Holiness that Glorifies the One Who Is Holy

“for it is God who works in you to will and
to act according to his good purpose.”
Philippians 2:13 NIV

Today the garden is chilly but my spirit is warm. Most of the summer flowers have faded and have been cut back. Only marigolds, mums, asters, and lantana grace the garden pathways. Pumpkins and gourds continue to add fall color as they wind their vines among the shrubs and trail out into open spaces looking for sunshine. Ornamental cabbages, one of my personal favorites, are scattered about. Red Nandina berries splash exclamation points of praise throughout the garden. The trees are beautiful as they parade their autumn fedoras and bonnets of red, yellow, burgundy, and gold splendor. I look up and through the parting of the trees I observe the cloudless blue autumn sky that is about as perfect as the sky can be! I wonder if perhaps, this feast of nature could be a glimpse of God’s shadowed holiness. Like Moses, I am far too frail to look into the face of his holiness! Nonetheless, this shadow of his holiness fills my heart and then spills over with the amazing pleasures that are poured out this day in the form of autumn glory. Oh that my life would in some way glorify the One who is holy!

I look up and there he is, the Master Gardner. He puts his loving arm around my shoulders and reminds me that sanctification is that divine process that changes me and replaces my imperfections with His holiness. These changes in my life are designed to bring glory to the Father. I remain quiet as I meditate on the fact that God in his infinite wisdom has chosen to move me along in my earthly faith walk little by little. I am quite confident that if God poured into me all of his holiness in one huge dose, this jar of clay would certainly explode! That may be exactly why a new heavenly body is required so that I might contain the whole of his holiness. “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown in a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV

God does not force holiness on me. He wants and desires my participation in the process of sanctification. If I refuse to participate I continue to walk in darkness. If I reject this deep satisfying relationship with God I also sit myself up for temptation and failure. In addition, I rob myself of spiritual blessings such as joy and peace as I face my everyday challenges and trials.

Walking with Jesus reminds me of the scenario of friendship. How far would I get in a new friendship if I refused to spend time with that person? How lonely would my life be if I continued to shut friendship out of my life? Who would be my sounding board as I face the challenges of life? Who would I experience laughter and happiness with as I celebrate the happy times in my life? We need people in our life, but God’s Word says that Jesus is a friend above all other friends. Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than any friend or brother. Proverbs 18:24 So why would I deliberately choose to ignore the presence of Jesus Christ in my life? Why would I hold his friendship at bay? My lack of interest in spiritual things and my Savior pushes him away. He doesn’t leave, but there is no relationship, no fellowship, no spiritual growth, and no chance for his holiness to develop and perfect my spirit. When this happens my character speaks loud and clear. Self-interest is the most important priority and that leaves very little time for the lover of my soul.

I wonder if a better understanding of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made when he willingly laid down his life for us would make a difference in the lives of believers. I wonder if becoming more aware of the huge price that Jesus paid for our sin could possibly move us to surrender, love, and obey him more. My clueless heart often leaves me responding outwardly but never bowing my heart in complete selfless submission to my selfless Lord. Worst of all, at times I find myself so busy and preoccupied with myself that I am unaffected, aloof, and desensitized to the enormeous price Jesus paid. I am embarrassed to admit that there have been times in my life that Jesus on the cross has been nothing more to me than a holy religious icon.

But the good news is that if we seek to know Jesus Christ more, there will be moments when we do get a greater glimpse of the lavish love that God has shown to you and me. For me these glimpses of Christ’s sacrificial love somehow starts to bring about more mental awareness of my need for additional changes to be made in my heart. It is in those brief moments of divine comprehension that God shows me his love, his mercy, and his grace. It is a fact that during those times of enlightenment I do find a greater need to be obedient to my Savior. It is my heart’s desire not to ever loose sight of what God has done for me. This world is full of distractions but I must stay focused on Jesus. This requires daily reflection as I ask this one simple question, “God, why are you so good to me?”

