Who are "the people" referred to here that "He loves"? Who are "Your holy ones" identified as being "in Your hand"? Well, the answer lies in two clues about their behavior that sets them apart: "they followed in Your steps" and "receives of Your words". They are the ones who listen and obey.I read a report produced by The Barna Group titled, "The Concept of Holiness Baffles Most Americans". Normally I wouldn't be too concerned about a poll of "Americans" because that implies a mixture of both Believers and non-Believers alike, meaning that I would expect the views of non-Believers to deviate from those of Believers in a combined poll. However, it's this mixture that IS alarming since on this point there is virtually no mathematical difference between the views of either group! The responses of born again and non-born again adults are virtually identical. When asked to provide a definition of holiness, the most common answer was "I don't know", followed by a wide array of answers. Only 35% responded that "God expects you to become holy", meaning that most don't believe it's even really an important issue.

The report offers some opinions as to what this might mean, but considering the fact that the Bible is becoming less and less important to those who call themselves Christian, I'm not at all surprised to learn of a measurable disconnect between the group and the biblical teaching of holiness. Combine this with the fact that in America there is no statistical difference in the behavior and moral underpinnings of those who attend church and those that don't, it's really not hard to understand that greatly de-emphasizing—if not outright dropping—God's Word is a necessary step towards enabling one to act any way they choose. Without God's Word, one is not presented with the standards of being wholly separated and exclusively devoted — i.e. "holy" — to God.

The demand for holiness carries over into the New Testament as well.

Lord, that we would be an example to everyone of your holiness, the product of receiving Your Word and following in Your steps, so that we will become Your exclusive and dedicated possession, rid of all ties to this world, exclusively bound to You._††_†

Well, the odds are that if you subscribe to this journal or read it regularly that you are "in the choir" as far as what I would "preach" concerning this passage. People who regularly visit web sites focused on the topic of "Bible study" are probably not the most fertile ground for a sermon on "Why I need to study the Bible." So here's the deal: We need to get the word out about the Word.

To be sure, the woes of the church today can be traced to multiple sources, but I believe the chief one is the lack of concern with God's Word. One of the characteristics of people who call themselves "Christian" and even "Evangelical" is that only a tiny percentage are consistently spending time in the Word. In fact, a greater percentage every year confess that they actually don't believe in absolute truth. The activity of "church" and the identification of the label "Christian" is growing less and less attached to the Bible.

So it's up to us, however few we may be. WE'RE the ones who at every opportunity need to bring attention to the fact that "it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life". God's repeated message throughout the Bible is that restoration and revival come about only through a recommitment to His Word. The sooner we facilitate that recommitment, the sooner we'll see restoration and revival. We have the duty to communicate that God's Word is not merely a "personal" choice but "corporate" survival._††_†

With absolutely no apologies, I will categorically state that I believe one of the most debilitating diseases to hit the church—at least in North America, anyways—is political correctness. It's "offensive" to discuss Christianity, faith, or Christ according to this standard, but showing "tolerance" to discuss all other religions, beliefs, and deities. It's a very clever spiritual campaign to induce silence and suppress the Gospel which, in the past, could only be accomplished by war and outright physical persecution. Satan has found an effective way to keep Christians from even preparing for battle much less actually engaging in it.

"Do not be afraid or tremble at them". What are we afraid of? In fact, WHY are we afraid in the first place? These are people without the Gospel, people whose future is the second death in hell; we should at least PITY them if not outright love them enough to act beyond the constrictions of political correctness they're trying to employ. How well have you considered that they're ultimately on the losing side?

"The Lord your God is the one who goes with you". We're not on our own but accompanied by the Creator, Ruler, and King of the universe. There is no greater power that can go with us.

"He will not fail you or forsake you". God doesn't just win the overall battle, He stays with us personally throughout, never leaving us alone, even in the face of political correctness or anything harsher into which it may evolve. He provides both personal and corporate victory and security over those trying to dissuade us.

Lord, that I would be strong and courageous, that I would not fear them, that I would trust in Your abiding and victorious presence and might in order to love these enough to overcome the stricture of political correctness to convey Your Truth and Love._††_†

There are false religions that have as a part of their beliefs the need to make a journey to find what is being sought, whether a pilgrimmage to a specific place or just for the purpose of the journey itself. Their belief is that the truth is nowhere to be found except on those journeys or to those places. Not so with the kingdom of God, for His Word has come to us and been made plainly and easily accessible.

