WHAT KIND OF HOME?

Part 2

"We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners" (Psalm 20:5).

We continue looking at how to build a house to the name of the Lord.

Jehovah-Nissi--The Lord my Banner

The Amalekites came to make war with Israel. Moses commanded Joshua to gather warriors to fight with them while he went to the top of the hill with the "rod of Go" in his hand, the miracle-working rod which brought the terrible plagues upon Egypt, opened a path in the Red Sea, and brought the waters of death pounding down upon the Egyptians. When Moses held up his hands, the Israelites prevailed, but when they got heavy and let them down, the Amalekites prevailed. So Aaron and Hur stood on either side of him to hold up his hands as he held up the "rod of God" and while the banner of God was held high Joshua defeated Amalek and his army. After the victory, Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-Nissi, The Lord my Banner.

The enemy is still alive today and comes to make war against your home. He wants to destroy marriages and families. Sometimes you may get weary in the battle, but keep holding up the banner of God's cause and His truth. Help one another as you pray together at your morning and evening Family Devotions. This is how you strengthen one another's arms in the battle. Never let your banner drag in the dust. Never compromise God's truth. Never assimilate to the humanistic ways of society. Hold God's banner high and do not fear.   

God's word to you as you face the battle with enemies bigger and outnumbering you is, "Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you" (Deuteronomy 20:3-4). Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful promise.

Jehovah-Qadash--The Lord my Sanctifier

God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with a mighty arm and great victory, but His people didn't yet know their God. They thought and acted like the Egyptians. They had no idea of how God wanted them to live and therefore He kept them in the wilderness for 40 years to teach them His ways and to sanctify them.

This name of God occurs in Leviticus, the book where we read of all the laws and statutes that God gave to His people in order to rule them in and make them a people after His own heart. In Leviticus 20:7-8, God says, "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you." The word "sanctify" is qadesh and means "to purify, to hallow, to make clean, to sanctify, to set apart exclusively for God."

Are you building your home to the honor of Jehovah-Qadash? Do you seek to keep your home and your family set apart for God's purposes? Or does your home look like any other worldly home with TV blaring and arguments and squabbling?

God wants to sanctify every member of your family. He wants to sanctify them with the blood of Jesus, just as Moses sprinkled the blood upon the people (Exodus 24:4-8).Just as God sanctified the house Solomon built for Him, so He wants to sanctify the home you are building for Him. 2 Chronicles 7:16 says, "I have chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually." God will put His name upon our home as we sanctify it and set it apart for Him.

We don't have to run off and hide in the bush. We can live in the city with evil all around, and yet be set apart to God. This is the amazing thing about God. He is separate from everyone else. There is no one holy like the Lord (1 Samuel 2:2). He is "separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26), and yet He bends down to the sinner to love him and lift him up. He wants us to be the same--severed from the spirit of this world, but ready to go into the midst of the world to reach out with God's love.

Let's build a family that is clean, pure, and set apart for the service of the Lord. Yield yourself to the Lord, your Sanctifier. Encourage your children that they were born to be set apart for God's purpose for them. Anything else will be a waste of their life.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

"Oh God, my Sanctifier, please come into our home and sanctify each one of us, and every room of our home. I want every room in my home to be clean and pure in your sight. Please expose any hidden darkness or sin that is grieving your Holy Spirit. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

"Praise His name--I'm fixed upon it,
Name of God's redeeming love."

Scriptures about holding up the banner:

Numbers 1:52; 2:2, 17, 34; Psalm 20:5; 60:4; Song of Solomon 2:4; 6:4, 10; Isaiah 62:10.