Divine Standard

Divine Standard

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48)

Divine Standard is the 12^th pillar

Divine Standard is the 12^th pillar that holds the temple of Truth!

“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”  (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Beloved, God our Father has set a divine standard for all of us who believe, that is, that we all must be transformed into to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  And there is no compromising of His Divine Standard, for if there was another way, I tell you the truth, Christ died in vain.  If God could bring us to heaven just as we are, there would have been no reason for Christ to be made Man, and to be tested to the limits and yet to come out victorious over sin and death, setting an example that if we follow Christ’s steps, we also can be victorious over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no other way for God to bring us to heaven, but to transform us fully.  That is, we must completely die as descendents of Adam and be born again in Christ.  For God is working in us, both to will and do His good pleasures until we are all fully transformed into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the first born from the dead, that is from the earth, and who has shown us that it is possible (through Him) to be perfect even as God is perfect, in the midst of an ungodly and crooked generation!

“Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:13)

And this, my dear beloved, is the will of God for our lives: that we come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  And God will accomplish this in our lives, if we are to make it to heaven!

And the process that God uses to accomplish His eternal purpose is called sanctification.   Sanctification means to be set apart, to be made holy.  Being set apart by God is not always a pleasant experience, but it is necessary, and no one will enter heaven without being made holy by God.

Why?

Because God has saved us from spiritual Egypt, and has set us on the way to the real Canaan. However, we still want to go back to Egypt, and this mindset that Egypt is still an option, that is that we can still go back and serve the devil, makes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross of no effect.  So the Egyptian mindset must be removed, until we realize that going back is not an option, until the faith of Christ is developed in us, that we may endure the journey into spiritual Canaan.  For God takes no pleasure in those who go back:

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
        “For yet a little while,
      And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
        Now the just shall live by faith;
      But if anyone draws back,
      My soul has no pleasure in him.”  (Hebrews 10:35-38)

The truth is that God has established a wilderness for all of us and there is no exception. As He takes us out of Egypt (that is the world), He sets our feet on the highway to Canaan (that is heaven), and God’s chosen highway to Canaan is via the wilderness.  Each one of us will be isolated, some will lose their jobs, spouses, families, businesses, friends, and everyone may even turn their backs on us.  We will seek for help, and no one will seem to care or help.  All friends will disappear.  We will have no one but God.  We will be forced to trust God, and then the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord will be developed in us! Thankfully, this wilderness experience will not last longer than is necessary. The truth is, some of us are already in our wilderness, some are entering into it, some will still enter into it, and some are coming out of it!

                                                                                                                        

However, the good news is that, though the world will seem to fall apart all around you and nothing will seem to work for you, God is still in control of your life and He will not leave you nor forsake you, and by no means will you go hungry.  GOD WILL PROVIDE for you; however, it is likely that you will not be in your comfort zone.  There will be pressure from all angles, people demanding things that you just do not have, and yet God will show up, not in your time, but in His own time, until He builds in you the faith of Jesus Christ. And He will build not just the faith in Christ, but the faith of Christ, that we too can call upon “Abba Father.”

Things will certainly be tough.  I do not say this to discourage you, but rather that you may stand, that you may endure the chastening of the LORD.  For many fail this test in order to pass to the next level, so they risk becoming superficial Christians, blowing with any wind of doctrine, with no principles in the Word of God, and they follow the opinion that is most popular at the current time.  The Bible call such ones unstable, because they run away from the fire; they do not cooperate with God and surrender all unto God, so that God may mold them unto image of His Son. Remember how the Lord Jesus suffered for us!

Beloved, no one will be called a child of God without chastisement! 

   

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

      “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
      Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
       For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
      And scourges every son whom He receives.”

