Separation Before Elevation

 

Separation Before Elevation
2 Corinthians 6:14-18

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”

 

There is a set time when God calls us to come to Him. This appointment is the one that leads us to the path to our destinies. There is a spiritual calling on our lives to do a work for the Lord. Our eyes are not open, nor do we understand why the Lord is calling us. The scripture Romans 8:28-30 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

We have a purpose to fulfill while we’re here on earth. The Lord created us and decided what that purpose and plan would be before the foundation of the earth was made. Our souls were created to worship and give God the glory. He has a divine plan laid out for us to learn about Him and for many to come to Christ it will be through our suffering, troubles, and storms in life.

Every struggle, hard time, pain, suffering, trial, and test were put into our lives to help us cry out to God and pray to Him. When our pain speaks to us it causes us to move, cry, be uncomfortable, weary, and restless before we surrender to seeking help. But many people turn to substance abuse, all kinds of negative things, psychics, ungodly advice, picking up bad habits and sometimes we self-destruct to end our pain. When we continue to run further away from crying out to the Lord for help; He turns the heat up in our lives because we fail to run to Him.

We must take heed to the times when God spoke through other people to deliver a word or message. Oftentimes, we may try to ignore hearing “the Lord has a calling on your life, or the Lord is gonna use you one day.” So, we just keep on doing what it is that we’re doing which is running but running to where? When we bump our heads for the last time that’s when we start to really wonder about what is going on in our lives. In moments like this the Holy Spirit will try to speak to us because now we’re where the Lord wants us. Sometimes, He’ll jog our memories by revealing the times He sent people to us, allowed circumstances, and situations to happen because we are hardheaded.

Our hearts are callous and many of us are living behind a mask. We’re hurting and running from broken relationships, dysfunctional homes, abuse, trauma, pain, confusion, rejection, and anger. This list is long for many because pain does take its toll over time and affects our mental health if not treated. Sadly, there are folks who have written us off to not ever amount to nothing in life because of these marks, and bruises on us. The years of hiding the scars, trauma and ugliness has caused arrested development in our abilities to exude confidence, courage, and hope to believe in ourselves to achieve better and reach for higher goals and new possibilities.

This message may have rung a bell with some but I’m here to encourage you that everything that happened in our lives good and bad the Lord allowed it because scripture tells us Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Despite everything that we’ve gone through if we love God, we must stop running away from Him and choose to show God that we do love Him by believing in His Word. Yes, He chose us and has predestined a plan for each of us to find our purpose. 

This purpose is why He created us, and He knows the end of a thing before He creates it. We are His masterpiece made in His image and likeness. He wants to personally be involved in our lives so that we will know Him and tell the world that Jesus is Lord and alive. 

Our pain and suffering are a part of the process to discovering our identity in Christ. We are God’s chosen and He wants us to be familiar with His suffering and know Him through His Word and Spirit. Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. The Word of the Lord is a lamp to our feet and the light to our path to follow God.

This is where He wants each of us to begin with studying His Word to find Him and to learn His ways and nature. Our minds will be renewed with the help of the Holy Spirit teaching us the Word, giving us understanding and revealing the steps to our purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The fire that some of us have gone through or maybe experiencing in our lives from the burdens, worries, our baggage and hurt the Lord is saying we must let it go the things that we cannot handle nor fix. No, it doesn’t feel good, but we know that change must happen for us to become the people that God predestined. He wants us to give it all to Him.

Our minds and hearts must shift to seek Him first and all His righteousness will be added to us. We must come to the Lord Jesus and sit at His feet. Pray and cry if we need to because He is the only one who can heal us, stop the pain, restore us, and help us learn how to love Him, others, and ourselves.

During the surrendering we will lose people, jobs, relationships, friends, etc. The Lord is calling us to come away from certain things that only we would know what those things are. Everything that we’re going through is drawing us to God so that we will no longer be bound by the past things that were unfruitful nor profitable for us.

There will be many seasons to this process as God prepares us for the glory that He is going to reveal in our lives. There will be a separation, purging, long-suffering, new birth, wilderness, dying to self and an awakening to the Holy Spirit. He will lead, guide, teach and help us fulfill God’s mission for our lives. He is the Spirit of truth and will teach us all things as we hold onto the Word of the Lord. He will lift us up from the ashes of the past and set us upon a rock and establish us to fulfill the will of the Father.

We will love others and help them to believe in God. Our faith will prosper and our intimacy with the Lord will mean more to us than the material things that money can buy and far greater than any human love. The price of this great pearl cannot be purchased with physical things or currency. Matthew 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

 

Pearls of Grace

 

There are treasures in My heart

If you seek My Kingdom, righteousness will follow

All of the riches that I behold from the heavens above

Pearls are priceless for they are hard to find

As you persevere you will need My grace

I will provide all that you need if you believe

Let no one deter you from your path

Sometimes you will doubt, but don’t give up

I am watching over your life with angels of mercy

As you get closer I will share My possessions

I will uncover the silver and gold that leads to My Spirit

The pearls of grace are stored above

ã2004 “Naima’s Inspirational Melodies”