This is also a tool of false teachers, to contend that the Bible is not enough, that we need something additional, something usually only they can provide or show the way to. They create the illusion that something else is needed, that an alternate journey is required to make one's faith complete. Don't listen to such; in fact, run away from them as fast as you can because "the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart".

Whenever we undertake an additional journey—most often to a difficult physical or spiritual place—we are, in reality, traveling AWAY from the place we need to be, sometimes even the place we already KNOW to be the right destination. But deception and disobedience are overcome by the same remedy: Embracing God's Word. It's "not too difficult…nor is it out of reach". But it's almost a sure thing that in those things we struggle with most that we have purposely chosen a wide, indirect path away from His Word concerning that matter.

The resolution for such matters is only as far away as your reach for your Bible, and as willing as you are to "observe it"._††_†

On the one hand, God has not revealed everything to us; on the other hand, He has revealed all that we need to know.

The problem experienced by many who engage in the pursuit to "fill in the blanks" of everything that God is going to do—either in the course of this life, the End Times, or eternity to come—is that it is often marked by disregard for what has already been revealed. The truly wise in God will "observe all the words of this law", seeking to obey what IS known even if it means forsaking the pursuit of what is not. I think this applies not just to issues of the future but to such things as how the universe was created and any of a myriad of "incomplete" subjects that can arrest our intellect. The correct biblical approach is to fill in the gaps with faith and obedience.

We should not be so eager to pursue the mysteries of God as to embrace what has already been revealed, because faith and obedience to what has already been given is all we need in order to be prepared for "the secret things"._††_†

Until the events of the End Times take place, these people will have witnessed the most spectacular signs and wonders performed by God Himself in the course of bringing them out of Egypt. And yet they were largely deaf, blind, and hardened of heart when it came to being spiritually changed because of them. That they could witness and live in the shadow of these signs and wonders is a greater "miracle", if you will—a testimony to the condition of their hardened heart and lack of faith. And yet there was a whole second set of signs and wonders they experienced each and every day for 40 years that failed to make an impresion as well: God's feeding and clothing of them, His taking care of all their physical needs with practically no effort required on their part. They didn't just fail to see the "big" picture, but the smaller, everyday testimonies as well.

The purpose of the daily, "small" miracles of meeting the Israelites' needs was supposed to produce the result, "that you might know that I am the Lord your God". Because they were continually stubborn in coming to this realization from the heart, signs and wonders neither big nor small could change them. You see, it's possible to acknowledge that God is the authority responsible for a sign or wonder without actually submitting ourselves to His authority.

So why do we sometimes yearn for a "big" sign or wonder when we, too, continue to ignore the daily miracles of God's provision for us? It's almost like we're completely dismissing God's presence by ignoring His daily blessings while simultaneously demanding, "Why don't You show Yourself!" As the Israelites demonstrated, if we don't accept and acknowledge Him in the everyday miracles of His provision for us, neither will we be transformed by the appearance of a "big" sign or wonder. It's the heart that has to be transformed into His throne before we derive any kind of benefit of His work on any level great or small.

Lord, soften my heart that I might bend the knee of my heart to You in the daily quest to fully and truly know that YOU are my Lord and God._††_†

What is supposed to be the defining characteristic of the church? Whether someone's a Believer or not, how can they recognize for sure that an individual, group, or entire movement is truly "a people for the Lord"? I believe the Bible teaches that it's evidenced by behavior, the degree to which obedience to God's Word has been allowed to change them according to His will and ways, completely forsaking their own.

I don't think we can confidently answer this question by examination of their doctrine alone. Even if someone states all the right things, and yet does not live according to them, they are not truly "a people for the Lord". The proof lies in the two actions identified in these verses, "obey the Lord your God, and do His commands". These are the marks of genuiness and spiritual credibility. Every inspirational spiritual role model who has crossed my path has presented a living example of a life committed to putting into practice God's ways in parallel to forsaking their own. What they say is backed up by how they live.

But how do the spiritual giants do it? Are they just simply more disciplined than everyone else? Are they born with a genetic predisposition the rest of us are missing? No, I think these verses highlight something that they do regularly that reinforces one's desire to be ever increasingly obedient: "Be silent and listen, O Israel!" Yes, they actually shut up and listen.