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which ALL have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”  (Hebrews 12:3-11)

 And all this is done for our own good that we may become perfect men and women, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  That is how Christ glorified God on earth, being obedient unto death.  Even so we are sanctified to bear much fruit, that God may be glorified in us.  That is how our good works will shine as light into the world. When we are presented with an opportunity to do evil, and no one is looking, and we refuse to do evil and choose rather to obey God, that is what Christ means by saying:  “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48)

It means that we must love righteousness and shun evil:

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”   (John 15:8)

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16)

During His ministry on earth the Lord Jesus made seven bold statements concerning the divine requirements for us:

Divine Requirements

1)    Inward Righteousness:

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:20)

This means to be good from the heart, not just to act good in front of others that they may praise you. It means to fear God, not men!

2)    Childlike Spirit:

“And said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:3)

                                                                                                                

This means to have a teachable spirit; to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us; to ask for help from God when it is needed; to accept our limitations; to trust our Father in heaven like a child trusts his father and mother; to depend 100% on God our Father, and to revere Him with godly fear!

3)    Repentance:

“And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”  (Luke 13:2-3)

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of this world produces death.”  (2 Corinthians 7:10)

Repentance is an inward change of heart, a change of attitude toward God.

To repent is to accept one’s sinful nature and, therefore, to accept the only provision that God has made for man to be saved, Jesus Christ.  Basically, repentance is the most important decision you will ever make in your whole life.  It is to admit that you are wrong (spiritually dead) and to accept the free gift from God (Jesus).  It is to embrace what is right (Christ) and by so doing to gain eternal life.

4)    New Birth:

“Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  (John 3:5)

“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. That you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

(Ephesians 5:23-34)

Please also read Ephesians 4:17-32 for a more in depth knowledge about the meaning of being a new creature in Christ, and having new birth through the Spirit.

One of the biggest downfalls of Christians is that we become a NEW creature but we still want to live our OLD lives. The truth is that we cannot build a new house and yet live out back in the shack.

                                                                                                                        

5)    Spiritual Worship:

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  (John 4:24)

Even in this ungodly age, God is still seeking for people who are seeking Him; people who are inviting Him to come dwell in their hearts; people who are not limited by churches and denominations as a place of worship; people who meditate in the Truth, the Word of God, day and night; and people who become doers of the Word.  These are the people whom God is seeking to worship Him in spirit and truth.  Are you one of these people?

6)    Spiritual Food:

“Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53)

“But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”   (Matthew 4:4)

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”  (John 6:63)

My beloved, if you desire to have life in you, feed on the Word of God daily, day and night!

7)    Personal Faith:

“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He [The Christ], you will die in your sins.”  (John 8:24)

Beloved, second-hand faith is not faith at all.  Your parents’ faith cannot save you, nor can the faith of your husband, wife, children, brother, sister, any other family members or any friends.  No one’s faith can save you but your own!

                                                                                                                   

Each one of us must have our own faith and must believe in the name of Jesus as the ONLY name given for salvation, and must believe in the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord as the only means of remission of sins.  We all must pursue holiness by the grace of God:

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”  (Hebrews 9:22)

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”  (Hebrews 12:14)

Finally my dear beloved, let us, therefore, now surrender and continue to surrender our lives unto God our Father that He may sanctify us and transform us, mold us and change us into the fullness of the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  God has given us freedom of choice, so God will not impose Himself on us; rather, we must pursue righteousness, holiness, and perfection from God.  As the Holy Spirit reveals to us the areas in our lives that need perfecting, let us not fight, but let us bring this to the altar of grace and surrender all unto Jesus Christ our Lord.  He will deliver us from all our imperfections until we are perfect in the eyes of Him with whom we have to deal with.   Amen!

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
      And to present you faultless
      Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
      To God our Savior,
      Who alone is wise,
      Be glory and majesty,
      Dominion and power,
      Both now and forever.
      Amen.”  (Jude 24-25)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  Amen!

Meditation:  God wants me to be perfect, just as He is perfect, that I love righteousness and hate iniquity.

Prayer points:  LORD, please transform me unto the full likeness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen!

Commitment:  I must surrender my whole life unto God, not in part, but as a whole, that He may transform and perfect my character into that of Christ.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen!