Whatever Happened to:
Commitment – Allegiance, dedication, loyalty, the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action. In the Church today there is a tremendous lack of commitment to the things of God. The temple is distressed and no one takes it to heart. Our song, our hearts cry, must be: I am yours Oh Lord…
Psalm 37:5 Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established. 1Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane [and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: 2Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 1Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Confession – More than an admittance of guilt, it is an acknowledgment of the truth of something. Confession of sin is agreeing with God that what He says is sin, IS! Agreeing with the Divine Creator is not only right, it is healthy. It is also a reiteration of that which is truth. A written confession of one’s faith most often is specific irrefutable, unchangeable, dictates of God from which there is no deviation.
Nehemiah 9:3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God. Acts 19:18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 4:2 Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:Counting the Cost – is Considering the weight of a matter and its consequences comes from wise counsel. Wisdom comes from above. It determines of what worth someone or something is. The table of the Lord is worthy of our effort. Often our relationship with the Lord costs us what the world touts as precious, but we seek a reward of infinitely greater value and count the cost of attaining that as nothing.
1 Chronicles 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Mark 14:3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.Conforming – To tailor something to fit an already existing pattern. To make the conformed image so much like the pattern as to be unable to see a difference. Thomas Chisholm’s song is pleading this be so when it renders “Stamp thine own image deep in my heart”. This means we are to walk, talk, appear and exist as though Christ were here in our place, this is Him living in us. Surely if He was willing to become as we are so that He might present us as before His Father’s throne, then we aught to seek to be like Him.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.Covenant – Most people believe this is an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return. The Hebrew word we translate as covenant in English carries the meaning of being separated unto something new. A cutting away takes place in this separation, much like circumcision. We are to be separated from the things of this world and this life and joined to the life to come; just as the surgeon’s knife cuts away that which is harmful ad unprofitable so the body may be restored to full health and proper use.
Malachi 2:14 Yet you say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of your youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she your companion, and the wife of your (marriage) covenant. Romans 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Hebrews 10:16 This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;Calling of God – If there is one area where people have rejected the guidance of the Holy Spirit most, this must be it. The Lord gives spiritual gifts when we obediently surrender to Him. Then as we seek His desire and plan for our lives, He reveals His will to us in the form of a calling. When we respond to His calling and obey His direction, then and only then can we be truly happy. It is His calling, given unto us. We neither decide to be called nor the nature of the call.
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 5:4 And no man takes this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 2Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,