In this portion of the Scripture we find significant truths taught by Jesus to His disciples in what is widely known as \u201cThe sermon on the mount\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0 In the text Jesus says that we the Church are the light and the salt of the earth.\u00a0 As salt God uses His Church to combat the rottenness<\/b> and wickedness<\/b> that sin has brought into the world. As \u00a0the Salt of the earth, we are called upon by God to retain our unique relationship with Him admist a world of people who don\u2019t want to believe that He even exists.<\/p>\n
As salt we are not supposed to lose our unique place in this world, because other folks won\u2019t or don\u2019t believe in our God.\u00a0 Just as salt impacts every thing that it comes in contact with, so should our lives make an impact upon everything that we come in contact with.\u00a0 Our influence here in this world, in this country, in this city , in this community, and certainly in our very homes should be a unchanging<\/b> ever present<\/b> force for God and for good.<\/p>\n
Those of us who have received the impartation of the Holy Spirit ought to in turn be able to make an undeniable impact upon the world.\u00a0 The impartation we have received should give us the ability to influence the world for God and for good!\u00a0\u00a0 I want to encourage you today to allow the Lord to continue to make you<\/b> what He created you to be.\u00a0 Ye are the salt of the earth<\/b>!<\/p>\n
\u00a0For salt to do what it does best there are two things that have to happen<\/b>.\u00a0 First, the salt be at full potency!<\/strong>\u00a0 Or as Jesus puts it, \u201c ..but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?\u201d\u00a0 Salt is unmistakable in its nature<\/b> and insoluble<\/b> even when mixed with the most pervasive of solvents.\u00a0 In other words, salt cannot easily be watered down.\u00a0 You can put just a pinch of salt in a glass of water and the taste of the salt permeates the entire glass.\u00a0 Put enough of it in anything and it will literally take over and overpower\u00a0 the very thing that it is placed in. \u00a0We need to have the pervasiveness of salt and the penetrating power of salt in this world that God has placed us in.\u00a0\u00a0 We need to posess the unchanging nature that is salt for that is the source of its real power.\u00a0\u00a0 When Jesus uses salt as a metaphor for the Church He is describing for us the very special nature that the Church ought to have.<\/p>\n \u00a0A Christian who makes no impact on the world in which he or she lives is like salt that has lost its savor!\u00a0 As Christians in the midst of a sin laden, and sin filled world, we are designed by God to be the<\/b> salt, the catalyst for change in the world even as we like salt overcome the world, so we need to live and work in this world, but we also need to relax and a virtual girlfriend like undeadem<\/a> online can help with this.<\/p>\n Yes, Smokey Robinson, there are some sad things known to man, but there is not too much sadder than a Christian who has lost His savor, or potency<\/b>!\u00a0 A Christian with out power is as useful as the finest lamp with no power to operate it!\u00a0 A Christian without power is as useful as a sail without wind!\u00a0\u00a0 The reason that many Christians have no power can be summed up in one word worldliness!\u00a0\u00a0 We are warned many times in the Scriptures to guard against worldliness.<\/p>\n 1 John 2:14-16\u00a0 King James Version (KJV)<\/p>\n 14\u00a0<\/sup>I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.<\/p>\n 15\u00a0<\/sup>Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.<\/p>\n 16\u00a0<\/sup>For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.<\/p>\n Titus 2:11-13 King James Version (KJV)<\/p>\n 11\u00a0<\/sup>For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,<\/p>\n 12\u00a0<\/sup>Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;<\/p>\n 13\u00a0<\/sup>Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;<\/p>\n We cannot change the world if we allow the world to set the standard for our faith and practice.\u00a0\u00a0 The more that the Church conforms to the ways of the world the less power we will have to change it.\u00a0\u00a0 That is why the Scriptures tells us in Romans 12:1-3, <\/b>12\u00a0\u201cI beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.\u00a0 2\u00a0<\/sup>And be not conformed to this world<\/b>: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.\u201d<\/p>\n For salt to do what it does best the second thing that has to happen is that is must be placed in or on that which it is expected to change.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Or another way of saying it is that the salt is no good if left in the salt shaker.\u00a0\u00a0 It must come out of the salt shaker and placed on to the meat!\u00a0\u00a0 It has to be intricately and intimately mixed with that it is designed to change.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is why we as Christians must NOT shun the world entirely, but why we must wholeheartly seek to be\u00a0 IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Being in the world means that we seize each and every opportunity to influence those that are in the world for God.\u00a0\u00a0 It is not a matter of forcing our views or values upon others<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a matter of simply holding true to our views and values as directed by God. \u00a0He is the source of our power, and the source of our ability to effect change in this world.\u00a0\u00a0 We can do nothing of ourselves, but with Him we can do mighty things even to the pulling down of strongholds.<\/p>\n Being out of the shaker, means when whe leave the comfort of the four walls of our churches,\u00a0 we remain\u00a0 true to our nature as salt, by NOT allowing the world to change who and what we are.\u00a0\u00a0 It isn\u2019t about preaching and lecturing people about how they should live.\u00a0\u00a0 It is about living a life so clear, open and honest that your life becomes a sermon and message that cannot be denied.<\/p>\n Salt does not have to try and be salt, it just is salt<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Salt doesn’t need to prove to others that it is salt.\u00a0 It just is salt.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need try to be world changers,\u00a0 we by our very nature are world changers<\/strong>.\u00a0 Eph 2:9:10 says this,\u00a0 \u201cFor we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.\u201d And Titus 3:8 reminds us,\u00a0 \u201cThis is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.\u201d<\/p>\n I want to encourage you today to allow the Lord to continue to make you<\/b> what He created you to be.\u00a0 Ye are the salt of the earth<\/b>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0John 8:12 Matthew 5:14-16 In this portion of the Scripture we find significant truths taught by Jesus to His disciples in what is widely known as \u201cThe sermon on the mount\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0 In the text Jesus says that we the Church … Continue reading