Don’t Touch My Pain

Spring weather has arrived and with it many afternoons spent playing outdoors. With five children, I always have the Band-Aids close by. There is always a scraped knee or scratched elbow from running, climbing trees, or riding bikes. Recently there have been a plethora of ticks also, so we have to carefully check for them and remove them to prevent disease.

With each scraped knee, splinter, or tick, my kiddos cry out for help and relief from the pain. I reach for the peroxide and the Neosporin, but they pull back away from me. They are afraid of the sting which I know will clean their wound and ensure that infection is kept at bay. The sting is just for a moment, but without it the pain of infection will be worse and longer lasting. But my kids don’t understand that.

Even though I coax and whisper sweetly that it will be alright, sometimes they don’t trust me enough to care for their wound. I know the pain will stop in a moment, but they only know the certainty of the sting and pain of the cleaners and cream.  They want me to fix it, but they don’t want me to touch it.

As I repeat this several times each week, I can’t help but notice the similarity to my own life. I experience a trial or difficulty and I cry out in pain for God to stop it, to heal my wound, to make it all better. I grip my bleeding, painful heart and scream that I can’t handle the pain. I plead with Him to help me, ,to remove the pain, and to wipe away my tears. And yet, when He comes to me with healing hands, I shrink back from what He is doing, afraid of any more sting and unwilling to have Him touch my open wound. The pain has blinded me. I don’t realize that He is working and purifying my life. I don’t feel His touch as tender because I can’t get my mind off the sting. I don’t see that He is preventing the infection of sin and worldliness because I only feel the fresh pain of the open wound or the tweezers removing the splinter.

Pain is purifying. It removes the dross. It cleanses away the weakness. It makes us stronger. It is not pleasant and I hate the feel of it. Sometimes I shrink away from what I know He must do in order to restore wholeness and holiness to my life, because it just hurts so much. But I must let the Great Physician work. He can see the wound with eyes that grasp the whole picture, not just the moment of pain. He knows the best medicine, and His skillful hands perform surgery with the highest success rating.  He is using this pain for my good.

Even in my pain, I must trust Him to touch. He can heal. He can hold me and bear the pain with me. He knows best.

Approved

Recently, my husband and I applied to a mission board as church planters to New York City.  The application process was involved, and the last step was an in-person interview and doctrinal review in Alabama.  The board wanted to be sure they are in agreement with us because many churches will be familiar with what the mission board stands for, though they do not know us personally.  If the mission board has approved us, then the church can know that we are in agreement and will be a good representation of them on the mission field.

As we prepared for our doctrinal review, I found myself very nervous.  My palms were sweaty and I was fidgeting.  Ben kept telling me to relax, so I know my nervousness was evident.  The funny thing is that I didn’t really have anything to be nervous about.  First, the questions were almost exclusively directed at Ben.  Secondly, the questions were about doctrines and passages that both Ben and I know very well.  We had prepared.  We had studied.  And yet I was nervous.  Would the Board of Trustees approve us?  Would this trip turn out to be in vain, and embarrassing if we returned home unapproved?

Gratefully, the Lord saw fit to join us with the mission board.  The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept us.  They placed their stamp of approval upon us as church planters.  No longer was I just a “candidate” as my name tag read.  Now I was approved.  Accepted.  Part of the “family.”

When I returned home and unpacked our belongings, I saw my nametag sitting on the dresser.  The word “candidate” caught my attention and I was again so grateful that I was now accepted.  But it made me think about my spiritual acceptance.  When I became a Christian, in that very moment of dependence by faith for salvation, God placed His stamp of approval on my life.  Unlike the mission board application process, I didn’t have to prove myself to God.  There was no waiting period, reference check, or interview with the board.  I didn’t have to go through a man, prove myself “good” enough, or list my character qualities.  Quite the opposite.

There was nothing I could do on my own to please God.  The Bible says that all of the good things I could ever do are just like filthy rags to God (Is. 64:6).  I can never measure up to His standard of absolute holiness and perfection.  I have missed the mark (Rom. 3:23).  But praise the Lord, Jesus Christ came and died in my place.  He exchanged my sins for His robes of righteousness, took my punishment, and gave me the right to be called a son of God.  Accepted.  Part of the family.  When God looks at me, He sees His Son Jesus Christ.  Now that is something to be excited about! 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace…”

Ephesians 1:3-7

Change Your Garment

68 months ago, I married my best friend.  That translates into five years and eight months.  It seems like forever.  And two states, four apartments, three jobs, four kids, and two home businesses later we are still in love!

My devotion book this morning shared the story of a beggar who was invitied to dine with, and then lvie with the king.  He was provided new clothing and sat at the king’s table, yet he carried his old raggedy clothing with him everywhere because he never knew when he would need them.

Of course the spiritual parallel of the story is that we have been given a change of clothing by the King of Kings at salvation.  We have been invited to dine at His table, to live in His palace, and to enjoy all of the benefits of His royalty.  He offers it all to us through Christ.  Yet we cling to our rags of the flesh, carrying around old habits and besetting sins “just in case we ever need them.”  We do not fully realize the change and transformation that has been offered to us.  I fall into this trap too many times – just not quite willing to let completely go of who I was and to fully become who I am in Christ.

As I thought on this fictional tale and its spiritual lesson, I thought of the fact that today is one of our “anniversaries” as a married couple.  My husband and I have a game to see who can remember that it is the 26th of the month, and tell the other person first.  I usually lose, but today I won.  In fact, Ben texted me to say it is a score of about 65 to 3!

Five years and eight months ago I was getting ready to say “I do” and change my life forever.  I was going to change my name, where I lived, and who I lived with.  In preparation for that important, life-changing ceremony, I changed my clothes.  I put on my best dress – a new white garment picked especially for that day. 

When I accepted Christ at salvation, my life changed spiritually – forever.  My home was changed from earth to heaven, and I was seated in heaven with Christ.  I was offered a new “dress” of purity and holiness.  Why is it that spiritually I so often refuse the new garment which has been hand-picked for me by God?  Today I want to live in my new clothes, and leave my rags behind.

Isaiah 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Zechariah 3:3-4  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.  4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Don’t Be Content

A recent post on another “Christian” blog has had me thinking for a few days.  The author was making the point that Jesus found her where she was – a single mom, trying to finish college, hoping her skinny jeans would still fit, and trying not to have hurt feelings when all of her friends are dating and she isn’t.

I don’t want to disagree with the fact that Jesus came to her where she was.  That’s what He does – He meets us where we are, in all of our sin and rags, and He offers us an exchange.  His riches and life for our sin and shame.  The beauty of the Gospel is that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  It doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 60.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve been raised in a Christian home, or if you’ve been an alcoholic.  It doesn’t matter if you’ve lived a clean life, or messed up over and over again – Jesus offers the same free gift of salvation by grace through faith to each one of us.

However, we must not be content to stay in that spot where Jesus found us.  He never intended to leave us there.  He saved us to give us something better.  To move us on.  To make us like Him.

Psalm 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

He comes to us in our pit of sin & despair, our lack of faith, and stubborn rebellion. But He moves us out of the dirt and puts our feet on the solid Rock.

Ephesians 2:1-5  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:  3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. {desires: Gr. wills}  4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Jesus finds us in our trespasses and sins, but by His love He offers us mercy and grace.  He makes us alive and saves us, so that He can complete His work in our life (vs.10).

I don’t want to be content with the level of spirituality I have now.  I don’t want to just be happy that Jesus came and met me where I am.  I don’t want to “waste” His grace by not allowing it to complete the work of transforming into the likeness of Christ.  I want to keep on the ascending plane. 

Jesus doesn’t want to leave me or you in the same wrong choices and pathway that may have led to a life of single parenting in the first place.  Jesus doesn’t want us to stay in our skinny jeans. He wants to make us into modest ladies who are adorned by their inner spirit and not the clothes that they choose. He doesn’t want me to long for something that He has chosen to give to someone else.  He wants me to find His will for my life and “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

Adorn it with Modesty

{source}

I've been reading in Titus recently.  Today as I re-read chapter 2, about the instruction which older women are to give to younger women, I was challenged.  And I was sad.  Because we don't seem to be as concerned with these characteristics anymore. 

Here are some thoughts.  As I read the characteristics in Titus 2, I realized that many of them are in real shortage today.  I may step on some toes.  But verse 15 says to speak these things. I am not claiming to be perfect on any of these areas.  We can always improve.  But I want my life...and yours...to "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things" (verse 10).  If that means that we need to change something, then so be it!

 

I have ben kind of discouraged lately by the utter lack of modesty that I find all around me.  I expect it from the world.  But I expect the church to be a safe place on this topic...a community all in agreement with God's principles of dress and modesty.  As I talk with others I find that this apparent disregard for modesty is everywhere.

 

:: Behavior that is Holy (verse 3)

This encompasses so much!  My words, my attitudes, my child rearing.  The books I read, the movies I watch.  My time management, and how much time I spend in God's Word.  And the things I wear.  Holy means set apart.  Set apart from the world and unto God.  I cannot be holy if I am blending in with the current fashions and trends in clothing.

 

:: Sober (verse 4)

Serious minded.  Not flippant.  Not foolish.  Not happy-go-lucky in all things.  But considering the serious ramifications of choices that we make.  It doesn't mean we have to be stern or grumpy or never smile.  But I do think we could use some more soberness when it comes to mothering, child-rearing {and discipline}, homemaking, and yes, even clothing.  Let's get serious about what our choices in apparel reveal about our heart.

 

:: Discreet (verse 4)

I struggle with this area.  I don't always keep secrets well.  Sometimes I say things I shouldn't...because I feel like I need to say something.  Discretion also encompasses clothing.  I selected the picture at the top of this post because I think that we could all use more discretion in how we dress.  We need to consider with each garment whether or not it will be a stumblingblock.  Will it cause a brother in Christ to struggle with his thoughts?  It's not just about pants vs. skirts, or high necklines and loose clothing. It's about discretion.  Does this dress "adorn the doctrine of Christ?"  Or does it cause me to blend in with the world?  Is it modest, and holy?  Is it discreet?

 

:: Chaste (verse 4)

This is a word we don't often use anymore.  It is defined like this:  pure in thought and act, modest.  Our clothing choices must be chaste.  Many times I blush in embarrassment for others at how much their clothing reveals.  Too many times I have to warn my husband not to look.  And it's not just in society any more.  Sadly, sometimes it is at church too.  Let's be the kind of chaste women who dress how we would want other women to dress around our husbands.  Let's start a new trend of chastity and modesty.  Let's be above reproach, "that the word of God be not blasphemed" (verse 5).  Let's give no room for someone to point a finger at us.  Let's choose to put aside our own likes or fashion desires for what God wants, and for what will benefit our Christian brothers and sisters.  Is it really such a sacrifice to give up an article of clothing that may be "on the line?"

 

I remember when I was growing up that everyone at church dressed the same way.  It was a safe place.  Everything we were doing, in an effort to line up with God's Word, was supported by a community within the church that was doing the same thing.  I didn't feel awkward in my long dresses and high necklines.  Everyone else dressed the same too.  Now it seems as if we try to "push the envelope", getting as close to the line of immodest as we can without actually stepping over.  But many times we do step over.  Let's not flirt with sin.  Let's steer clear of the line.  I think it's time to be Titus 2 women.

Be Ye Holy

So I was just talking with my mom about how we are to live differently from the world.  Several things along these lines have provoked my thinking recently, and I wanted to put them “on paper” here.

I live in Brooklyn, NY.  We have a large population of Orthodox Jewish people.  And no matter where I go in the City, I can tell when a person is Jewish.  It’s evident.  You can tell by their attire.  The men wear black suits with white shirts, and nice hats. I like their hats.  The ladies wear long skirts, stockings, and long sleeves.  Usually it’s just black and white, but sometimes they have a stripe or color in their blouse.  Many people would look and them and say “weird.”  Or “out of style.”  But they identify with their people, unashamed, and they leave no question about who they are.