Jesus is always waiting for me in the garden but I must willingly choose to go to the garden and allow Jesus to help me correct, change, and remove the sinful behavior in my life. I must choose to give Him the pieces of my heart that cripple, paralyze and defeat me. I must choose to allow Jesus to mold me into His image. Someday I will meet Jesus face to face and when I do I want to hear him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Holiness is not a suggestion it is a command and it is necessary. In all honesty when I sought sanctification as a once and for all second work of grace that would make me perfect in word, thought, and deed I lived a troubled life. My spirit was void of joy because I was chasing a carrot that would never be within my grasp. The side effect of this misery was fear. I saw all of my efforts for godly perfection as nothing short of continual spiritual failure. But when God in his mercy showed me that sanctification was a life long process I was filled with hope and joy. It is during daily prayer time that I embrace my salvation and feel God's arms of love.  Reading God’s Word daily allows the Holy Spirit to speak to my spirit. This daily time alone with God begins the sanctification process for that day. You see, God is changing me one day at a time and in this process I experience his peace and joy even in the midst of difficulty. When I take time to daily sit in the garden with Jesus my attitudes change, healing occurs, challenges are accepted, and burdens are lifted.

I love walking with God in a relationship that has provision for my failures, yet requires me to be accountable for my actions. I treasure God’s grace for me. God knows that I am dust and his grace in my life covers my human frailty and his blood covers my sin. I know that I am accountable for all of my choices but what personal joy it is to hear Jesus whisper in my ear, “Paula, get up, it’s OK, come higher, trust me, you can do it, take my power, accept my grace.”

Because of God’s grace and mercy I am falling deeper and deeper in love with Jesus everyday. Obedience and trust are always issues in my life that never seem to go away. But now I see those obstacles as opportunities to draw me closer to my Savior. Holiness was once a word that filled me with fear but now it is a word that is one of the sweetest words I know because God’s grace allows me to embrace holy living simply because I love Jesus and he loves me. It is no longer something that I must attain. It is no longer about me but totally about Him! It is God who works in me to develop my character for his glory. When each individual act of divine work is done, God pours into my life the type of holiness that glorifies only him, the One who IS holy.

Questions:

1. Do you sense that God is changing you through the process of sanctification?

2. Have you noticed that you respond to life differently than you did before you knew Jesus Christ as your Savior?

3. Are you consciously making an effort to deepen you friendship with Jesus Christ through daily reading his Word and prayer?

4. Have you sensed that you are falling deeper in love with Jesus?

5. What are the fruits of your life that reflect this inward change?

6. Do you feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit calling you to come higher?

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Oh how I desire to fall deeper and deeper in love with you! I pray that this love will cause spontaneous grace, love, and obedience to flow out of my life. Lord, I thank you that you are at work in my life and that all of your ways are designed according to your good purposes for my life. God, I confess that sometimes it doesn’t feel that way. Many times I do not understand what you are doing in my life. Father, you already know that I am not always thankful for difficult circumstances in my life, but I am trying to be thankful for what you are helping me to become as a result of my trials. I pray that you will continue to do the work of sanctification in my life as walk in a close personal relationship with you everyday. I pray that through prayer and the reading of your Word I will learn how you think. How I desire to have the mind of Christ as I walk the path of holiness. I pray that my life will glorify you, the One who is holy.

In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Rag Doll Holiness

…“because by one sacrifice

he has made perfect forever

those who are being made holy.”

Hebrews 10:14 NIV

Yesterday I found myself outside of the garden. There was not a whole lot of time for meditating on scripture and prayer. My hubby was pressing me to hurry up because he was anxious to get an early start. Our destination for the day was the Blue Ridge Parkway. This time of year the mountains and the hills break forth in singing as the trees flaunt their fall foliage. This crisp autumn day was calling our names! I barley had time to grab my travel mug of coffee as I exited the door.

 

God is the faithful hound of heaven. He is always pursuing me even when I am in a rush! God had big plans for me as we drove the winding roads of the parkway. Each overlook was more beautiful than the last. You see, God is everywhere. He speaks. We learn. We process. We worship! Today was to be one of those days.

 

Through the magnificence of God’s creation I begin to see his perfect holiness. He is holy because there is none like him. He is holy because he is perfect in every way. He is holy because he is sinless. As I reflect on this truth, I remember that my holy God commands me to be holy because he is holy. God’s holiness is not unattainable by my human effort but it is always attainable through God’s power and my cooperation with that power. It is a joint endeavor between me and God. I have found great joy in participating in the process which allows me to taste of his holiness. This has not always been the case in my life.

