Day 27- Pursuing Holiness - part 2

31 Days

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Abundant Life

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Day 27 - Pursuing Holiness - part2

 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke? 
 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 
 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 
 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Isaiah 58:6-9 

 ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:34-40

In both the Old and New Testament we see that the poor and oppressed were very important to God and that He upheld their cause.  God is the same today as He was yesterday!  We also, clearly see that He desires us to do the same and the fact that we do or don't is evidence of our love or lack of love for Him.  Don't believe me?  Then read the rest of Matthew 25:41-46.  Verse 45-46 say “...Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Those are not my words they are Jesus' words!  So clearly there is a connection between our behavior and true faith in Christ.  Once again I am not saying doing good deeds earns our way into heaven.  What I am saying is that it is evidence of our faith!  If we love Him we will care about the things He cares about and the way we know what He cares about is to read His Word!  

I've been on this journey with you ladies towards walking more and more in the abundant life that is ours in Christ for 27 days now.  It's been a true joy, blessing, and challenge for me!  I'm thinking this holiness thing is going to be the greatest challenge for me so far. When we ask God to make us look more and more like Him, He is sure to answer!  And Answer He did for me this Sunday in our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship - a fancy way of saying adult Sunday school class).  

In our ABF we have been studying the book of Amos and in chapter 4 we learned that because of Israel's sin God was going to pass judgement and punish them.  What was their sin? They "oppress the poor" and "crush the needy" while they themselves are unconcerned.  As a class we were then challenged to consider that both coffee and chocolate manufactures purchase their products from countries that either pay their workers very poorly or use slaves many of whom are children (there are many more products that this is true of, our teacher just chose to pick on those two).  Then when we purchase those products we actually have slaves that work for us!  Ouch!  What's that!  I have slaves that work for me!  Yikes!  I never thought of that!

You should have herd the conversation I was having with God in my head as I was listening to the teacher.  "Lord, you had to let him speak on my two most favorite consumption items?!"  "Yes, I know I said I wanted to pursue holiness, but my two favorite items?"  "Couldn't You have picked on someone else Lord?"  "Yes, I know I did say I want to be holy and yes, I asked others to be brave with me, but...Yes, Lord I know I have to make some changes...I can't hide from what I know to be true."  "O.k. Lord then show me what I need to do so that I'm not contributing to the slavery of others."  "Or at the very least I'm contributing less."

As I came out of my fog of thought I heard our teacher challenging us to start with giving up one thing or we would be overwhelmed.  I thought "I can do that Lord."  I'll start with coffee.  I know I can find and buy Fair Trade coffee fairly easily and so I will start there!  However I knew that God was asking more from me and I needed to stop trying to argue my way out of it.  I was going to need to make some changes in my chocolate consumption and that one was going to be really hard.  Ladies, there is a cost to following Jesus!  Feeling my pain?!  I mean I really love me some Reese's!  You know what I mean?  I mean I'm really not liking the whole give up my favorite chocolate thing at all!  It will be a sacrifice!  Especially since finding good chocolate that's not produced in a country where they use slaves will be hard.  But now that I know there is no going back to the ignorance I once lived in.  Ladies, let me just say I'm not sure what going forward is going to look like for me.    Maybe it means less of my favorite chocolate and when I can find fair trade chocolate (if it exists) I buy that instead even if I don't like it as well?  I mean I'm just not sure I can go cold turkey...Lord have mercy on me...I've not completely wrestled this one through with God yet?  

What about you?  Is there something that you are consuming that you could consume less of or pay a little more for in order to insure that you are not supporting companies and countries that feel it's o.k. to force others to work for them? 

We also were challenged to participate in the IJM (International Justice Mission) Advent  Conspiracy.  If you want to participate by giving to them I will have more information on a later date on how you can do that.  Funny thing for me is that's not as sacrificial as is giving up chocolate...I'm pathetic!

Some final Words from God on the poor and needy:

‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, 
overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Ezekial 16:47

The Lord enters into judgment
    against the elders and leaders of his people:
“It is you who have ruined my vineyard;
    the plunder from the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean by crushing my people
    and grinding the faces of the poor?”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
 Isaiah 3:14-15

Take heart Dear Sister's!  He does see the oppression of the poor and needy!  He sees those who have been abused and neglected!  He does care!  It does make Him angry!  And you can be assured that He will in His perfect timing defend their cause!   

 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
Psalm 113:7

 I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
    and upholds the cause of the needy.
Psalm 140:12

Won't you cry out with me!

Oh God -

“How long will you defend the unjust
    and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the weak and the fatherless;
    uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:1-4

Amen!