How about Christians.  Can you spot them a mile away?  Can you instinctively tell when you are talking to another believer?  Sometimes.  But often I am blown away in surprise when someone tells me they are a Christian {or at least they claim to be a Christian}.

The problem is this.  They wear the same fashion as the world.  And I cannot help but blush in shame at the tight pants, immodest necklines, or short skirts that many professing Christian girls wear in public.  They listen to the same music as the world.  Their Facebook page boasts pictures from last night’s concert or talks about the latest movie they went to see.  They are pumping their minds with the same filth as the world, and any resemblance to the Christ they claim as their own is flooded out.  Overpowered.  Undistinguishable.

Gandhi said this: “I like your Christ.  I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”  So sad…but too often so true.

Then today I read Joanna Weaver’s blog post about holiness, and it summed up everything I have been thinking and wanting to say.  {You should read the entire article} She writes:

Holiness. Not a terribly popular word in Christian circles these days.

We’d rather talk about mercy and grace; the forgiveness and tenacious patience of our Father who is “not willing that any should perish.” All wonderful topics and the bedrock of our Christian faith. And yet, if we insist on seeing only a loving God we run the risk of never experiencing the power of a life-changing God.

But to stop at the cross and never enter into His resurrection and a new way of life would be a tragedy. For the same grace that saves us is also the grace that changes us. Sanctifies and purifies us. Sets us apart and makes us holy. Makes us more like Jesus and less like us.

But we have to cooperate with that grace. And therein lies the rub.

To choose holiness means we have to be willing to embrace certain limitations on our freedom. To allow certain restrictions be placed on our lives by the Holy Spirit, though we’re surrounded by others who seem to have no restrictions at all. Bottom line, if we want to be holy, we are going to have to call sin what God calls it. Missing the mark. Disobedience which not only separates us from His heart, but discredits our claims of love.

To be honest, even as I write, I’m convicted of black-and-white areas in my life which have grown gray over the years. Scruples that I used to live by which have slowly become muddied. Certain behaviors and past times I partake of that I had a strong sense of conviction against – a conviction brought by the Holy Spirit not a set of rules and bylaws. Covenantal guidelines that determined what I would watch. What I would read. Activities I would forego simply because I knew they grieved His heart and quenched His Spirit’s work in my life. Forgive me, Lord.

I don’t want to “tolerate through sympathy” with myself “any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God.” A call to holiness may not be popular right now but that doesn’t mean it is no longer valid. Though we may have changed our mind about how we should live, God hasn’t.

In my devotions I am working through a book on the Incarnation of Christ.  He was not just a likeness of God in human flesh – He was God.  Claudia Barba says “Jesus Christ, however, is much more than an approximate facsimile of God.  He is the precise, perfect likeness of His Father, reflecting and revealing Him in every way.” 

That’s what I want to be.  Not a Christian in name only, and not just similar to the One I claim as Lord of my life.  I want to live holy, so that it is stands out in crystal clarity to a dark world around me.  I want to be as close to the precise likeness of Christ that I can attain here on earth, reflecting and revealing Him in every way.

What is Inside?

I have just finished baking a beautiful pie to complement our dinner tonight.  Usually I have trouble making the crust look right, or it gets a little too brown, but this one looks just about perfect.  If I were to invite you over for dinner, and then bring my pie to the table, you would probably be licking your lips for some homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  Would you be disappointed when I told you it was a zucchini pie?

When I’m working in the kitchen my mind is usually going a hundred miles an hour faster than my hands.  So this was my thought as I made that pie…

It’s important that we are on the inside what we look like on the outside.  And vice versa.  Jesus talked about this when He was rebuking the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27.  He said,

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.” 

The idea is that these white-washed, exquisitely maintained “buildings” looked wonderful from the outside, but when you took a peek inside you found only rottenness and decay.  The Pharisees were the same – they kept up all the appearances, but there was no spiritual vitality within them.  They were still dead in trespasses and sins.