 

In my early Christian life I was taught that without holiness no man shall see God and I believed that the word holiness was synonymous with perfection. I was also taught that after you become a Christian you then seek a second work of grace and it was that event that made you perfect. Now that may not have been the intent, but that was the way I perceived what I was taught. However, I just couldn’t seem to wrap my arms around this perfect holiness. In all honesty, knew I was NOT perfect! Yet, I kept trying to acquire this one time experience called holiness. I kept seeking the gift instead of the giver of the gift. I lived in constant fear that I would die without holiness and I was fearful I would never see the Lord! This was devastating to me because I loved the Lord! I believed that my lack of holiness canceled out my salvation. So my prayers were, God save me, God, forgive me, God sanctify me, God save me, God forgive me, God sanctify me, prayed over and over again. It is only by the grace of a God who never gave up on me that I didn’t give up on him! You see, God promises us that if we seek him, we will find him! 2 Chronicles 15:2

 

During those frustrating years I reminded myself of a “rag doll” that was limp and weak as water. There were no spiritual bones in my body that could support my wilting legs of failure. As I tried to attain that which was attainable I was filled with fear, void of joy, and worn out. To add to my confusion, there were those who testified of having obtained this holiness, but for me it remained illusive. During my search for perfection, I observed that those who had somehow managed to reach this level of spirituality, often behaved no better than me. When I was wearing this judgmental hat I observed that some of these folks seemed to behave far worse. Although actions and words seem to speak for themselves, the truth was, I did not know their hearts so I accepted their confession of holiness while I continued to find myself troubled, dissatisfied, and lacking. I attributed my “rag doll” failure as my own lack of faith. I took full responsibility for the fact that I couldn’t get it right. Most of the time, each fresh new attempt at attaining holiness usually failed before I made it home from church.

 

Then God in his mercy and grace taught me about holiness. I first had to learn what holiness was NOT! Holiness was NOT adhering to a list of do’s and don’t. Holiness was NOT doing good works. Holiness was NOT a second work of grace that came in one complete package. Holiness was NOT being perfect. Holiness was NOT something that I could attain through my own effort. Holiness was NOT living my Christian life in fear and trembling. I believed with all my heart that a Christian should be full of joy!

 

God taught me that holiness IS something that God and I will work on until the day I die. I began to realize that holiness IS becoming sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and then following that prompting by choosing to obey God one prompting at a time. Holiness IS falling in love with Jesus to the point that I get up in the morning and choose Jesus over and over again all day long everyday. Salvation IS already mine but sanctification IS walking in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I must choose his words, his example, his friendship, his love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his gentleness, his example of self-control, and his grace for my life every minute of the day. Do I do this perfectly? Absolutely not! Should I keep trying to do this better? Absolutely yes!

 

Pursuing holiness IS my work of obedience as I respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, who IS already in my life! If that fact is not true, then I must sever the Trinity into three separate pieces. But God’s Word teaches that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are One. How can one part of God enter my life and the others stay behind?

 

God then taught me the good news that I would not be perfect but not to worry, he has that covered too! When I experience failure in my walk with the Lord, what I have to do is to pick myself up, brush myself off, and start all over again. Praise God, the free gift of salvation was and is still mine, but sanctification was and still is a process whereby I must hold myself accountable every day. I learned that because of my sinful nature my flesh and spirit would struggle every day and because I am not yet in my perfect glorified body, I will still experience sinful thoughts, attitudes, and behavior in this life. This is not the same sin that separated me from my Creator. It is the sin in my daily life that clouds my relationship with Jesus; it dulls my witness, confuses my thinking, and causes me to take my eyes off of Jesus. When this occurs, the sin MUST be confessed and cleared up! In this life I must be accountable for my sinful behavior if I am to live an effective Christian life.

 

I praise God that I am currently an active participant in the school of sanctification. I am being made holy! …“because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14 NIV I began to learn the more I love Jesus the more I want to please him. Out of my love and desire to please Jesus flows my accountability, my trust, my obedience, and my faithfulness. Gone are my days of fear.

 

I am amazed at the mystery of how God works when I choose to be obedient. God uses simple obedience as an instrument to transmit his shinning glory onto the pathway of others. When I choose to exhibit Christ like characteristics in all that concerns me, people see Jesus, not me, and that, my friend, is holiness! It is the holiness garment of Jesus Christ that covers my filthy rags. That is the stuff that stiffens the legs of this “rag doll” and keeps her walking the path with Jesus. That is what keeps me in joyful pursuit of holiness. My obedience brings glory to the only perfect one, Jesus Christ. Two bi-products of holy living are peace and joy! Even on my worst day and in my darkest hour, God is able to give me his peace and joy. As believers, all we have to do is take those wonderful gifts from his loving hands. Peace and joy are the perks of daily walking with Jesus in the way of holiness. I am so glad that God commands us to walk the joyful path of holiness not the path of perfection.

