The concept of separation is found throughout the bible. The first instance of separation found in the word is in the verse, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis‬ ‭6:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Noah was set apart in his generation from all the wicked people. He found favour in the eyes of the Lord and thus, was saved from the flood. From there, Abraham was called out of His family, Isaac was separated from the sons of Abraham, Jacob from Esau, Israel from the rest of the world and even among the Israelites, Levi was separated from the tribes.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The definition of separation as will be used in this post is, setting aside of a person or group of people for a particular purpose. There is no return to the former place from which one was called. In today’s post we would look at three forms of separation; Separation From The World, Separation From The Familiar and Separation From The Flesh. This post is a continuation of our Pay the Price (Greatness) series. To follow the conversation, you can read our previous post, Price to Pay – Intimacy.

SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD

“Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.””
‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭6:17-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Paul was admonishing the Corinthian believers, and even us, to remember the call to which we have been called. We have been called to be different from the world. We weren’t called to mingle with them but to manifest God’s nature and character to them. This call is to every believer, to be separate, to be set apart from the ideas and philosophy and culture of the world surrounding which are utterly ungodly. The original version of this verse is even more urgent saying,

“Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the LORD.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭52:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Imagine being in a prison, locked up and without a hope of freedom. Then you hear all the gates to the prison cubicles open without guards in the arena. All the guards are down – dead. Out of surprise, no one moves a muscle. Then a loud voice says, “Run! Run! Get out of here! Take nothing with you, just leave!” That is the urgency here. We need to realize our separation from the World unto God. We are not to return to our prison – the world. God has called us into His world, into His freedom and into His life.

SEPARATION OF THE FAMILIAR

Psalm 45 is a poem written for a handsome mighty king who is getting married. It is the song sung at the royal wedding, filled with praises for the King. Then comes verse 10 and 11

“Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house; So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭45:10-11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

As the bride is walking down the aisle, it is sung to her to forget those things behind her; family, friends, achievements, losses – she is to focus on her King-husband and serve Him. This is a call that comes many times to us – to walk towards Jesus, putting aside all other things. It may include family and friends, the culture we grew up in or the values we have come to cherish. It is a call of total abandon to God to trust Him completely in place of other people and what makes us safe.

I believe this is seen vividly in the life of our beloved father Abraham. This is a man we would say was well established in his native town. He has a wife, servants, rich in livestock. He was comfortable. He was secure.
One day, he heard a call.

“Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The Lord had just disrupted his life. He could choose to obey or not.

1. SEPARATION INVOLVES OBEDIENCE:

Abraham had a choice. He could ignore the call, make excuses about his old age or his responsibilities in Ur. He could choose to leave and take along important family members like Lot (which is what he did). Or He could decide to fully obey and really leave his family completely. It was his choice to make. Whenever the Lord makes a call to us, He leaves us with the choice to obey. As Abraham set out to obey, one thing was sure, he no longer controlled his life. He was at the mercy of God. He was in surrender.

2. SEPARATION LEADS TO SURRENDER:

The nature of separation is such that your personal plans fall away. It brings you into a state where your every movement is dictated by God. This requires surrendering your will wholly to God. Looking at the journey of Israel out of Egypt, disobedience and unbelief prolonged the journey into 40 years in the desert. The journey of separation in the life of the believer is a walk of daily surrender. You can listen to Pastor Patrick Opoku’s message on TOTAL SURRENDER.

3. GOD SEPARATES TO RAISE TO A HIGHER LEVEL:

The call to be different or to walk away from precious things is a call to a higher level; a higher level of intimacy with God, a higher level of the fulfillment of your purpose in life. In the midst of the call may be pain, regret and nostalgia but the life ahead of you is always greater. As we see in Genesis, the life of Abraham had actually just gotten better. He had met the kingmaker Himself who could make his childless self a Father Of Nations. He may have had livestock and servants but with this God, he became rich in cattle, in silver and in gold (Genesis 13:2).

God could not have done what He did in Abraham’s life if he had stayed in Ur – in an ungodly nation that served other gods. The things we are comfortable with and familiar with can become a weight. They may not be sinful but can prevent you from running as fast as you could have in your Christian race.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

It is definitely possible for your family or environment to become a weight. Such instances could include when your family is churchy but may not have God at heart or when your parents have plans for you, they expect you to pursue something that is not in God’s will. Your whole environment is in a particular style of living but God is calling you to a higher place. It is very difficult to leave all you have known and loved to a place you don’t know. Abraham attests to this because he didn’t leave Lot behind. He probably felt responsible for the guy. Turning your back permanently to some things may be heart-wrenching but is definitely worth it.