So…are you an apple pie or a zucchini pie?  Does your coworker shake his head when he discovers that you claim to be a Christian, because He knows how you really live?  Do you shy away from close relationships with other church members because they might find out you are bitter?  Are you a “good Christian girl” only at church on Sundays?

And let’s flip the coin over.  If you have Christ in your life then it should be showing.  But are you cultivating the inner relationship with Him, or only making it look like you have your devotions?  Are you really demonstrating Christ in your service and actions, or is it just puffed up self-righteousness to make you look good?

Now, sometime I will make you a zucchini pie.  In the case of my pie, you may be slightly disappointed if your taste buds were geared up for apple.  But chances are, you won’t tell the difference.  And even if you are a little disappointed, I’m sure you will still enjoy it.  Zucchini pie is “mock apple pie” but it’s still delicious. 

Just don’t let your Christian life be the “mock” version.
Let it be real…let it be Christ in you.

Just a Note on “Profanity”

I’ve been bothered a little bit lately by several people referring to God or His work in “everyday” type terminology.  The Bible calls this “profane”, that is, taking what is holy and making it common or base.

God is not common, nor base.  He is holy.  He is God.  He is separate from us and the world.

One writer referred to the new church her husband was planting and said that “this is God’s gig.”  I have often heard “God is my co-pilot” or people calling Him “Dad.”  I just think those terminologies are lowering God from who He is. 

God doesn’t have a “gig.”  He has a church, and it is amazing beyond anything that we could conceive or do.  We are privileged to be a part of it.  God isn’t my co-pilot – He is to be my pilot.  My Shepherd.  My Guide.  He doesn’t help me do things, He does them through me.  And while one of God’s names is Abba Father which could be translated as “Daddy,” I think that we should refrain from always viewing Him in that common of a relationship.  Sometimes it is very comforting to realize that God is as close as a Daddy would be, but He is so much more than that.

{I also realize that while Jesus Christ was on earth, He was made like man in every aspect, so that He can say He bore our infirmities.  There is nothing that I can experience with which He cannot empathize.  He has felt and experienced it all.  So He is like us in some respects, and that can also be a comforting fact.}

As I was meditating on this, the thought occurred to me that when we profane God by lowering Him to a common level, we are trying to make Him seem just like us.  We are trying to put God into our terms.  To confine Him in our box. 

Yet as an eternal being, God is beyond us, beyond what we can describe or define or package up.  God is trying to conform us into His image.  He is trying to make us like Himself.  Let’s stop trying to make Him seem more like us, and concentrate on becoming more like Him.

The Process of Sanctification {Personal Holiness}

1 Peter 1:13-16 
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;  14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:  15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;  16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The last night of our church’s revival meetings with Evangelist Jim VanGelderen brought this message.  It was just what I needed!

Before we can obey the command to “Be holy as God is holy,” we have to obey the commands in verses 13-14. 

1. Gird up the loins of your mind: Put off the wrong thinking so that it no longer hinders me.  Embrace right thinking.  This is a crisis.
2. Be sober: Maintain right thinking.  Just as with alcohol, do not allow the inebriation of the wrong thought processes to re-invade my thinking.  This is a condition.  This takes place when I put the word of God in my heart. 
• Memorization puts God’s Word in my brain
• Mediation puts God’s Word in my heart, as I make it second nature and use it.
3. Hope to the end for the grace: I have to live expecting God’s grace at work in my heart.  With reckless abandon, I must have this hope.
• Hope is expectant reliance on God
4. As obedient children: We are to expect the grace so that we can take steps of obedience. The attitude is “I want grace so that I can obey.”   There are 3 areas of obedience…
• Godly Appearance – Clothing.  Whatever is in your heart should be advertised on the outside.  So don’t dress like you did when you were hell-bound.  Don’t identify yourself in your clothing with pop-culture’s ideas which are anti-Biblical.  This is an insult to the Gospel.  Grace is not looking like the world – and loving it!  Grace is not about the rules.  Grace is bigger than that!
• Godly Actions – all manner of conversation.  This encompasses media choices, music, etc.
• Godly Attitudes
5. God graces me with supernatural enablement when I take steps of obedience.  Grace shows up when expect it, and in our obedience it enables us.  Grace loves to obey God even if all the other Christians aren’t.  It’s not about doing what other Christians say is okay – it’s about obeying God’s Word.