 

Questions:

 

1. When it comes to pursuing holiness do you relate to feeling like a rag doll? (Sorry men, how about being a powerless super hero?)

2. Do you believe that holiness is perfection? Why or why not?

3. Do you believe that holiness is a process whereby God enables you to partake in His holiness?

4. When will holiness be a completed work in your life?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

Today I stand in the shadow of your holiness. My life cannot contain the full measure of holiness that you have for me. Help me Lord to walk daily with you in pursuit of joyful holy living. I thank you that I am “being made” holy. How I long for that day when your perfect holiness will also be mine. Until that day, I thank you for the privilege of being a partaker in you holiness. Jesus, I want to fall deeper and deeper in love with you so that my obedience will overflow out of my love for you. Just as Mary washed your feet with expensive perfume and dried your feet with her hair, I too, desire that to be my response. Spontaneous worship and love that is lavishly poured out on you my Lord. Jesus, I know that you desire the sweet perfume of obedience from all your children. True holiness is allowing you to help this struggling mind of mine to overcome daily my fleshly struggle to do things my way. True holiness is choosing to walk in your Spirit rather than following the desires of my fleshly will. How do I do this? Could it be it is as simple as one “yes Jesus” at a time, all day – every day.

It is in your sweet name I pray. Amen.

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.

Putting Your Big Toe On The Line

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3:30 AKJV

Today I am walking in the garden. Fall is the time when the apples are ready for the picking and pies are ready for the baking. As I stroll up to my garden’s apple orchard, which is located in the center of my heart’s garden, my mind goes back many years to another garden. Eve too stood before an apple tree. God did not suggest that she refrain from eating from the tree of good and evil. However, God did explicitly say in no uncertain terms, “Do NOT eat from the tree of good and evil.” Yet, there she was standing before the tree, gazing at the beautiful apples and all the while imagining the sweet taste of the delicious apple.

Maybe Eve considered just picking the apple and putting it in her pocket so that she could enjoy looking at it any time she wanted to. Okay, I know she didn’t have a pocket, I’m just saying…she might have…if she did have one. Eve might have reasoned that God had said, "do not eat", but he did not say, "do not pick" the apple. The thought of picking the apple might have gradually become more and more appealing to Eve. Perhaps she toyed with the idea that she would just walk around the garden and run  her hand over the smooth peel. Maybe she would just  hold the apple up to her nose so that she could smell its sweet aroma. If she had done all of those things she might have also said to herself, “so far so good.” Some would say that she was simply window shopping. Others might say that she had her big toe on the line.

Flirting with an opportunity to sin is very risky. It is a very dangerous line to have our big toe on! As we know, Eve crossed the line and now the picking, the rubbing, and the smelling progressed into full blown sin. After the first sweet crunch, Eve may have thought, so far so good. But the moment she swallowed that very first bite that delicious apple immediately turned sour in her stomach as she swallowed the apple of disobedience.

I remember that when I was a child my mother would accuse me of putting my big toe on the line. I would get as close as I could to disobedience without disobeying. This was very upsetting to her and she usually verbalized a very stern warning. The funny thing is that when I had children, they dared to do the same exact thing. Putting their big toe on the line was a common occurrence in our household. Who would have ever guessed that now my grandchildren do the same exact thing! Does the human spirit so desire disobedience that this desire repetitively passes from generation to generation as far back as our original mother Eve? We so desire to have our own way, to be in charge, to be what we consider wise, that we choose to disobey. Time and time again we walk up to the line that God has drawn and place our big toe on the line. We wonder just how much we can get away with before we find our self in the position of compromise. We must never underestimate compromise because it is just a heartbeat away from the shameful sin of willful disobedience.

Today I am looking up at the apples that are hanging from the graceful branches of the apple trees and then I look down and stare at the dusty pathway. I bend over and draw a line in the dirt. My next move is to place my big toe on that line. This object lesson is clear. The Master Gardener comes up from behind and startles me a bit. Jesus roles his eyes at me and says, “Paula, you know this is not the way to holiness and then he walks away.” That’s it! No additional warnings or threats of what will happen if I cross the line. Why doesn’t he just grab me and pull me away? Instead, he walks away and clips a rose for the lapel of his robe. Hmmmm! Really, I guess that puts the "apple" in my court. I can pick the apple off the tree or I can choose to walk away. As I back off I decide to sit for awhile on the bench and ponder today’s garden lesson.