To identify what to leave behind in your life, you need to hear God’s voice. When He calls you, you will hear it. You will feel that tug in your heart. When HE speaks, grace – the enabling power of God – is immediately provided for you to obey. But it is our choice to let not the grace we have received be in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1)

The Drawing: At this point, I want to chip something in. There is phase we sometimes go through which I refer to as “drawing”. A period in time where the Lord is actively drawing you to Himself. A time where you may find yourself alone or sort of distanced from your regular crowd.

For instance, many of us are in seasons of change. Some are moving away from family for educational purposes or for jobs. Some of us have left churches we were born in because we had to leave the neighborhood. We are missing those places quite badly. At every opportunity, you would love to go back there. I want to draw your attention to the possibility that it is for a purpose that you find yourself in a university none of your friends went to. Or you find yourself in a village for your national service that is so remote. He has brought you to a place where He can have uninterrupted encounters with you. He has brought you to a place where He can reveal Himself more to you. Familiar surroundings, schedules and routines can cloud out His purposes. But in a place of a new beginning or sudden change, you are able to hear Him better. It is for remolding and reshaping, realignment to the original vision He had for you.

If you find yourself alone in a new place, whether a university or college, a new town or even a new country, Brother or Sister, take advantage of it. It is a call to something new. Seek the Lord diligently. Ask Him to guide your way. In many ways you are in Abraham’s position, you are without a clue as to what is in store for you. Greatness is in store for you. It awaits you as you obey. Do not struggle to go back home or return where you came from. It is the King who desires your beauty calling you out of the comfort of family, the crutch of establishment and familiarity into an intimacy with Him.

SEPARATION FROM THE FLESH

The flesh refers to the Adamic nature that the whole of human race adopted at the fall. This nature is what makes us contrary to God’s nature. This nature can neither obey nor please God (Romans 8:7). But thanks be to God who sent Jesus to free us of this nature. Now we have the nature of God in our spirits but we can still submit to the Adamic nature. This is why it is written, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Galatians‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬

It is possible for a believer to live his life with his adamic nature whilst having God’s nature in our spirits. Paul tells us,
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:11-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The victory of the believer is that sin and death has no power over him but, he can allow them to reign over him. The two natures – God’s nature and the Adamic nature are not compatible – one rules over the other. The choice to daily walk in the Spirit is ours to make. It leads to real life and peace.
The way forward is then to choose life every day, choose God every minute. For example when you are to wake up to have some time of fellowship with God, the first choice of the day presents itself. Snooze the alarm for five minutes and stay longer in bed or get up immediately? Or in the bus, do I listen to that sermon (or that song from Bethel music) or let’s just check facebook and see how many people liked my post? It’s in the tiny daily decisions that we think nothing of that tells us which nature we are succumbing to. It’s either or. There’s no sitting on the fence here.

THE PRICE IS NOT GREATER THAN THE GOD’s GRACE

A few years ago, I read a book by Oretha Hagin, the wife of renowned minister, Rev. Kenneth Hagin titled, The Price Is Not Greater Than God’s Grace. In the book, she writes about the difficulties they faced as a married couple following God’s plan for their lives. She shares on how sometimes there was little to eat or to feed their kids and the struggle to pay bills. But she shares also on the immense grace that was available to their family to go through those tough times. The grace of God carried them through.

Determining to follow hard after God being different from the norm around you is difficult. The various pressures that will come to give in to their standard and to go back to where you had come from is enormous. There is always that temptation to go back to those friends you used to hang out with. Life was easier then. Abraham may have been tempted to go back to Ur where everyone knows him. Or to go to Sodom with Lot where God has not sent him. People of God, there is grace for this walk of separation. There is grace enough for daily obedience and daily submission to the Will of God. It was easier where God called you from because you were going with the norm, with the flow. Now that you have turned against the current, you will face struggles. But be of good cheer, you have help – the Holy Spirit. For more information on the Holy Spirit’s help, click to listen to the sermon THE HELPER OF MEN

His grace is sufficient.

I hope you were blessed by this post. I was blessed just writing it. Let us hear your comments, questions and contributions in the comment section. We would love to hear from you.

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