MGD: Set Apart For The Master

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto

thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy

truth's sake. Shalom dear one, God richly bless you for

tuning in to Radio HCI today for our morning glory devotion.

Privileged to be facilitating today's devotion are Pastor MSS Bruce

Smith from Harvest Chapel International, Kumasi. Let us kindly share

a word of prayer. Gracious and everlasting Father, we thank

you for the privilege to hear your word. We pray

that you open our eyes to behold wondrous things out

of thy law, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Let us kindly take our confession together from Joshua 1,

Joshua 1:8

verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart

out of my mouth, but I shall meditate in it

day and night, that I may observe to do according

to all that is written in it. For then I

will make my way prosperous, and then I will have

good success. Amen. Our theme for today's devotion is, Set

a path for the Master. Set a path for the Master.

And we shall be taking our scripture reading from Romans

Romans 14:7–9

chapter 14, verses 7 to 9. And then we would

continue from 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 9 to 10.

1 Peter 2:9–10

Romans chapter 14, verses 7 to 9. For none of

Romans 14:7–9

us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies

for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord.

And if we die, we die for the Lord. So

whether you live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life,

so that he might be the Lord of both the

dead and the living. Continuing from 1 Peter 2 verse

1 Peter 2:9–10

9-10 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare

the praises of him who called you out of darkness

into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people,

but now you are the people of God. Once you

had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

This is the word of God.

Thanks be to God. Set apart for the master. My

wife approached me one beautiful morning when ironing for work

and gently asked, Don't you wear this shirt for church

on Sundays? Why are you wearing it to work also? Yes, please,

I do. But I can wear it for work too, right?

After all, it is the same me, I smiled. It

is just the environment that has changed, I replied. No,

she insisted. We ought to set apart some for Sundays only.

This short but interesting encounter got me thinking. If we

can decide to dedicate certain things and items for a

particular cause and religiously stick to it, how about our

own lives? How many of us have come to realize

that we are not our own and the life that

we live must reflect this truth? People make it a

routine to set aside money, time, resources, etc. for a

particular cause. but shrink at the truth that our very

lives and everything we own must be set apart for

God our Creator. The following scriptures give us insight into

why God demands that we be set apart for Him.

1 Corinthians 6 19-20 reads, Do you not know that

your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is

in you, whom you have received from God? You were

not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore,

honor God with your bodies. We are not our own, beloved.

We do not own ourselves. We were bought at a price. Indeed,

our very lives do not belong to us. We were

sold out to sin and sentenced to death and condemnation

on the open market. Nothing good was written about us.

What a wretched and miserable state we were in, but

our Saviour and Redeemer opted to purchase us from bondage

and slavery with His very own blood. But then after

being purchased, we are forever indebted to our Master. If

we live, we live to honor the Lord, and if

we die, we die to honor the Lord. So whether

we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans

Romans 14:18

chapter 14 verse 18. Let us hear what the Apostle

Paul also tells us in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto

good works, which God had before ordained that we should

work in them. Beloved, we are God's masterpiece. God had

prepared long ago the way of life of the born-again believer.

We have been created unto good works. We are to

live a life worthy of our vocation. Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4:1

verse 1. People should see us and be able to

tell the difference between us and the people of the world.

We must be ready to do the bidding of the

Master at all times, no matter what it costs us.

And we can only achieve this if we devote our

lives to the Lord. 1 Peter 2 verse 9 also reads,

1 Peter 2:9

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an

holy nation, a peculiar people, that should show forth the

praises of Him who had called you out of darkness

into His marvelous light. As believers, we are chosen of God.

We are no ordinary people but God's elect, and He

has chosen us to proclaim His wonderful deeds and show

forth His praises. Our actions, speech, and way of life

must reflect the glory of God. As a holy nation

and a peculiar people, we are expected to stand out

and not conform to the demands of the age. We

must let our light so shine in the darkness that

people will be drawn to experience the goodness and mercies

of God through our lives. We are called to be distinct,

separate and out of the ordinary. Being set apart is

not an optional decision. and it cannot be achieved in

our own strength. We must yield to the promptings of

the Holy Spirit to achieve this. When the Holy Spirit

is at work in our lives, we begin to desire

the things of God and gradually we are drawn away

from the love of the world. Amen. A memory verse

for the day shall be taken from Romans chapter 14

Romans 14:8

verse 8. Romans chapter 14 verse 8. I read from

Romans 14:8

the NED. If we live, we live for the Lord.

If we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether

we live or die, we are the Lord's. Let's take

it again. Romans chapter 14 verse 8. If we live,

Romans 14:8

we live for the Lord. If we die, we die

for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, We

are the Lord. Amen. God richly bless you. Let's share

a word of prayer. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus,

we thank you for your worthless morning, O God. We renew,

O God, our allegiance unto you when we declare that

our lives and everything that we own is set apart

for you. We pray, O God, for grace to yield

to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We pray, O God,

for the grace to pay the price of consecration. We

give you glory. We give you praise. In Jesus' mighty name,

we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. God richly bless you for

staying tuned for our devotion this morning. Even as we

step out there, let us know that we belong to

God and everything that we do must show forth His

praise and His glory. Make a date with us same

time for another time in His presence and another time

in His word. Shalom and God richly bless you.