Crossroad Baptist Church

Characteristics of the Person God Uses (Part 3)

churchadmin1 — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:08:54 +0000

Yes, God uses people who are willing to follow Him, and more importantly he or she is a person who gives God the glory. To give God glory one must reckon himself dead. Dead, Pastor? Yes, dead to criticism and dead to praise. Sometimes you must even deliberately avoid the accolades of men to avoid pride overtaking your life. Since most do not see or recognize God at work, and only see men, the result is always that we spend our energy magnifying and praising men. And yes, men love it and the end result is power-destroying pride.

Most people fail to realize that God is looking at the condition of our heart. David was a man after God’s own heart, and even in failure he had a desire for holiness in his life. Holiness means to be set apart and to be separate. You all know that is a major undertaking in today’s world.

We cannot make ourselves holy. We can become holy only through the power of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. It’s through a pure and clean life we reveal to our world the reality of a holy God.

Isaiah 35:8 states that God is building a highway of holiness that the wicked cannot travel. God desires that your life and mine be that highway, the road over which others may be drawn to Christ, the road over which God may bring revival to our land. I like to think of it as me becoming “pavement”! When I’m pavement, I do not have to have my name on all the road signs along the way.

All the prayers, sacrifice, and pleadings with God will not bring revival until we take seriously our holiness. And remember, the condition of your heart will always affect your actions and spoken words, and your actions and spoken words will reflect your heart. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Now that is a real point to ponder.

~ Bro. Nichols

Characteristics of the Person God Uses (Part 2)

churchadmin1 — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:48:14 +0000

Remember the “Holiness” article from last week? We said that “the condition of your heart will affect your actions, and your actions will reflect your heart.” Well, this week we look at the second trait of a person used of God, “A Pure Heart.” Pure means “to be without impurities.” A pure heart is one solely committed to Christ first and foremost. But how can one be pure? Through confession of and repentance from sin. No matter how popular one may be, the lack of a repentant spirit reveals the rebellious heart of a prideful person who refuses to admit his sins. A person with pride will never see himself or herself as they are; nor will they acknowledge the cracks in their life. It’s always someone else and not ME!

Matthew 5:8 tells us, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The word sincere is closely associated with purity. It comes from the Latin phrase “sine cere,” meaning “without wax.” Wax was often used to cover or fill in cracks in pottery, which camouflaged the imperfections so it could be sold as undamaged. Under the test of fire, the wax would melt and reveal the impurities. Did you know that if you want to approach Him, we must do so with “clean hands and a pure heart” according to Psalm 24:4.

The Lord does not look at things as man does. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” This simply tells us that the “pure in heart” are precious gems of great value and are useful to God.

~ Bro. Nichols

Characteristics of the Person God Uses (Part 1)

churchadmin1 — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:44:24 +0000

All the prayers, sacrifice, and pleadings with God will not bring revival until we take seriously our holiness. And remember, the condition of your heart will always affect your actions and spoken words, and your actions and spoken words will reflect your heart. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Now that is a real point to ponder.

~ Bro. Nichols