My first thought is I really don’t know much about holiness nor can I claim very much progress in my life as a result of applying what I have occasionally learned. My life continues to be full of opportunities to practice obedience to the voice of God. I always have many occasions to willingly choose to jointly work with God as he works to change me from the inside out. I know that if I am to walk the path of holiness I must listen to the Holy Spirit, hear and heed his warnings. When I bow in obedience to the whisper of the Holy Spirit I am doing my part in the joint effort of God helping me to climb higher in my walk of faith. I hear the command. It is not a suggestion. It is a command directly from the mouth of God, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2 NIV

One thing I know is that God expects me to walk in the way of holiness. God expects me to have high morals; God wants me to be a woman of integrity. God wants me to walk away from in sinful behavior and deliberately choose to obey his instructions. He wants me to practice less of me and more of him. John the Baptist said it well, “I must decrease, so he (Jesus) can increase.” I must choose to walk the path of holiness so that my life will bring glory to my Father in heaven.

I do not enter the quest for holiness void of instructions or example. The Bible is my guide book for living a moral life and Jesus Christ is my example of consistency in doing the will of the Father. As I pursue holiness I do not have the luxury of compromise. God demands simple obedience one issue at a time. The message is clear. I must decrease so God can increase. Less of my will and more of God’s will.

Why then is obedience so hard? In this life it is the never ending battle between my human flesh and my  spirit. I know what is right yet I choose wrong. I do this because I am self-centered instead of God-centered. It is plain and simple; sometimes I love my sin more than I love God.

Loveingly, the Master Gardner comes and sits beside me. I talk and he listens. I confess to him that I struggle with many self-centered thoughts. I admit to the Master Gardner that sometimes I am more interested in getting my own way than doing his will. I tell him that I know this behavior grieves him. I own up to the fact that at times I am flippant and I demonstrate a nonchalant attitude. Jesus, forgive me when I offend you in this way. Now my eyes fill with hot steamy tears and I say, “God, why can’t I have enough faith to accomplish holiness in my life?” Then God speaks and I listen. “Paula, my child, you do not accomplish holiness by drumming up faith. I accomplish holiness in you through your obedience. Sometimes this takes a great deal of effort on your part to walk away from temptation, or to pick up the right attitude, or to keep your mouth closed. You must call on my Holy Spirit for help in your time of need. You need to decrease in your self-centered ways so that I may increase in your life. I want you to be God-centered. I assure you my child that less of you will be more!”

I find comfort in knowing that God is so gracious. He does not seek perfection but he does look for improvement. I remind myself that man looks at my outward appearance and progress but God looks down deep into my heart. I also think it is possible that I may be too hard on myself. I am not to live defeated but rather walk in joy knowing that I am doing my best. I can always be better and do more but God knows when I am really pursuing holiness and he also knows when I am not the least bit interested. He also takes note when he sees my big toe on the line. Satan is also aware when I place my big toe is on the line. God hems me in and sets boundaries for a reason. It is his way of protecting me. Just like Eve, when I get to close to crossing the line I open myself up and set the stage for temptation to first beckon and then for failure to overcome me as I give in to crossing God’s line of protection. So the lesson to learn is DO NOT even think about putting your big toe on the line. Quickly turn in the opposite direction and run straight to Jesus!

Questions:

1. When was the last time your big toe was on the line?

2. Recall that situation. What happened?

3. Is your big toe on the line today?

4. Do you feel yourself flirting with compromise?

5. Has Satan showed up yet?

6. If you are a Christian who is pursuing holiness, what should you do?

Prayer:

Dear God,

I confess that  I am often tempted to put my big toe on the line. Today I find that I am tempted to flirt with compromise regarding _____________. I know that my reluctance to run away from temptation is because I really want what is on the other side of the line. There are many reasons why I want to cross the line. Sometimes I am angry and I want to get even, Other times I am hurt and I want to hurt back. Often I am tempted to satisfy my lustful appetite for ______________. Father, I shamefully admit that at times I love my sin more than I love you. God, when a compromising thought enters my mind please help me to run from the sinful temptation straight to you. Father, I do desire for there to be less of me and more of you. Thank you God that victory can be mine because your Holy Spirit lives within me and you have said that greater is he that lives in me, then he (Satan) that is in this world. Help me Lord to pursue holiness one "yes Jesus" at a time as I endeavor to be obedient to your boundaries of protection.

