life to Christ. Look into the Bible for examples and not at the world. We have Jesus, Daniel, Apostle Paul and many, many others who lived a blameless life!
We have heard people say, ’I am saved, I know He is the true Living God, I know He died and resurrected on the third day,’ but there are very few, I repeat, very few, who would leap thousand steps ahead and say:
Galatians 2:20,21” I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
The above portion I write with tears! I can’t help it! It is past midnight as I type this on my laptop in the year 2010. Living and traveling around the culturally and socially multihued metropolis and speaking to the corporate and the secular world everyday around the globe, which are floating and sinking in various forms of evil, how can I not cry? We have waltzed enough from mall to boutiques, frolicked enough, danced enough, holidayed enough, basked under the sun enough, giggled enough; could we now pause and think of our life! I am not against you having fun, but not at the cost of your soul perishing in hell! One last cry: please repent without any further delay! If you have backslidden, come back to Him, He would accept you with outstretched Arms!
Rev. Billy Graham: “God did not intend that we should be self-sufficient. Life on the highest level is a life that leans on the Everlasting Arms.”
There is a reward waiting for you as you obey Him and surrender your life to live a blameless life. YES, IT IS POSSIBLE TO LIVE A BLAMELESS LIFE!
PRAYER:
Say the following prayer if your want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, I am sinner, I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me. I want to turn from my sins and live a blameless, holy life. Help me and strengthen me to do this. I receive Jesus Christ as my Heavenly Father of my life, I confess Him as my Lord. From now on I want to follow Him. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.”
It is not over with the above prayer, attend a good church every Sunday, fellowship with godly people, read the Bible and have a daily, minute-to-minute living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May God bless you!