So the process of personal holiness is this:

Reject wrong thinking
Embrace right thinking
Put God’s Word in my heart
Expect grace
Take steps of obedience
God graces me

Lessons from the Sun

I use cloth diapers, and I like to hang them out on the clothesline to dry.  The sun’s rays are a natural way to kill bacteria, and bleach out any stains that there may be.  Recently, I was hanging the diapers out on the line and Elaine (2 years old) was “helping” me.  To answer her questions, I tried to make things as simple as possible.

“We put the diapers outside so the sun can make them all clean and white.”  That answer was good enough for Elaine!  As she repeated the words I had just said (she always repeats what we say), I was reminded of a simple but profound truth.  Something I already knew before.  Something I need to practice on a daily basis.

Just as the sun bleaches my diapers, killing the bad bacteria, and leaving them sparkling white, so the Son of God washes my heart.  He forgives and removes the sin, making me white as snow.

1 John 1:7-9  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

I must come to the Son and let Him cleanse me and wash me from my sin.  I must do it every time I sin.  If I am to be a vessel fit for the Master’s use, I must be clean and sin-free.

2 Timothy 2:20-21  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.  21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

Warning: Don’t Fall Back

When I was in college one of my dormmates had this quote taped to her top dresser drawer.  It said, “Keep on the ascending plane.”  There is no stagnancy or standing still in the Christian life.  We are either ascending, achieving victory through Christ, or we are back sliding. 

At the end of the book of Joshua, the aged man of God issues a warning to the people of Israel.  He was concerned that since they had achieved a measure of victory (though the job of possessing the land was far from completed), they would forget the LORD.  Joshua didn’t want Israel to turn their back on the God who had given them this victory and this land.  He didn’t want them to look aside at the heathen nations and start to worship false gods.

I think he was very concerned about the possibility of Israel backsliding, because he issued several warnings against it in the last two chapters of the book of Joshua.  And he was justified in his concern, because the book of Judges illustrates the cycle of victory and defeat and idolatry that Israel experienced.

:: 23:3  And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you.

::  23:5-8  And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you.  6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; Joshua. 7 That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:  8 But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.

::  23:11-13  Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. 12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:  13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.

:: 24:14-15  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.  15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

:: 24:19-20  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.  20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

:: 24:23-24  Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.  24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

“Keep on the ascending plane”

Profane not the LORD

Leviticus 18:21 “… neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 19:8  because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD:

Leviticus 19:12  And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 20:3  And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

Leviticus 21:6  hey shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

Leviticus 21:12   Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 21:23  Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

Leviticus 22:2   Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 22:9  They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

Leviticus 22:15  And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;

Leviticus 22:32  Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,

ll;x' {khaw-lal'} = Meaning:  1) to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, to treat as common

I think that God was serious when He said that we are not to profane His name or His holy things, or that which He has hallowed/sanctified.  Which makes me think…Christians are in the process of this thing we call sanctification.  It is a work of the Holy Spirit, to make us more like the image of Christ.  So if God is sanctifying me, as a person, then I am not to profane myself.  I am to walk circumspectly (Eph. 5:15) and not conform myself to the world (Rom. 12:2).  We just studied this in BSF last week from John 15.  The world will hate Christians as it hated Christ.  Why?  Because we do not belong to the world.  We are not to be like the world…even to win them to Christ.  James 1:27 states that “pure religion…[is] unspotted from the world.”  Anytime I let a little bit of the world…even just a speck of dust or a touch of dirt…profane my life as a Christian, I am hurting Christ and hurting the reputation of my God – the LORD, the self-existing one.  These are just the references to profaning the LORD.  I must be more careful – not to let a bad word, an evil or hateful thought, a selfish desire, an unkind word or action, defile and profane me as the sanctified of the Lord.  For when I am profane, then I have profaned Him as well, for I bear His name.

And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.  24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. 26  And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.  (Leviticus 20:23-24,26  )