- 1 Cor. 16:14
Each year I like to start fresh and not carry old things into the new year. I clean out drawers, filing cabinets, closets and purge items no longer needed. The past is the past, so it's important to not only remove unwanted papers, but to also shred them. That goes for unpleasant situations that have no bearing on your destiny, as well.
In the article entitled, “Coming Out of Egypt” I talked about the deliverance that is soon coming for God’s remnant – those tried and tested people that were willing to allow God to purge from them things that they no longer needed in the Promised Land they are about to cross over into. This article talks about why it is important to not only cross over, but cross over clean
“Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
God is coming back for a bride (His church) that is without spot or blemish – a bride that has clean hands and a pure heart. Matt 5:8 says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
That does not mean that we must be perfect as no human is perfect. God just wants to be able to tell the difference between the church and the world. When you walk into some churches there are coffee shops, and book stores. It is hard to tell whether you entered a church, or the local shopping plaza. There are “celebrity” speakers and musicians who demand to be picked up from the airport in a limousine, who expect a fruit basket waiting for them at their posh hotel room, and who refuse to speak or play unless they are paid a certain dollar amount of money according to their contract.
In this economy of people barely having enough food to feed their children, you will still hear the motivational Elder of a church say, “I hear God telling me 10 people have $1,000 to give.” “If you cannot give $1,000, I hear God say 2 people can give $500 apiece.” It gets so ridiculous after a while that you want to leave your wallet at home before you go to church just so you do not get caught up in the emotional tug-of-war between feeding your family and buying a $1,000 piece of stained glass for the new $20 million building that has nothing to do with taking care of the needs of God’s people. The church as a whole is out of control, but there is a remnant church that God is preparing to rise up to take the place of the current church.
I am blessed to be in just such a church that does not fleece the flock. They quietly pass the collection plate in a graceful manner. They do not have billboards and colorful charts and graphs showing how much money they need to obtain a $10 million mega complex across the street. They are focused on the needs of God’s people, and so I know that God is focused on them, and they are about to be rewarded by God for doing it right!
The “church” as a whole behaves like the rest of the world thinking that it is all about the money. Guess what? It is not about the money; it is about the of God’s people. The Lord desires that none would perish but all people have eternal life. When we cross over into the Promised Land we have to purge the thinking of the current church whose focus is on money and real estate.
The bible says that though we are in this world we are not of this world. We have to think different; we have to be different. You can’t take it with you. So, focusing on obtaining material possessions is not what God wants us to do. We have to put off the old man and put on the mind of Christ. Enter the remnant!
God is raising up a remnant; a church that He can be proud of. We have to allow God to purge us from things that have no bearing on our destiny. Let God remove from our lives people that hinder our walk with Him. When we enter the Promised Land, we need to be willing to let God bring into our lives the people that He has ordained to be along side of us. God knows who the people are that he predestined to be part of the blue print of your ministry, your family, your circle of friends, your destiny.
The building is not the church, the people are the church. I believe that those pastors who tend to the needs of their congregation over building a mega-building are the pastors who God will give a mega building to -- to be used for His glory to take care of their congregation. We as the church need to cross over into this good land that God is giving us, and leave behind the sales pitch.
This is a season where God is very serious about us laying aside things, i.e., old habits, lusts of this world, that can cause us to stumble in our walk with Him.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Fewer distractions mean we have more time to be reading God’s Word, doing street ministry, or visiting people who are shut-in and lonely. We need to be full of God’s Word. There are countries on this planet where bibles are not allowed. What if that happened in our country? Do we have enough of the Word memorized to be able to give it out to others?
It is time to put away idols, anything that takes the place of God or takes time away from spending it with God. We are the generation that is going to usher in the last harvest of souls, so we need to be spending as much time as we can sitting at God’s feet listening to His instructions so that we can become effective Ambassadors of Christ. The devil is going to fight extra hard against us because he knows his time is short on the Earth. That is why we need to be more ready than ever before for this upcoming battle. We cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in the church. We need to stand out.
There are so many carnal Christians who talk Christian-ese, but you also hear them swearing in public or telling off-color jokes and it just brings confusion to the people that are searching and seeking for the truth about Jesus. The following scripture says it best.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. When we truly love God, we want to please him. Doing fleshly things does not please God. He has separated us, and sanctified us to come away from the things of this world.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
When we cross over, we also want to leave behind situations that have nothing to do with our destinies. We need to forgive whoever hurt us, so we can release them and set them free, as well as setting ourselves free from rehashing memories that brought us no edification.
Crossing over with baggage from the previous year means we are carrying extra weight that we do not need to drag into the new year. For us ladies who are always weight conscious, removing and shredding thoughts and memories from our minds is a great way to lose spiritual weight.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.Get a new day planner or journal and start fresh. God’s mercies are new every morning. We need to release everyone and everything that hurt us, offended us, or took advantage of us. Second, we need to pray for them. Third, we must ask the Lord to reveal to what He wants us to keep from last year and what He wants us to throw out whether it be physical or spiritual in nature. Finally, look ahead with great anticipation to the new things that God has in store for us.
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
When we cross over, without all that baggage, we are not going to be like the church as it is today. We are going to be the church without spot or blemish. We are going to be the church whose focus is on the needs of people, and not how much money they can contribute to a building fund. We are going to be the church that is on one accord in unison with the Holy Spirit because our minds will not be cluttered with things that distract us from our destiny.
We will be a mature remnant; a remnant who is postured and positioned to walk into what God has planned for us to do.
We will be the remnant that God will recognize as His bride.
Cross Creek Bridge Ministries
P.O. Box 572391
Tarzana, CA 91357
Tel: (818) 881-2009
Toll-Free: (877) 303-CCBM (2009)
Cross Creek Bridge Ministries is a qualified IRS Section 501(c)(3) Organization