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MEASURE UP FOR THE NEW YEAR
We are entering a brand new
year, never before used or
entered
into. We can only know what is ahead as God reveals it to us.
We do have limited vision into
the future as we study His Word.
One thing we can depend on...God
is faithful. We know that each
day will have twenty-four hours and the seasons will continue;
time will be measured until eternity arrives. This would be a good
time for us to see just how we measure up against God’s standard.
If we are less than the 'full stature of Christ,' this new year
would be a good time to make necessary corrections.
"for the edifying of the body of
Christ, till we all come to the
unity
of the faith and the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a perfect
man,
to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ"
(Ephesians 4:11).
Have you noticed how much we
must rely on 'measurements'?
Our clothes and shoes have sizes
which we match with our
measurements if they are to fit.
If you build a house, the
blueprint
has measurements for every room
and area. When you travel, you
look for road signs that tell
you how close you are getting to
your
destination which is
measured by miles. You bought
enough fuel for
your car to get
you there by the gallon which
was measured at the
pump to tell
you how much to pay for it. We
schedule work and
pleasure by
measuring time. We just can’t
get away from
measurements. They
are everywhere.
God has measurements too. In
fact he established them to
begin
with. Sure, we humans have done
the calculations to determine
how to measure things, but they
were there all the time. We only
discovered them; we didn’t
invent them. God has drawn up
some
very specific measurements, and
we can find them in His Word.
If there is a fitting problem it
lies with us. We just don’t want
to
do what is necessary to 'measure
up' to the 'full stature of
Christ.'
It will cost us something, it will take more effort than we are
committed
to make. God doesn’t give up on
us though. He just
keeps His measurements before us and keeps reminding us to
reach for the 'stature of the
fullness of Christ.'
While visiting friends in a
western state, I went to a Farm
Bureau
meeting with them. The
Bureau gave out 'four-foot
yardsticks.' It
has come in handy many times
when measuring to see if a piece
of
furniture would fit in
another spot in the room, etc.,
but I have to
keep in mind that the distance
measured is four feet, not
three.
If I used the stick as a
standard, I would be altering
the
measurements. Commercial
measures are standardized. They
have
to be;
otherwise, we would never know
if what we are buying is
what we really want or not.
My sister recently bought a
refrigerator. They measured the
height
under the cabinet where
it would sit but forgot to
measure the width.
When the
refrigerator was delivered, they
discovered that it was
too wide for the space and had
to alter one of the cabinets to
make
it fit. It is important that we take accurate measurements when
buying carpet for the home,
fabric for sewing and just about
everything else in our lives.
What if measurements were not
standardized? You could buy a
'gallon' of milk and end up with three quarts. You could buy a
pair of size eight shoes and find out when you get home with them
that one is a seven and one is a
nine. There are some things that
can be substituted. In fact, I
have a chart in my kitchen that
tells
me I can substitute certain ingredients for others and arrive at the
same
results in my cooking and
baking, but even they have
measurements. To achieve the
desired results, I have to
adhere to
the chart and use correct
measurements. Need I say more!
Standardization of measurements
is absolutely necessary.
"I am the Lord your God; Walk in
My statutes, keep My
judgments, and do them" (Ezekiel
20:19 NKJV).
The 'fullness of Christ' means
to be like Him with no empty
spaces.
Spaces not filled with
His fullness are traps for enemy
invasion.
Several years ago at
Kentucky Camp Meeting in
Lexington a little
girl sang a song that said, 'Don’t let the Devil ride; he’ll want to
drive.' His aim is drive us,
fill empty spaces and control
us. The
only safety we have is to be
filled with the Spirit. Satan
has no
defense against the Blood of
Jesus and the power of the Holy
Spirit. "He who is in us is
greater than he who is in the
world"
(1 John 4:4 NKJV). Growth is
progressive. We are constantly
being expanded to be able to
contain the fullness of Christ.
As
we walk in His Light, more Light
is given and our capacity to
contain His Truth is increased.
We can’t measure ourselves by
someone else’s 'four-foot
yardstick.' The measuring device
for the fullness of Christ is
His
Word. Any other standard will
give a false measure. Any
prophesy,
any inspiration that
cannot be accurately measured by
God’s
Word must be disregarded. God
will never contradict His Word;
He will uphold His Truth and it
will stand forever.
I am about five feet, four and a
half inches tall. If I were to
use
my four-foot yardstick to
measure my height and considered
it to
be the standard three foot
measuring device, I would only
be a
little over four feet tall. I
can’t measure myself by someone
else’s
calling and anointing. My
calling and anointing fit me,
because that
is what God gave me to do. The
Body of Christ has many parts
and each part is essential to
the Body to achieve 'fullness of
the stature of Christ.'
"Now you are the body of Christ,
and members individually"
(1 Corinthians 12:27).
God has proportionately measured
each individual member of
His body to be perfectly joined
together for the good of the
whole
and for His glory, and He has done so in a 'more excellent way'
(1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1)...
the way of Love. God’s standard
measure is Love. He IS Love; it
is His very essence. We can
never
come
to the measure of the
fullness of Christ without that
one standard...LOVE. Love lets
us see how necessary other
members
in the Body are and to appreciate their uniqueness and importance.
"that there be no schism in the
body, but that the members
should
have the same care for one
another"
(1 Corinthians 12:25 NKJVK).
We are all of equal importance
according to God’s measure. Let
us walk in Love to reach the
'stature of the fullness of
Christ.'
Love is God’s standard measure,
and we must adapt ours to His
which will always be true and
accurate.
"Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy; love does
not
parade itself, is not puffed
up; does not behave itself
rudely, does
not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice
in iniquity, but rejoices in the
truth; bears all things,
believes
all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.~~"
"Love never fails" (1
Corinthians 13: 4-8 NKJV).
A great way to begin this new
year would be to get out God’s
measuring device 'His Word' and
apply it to ourselves, set a
goal to reach the "stature of
the fullness of Christ" and
lovingly
encourage and help
others to do the same.
Delores Adams
Copyrighted. All rights
reserved.
December 30, 2003
Alice's Legacy
Remembering Alice
The
"Handkerchief" has been anointed
and prayed over by several
believers who care about you and want to help you realize your full
potential in Christ Jesus Our
Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
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