Romans 12 "...I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God..."
It got me thinking about conforming; because there have been recently those who have been attempting to change my understanding to their own or to their group's, church's, or ministry's understanding. I have had folks attempting to make my path more palatable or politically correct... less abrasive or confrontational... In years past there have been those who have demanded I take their side instead of follow The Lord's direction; and following Him has cost me friendships and luxuries that my flesh is eager to have. But these are man's ways... I have long been inspired by those such as Luther and Wesley who strove to repair the damage man has done to the family of The Lord; and such is my own passion in ministry - that it become that I am first a Child of the Most High, a Brother to Jesus... and second a Goth, a Wesleyan, etc... ... It comes down to how we interpret and understand the most important commandment in relation to the 2nd most important commandment. We so often focus on loving our neighbors that we forget to replenish and rejuvenate ourselves in loving Ha-Shem. When we become depleted then where does love for our neighbors come from; and how can we continue if we do not first return to the source of all love?
It is difficult because I want to see others have a hunger and thirst to please The Lord as I do; I live in order that one day I might see His face with my own eyes. Should I conform to the world and not change my heart back to The Lord, then who will as Moses calm His anger and wrath?... who will like Jesus reach into the pain of every heart in mankind and heal the injury?... who will like Job or Paul lead his persecutors to faith and redemption?... who will like Daniel or his companions declare with great conviction their love of The Lord even in the face of death?...
So, I am writing this today to encourage a change in the way we all, including myself, pray... conform ye not to the modes by which the world harkens and beseeches the divine, but instead in the righteous models that have been displayed for us throughout Scripture, let His Word transform our ways into His ways and conform our lives to be extensions of His own through the symbiosis of His love, justice, and righteousness...
Jeremiah 11:13 "For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. 14 "Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster. 15 "What right has My beloved in My house When she has done many vile deeds? Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster, So that you can rejoice?"
1 John 5:16 "...If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that..."
Exodus 32:10 And The Lord said to Moses, "...Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation..."
Exodus 33:12-23 And The Lord said to Moses, "... And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live..."
If we can not see His face and live, then let us see His face and die! for what good is it to strive toward Him if the best we can hope for still leaves Him outside our range of sight?!? I can honestly say that if I could see His face for even a moment, I would lose all interest in all else and nought else would ever matter to me again... I pray begging for Him to reveal Himself... I worship craving to find even His feet to fall upon... I live every day hoping faithfully that His covenant is true and will one day bring me to direct eye contact with HIm; and if such does kill me, then so what - at such a time it can be said of me that I did all He desired of me and gave all I had to give; and my reward is rest in the gaze that will never forget my face or my name even long after His glory has consumed me... ... ...
When will The Lord return and ransom His people, when will He pour out His wrath against their oppressors?... ... it would seem that the prayers of the faithful are what holds back His hand... it would seem that our faith is being tried and tested, stretched and at times broken because we take to our knees in compassion and mercy to reach out to give the unrighteous 1 more chance after 1 more chance at true and incorruptible life... What is it exactly to pray for your friends and to pray for your family and to pray for your enemies?... to me, it would seem that to pray and intercede is to place my own soul in the way between them and The Lord that they not receive what His Law says they should; but instead, mercy and healing and restoration that one day they too may join by our side as missionaries on this terrestrial road...
