Different

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1 Samuel 10:6 A Different Person

The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 1 Samuel 10:6

Most people have had at least one person in their life that had a major effect upon their life. This person guided them in a way in which their life was changed, and they became a different person. Some are changed for the better, while some are changed for the worse.

When these changes occur, the person becomes a different person than what he was, whether for the good or for the bad.

Samuel told Saul that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him, and he would be changed into a different person.

There are many people who have prayed the sinner’s prayer and claimed to believe in Jesus, but have not allowed God’s Holy Spirit to come upon them and change them. Instead of being changed, they continue in their same actions, attitudes and mindset. Rather than being led by God’s Holy Spirit, they are led by their own selfish ways and the ways of the world.

The moment God comes upon a person, he will be changed. He will move from the darkness to light, from death to life. The work of God will make him come alive and be changed into a different person.

No longer will he be led by the sinful ways of the world and his own selfish desires, but by the Holy Spirit. Sin will no longer have the strong pull upon his life, but the chains of death will be broken. Desire to serve God and live for God according to His ways will become his focus and the world will see the difference.

Have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior? Have you changed into a new person or are you still the same as what you were?

Allow God’s Holy Spirit to come upon you and change you from the inside out. He will open your eyes to what needs to change and give you the strength and boldness to make those changes.

As a believer you are to be holy, set apart, different from the world. You are now a new creation in Christ Jesus, created to do good works of service unto God.

You are to be different from what you once were.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will allow God’s Holy Spirit to rest upon your life; that you will allow the Holy Spirit to guide and change you; that you will be a new person in Christ Jesus; and that you will be holy unto God in all that you think, say and do.

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Leviticus 8:30 Getting Set Apart

Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments. Leviticus 8:30

The majority of the world does not like to be separated or set apart. Most people like to blend in and be a part of the crowd.

Some like to be set apart as rebels to fight against the system or to draw attention to themselves. A few like to be separate in order to do great things.

Moses sprinkled Aaron and his sons and their clothing with blood from the altar and anointing oil to set them apart unto God.

While the majority of the world loves to be a part of the crowd, believers are to be set apart, consecrated unto God. They are to be different than the world. As the world seeks to live for the moment in sin and self-pleasure, believers are focused upon God and eternity.

This separation unto God begins when the believe in Jesus, repent of their sins and are washed with the blood of Jesus being forgiven. Sin no longer maintains control over their life as the world does.

Once they are consecrated by the blood of Jesus, then they can be anointed by the oil of God, His Holy Spirit. Doing this gives them the power to do God’s work and to remain separate from the world. It breaks the bonds of sin and this world upon their lives.

Believers are to look and act like Jesus, different from the world. They are a unique and peculiar people that are sold out and dedicated to God for His glory and for His use.

Just as Aaron and his sons were consecrated and dedicated to God, so were you the moment you chose to believe in Jesus. The blood of Jesus was poured out on you to get rid of your sins. God’s Holy Spirit was placed in you to set you apart from the world and sin.

Do not allow yourself to continue to look and act like the world. Be separate from the world and sin. Act and look more like Jesus every day, dedicated and sold out to God with your whole life.

Are you consecrated, separated unto God, apart from this world?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will have your sins washed in the blood of Jesus; that you will be anointed by the Holy Spirit; that you will be set apart to do the work God has for you; and that you will look more like Jesus than the world.

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Exodus 39:30 Set Apart To The Lord

They made the plate, the sacred emblem, out of pure gold and engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Exodus 39:30

Most people do not like to be set apart as different. People like to blend in and go with the crowd, even when they know the crowd is going the wrong direction.

Being different often means one is going alone or a different direction. This can be lonely and often dangerous. Others will often fight against or ridicule one going a different path. It can be seen as selfish or rebellious.

A gold plate with the words, “HOLY TO THE LORD” was made and placed upon the turban for the priest to wear.

In the Bible, to be holy was to be set apart as different and given to God. The priests were pulled out from the tribes of Israel as being different and holy unto God.

When Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for all sin, He assigned all believers to be holy to the Lord. The seal of the Holy Spirit was placed upon the believers designating each one as holy to the Lord, set apart and different from the world.

