A Call to Holiness
12-24-2018
These are the words that have echoed through my head for the last 4 weeks.
“A call to holiness”, over and over to the point that it’s so deep in my heart that I can’t seem to move on to any other subject. Before I began hearing this phrase, I had been in prayer asking God to let me see in this generation a glory fire like we’ve never seen before. As I seek God I keep hearing Him say, “I want to pour out MORE of Me, but my people aren’t ready, their hearts aren’t pure before Me! It’s time for a call back to holiness. Those who have ears to hear, will hear and heed the call.”
The MORE is His Glory! It’s the realm of Him many never tap into! Glory is Kabowd – the weighty presence of God, the manifested presence in the now. I began to read about Peter and how people were healed when they got close enough to him to get under his shadow and how he truly walked in the glory of God.
There are so many references to God’s glory from the beginning to the end of the Word. In Exodus God led the children of Israel by way of His glory cloud by day and the glory fire by night. His glory protected them and confused the enemy’s army and His glory sanctifies. Isaiah tells us we are created for His glory and that His glory will not be given over to idols.
This made me ask myself, “What am I seeking over God?”.
1 Chron tells us that we are to declare His glory. Psalms tells us over and over to declare His glory and we are reminded that His glory is the manifestation of His kingdom (Power, Authority, Dominion)! Isaiah and Ezekiel tell us that His glory will be seen by ALL nations and that it is going to come like a rushing water over this earth and it will shine! In John we are told that His glory manifests in miracles!!
Who else, besides me, is ready to start truly seeing the miracle working power of God in this region? In our homes? In our day to day lives??
We are also reminded in Romans that we are to SEEK His glory! I saw a phrase a few weeks ago that I grabbed a hold of and determined to figure this out! “When you enter the glory, you leave the limitations of the earth.” This is where we begin to see the power of God manifest in our lives through signs, miracles and wonders!
I began to ask God, “How did Peter and others on this earth discover the depths of your glory? How did they get so close to You that Your glory literally touched every life that came ‘near’ them? How did they tap in to that realm of power and authority?” So, God told me if I was so curious to go read 1st and 2nd Peter and study them to the depths. This is why the last few weeks have been very quiet for me. God has rocked every part of me through this study.
I am going to be saying this a lot… It’s about walking in holiness, living a life surrendered to God with a pure heart and not allowing anyone or anything but Him on the throne of our life. It’s about laying down the passions and desires of our flesh (old, unsaved nature) and walking in the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter is all about our soul’s salvation. Peter tells us numerous times throughout the whole book that we are to stay pure before God. In chapter 1 he tells us to prepare our minds for action (understanding and deep thought) and to be sober minded (discreet, watchful, awake and temperate- disciplined) not allowing intoxicating thoughts or influences to numb you and keep you from evaluating things correctly, seeing clearly! I want you to think about this for a moment... intoxicating thoughts or influences... let's take just a second and remove "alcohol" from the picture. Yes alcohol and drugs can cause intoxication (the loss of control of behavior, physical or mental control markedly diminished) and Peter does talk a lot about not being a drunk, but I want to take you a little deeper. He says keep a sober-mind and some versions say sober-spirit. We allow so much more into our mind that causes us to lose control of our godly behavior and causes our mental and physical control to be diminished making it difficult for the Holy Spirit to influence us. Think about this... depression, oppression, unforgiveness, bitterness, anxiety, etc... all of these numb us, they keep us from being able to spiritually see and hear clearly, being spiritually awake, watchful and spiritually disciplined! This is why I believe we are told in Phil. 4:8 "Whatever is true, just, pure, lovely, commendable, worthy of respect, excellent or praiseworthy, think on these things!" God wants our thoughts on HIM, He wants us disciplined in all areas... He wants us living a holy life!
He goes on to mention that Grace will only be brought to us through the revelation of Jesus Christ! Guys, this is big!! I am so tired of hearing this “grace” message that people use in order to live a life of “freedom” to do as they please because grace covers them. Much of the church has truly lost the understanding of holiness and the fear of the Lord! Peter tells us here that grace is only brought to us at the revealing, manifestation and revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives. In other words, when we truly grasp who Jesus is IN our lives… we will no longer desire to live a sinful lifestyle… Will we mess up? YES! But because we know who we are IN HIM we will be quick to repent, and His grace will redeem, cover and restore! When we don’t truly have a revelation of Jesus Christ and what He did for us then a sinful life is no big deal and I dare say His grace is lifted until we truly choose to repent and follow Him. Grace isn’t permission to live an unholy lifestyle yet claim to be righteous!
When we have the revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives, we are no longer ignorant! We now know… the choice of holy conduct vs unholy conduct is ours!
He also tells us in 1 Peter 1 that we are called to holiness. We are not redeemed with corruptible things, but we were ransomed with the blood of Jesus Christ, His precious blood! Why on earth do we choose unholy conduct?? We are called to walk in a pure heart and pure love before our God! Peter reminds us that we purify our souls (mind/will/emotions) and walk with a pure heart by obeying the truth through the Holy Spirit and loving others… because God is love!
I want to encourage you to get your Word out and read 1 and 2 Peter! Over the next few weeks I will be blogging through the chapters of both books as we look at what Peter considered unholy conduct and much, much more.
Church, I truly believe God is calling us back to a lifestyle of holy conduct but there is only a specific remnant that is going to heed his call! I personally choose to be one! Living a holy life means much sacrifice, sometimes even your family isn’t going to understand some of the choices Holy Spirit asks you to make and sometimes we won’t even understand but we have to trust that God knows best and rest in that reassurance. When we truly put our trust in God, in all honesty, there’s no need for human understanding… we just have to be willing and obedient!
To be continued…
Father I surrender myself to you today! I surrender my fleshly desires to run my own life, I surrender it all to You! Father I know that even though I personally may not understand, I choose to walk pure, holy and humble before You. I lay down my own will, my own dreams, my own wants and say YES to Your will and dreams for me! Holy Spirit go into the depths of my soul and reveal to me the things that are keeping me from walking an unclean, unholy, impure life so that I can in turn repent and be cleansed and covered by Your blood and Your grace! I want to be a part of the remnant you are calling to walk in Your glory! I am a glory carrier!! In Jesus name… Amen!