Pursuing Holiness

“But just as he who called you is holy,

so be holy in all you do, for it is written:

“Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV

If you are still reading this blog, I have a pretty good idea that you are either seeking to know who God is or you have a desire to move forward in your  relationship with Jesus. You may be ecstatic or mildly curious regarding spiritual things, but regardless you are investigating Christianity and you are already walking toward God. You have ceased standing still! I want to encourage you to keep moving toward God even though you may not know exactly how to reach your destination. I promise you that God will lead you step by step as you seek to know him. God wants to show you how to live the abundant life he has for you.

If you are not a believer It is my prayer that you will embrace the fact that God loves you and realize that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. I want you to know that even if you were the only person in the entire world, Jesus Christ loves you enough that he would still have died for you alone. By placing your simple faith in Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross, you will be forgiven of your sin. You will not be separated from God after death; instead you will live in beautiful fellowship with God for all eternity. This is an opportunity well worth taking! By placing your trust in Jesus Christ there is absolutely nothing to loose and everything to gain.

If you are a new believer I would encourage you to connect with other believers. You must begin to read God’s Word. There may be many things written in the Bible that you may not understand but there is much that you will be able to understand. Begin reading and read until God gives you understanding and reveals truth to your mind. You must pray. Prayer is merely talking to God as you would any close friend. Simply tell God you love him, confess your weakness, state your needs, offer your thankfulness for all he provides for you, and ask him to give you understanding and guidance. This is prayer.

I am becoming more and more aware that as a long time believer I must continually raise my personal bar of spiritual learning as I seek to know more about God and his ways. There is always more to be learned about surrendering my will to God’s will. There is so much to know about trusting God in all things and obeying God’s commands and heeding the promptings of the Holy Spirit in my life. I must commit to learning more about walking in a relationship with Jesus Christ everyday. I must not allow myself to become satisfied because there is so much to be learned and so much joy to be had after the learning of a new truth has accomplished its work. I am to obey God’s command, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV

I believe that learning and personal obedience to what God is teaching me is the pathway to living a holy life. It has been my experience that understanding comes to believers in bits and pieces. God reveals his truth when our heart is ready to receive a new truth. It is the Holy Spirit that reveals to us knowledge that is found in the Word of God. After we act in simple obedience regarding the Biblical truth we are presently learning, the Holy Spirit will then reveal to us more spiritual truth. Truth is revealed to us in steps. We will not receive new truth if the next truth requires that we act upon a truth we have already been given. In other words, there is no skipping over a truth that requires our obedience. At times I have felt stuck in my fellowship with Jesus. My Shepard kept me where I needed to be until I was ready and willing to move ahead. God’s truth always presents itself, the Holy Spirit gives understanding, and we must choose to obediently act upon the knowledge given. That is the path to holiness.

Here in the garden today, I am surrounded by the beauty of creation and I am reminded that God is everywhere. The diversity of his creation always speaks volumes to me when I witness God’s creativity and purposes in nature. I am thankful for the lake that edges the east side of my heart’s garden. Today as I sit on the bank of this lake I am entertained by two ducks swimming in delight! It is here that my heart opens up and my spirit connects to God. I watch a beautiful mallard leading the way and a not so beautiful duck swimming closely behind. That reminds me that I am that duck and I must follow closely behind my Heavenly Father, because he alone know the way of holiness.

The variety that is found in nature inspires me to see that God is not a god of boredom. Likewise, being a Christian is never boring! God makes sure of that. When we say goodbye to religion and open our heart to a personal, intimate, active relationship we Jesus Christ, a whole new world of joy explodes within our spirit. We are curious to learn, we are joyful regarding what we have already learned, and we begin to experience a desire to learn more. My friend this is NOT dull, uninteresting, or boring!

Sometimes I wonder, if God is holy and he wants me to be holy, shouldn’t he just zap lasers of holiness into my very being? That would be nice but it doesn’t work that way. Holiness is a joint effort. As I live my life I am bombarded everyday with the world’s values system vs. God’s value system. I am faced with ungodly attitudes and responses. I must choose God’s heart and God’s response in all things. If I want to choose holiness, I must choose not to sin. This is especially hard when at times I want to sin! I have to admit that at times I want to participate in sinful behavior. Sometimes I want to hoard, I want to look, I want to get even, I want to indulge, I want to listen, and I want to speak words that will put people in their place. I want to gossip! I must confess that when I choose to do it my way over the promptings and warnings of God, I become an active participant in sin. Those words and those actions are totally void of God’s beautiful holiness.

As a believer, I must be diligent in my continual quest to choose holiness but at the same time I must remember that holiness is a life long process. I will never completely attain perfect holiness this side of heaven. When I begin to surrender the unholy parts of my life to God, he then reveals to me yet another dark area of my heart that needs to be surrendered. Even though I have given my life to God, he still is in pursuit of my total heart. God wants my love, my loyalties, my attitudes, my words, my desires, and my strong will. Choosing holiness can be painful and extremely difficult because pain, sorrow, disappointments, abuse, misunderstanding, greed, control, anger, and fear tries to attach themselves securely in my mind. Sometimes my emotions get the best of me. But God will always makes a way of escape if we look to him and ask for his help. It is God’s will that we become an overcommer. Choosing to walk away from sinful behavior and choosing the way of holiness is NOT impossible.

Without accepting Jesus Christ, every man and woman is hopelessly lost and eternally separated from God forever. God offers us an opportunity to get back to him and daily work at changing our sinful behavior. God has a plan.

Salvation – is the forgiveness of our sin.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3: 23 NIV

Sanctification – is a life long process that develops holiness within us.…“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV

Glorification – our glorification will take place when we enter heaven and the perfect robe of perfection is given to us for all of eternity.

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like him, as he is.”1 John 3:2 NIV

Our purpose in living this life is to love and enjoy God, to serve him as we minister to others, and to pursue holy living. Through us, God’s glory shines in a sinful world. Whereby, it is his magnificent glory, his holiness lived out in the lives of believers, that men and women, boys and girls become curious about our faith and are drawn to Him. We have no greater testimony than choosing to live holy and being prepared to share our story of faith and hope with others. Holiness is not a weird personal lifestyle. Holiness is living a life that is lived beautifully by loving God and loving others.

Questions:

1. Are you currently investigating salvation?

2. Does it surprise you to learn that God has a plan for your life?

3. Are you a believer that is struggling with continued sinful behavior?

4. Are you wondering why you can never seem to get it holy living right

5. Does knowing that sanctification is a process encourage you?

6. Does pursuing holiness seem like a job or a joy?

7. How would falling deeper in love with Jesus help you become better at making holy choices?

8. Does the thought of glorification make you smile?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

I pray that you would place a desire in my heart to walk closer to you. I want to love you so completely that obeying you would be my first response. Jesus, I admit that sometimes I struggle with obedience. Forgive me when I allow my selfish will to get in the way of your holy will for my life. Heavenly Father, I am so grateful that you are giving me your joy as I pursue walking with you on the pathway of holiness. And yes, the thought of glorification does make me smile. It is my blessed eternal hope! Thank you Jesus.

In your name I pray. Amen.