It is in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen

God Wants Another Piece of My Heart

“But we all,

with open face beholding as in a glass

the glory of the Lord,

are changed into the same image

from glory to glory,

even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV

One of my favorite childhood memories is working jigsaw puzzles with my family. After all of the pieces were turned over face side up, we then began the task of working the straight edge pieces that would form the shape of the puzzle. It was great fun watching the puzzle picture come into view piece by piece. I still remember my older brother Bob tapping each piece he placed with his fingernail, signaling another victory for his ability to find and place missing puzzle pieces. He also liked to hide one piece in his pocket so that he could be the one to put in place the final piece of the puzzle. In spite of his teasing as we worked the puzzle, I still enjoyed working jigsaw puzzles with him and I have enjoyed passing this activity on to my children and grandchildren.

Today I am thinking about the fact that our heart is very much like a jigsaw puzzle. When we ask God to come into our life, God begins to work on our heart. God first removes the dark shroud of sin from our heart. God then works all of the blood red edge pieces of our hearts puzzle to form the perfect shape that he has planned for our life. Even though we have been forgiven there is still much work to do in our heart. The sin that separated us from God is gone, but the sin that comes from our sinful nature still needs God’s sanctification process. As we walk with God, he exposes many sinful pieces of our heart’s puzzle. The light of God’s love now shines on our heart as he begins the process of  identifying  and revealing each sinful puzzle piece of our heart’s puzzle.

It is God’s desire that we will allow him to replace each piece with a new piece that has been stamped in the image of his character. My part in working the puzzle of my heart requires me to surrender to God every sinful piece of my heart’s puzzle that he lovingly asks for. When I hand him the piece of the puzzle that he is asking for, he stands ready to replace that missing piece with a piece that resembles a godly characteristic. My entire life my heart’s puzzle will always be a work in progress. The exact picture of the puzzle has not yet been revealed. I am anxiously waiting to see the finished picture that will be unveiled in heaven. God promises me that when I get to heaven, as I search for my face to appear in the puzzle I will be pleasantly surprised to see the face of my Savior, Jesus Christ. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV

Over the years I have gone through the painful experience of relinquishing to God many pieces that make up the puzzle of my heart. Sometimes it takes me years to pry out the piece that God is asking for. You see, every piece of my heart has a specific word written on the face of the puzzle piece. Words like selfishness, pride, anger, hurt, greed, deceit, and gossip. Sometimes there are pieces that remind me of a bad habit, a wall of protection, a spirit of unforgiveness, a desire for revenge, or unkind words. Some of the more difficult pieces to relinquish to God have been a spirit of irritation, a judgmental spirit, and the piece that screams fear. There is also that reoccurring piece that says control. This piece is especially hard to surrender as it stubbornly clings to the wall of my heart.

I have found that when I am able to surrender to him the piece of the puzzle baring the word hate, he replaces it with another piece that has love written on its face. When God asks me to relinquish to him the piece that has fear written on it, he then takes that piece and replaces it with a piece that reads trust. He takes the control piece and taps in its place a piece labeled surrender.

Every time I release a specific piece of my heart’s puzzle to God, it seems that God will then immediately go after another piece of my heart. Day after day God continues to ask me for additional pieces of my heart’s puzzle, one ugly piece at a time.  It is God's desires to replace each sinful piece of my heart’s puzzle with his words of grace. God wants to replace irritation with compassion, judgment with mercy, and impatience with patience. God wants to replace fear with trust, pride with humility, and anger with his peace.

The truth is God always wants another piece of my heart. He will never take it but he lovingly waits for me to hand it to him. As God removes each piece I hand him  he always replaces it with a new piece that is a perfect fit. I wish I could say that once trust is in place it remains there forever and that when fear is removed I always live in perfect peace. I wish I could say that once God removes a puzzle piece of irritation that I would always exhibit compassion. The fact is there are multiple pieces each labeled with a sinful word. There is a puzzle piece for every situation I will ever encounter in this life. I am in constant need of a puzzle working partner who is a Master. Jesus is the one who will help me work the puzzle pieces of my heart into a picture of his perfection. Every situation, every circumstance, every relationship, every encounter, and every hurt will always need the touch of Master puzzle worker’s hand. Jesus also  stands ready to make sure that a good puzzle piece that is already in place does not become loose and break away. If forgiveness, trust, love, kindness, joy, or peace becomes loose and about to disconnect, Jesus is standing by ready to help me safely secure that piece of my heart’s puzzle back into its proper firm position. I must always listen to his voice of love that warns me when I am about to dislodge a piece that is representative of his goodness and full of his grace.

