Above All Else....the pathway to Holiness

"A noble man make noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands" Isaiah 32:7-9

So how do we do it?

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

24 Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

26 Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

27 Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

The call to wisdom urges me to work from the inside out and set as upmost importance.

1 thoughts; guard my heart, for it is the wellspring of my life.

2 words; pay attention to my words,

3 plans; fix my focus on the way ahead,

4 actions; pay attention to what I pursue.

I enjoy the lines verse 26 " Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm"

They engender a confidence that the choices we make are significant that we can carve out a future, build hope that we can make wise decisions and sound judgments for our lives.

Lets keep to straight paths verse 4 "I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths". and "This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him". Matt 3:3

This verse causes me to see that the choices we make can make it easier for us to see God in Action in our lives. In I Peter1 :13 we get the preparation phase to living a Holy, God centered life. "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. So When is Christ revealed? Maybe like Zacchaeus, he repented, reformed and Jesus said of him "Today Salvation has come to this household" What Zacchaeus needed in order to repent, was to receive God grace and make a God centered choice to "make his path straight".

[Luke 19:8-108But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." 9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."]

The Secret Things of God

Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

1 Corinthians 2:7 (Amplified Bible)

7But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God--[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].

1 Corinthians 2:9-11

9However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"(See Isaiah 64:4)

10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16"For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (See Isaiah 40:13)

The next chapter talks about church growth and divisions and how to we are to grow with God's wisdom which is freely given to us. We can be knowledgable, God's way, to understand God's power at work(1 Cor 2:4)

1 Corinthians 4:1&2
1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Further Fun with God :readings on Wisdom
Collosians 5 references
James 4 references
Revelation 4 references

The secret things of God is His wisdom that we may follow all the words of the law.
It can be done!

So what are "Living Sacrifices"?

Romans 12: 1-2 ; I John 5

I have realized that to test and work out what the will of God actually is, takes being a living sacrifice, something has to die...continually. It can be our way of thinking and believing or our actions.
There is much activity in getting to know our Fathers will for our lives on a daily basis. Paying attention to Him and how He operates gives us insight on how we are to live our lives.

Maybe we are interfering with the way God meant things to be, for example a friend of mine who breds dogs was having alot of difficulty with "delivering the pups" of a particular specialized breed. As one pup after another died, he realized in his pain that he needed to reconsider continuing with the specialized breed.

An altar is a slaughter site, and a sacrifice is usually bound and dead. Sacrifices and Altars are messy.We, on the other hand are to be bound to the Living God by keeping His commands and being alive to Christ. I don't think God minds mess! It's a means to bless!

Who would knowlingly destroy the work of God ?

Romans 14: 19-20 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.

Romans 15:5-6 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Phillipians 2:1ff
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Unity of: heart and mouth, mind & purpose glorifies God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We can easily destroy the work of God by holding onto our preferences, whether it be food or an activity.