Wake Up Call
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Romans 13:12 NASB
Cast off – In the English language, we have only two “voices” (a grammatical term) – active or passive. But in Greek, there is a third voice, called the middle voice. The middle voice signifies a special interest in the speaker about the action described. In other words, whatever the action is, it is being done for self-interest. The action has a special effect on the subject. Today’s word, cast off, is found in the Greek New Testament only in the middle voice. Whenever this word is used to describe an action, it is always an action that has particular personal significance. It is an action that someone does for himself and on his own behalf. This word comes from two Greek words – apo meaning “from” and tithemi meaning “to put in place”. Literally, the word means to remove from its place.
Paul tells us to WAKE UP! The night is gone. The day is approaching. Get up and throw off those old habits and connections to the darkness that infected you. Get rid of them, just like you would throw away the hospital garments you wore when you were deathly ill in the bed. Now you are healed. Now you are clean. Those old things carry a disease that will kill you. So, give them the heave-ho. Do it now, today, for yourself. Put on something new and alive. Throw off the old dead stuff and get going. It’s up to you!
God can cast away your guilt. In fact, He is the only one who can do that. But God cannot cast off your past works of darkness. They are yours, not His, and you must determine what to do with them. You are entirely free to let them go since they no longer hold you with the power of shame and guilt. But you must decide. God will not remove them for you. You are not a child who needs to be dressed and undressed. You are a citizen of the Kingdom. You have the authority, the power and the purpose of removing what once held you captive. God has opened the jail door but you must walk out.
Yeshua preached the favorable year of the Lord (Luke 4:19), but the day of wrath is coming. It inevitably comes. The death and resurrection of the Son guarantees its coming. That’s why the night is far spent. Outside that jail cell is the light, waiting to embrace you. The shackles are gone, the door has burst open. Why do you sit in the corner recounting your sins?
Topical Index: Romans 13:12, cast off, apotithemi
Ours is no passive faith. Faith is active and we are participants or “laborers” together with G-d.
Once we realize and recognize our Sovereign and compassionate ABBA is actively “working” in each of ours lives, life changes radically and dramatically.
The challenges-trials-sorrows-afflictions we encounter with each passing day no longer are considered to be random events, but rather through the good hands of our Father who works all things after the counsel of His good will to conform us into the image of the Son, give us a new perspective, a new revelatory light- these “events” are not random, but instead are purposeful.
YHWH is “exercising” our spiritual muscles, and yes, “no pain- no gain.” Nothing, absolutely nothing is random. G-d is Sovereign in all that He says or does. Nothing is wasted.
~ Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost ~ (John 6.12) Why? Because G-d “wastes” nothing!- Never again will I have, never again will you have -a “wasted” day! G-d is intricately and intimately involved with every single detail (including the hairs of our heads) of each of our lives and has been since the day we each were conceived in the womb. The Hebrew word for this is “wow!”
* Apotithemi: Literally, the word means to remove from its place.* And friends- the word *amaze* also means -to remove from its place!. -I believe we might be moving in a little closer- or up a little higher to “amazing grace!”
~ Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you! ~ (1 Peter 5.7)
Skip, you always write from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For the last few months, the Lord has used your daily message to speak to me a very specific message intimately related to my relationship with my fiancé, John (we were high school friends whom the Lord has reunited 40 years later). This morning very early, on the day of our wedding, I woke up and started praying that the Spirit of God would speak to me whatever He wanted me to hear for this day. Then I decided to check my email before praying further, in case our officiant had any last minute questions or instructions. I saw the title of your message and knew it was, once again, Yeshua speaking to my prayer. Thank you for writing what the Lord wants to say and nothing else. Your agenda does not spill into your writings, blurring and polluting the message like a leaky pen. Because of that, I have been able to receive the Lord’s word for me each day, with miraculous results in my life: beauty for ashes. Bless you for your humble faithfulness.
Dear Skip:this is only to thank you and encourage you in your teaching of God’s word. I’m going through a very hard, painful, heart wrenching time finding out secrets of my childhood and in that happening, I’m also finding how deep satan depravity and how deep a human being can fall when following the desires of the flesh and how immense and faithful and continuing God’s mercy compassion and patience is. Today’s word was so timely and so tender that I know that I know that my choices have to be decided according to God,s word and not according to what was instill in me because of not having godly people around me when I was growing up.I thank God for your sensitivity to the leading of The Holy Spirit and your obedience to it, may the Lord bless you a thousand times more than He has bless me. In His love.