The knowledge that God always wants another piece of my heart is one of my greatest blessings! My deepest longing to be more and more like Jesus Christ. One by one, God continues to ask me to willingly surrender every piece of my heart puzzle that does not reflect his image. This is his holy process that is changing me from “glory to glory.” As I mature in my faith it is my desire that more and more of the pieces of my heart's puzzle would remain intact. I pray I will not struggle so hard and long as I move toward surrendering every piece that he asks for. I want to willingly pry each sinful piece from my heart and open handedly quickly place each piece in his competent hand.

I believe  when we walk with Jesus and listen to his voice and obey his commands the picture on our heart's puzzle is becoming more and more beautiful. Someday our life on this earth will be over and we will meet Jesus face to face. At that point I imagine Jesus will pull from his robe pocket the very last piece of our heart’s puzzle. As he taps the last piece of the puzzle in place he will smile and say, “It is finished!” and then he will welcome each one of us into heaven for all eternity.

Questions:

1.Do you find that you are always in need of a replacement puzzle piece?

2. Do you try to work your heart’s puzzle alone?

3. Are you blessed by the fact that because of Jesus’ great love for you he always wants another piece of your heart?

4. What specific piece is Jesus asking you for today?

5. Will today be the day you will surrender that piece of your heart’s puzzle to him?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

Forgive me when I become upset and frustrated because I see you standing in front of me with an open, outstretched hand asking me for another piece of my heart’s puzzle. There are times I do not want to surrender the piece I love! When you take away those pieces you are taking away my face, my image, and my will. On the other hand, I am so glad that you love me so much that you are never satisfied with an incomplete puzzle. I am blessed to know that you always want another piece of my heart. Help me Lord to walk through my life with you by my side. As we sit in the garden together show me the next piece of my heart’s puzzle that you want to replace. I am well aware of times when life catches me off guard and throws me for a loop; please guard the puzzle of my heart. Do not allow any of the pieces that you have already replaced to become disconnected. Firmly hold those pieces in place. Protect my thinking so that I do not allow Satan to dislodge the pieces that you have lovingly changed. Help me to look to you for strength that will enable me to surrender to you the damaging puzzle pieces that I still cling to so tightly. Jesus, I thank you that because you love me you will never stop asking me for yet another piece of my heart.

In Your Name I Pray. Amen.

Storms of Destruction May Lead to Brokenness

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he brought them out of their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper;

the waves of the sea were hushed.

They were glad when it grew calm,

and he guided them to their desired haven.”

Psalm 107:28-30 NIV

Today I am remembering a storm that blew through the beautiful garden of my heart not so long ago. The sky was so blue and then out of nowhere the storm clouds began to gather. It was storm of massive destruction. The storm caught me off guard and pounded me with raining tears that could not be comforted. As the winds of this storm blew through my garden it uprooted trees that had been in place all my life. It turned over pots that contained memories that were precious. This storm of devastation left not only broken tree limbs but a broken heart.

I am happy to report that the storm has passed. I no longer have tears. God has healed my broken heart. It has not ended as I had hoped but I have forgiven. I so wish I could say that it has also been forgotten, but only God can take the sin in our life and cast it as far as the east is from the west, to be remembered no more. My memory still carries the scar from the experience but God has applied the balm of healing to my near fatal wound.

For me life was good. I had a beautiful home, a wonderful husband, good children, an amazing church, and did not want for anything that I truly needed. The garden of my heart bloomed with love, joy, and peace. Then boom! Out of nowhere Satan ravaged my garden and left emotional havoc on every pathway and in every nook and cranny! The sun went dark in my garden as I groped to find even one rose of love, or a daisy of joy, there was not a single peace lily to be found. Satan, in one fell swoop managed to orchestrate a storm in my life that smashed nearly every pot of beautiful flowers in my garden. This brokenness was more than I thought I could bear.

In the past, when I would sit with the Master Gardner, he would warn me to cut back bushes of pride. He had suggested that I trim away dead branches of selfishness that were found on the trees in my heart’s garden. He told me to thin out the tall perennials that waved suggestive messages of invasive control. My past had taught me to be judgmental and those thoughts had taken a tight hold in my life and had become root bound. I was warned that roots in that condition hinder further growth. The Gardner had shown me vines that needed trimming because they were not bearing fruit. Oh yes, I had been warned, there was still so much work that needed to be a done in the garden of my heart. Regretfully, I did not heed the warning.

