Thank you to everyone who came out to the Set Apart Living Revival on Friday Night. It was a joy to fellowship with each of you. My prayer is that this night will just be the beginning of revival in your life. Each attendee received a printout of the post below. I wanted to share here for those who were unable to attend. As always, keep living the SET APART life for His glory!
MY ETERNITY
Today matters for eternity. What you do today, no matter how small it seems, matters for eternity. We only get one chance and one lifetime here on earth, and God is faithful in giving us the free will to choose how we spend it.
Why It Matters
Our sin carries a hefty price tag, and we could never pay up no matter how hard we try. This means that before Jesus died for our sins, there was no bridge between us and God because of the barrier of our sin. This is the part of our story where it may have looked dark or hopeless, but God had a plan for saving man from our sin from the beginning (Genesis 1-3). He sent Jesus to earth as the ultimate sacrifice to redeem us. He made a way so that we could have an eternity with God, an eternity we do not deserve and could never deserve without Jesus’s sacrifice. (John 3:16)
Jesus’s death and resurrection (Luke 24) provided a way for us to spend eternity with God. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are adopted into God’s family. The stains that sin left on our lives are washed clean, and Jesus is the only One who can do this. If we want to spend our eternity with God, Jesus is the only way. (John 14:6)
What we do here and the way that we live our lives matters, but we have to keep in mind the big picture of eternity. Our lives here will be short, and then we will begin our eternity with our Father. This means we have a finite, brief amount of time here on earth to do anything and everything we can for God’s Kingdom, one day at a time.
Reflection
Do you know Jesus as your Savior?
In what areas of your life could you pray for God to revive and redeem to refocus your life on the big picture of eternity?
If you were to evaluate your life, would you be able to say you have prepared for eternity? If not, in what ways could you ask the Lord to change your priorities so that He is at the center?
MY PRAYER
Prayer is an essential part of the Christian walk. Prayer is our communication with God. Without it, the relationship will not exist. Prayer is an active work.
“Prayer is an active work of adoring God, confessing to God, thanking God, and making requests to God.” – The Daily Grace Co.
Why It Matters
Our prayers…
Reveal our thoughts and beliefs about God.
Reveal what we prioritize and what we believe.
Reveal how we view ourselves and others.
Expose our hearts and what we care about.
Jesus models for his disciples (and us) how to pray through the Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer, we can see that we are to acknowledge God for who He is and what He has done first, giving Him praise and the glory. Then, we are to come to Him asking for forgiveness and with our requests. (Matthew 6:5-13; Luke 11:1-4)
God already knows everything that we need. So, prayer should not be performance-based, recitation, out of obligation, or elegant words that are empty at their core. You do not have to impress God. He knows the deepest parts of you and knows what you need. Prayer should be done with the intention of being obedient and pursuing your relationship with the Lord.
God is above everything, and He is always in control. Knowing this frees us to pray knowing that no matter our situations, God has always and will always be in control. He is everlasting and will never change, even as our lives do. (Psalm 103:19; Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 66:1; Ephesians 4:6; Psalm 90:2; Psalm 90:8).
Reflection
How do you typically structure your prayers? Are they focused on God or yourself?
How do your prayers reflect the desires of your heart?
In what ways has prayer become routine for you, rather than intentional time with the Lord?
How does acknowledging God’s perfection and sovereignty shape your response to the way He answers prayers?
Although fully and ultimately forgiven, why should you seek immediate forgiveness from God in prayer?
MY WORSHIP
Worship is an intentional act of praising God and expressing adoration and reverence toward Him. It should be done with a heart and mind focused on Him and who He is. When we worship, we often make it about ourselves. We may seek an emotional experience (which is okay to have) or be worried about what others may think, but the goal of worship should be to give God praise for being God.
Why It Matters
We are commanded to worship the Lord throughout the Bible.
“Praise Him with trumpet sound, praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” || Psalm 150:3-6
God is worthy of our praise. God is perfect, sovereign, loving, righteous, holy, eternal, faithful, immutable, just, all-powerful, all-knowing, and good. We owe everything to Him. He owes us nothing, but still chooses to provide and care for us. What an amazing God we serve that He would choose to love us in this way. He will forever be worthy of our worship and praise.
When we worship, we often ask “God, Holy Spirit, please show up.” But God is already there. He was and is always here. We do not have to ask Him to be here. What we truly desire is an awareness of Him. For our awareness to shift so that we can feel Him in the space with us. Worship allows for us to spend time focused fully on God and pour out our hearts to Him.
Life is hard here because it is a fallen world and is sin-filled. That means we will undoubtedly face hardship. However, our worship of the Lord should not stop in the midst of the dark seasons in our lives. In fact, worship can be a vital part of reminding us the sovereignty of the Lord in these darker places, so that we can rest in the peace of Jesus when we’re in situations that seem anything but peaceful. (Psalm
Reflection
In what ways do you hold back worship and praise? Do you set aside time to intentionally praise and worship God simply for being who He is?
In what ways has your worship become self-focused instead of God-focused?
When life gets messy, what happens to your worship? Do you lean into it or pull away from it?
MY WORK
Each of our lives have a specific purpose, and while God may use us in different ways, the purpose of our lives at the core is to glorify God. Everything we do and say should point to Him and bring glory to Him.
Why It Matters
God has set us apart from the world. We are to do things differently than the world and live our lives God’s way. (Psalm 4:3)
Jesus commanded us to be His witnesses to others. (Acts 1:7-8) How can we do this if we are not actively seeking a life that honors and glorifies God? If we live in a way that looks the same as those in the world, then we are not introducing them to Jesus. Living the way God commands us to is vital to our work as witnesses here on earth.
We cannot get to heaven simply by doing good things. While doing good things is great, there are some issues that can arise if just doing good things becomes our focus, rather than focusing on doing the things God asks us to. A big problem with this is that we are flawed, and our version of good may not be God’s version. God’s version is the ultimate good, as He is perfect. So, we must focus both on our faith and serving God through works. James 2 tells us that we must have both. Doing good things all your life but having no faith is useless, just as claiming to have faith but refusing to live your life for God is disobedient.
Reflection
What does it look like for your work to be shaped by the reality that earth is not your end, believing your true citizenship is in heaven?
How do you see a need to surrender your will to God’s will in your work?
How can you depend physically and spiritually on God in a way that transforms both your prayers and your work?
What is the relationship between God’s forgiveness to you and the forgiveness you show to others?
Do you live in a way that is set apart from the world? What areas can you bring to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to bring revival to, so that it is evident you are set apart for God?
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