In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Jeremiah, there is a very interesting illustration about God’s desire for his people.  God told Jeremiah to go buy a belt.  Really it was not so much a belt as a linen undergarment or waistband.  He told Jeremiah to wear it, but not to put it into water.  Then, God told Jeremiah to take the waistband and put it in the crevice of a rock by the Euphrates River.  Days later, God told Jeremiah to retrieve the waistband.  It was ruined.  It was worthless.  God told Jeremiah that he was going to destroy the pride of Judah and Jerusalem just as the waistband had been destroyed.

The most interesting part of this story is in verse 11, “For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,” declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’  What a frightening indictment of the people of Israel and Judah.  God said that he made them for a purpose.  He said he desired them to cling to Him as a waistband clings to a man, but something happened.  They did not listen.  They did not bring renown or glory or praise to the name of the Lord.  We don’t often use that word, renown.  It is an old Middle English word meaning to name or to speak of.  It simply means that a particular name is widely acclaimed or highly regarded.  Isn’t that our desire for God’s name?  If His name is not highly regarded, that means His name is shamed.  God will protect his own name.  He will bring glory to himself, even if we do not.
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I want to challenge you to exalt Christ this week.  God desires one thing from his people above all else:  Reflect His Glory.  If we are faithful to reflect the glory of Christ everything else falls into place.  We have a desire to be in His word, to pray, to share the gospel.  Let’s not become like the ruined waistband, worthless for the Kingdom of Christ.
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig

​One of the most clear and straightforward statements in all of the Bible is, “You shall be holy, because I am holy,” (I Peter 1:16).  God’s standard is clear.  He desires holiness in our lives.  Achieving personal holiness is one of the most difficult parts of the Christian life.  Actually, it is impossible.  We cannot achieve personal holiness, it is only the Holy Spirit within us that can make us holy.
          What is holiness?  That may be the question asked by even the mature Christian.  What exactly does God desire of my life?  The beautiful truth is that God is constantly molding us and shaping us into conformity with Jesus Christ.  I think the Old Testament prophet Micah grasps the concept of holiness.  He says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God,” Micah 6:8.  God desires justice and kindness and humility of a brand different than the world offers.  He desires these attributes to rise purely out of our love for Christ and his Spirit indwelling us.
          It is often easy to have the appearance of holiness, without being holy.  All of us can work hard enough at “looking holy” to have many people believe we are, but true holiness comes in our private lives.  God demands holiness in the secret rooms of our lives that no one sees.  Many of us have areas in our lives that we desire to keep hidden.  We even try to trick ourselves into believing they are hidden from God.  God desires to make us holy and cleanse those dark closets of sin.  Oak Crest, would we be willing to open our lives and our hearts to allow God to do an amazing transforming work of holiness?
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig