I have felt The Lord leading me to write a blog post
about holiness for a while now. Well,
this week I felt God say, "Go write it!" However, I am currently reading a book that I
knew discussed this topic so I was trying to read ahead and get some insight on
what the author's take was on it and as I sat down to read tonight, I kept
hearing God say, "I don't want you to blog about what this author has to
say, I want you to go write what I have put in your heart!" So without any further ado, here I write.
For those of you
who have read my story,
you may remember that when I became a mother, the Lord began to convict me
about laying down some things that weren’t so pleasing to Him. The things that I once found entertaining, no
longer seemed appropriate when you have a small child in the room. The words and phrases that I caught myself
saying, all of a sudden sounded completely inappropriate when they came out of the
mouth of my toddler. Being a parent
taught me a lesson that has forever changed my life…Righteousness Matters!
Before the Lord
revealed this to me, I was already trying to live a pure and honest life. I wasn’t caught up in any evil or blatant
sins. However, The Lord began convicting
me of certain behaviors and choices that weren’t necessarily going to send me
to hell, but they sure weren’t leading to a righteous and holy life! The more I prayed about these areas, I began
to see that these were all deceitful desires that had already turned into areas
of compromise in my life as a believer.
God was convicting me of these behaviors and choices because He knew
that if I didn’t submit them to Him, they could easily lead me or someone I
love into evil and blatant sin that could very well send me to hell!
“You took off your former
way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you
are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self,
the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and holiness.”
–Ephesians 4:21-24
Having lived for
Jesus nearly all of my life, I can honestly say if someone would have asked me
before I became a parent what was my ultimate goal for this life or what was
more important to me than anything else, I probably would have replied, “That
all of my family loved and followed Jesus and went to heaven!” That was (and still is) my prayer! I grew up learning about Jesus in Sunday
School and I learned from a young age how good He was! I also learned about Satan and how bad hell
was and I knew I didn’t want to go there so I did everything I could do to
avoid it! My goal in life was to just
make it to heaven to see Jesus and spend eternity with Him! The book I'm reading refers to that as your GPS of life. That was my goal…just make it to heaven
Lord! And you know what, that’s
okay!
However, after
becoming a parent, my desires really began to change. I no longer just wanted to make it into
heaven by the skin of my teeth. I began
to desire to live a life that was pleasing and honoring to Him. That’s what the Holy Spirit does. Jesus died for us all and takes us just as we
are, but once we accept Him into our hearts, the Holy Spirit begins to change
us from the inside out! He transforms
our thinking and our desires so that we look more like Christ instead of the
world!
As a new parent,
there was nothing I wanted more than for my children to be completely surrendered
to the Lord and follow Him all the days of their lives! I began praying that over my children from
the moment they were in my womb! I
prayed and asked for wisdom and constantly asked for God’s help to raise my
children in a way that was pleasing to Him.
After all, He blessed me with these precious kids and entrusted them to
me…I desired to honor Him in the way that I raised them. As I prayed that prayer time and time again,
I began to feel the Holy Spirit convicting more and more about little things in
my life. These were not things that went
against scriptural truths or teachings, but The Lord began showing me some
areas that weren’t necessarily pleasing to Him.
As I watched certain shows or movies, I became very uncomfortable with
bad language. Things that I had ignored
or become desensitized to over the years began to bother me and make me squirm. That’s called conviction of the Holy
Spirit! The Lord began revealing to me those
things that were not pleasing to Him.
The Bible tells
us “Do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2). As
we renew our minds in God’s Word and ask God to search our hearts, the Holy
Spirit begins transforming us as he tests our obedience to do the will of God
and do what is good and acceptable according to God’s standard! I read a tweet by John Bevere this week that said, "As believers, there should be a distinct
contrast between us and the world; not just in what we believe but in the way
we live!"
As I said
earlier, these convictions weren’t necessarily things that were going to send
me to hell, but in no way were they bringing honor to God! When I wore that sexy outfit on a date with
my husband or took that special swimsuit with me on our weekend getaway (you
know that one I would never wear in front of my parents, but in front of
strangers it was okay), I began to feel convicted because The Lord began
revealing to me that when I dress with the purpose to seek attention from
others, that was not bringing honor to Him (1 Timothy 2:9). He was doing a new thing in me and it brought
me to a deeper level of intimacy with Jesus that I wouldn’t trade for the
world! As I began being obedient to lay
down those things that weren’t pleasing to The Lord, I began experiencing a
freedom that I had never experienced in my entire life and God began to do even
greater things in my life. Friends, when we are obedient in the little
things that God is leading us to do, He will begin trusting us with even
greater things!
“Whoever is faithful in very
little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is
also unrighteous in much.” - Luke 16:10
God is so good! The moments I have experienced with God during
these years of seeking Him and striving to live a life that not only will get
me into heaven, but living a life that truly brings honor to Him, doesn’t come
close to any kind of joy that those old shows brought to me or the feelings of
affirmation that I used to get from others when I wore certain clothing. Doesn’t even come close people!
“Therefore, dear friends,
since we have such promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of
the flesh and spirit, completing our sanctification in the fear of God.” - 2
Corinthians 7:1
Although it is my
heart’s greatest desire to please The Lord, I am not perfect and I fail
daily. I am constantly having to ask God
to help me live a life that is pleasing to Him.
I want my words to honor God. I
want my actions to honor Him, whether I’m in public or in the privacy of my
home. I want Him to look down on me and
be pleased with what He sees and hears.
With that said, over the past few years, living a life that is pleasing
to Him is no longer enough for me.
My relationship
with The Lord has progressed from just wanting #1 to now desiring all 3!!!
1. Help me make it to heaven so I can spend
eternity with You!
2. Lord, let everything I do and everything I
say be pleasing to You!
3. Lord, I desire to experience the power of
Your presence!
Ya’ll, I am at a
place in my life where I want more! I
have experienced the power of His presence and I don’t ever want to be apart
from His presence again! Scripture says
that “in His presence, He gives us rest.” (Exodus 33:14) and “in
Your presence is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11). Isaiah 35 beautifully records a
stunning vision of God’s presence! The
prophet Isaiah describes what happens when God shows up! Listen to this!
The wilderness and the dry
land will be glad!
The desert will rejoice and
blossom like a rose!
He will strengthen the weak
hands
He will steady the shaking
knees
Blinded eyes will be opened!
Deaf ears will be opened!
The lame will leap!
The mute will sing for joy!
This is my greatest desire friends!!! I want to experience this kind of presence! I have prayed earnestly for His presence! Although, I have experienced His presence in
powerful ways, I have never experienced the power of His presence like this
passage describes. I know it’s real
because I have read about it and heard about it! But why is this presence so hard to come
by? If you continue reading Isaiah 35, you will find the key to
experiencing God’s presence in this way is Holiness!
A road will be there and a way;
it will be called the Holy Way.
The unclean will not travel on it,
but it will be for the one who walks the
path.
Hebrews 12:14 says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone
and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Did you catch that? In order to have God’s presence, we must
pursue holiness! As I began to really think about
this scripture, the Lord began revealing something to me. I began to think of some people in my life
that I have come across who always had evidence of God’s presence in their
life, the way that the prophet Isaiah described. You know, the kind of people that would need
to grab a chair while cooking dinner, because their knees would get weak
because the presence of God was so strong in their life! That’s what I want! I want to be so close to God and so in tune
to His presence, that I can sense His presence and be overwhelmed even while
cooking dinner in my own home! Lord, I need Your presence! Well, I began asking myself, ”What set them
apart and why was the presence of God so evident in their lives?” And the Lord simply spoke to me, “Holiness”.
“Be holy, because I am holy.” - 1 Peter 1:16
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
plans to satisfy your fleshly desires.” - Romans 13:14
“Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the
desire of the flesh.” - Galatians 5:16
“So if anyone purifies himself from anything
dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master,
prepared for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 2:21
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” - Matthew 6:33
1 Peter 2:1-25
“There, putting aside all malice and all deceit and
hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk
of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have
tasted the kindness of the Lord.
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has
been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also,
as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ…
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to
abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the
Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may
because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of
visitation.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every
human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors
as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do
right. For such is the will of God that
by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom
as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear
God, honor the king.
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all
respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are
unreasonable…for this finds favor with God.
For you have been called for this purpose, since
Christ died and suffered for you, leaving you and example for you to follow in
His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and
while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered
no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He
Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness… ”
As the Lord lead me to these scriptures on holiness and His presence, I sensed
the Lord say to me, “I am drawing My people back to Holiness. The church has been lulled to sleep and sin
and unrighteousness has crept into My church. But by My Spirit, there will be a great awakening! This will result in a wave of
righteousness that will usher in my presence just as the Prophet Joel spoke of. It
is this wave of my presence that will usher in my return. Ears are being tuned into the Spirit and
although many will choose their fleshly desires over what is pure and holy,
there will be a remnant that will choose holiness and it is that remnant who
will usher in My presence and you will experience My presence like never
before.”
Friends, what is your goal? Get
to heaven? Live an honorable life? Or experience His presence? I pray we all get to experience His presence
in Heaven someday. If you aren’t living
for the Lord today, you can make the decision to start today. Pray this prayer.
Dear God, I know I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that
you raised Him to life. I want to trust
Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do Your
will. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen
I’m so glad to know we will see Jesus face to face together
someday! However, we don’t have to wait
to experience His presence! The Lord has
called us to be set apart! He has given
us His Holy Spirit to be our guide so we don’t have to navigate this world
alone. I want you to begin asking the
Lord to search your heart and expose any offensive way in you. (Psalm
139:23-24). As the Spirit begins
to reveal those things in your life that do not bring honor to the Lord, be
obedient in giving them up. He is still
doing a work in my life, drawing me towards holiness. I just recently erased two shows off of my
DVR that I felt the Spirit convicting me about.
I knew they didn’t honor God, yet I have watched them for years so I
just didn’t want to quit! I have felt
that tugging for quite some time so I finally said, “Okay Lord, I submit that
to you today and choose to watch things that don’t promote unrighteousness.” Whatever it takes Lord! I desire Your presence more than being
entertained by a show that I know doesn’t honor You. Be sensitive to His leading and His
correction. Here’s the thing about
convictions…they are personal! Where The
Lord may be convicting me to stop watching certain shows, He may convict
someone else to stop looking at certain magazines. I was actually just talking to a precious
woman of God who shared about a time in her life where she was convicted of
reading People Magazine! It had a hold
on her and God asked her to stop reading it and she was obedient! It’s not about WHAT He is asking you to
submit to Him as much as it’s about your obedience to do it! Conviction isn’t always a salvation issue
either...it’s often a holiness issue! Maybe
your convicted to stop watching certain shows/movies, stop drinking, stop cussing,
stop saying certain phrases that are substitutes for swearing, stop reading
certain novels, stop going to certain places, stop hanging out with certain
friends, stop eating certain foods, stop dressing a certain way, etc…whatever it
is that you feel that causes that little nudging in your spirit to say “I know
this is not honoring God and pleasing to Him,”…BE OBEDIENT!!! He desires more for you! It may not keep you out of heaven but it sure
can rob you of His blessings and Presence here on earth!
So I’ll leave you with this question.
What is your goal?
