Midweek Message from the Archive (the right one)
You may have noticed I reposted the Blessing. Sorry about that.
This is the correct post for today from the Archive.
Blameless
“Don’t blame me!” How often have you said that to someone? We constantly want to deflect guilt away from ourselves; especially when we’re innocent and sometimes when we’re not. Either way, we desire to be without blame.
As we continue through Eph. 1:3-14 we come to the phrase ‘holy and blameless’. I wrote on holiness last Friday and now I want to discuss being blameless. The Greek word means to be without fault or guilt. You can probably see where Paul was going. He was reminding himself that God desires us to be found not guilty in any charges the devil may try to bring against us. And never forget, when you are down, Satan will not give you merciful thoughts, he’ll kick you in the groin with accusations.
Paul isn’t referring to our justification or righteousness in these verses. He is sending out an encouragement to pull down from heaven that spiritual blessing or benefit from the heavenly places that allows us to to be above God’s disapproval or before Him in our everyday life. It’s a gift of the Holy Spirit to be able to walk blamelessly. It isn’t gained through our own willpower or strength but by His power and strength. When we try to do what’s right in our own power, we fail. But when we ask for His help, we succeed with unimaginable strength.
Now, we can easily put ourselves in situations that tempt us. That’s not smart and makes it very difficult to walk blameless or innocent in His sight. It’s much smarter to stay away from temptation and the ways of the world that would draw us into sin. Sometimes we simply have to fight the good fight of faith in our minds and actions so that we don’t disappoint the One Who gave His life as a ransom for us.
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:15 NLT)
Sin brings shame, disgrace, and guilt but the Holy Spirit is in you and He will help you stay in opposition to it. You know in your heart what sin easily trips you up; stay away from it! Leading a morally blameless life takes a strong desire, that’s for sure. However, God hasn’t left us alone to try to walk in His ways; we have the Spirit of God. I know I don’t want to disappoint God; I want Him to approve of my life. He’s coming back soon, you know. Many of the verses that mention ‘blameless’ also mention The Day of the Lord.
I pray this over you from Jerusalem on this faithful Friday:
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 NLT)