The world will continue to live for self and sin, while the believer will give up self and live for God. He dedicates his life to be made new in Christ so that he may live a holy and righteous life before God.

As he lives a holy life for God, the world will see the sign upon his forehead or life that he is different and set apart. No longer will he live as the world does, gratifying self and sin, but he will live a righteous life, fleeing all sin and letting the world know why he does it.

The moment you chose to believe in Jesus and repent of your sins, you became holy unto the Lord. You were set apart as different from the world and dedicated to God.

Do not allow yourself to go back to the world or be conformed by the world, but be set apart unto God. The ways of this world only lead to death and destruction, but the ways of God lead to everlasting life and joy.

Going through your days, does the world see that you are set apart to God, holy to the Lord? Or do they see you like them, heading for destruction and death in sin?

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be set apart as holy to God; that the world will see that you belong to God; that you will not be ashamed of your belief in God; and that God will guide you in fleeing all sin.

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1 Thessalonians 4:7 How To Really Live Life

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 1 Thessalonians 4:7

All around the world there are many different views on how one should live his life. Each culture has a slightly different norm as to what is expected of a person in living life. Some are extremely focused on education, while others are on careers, and yet others are on family.

The one common theme throughout the world is that one lives to please self without being too separated from everyone else. If it pleases self, then it must be acceptable.

After talking about living like Jesus, Paul tells the people that God did not call them to live an impure, but a holy life.

Living a holy life is something that is different, it is being separated from the world unto God. Very few people like to be separated or different from others. Everyone wants to fit in with those around them.

In reality, the world does not have any set standards of how to live life other than to please one’s own self in whatever way that means or is needed. With that type of mindset, there is no true moral standard.

Sin does not exist according to the world, thus any action is acceptable, causing the world to live an impure, sinful lifestyle in anyway possible. Nothing is off limits.

The believer is to live to a different standard, by God’s holy standard, a pure and sinless life that pleases God. Living in this way is living on a different path than the world. It is choosing to not sin or follow the ways of this world. It is going against the flow of the world around him.

Jesus lived the expected standard, setting the example of how to live life and He gave the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide a believer to live that same way of holy living.

As a believer, you are called to be separate from the world and its ways of living. Jesus has forgiven you of past sins, so do not go back to those sins or ways of living.

Come out from among the world and live a life that is separate and holy unto God. Choose daily, even moment by moment, to reject a sinful lifestyle and be holy as God is holy.

He has given you everything you need to live the holy life, now live it.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know the standard God has called you to live; that you will allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in living a holy life; and that God will strengthen you to turn from all sinful ways of living.

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1 Corinthians 6:11 You Are No Longer What You Were

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

The majority of people in the world live as they want to live, with only the goal of a happier, easier life some day. In the process of getting that happier, easier life there is very little standards that need to be held.

It is pretty much that anything goes, as long as it makes one happier and life easier and does not harm anyone else directly.

Paul had just described a long list of types of sinners. Now he tells the Corinthian believers that is who they once were, but they are now washed, sanctified and justified by Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Every person who is a believer in a church, was a sinner who had nothing to do with God and His commands on how to live at some point in their life. While he may not have been a murderer, he may have been a liar, a cheater, sexually immoral, a gossiper, jealous or more. All of these things make him a sinner equal to a murderer.

Now that one is a believer, his life must be changed. He can no longer live in sin, regardless of how little or how big that sin is.

At the moment one chooses to follow Jesus, repenting of his sins, he is cleansed of all past sins. He is also given God’s Holy Spirit to give him strength and direction to change and be a new creation in Christ Jesus. He is no longer what he was, but someone new in Jesus. The past slate of doing wrong is washed away and a new life is given.

If you have chosen to follow Jesus and have repented of your sins, you are a new person. Since you are no longer who you once were, do not allow the past sins to rise up and control you.

Choose to no longer be a slave to sin, but a slave to God and His righteousness. The more you focus on being like Jesus, the less you will focus on sinning against God.

Jesus paid the price for all of your sins, do not allow yourself to go back to those sins or to any new ones.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will allow God to change you into a new creation; that God will give you strength to turn from all sin; that God will reveal areas in your life that are controlled by past sins; and that you will know the cleansing God has done for you.