Gloria Copeland - Be a Vessel of Honor

Be a Vessel of Honor

Allowing God's Glory to Shape Your Life

You and I live in an amazing time. It is a time of great spiritual light...and a time of great spiritual darkness.

Today Christians have more revelation of the Word of God than any other generation that has ever lived. Yet the world around us is growing more evil every day. Evidence of it is everywhere. If you turn on the evening news, you'll hear one report after another of awful things people have done to one anotherand sometimes it's what they have done to one of their own family members.

It seems that people today even applaud evil. If you flip through the TV channels, you're sure to come across a talk showand you have to wonder where they find people who talk about the things they do! These talk shows cover all kinds of depraved topics. And when they get the most depraved, that's when the audience claps the most!

How are we as believers supposed to live in the midst of such evil? God's instructions are very clear: "Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from

it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be" (1 Thessalonians 5:22, The Amplified Bible).

Abstain from evil. That means don't participate in it, don't watch it, don't feed on it, have nothing to do with it. As born-again believers, we are not children of the dark. We are children of the light. We've been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13). We have no business participating in evil. We have to turn entirely away from it.

First Thessalonians 5 goes on to say:

And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [ fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you] (verses 23-24, The Amplified Bible).

You and I are to be devoted to the Lord. He is calling us to Himself. He is calling us to be separated from evil and profane things, and to be consecrated and devoted to Him.

God wants us to be holyand 1 Corinthians 3:1617 says it this way, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile [or destroy] the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy."

The "temple" in this scripture is your body. And according to this verse, our bodies are to be holy.

To be holy means to be set apart, to be separated unto something and separated from something else. Recently, as I was thinking about that, I was, reminded of something else in the Word that God calls holythe tithe. Suddenly, I realized that our bodies are much like the tithe!

The Bible teaches us that the tithe is devoted (just like God wants us to be). That means it has been set aside for God. It's a holy thing. It's set apart for God's use. If you're a believer and in covenant with God, every time you increase, 10 percent of that increase is holy. If you don't tithe, that 10 percent still belongs to God and the Bible says you are robbing God.

The Hebrew word in Scripture that means devoted, charman , actually means "devoted to destruction." So a person's tithe can be devoted to God or to destruction. If they give it to God, it becomes devoted to Him. If they keep it, and rob Him of it, it becomes devoted to

Now, in the light of that, let's read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 again: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile [or destroy] the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy."

Just like the tithe, your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, is holy. And just like if you withhold the tithe it will be devoted to destruction, if you defile your body it will be on a course for destruction as well.

If you don't keep your body the way you should, by obeying God, your body will begin to destruct. This is the law of sowing and reaping in action. The more a person takes drugs, drinks alcohol, partakes in pornography or adultery, and all other kinds of sin, the more quickly he or she will die.

Can this be true for a believer? Yes. The law of sowing and reaping works just like natural laws that govern this earth. Gravity works for believers and unbelievers alike. So does the law of sowing and reaping.

Let's take this a step further. Consider this in regard to your body and healing. Your body is holy, set apart, consecrated, devoted . Therefore, no sickness or disease has a right in your body. No sickness or disease has a right in the temple of Godand that temple has no business living in an unholy or carnal way.

God has called us, as His sons and daughters, to live set apart and sanctified... holy. To be holy simply means that we obey God in everything He tells us to do that we live for Him and stop participating in the world's ways.

God Wants You Free

I believe every believer who loves God wants to be holy. But not every believer is actually living holy. Many times we have old habits we've never overcome, even though we've lived with them for years.

If you've struggled like this, even for years, I know you can be free. God wants you free, and the Scripture says the truth will make you free. If you continue in the Word of God, it will make you free and you can live holy.

Jesus said in His prayer to the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). I don't care if what's holding you back is the strongest addiction there is, God will set you free. All He needs is your choice, your quality decision that, "No matter what, this is it. I'm leaving bondage behind."

God is faithful. He's just waiting on the opportunity to help you. He is a merciful and loving Father. Jeremiah 15:19 says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them."

"If thou return..." As a believer, that's what God's asking you to doto draw nigh unto Him and He'll draw nigh unto you with every deliverance , every blessing, every prosperity that you need. If you're a person who's moved away from God, He's asking you to return. If you've never been saved, He's asking you to come to Him and make Jesus your Lord and Savior .

"The precious from the vile.... " He wants us to learn to separate in our lives the precious things that are His from the vile things of this world. God won't force you to do that. He doesn't require you to live a life separated unto Him because He wants to be a dictator. No. That's not God's way at all.

God wants you to do what He says and walk in His ways because they produce freedom. They produce the best for you. You can't walk in the ways of the world and be free. God loves you. He wants you to be able to wake up every morning happy, full of joy, with your needs met, your family around you, and no trouble on any side. And He wants you to be free of all those things you've struggled with for years.

He's Never Stopped Working

You may have given up on overcoming some things in your life, but God never has. You may have thought it was just impossible, that you'd just have to live with it, whatever it may be. But God has never thought that way. His word to you is ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

For example, as I was reading some scriptures about being perfect, which means to come into maturity, I found that The Amplified Bible included in the meaning to be restored or readjusted.

From the time you came into the kingdom of God, God has endeavored to restore you, to readjust you so that you can walk in the full blessings and the full power of God. He's desired for you to walk holy and unhindered.