Then one beautiful day the destructive storm pounded down on my emotions. My heart was broken as a result of this storm and a darkness I had never know before descended upon my garden. The good news was that the garden of my heart was not beyond repair. I looked up and allowed the light of Jesus to shine into my heart’s garden. You see, with Jesus in our life, life is never hopeless. When we look to him he begins the restoration needed to restore all that needs to be restored. He pulls up and casts out all that is useless and ugly and in its place he plants hope and peace.

There were many lessons I learned from that storm. I am certain that God used my lack of obedience to his suggestions as a spring board that began the process of breaking the things in my life that needed to be broken. I know that God is all powerful and is always capable of preventing these devastating storms of life. But sometimes God allows, and quite possibly arranges the details of our life as a means whereby we may be broken. I was beginning to understand that God is able to use the tools of loss and personal failure to bring about positive change in my life. I am amazed that God loves me enough to attempt to stamp out sinful behavior in my life. My self confidence always seems to push God away; however, personal need always draws me to him. I have learned that God created me and he knows my potential. He knows the plans that he has for me, plans that will give me a hope and a future. I am thankful that God loves me enough to continue to prune me even if it results in painful trials and destructive storms in my life.

When I choose to resist God he usually applies more pressure. My willingness to surrender to God lessens the pressure. I remember one particular struggle that seemed to hang around forever. After a very long time I ultimately surrendered my circumstance to God. I chose his will over my will. Past experience tells me that I usually do eventually surrender my will to God’s will. Lately, when I have been faced with a new storm in life I have been consciously praying, “God, I think I will go straight to surrender because I know that is where I will end up anyway.” The older I get the less I want to struggle with God. I am learning that there is no contest in wrestling with someone who always wins. I am finding that I’m getting too tired to fight. I am realizing that I crave the peace of God more and more. I am beginning to love God more than I love having my own way. Struggling with God always robs me of peace and joy.

As I look back on my life there is a strong personal timeline that tells me that God is not my enemy. This timeline marks for me God’s faithfulness in the past and his faithfulness today. Why then, would I struggle with trusting  him with the future? Even in my darkest of days God has positioned people, circumstances, opportunity, sermons of encouragement, and songs of praise to lift me up and set me free from the darkness of every storm. I know that God breaks me not to teach me a lesson but rather to give me a purpose. At the end of the storm I always find a rainbow reminding me of his faithful promises of love and that love strengthens my walk of faith and gives me eternal hope.

It almost goes without saying that many of the storms of life come because we live in a fallen world.  We often find our self in the midst of a storm as the direct result of another person's sinful behavior. Tragedy also comes from natural disasters. Those storms have nothing to do with our disobedience. Death is also an unexpected storm, yet without a doubt, although death is natural it still leaves us standing in the middle of a storm of change and grief. Today I am making a personal note that the next time brokenness comes into my life, I hope it will be from something that is beyond my control.  I don’t want to experience the natural consequence of brokenness because of my repeated failure to listen and obey God or my anger or unforgiveness, nor do I want it to be because of my pride or my need for control. I don’t want it to be because I forge ahead of God because I am too impatient or afraid to trust the one who holds my future.

Questions:

1. Has God ever changed you for his glory through the brokenness in your life?

2. Are you currently experiencing a storm of destruction in your life?

3. Is God asking you to surrender your emotions or your need for control into his capable hands?

4. Has God been faithful to you in the past?

5. Do you believe that God is all that you need and will be more than enough in the future?

Prayer:

Dear God,

Help me not to despise when brokenness comes into my life. Rather, help me to surrender my life into your gentle hands for redirection, comfort, and peace. I ask that you still every storm in my life. I know that you hear the one who cries out in their trouble. Father you are the one who guides me out of my distress. Father I believe with all my heart that you are able to still the storm to a whisper and hush the waves of this sea. I will pray and I will expect your calm to come to my life until this storm passes over. God, help me to be sensitive to your voice. I want to learn to obey you sooner opposed to later. Help me God to receive with joy the purpose that you have for me as a result of every storm. God, I want to thank you for all of the wonderful times in my life that you have positioned people in my life to help me, teach me, and to guide me in your ways. God, I even want to thank you for the times of brokenness in my life. Why do you love me so much that you would even bother? God, I know there have been relationships in my life that were in need of repair, but out of that brokenness you repaired me! Lord I have grieved, but as you promised, you comforted me with the oil of gladness for those who mourn. God, you know there have been many times in my life when I wondered how I would make it, but you God have always sent the needed bread. Thank you! Why me Lord? Why are you so good to me? You are all that I need and more than enough.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.