Before we can properly focus on being obedient to God's Word, we have to begin with properly focusing on God Himself. Every example of a biblical character who came into the presence of God responded by acknowledging Him and falling silent in worship before Him. They were true listeners, acknowledging not just the Truth of the message but the divine and sovereign Source of the message as well. I think that to "become a people for the Lord your God" requires the initial step to "be silent and listen" that we might be transformed by the very Author Himself. Maybe the church appears to be in so much trouble today because they're too busy talking and carrying on themselves, that this simple yet critical step is being overlooked._††_†

The evidence of our faith and belief in God is in the degree to which we change our behavior to "walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice". According to His Word and His Word alone we walk, keep, and listen. And what does He confirm from His end? That we "should keep all His commandments". It's not just something we voluntarily undertake as a new creation in Christ, it's a continuing requirement to which He requires our vigilant adherence. It's not just something we offer, it's required. "His ways", "His statutes", "His commandments", "His ordinances", and "His voice". How is it that we come to tolerate OTHER ways, rules, and guidance?

The end result of following through in these things is that we "shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your God". We will be "the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13), "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14), "a city on a hill" (Matthew 5:14), the "light to all" (Matthew 5:15). If we don't seem to be the people of God that we know we should be, the odds are that to the degree that our obedience falls short, we fail to "be a consecrated people".

We have to follow through what He said with what WE said, so that our obedience would indeed result for us to "be His people, a treasured possession"._††_†

We have either experienced personally or know first-hand of someone who has begun the journey on the road to a personal relationship with Christ only to end up somewhere else, far off-course from that originally intended. Sometimes it's obvious that a conscience choice was made at some point to simply leave the path—what the Bible often refers to as "turning to the right or the left"—other times it's not so obvious, seeming to have occurred by going off-course by tiny increments so as not to abruptly notice that the path has eventually been left. This is an especially delicate discussion in trying to determine why a person, ministry, or even entire spiritual movement appears to have begun legitimately and derived its source from God, but later mutates into something else, something eventually and obviously no longer of God. What went wrong? How can we avoid making such mistakes ourselves?

A common scenario is that it starts out pure, but along the way begins to allow something else to be added to it, something NOT pure. As it continues to increasingly mix the impure with the pure, it all eventually stinks. This is not just true of earthly, physical things, but even more so of the spiritual. The definition of "heresy" is to take truth and lay it alongside error. There may be some truth, but once it's mixed with error the whole result is deadly wrong. Or as Jesus stated in Matthew 6:25, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other."

The essence of a successful spiritual relationship is sanctification, the pursuit of being wholly and exclusively devoted to Christ and absolutely no other. We don't sow any other doctrine but His alone. We don't build working relationships with any but our fellow workers for His kingdom. We are clearly identified as those whose clothes have been washed and cleansed in His blood, not sharing in the corruption and decay of this present world. The path whose course veers an inch at a time from the main road begins with small, minute allowances of earthly elements to be mixed with the heavenly until it leads to and becomes something else entirely.

We're not entirely blind to this process. The fact that we're struggling with an area is the notice the Spirit is giving us that we're allowing error to become an equal partner with truth. We're allowing earthly philosophies to mix with sound biblical doctrine, allowing ourselves to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, attempting to mix the treasures of heaven with the material desires of earth, or any combination thereof. We struggle because we're allowing an unhealthy mixing to occur. The question that presents itself is what we're going to do to no longer tolerate the mixture.

_††_†

There are two basic flavors of false prophets—those who claim spiritual insight, knowledge, and power through some entity other than the One True God, and those who falsely claim such as coming in His name. One attempts to exalt a false god to overtake the place of God, the other to exalt themselves in His place. In either case, the defining biblical characteristic is that they speak "presumptuously".

The root of this word is "to boil" or "to seethe". It describes someone who is acting out of uncontrolled pride and rebellion with a dash of arrogance. At their core, false prophets are people who have issues of unresolved and misaddressed pride and anger so that they seek to set aside the authority over them. They're engaged in a personal battle fueled by their raging pride to place themselves higher than the object of their anger. It's somewhat ironic that at the center of their being they are angry with and rebelling against God, but often disguise their actions in His name to hide this conflict of interest.

This does not mean that every person that is overly passionate or emotional is a false prophet. The test is not according to feelings or visible affectations but according to their message, whether he "speaks in the name of other gods" or something "in the name of the Lord…which the Lord has not spoken". We are not to allow our eyes to distract our ears and will know the difference if we stick to evaluating their words.

You see, it does not matter whether or not people are being healed by Benny Hinn; he is a false prophet because of the many times the things he's spoken have not come true. He is betrayed by his words. I know that there are ongoing investigations into him and others to determine if the signs and wonders claimed to have been done in Christ's name are real or not, but that's not the actual test—it's whether or not the message which accompanies their works is the Truth and nothing but God's Truth._††_†