Sober up!

Sober Up!  You've Been Bought With a Price!

Do you ever find yourself intoxicated by the world?   Too often we as Believers can become intoxicated with all the distractions of the world, taking the mindset, well Sally Christian is doing it, it must be okay...

As I read Psalm 36, it sobered me up to where my focus must ALWAYS be - on the steadfast love of the Lord, a love that bought me with the price of a precious life - the life of Jesus.

How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love

Psalm 36

Transgression speaks to the wicked

    deep in his heart;[a]

there is no fear of God

    before his eyes.

2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes

    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;

    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

4 He plots trouble while on his bed;

    he sets himself in a way that is not good;

    he does not reject evil.

5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

    your faithfulness to the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

    your judgments are like the great deep;

    man and beast you save, O Lord.

7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

    The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 They feast on the abundance of your house,

    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

9 For with you is the fountain of life;

    in your light do we see light.

10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,

    and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12 There the evildoers lie fallen;

    they are thrust down, unable to rise.

Sober Up!  The Days are Evil!

It's not surprising that the attributes of the wicked mirror those of Satan:

• Not fearing God
• Behaving arrogantly; self-seeking
• Thinking they are above reproach; self-righteous
• Plotting to hurt others while elevating themselves

And then the stark reality hit me and I was convicted, sobered up if you will...

Even as Believers, I think we can all admit that we fall into this self-centered mindset from time to time.  :-(  And like the Psalmist outlined, that is wicked and of the devil.

Those are the times we must sober up!  Flee!  Because our adversary the devil is seeking to kill and destroy.

{In my blog post Are You Choosing a Curse and Not Even Realizing It, which you can read HERE, I shared about ways to avoid the consequences of sin in your life.}

Sober Up!  There is Good News!

But there is Good News.   Those who are in Christ Jesus have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus.  We are now covered in a robe of righteousness.  When the Lord intercedes for us, He says, "NOT GUILTY".  We may fall prey to Satan's temptations and suffer consequences, but he cannot steel us away.  

Having said that, when we sense that we are behaving like the wicked, it should give us pause to stop and think, "Who am I representing here, Satan or Christ? 

It would be amazing to have a "sober up warning system" built in to alert us when we are behaving in a manner contrary to the Word of God.  As I sit here typing this blog post, I am getting phone calls, text alerts and the voice of our local weatherman talking through my phone -  all alerting me to take shelter because there is a severe thunderstorm heading our way. 

Picture taken on a previous day, but apropos  Oh, and I wish this was the view from my house!  lol  ;-)

Picture taken on a previous day, but apropos.  ;-)

But wait, we do have a "sober up warning system" built in - the Holy Spirit.  He isn't calling or texting us, and He is not speaking through our phones, but His still small voice does speak to our hearts warning us of the danger of our behavior.  He is saying Sober Up!

 We must let the Holy Spirit sober us up from our self-seeking actions so that we can put on the attributes of the Godly:

• To love
• To seek to bring God Glory
• To be humble
• To selflessly serve
• To be just and fair

We will never be perfect like Jesus this side of Heaven, but when we allow the Holy Spirit to move in us, indeed we will behave as Holy and separate people to be used by God for His Kingdom and our joy.

When we take refuge in the shadow of the Lord's wings, feast on the abundance of His Word and drink from the Living Water, we will not fall prey to Satan's wiles and operate in arrogance, but instead our righteousness in Christ Jesus will shine like the noon day sun.

God sets a still, small voice

Deep every soul within;

It guideth to the right,

And warneth us of sin.

2 If we that voice obey,

Clearer its tones will be

Till all God’s will for us

Clear as noonday we see.

3 If we that voice neglect,

Fainter will be its tone;

If still unheeded, it

Will leave us quite alone.

4 O grief, to be allowed

To go our own wild way;

Lord, hold Thy children back

Lest we so sadly stray!

5 And help us to attend

To Thy sweet voice divine;

Then, in the judgment day,

Own us, good Lord, as Thine.

God Sets a Still Small Voice

Esther Wiglesworth

Sober up!  The Holy Spirit is still speaking!

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