Lessons in Holiness

Wow, this one hit me like a wave in the face the past few days…I am so thankful to SEE with His eyes and His perspective…and gain understanding in this area.  I have been battling the desire to be holy.  I want holiness…above all things, I want to be like Jesus.  I want more of Him…and I want to reflect Him in my life…in everything I think, speak, and do.  I want to be pleasing to the Father.

You see, though, holiness, is a work done completely by the Lord.  He gives you the heart you have, the gifts you have, and the circumstances you have to create a holiness (a likeness to His Son) in you.  He makes you more Holy by refining you through LIFE (most of the time through suffering and trials).  Be careful to notice the difference between refinement and discipline too…  What is our part then?  To seek Him with all our hearts, minds, strength, and souls.  To love Him and love one another.  To have a heart that hates the sin in us and others and desires to be cleansed from it and help others, lovingly, to break free from bondage.

Somehow, I think there is this temptation that the Enemy gives us…to make us want to use our gifts that God has given us to help others and serve His Kingdom, instead to draw attention to us….or to seek perfection (instead of seeking to be pleasing to Him)…or to be in competition (be better than someone else).  The Lord has shown me how dangerous these are…seeking attention, perfection, or competition.  I want to be the best I can be…use the gifts He’s given me…to serve HIM…for HIS glory…not mine.

I realized that I cannot jump a few steps in holiness…nor should I want to.  The Lord does the work at a pace that He knows my heart can handle.  It is in His perfect timing of bringing about Holiness in me.  I shouldn’t feel guilty or jealous when I see someone more Holy than me.  I should pray that God give me a heart that desires to passionately pursue Him like that and have a willing heart for Him to refine me and make me more like Him.  And then be content with where He has me.  It’s a lot like desiring other things we see in other people…if they are truly our desires, we should pray to Him and ask Him…with pure hearts…and He shall grant them to us out of His beautiful love for us.

And if we do see someone that is more holy than us, we must rejoice for them, because they are living in God’s perfect will for them.  They are also at the point that God has brought them to.  They should draw us to want to seek the Lord more to also be more holy and pleasing to Him.  Let us not be jealous like Cain.  Let us simply pray to God to offer a better offering that is more pleasing to Him.  Our pure hearts will be more pleasing to Him.

Let us not desire to be more holy than them.  Moses and Aaron went through that.  They were chosen to lead and be holy by God.  The closest people around them ended up wanting their position before God.  God did not have that.  It is really all about God’s sovereignty.  He chooses.  He appoints.  When we see areas of our lives that need sanctification, we must get on our knees and pray for it for His glory.  And we must understand He will act as He pleases and use us for His glory.  We must have submissive and willing hearts to be used by Him in whatever way He chooses.  It is not easy.  Our human desires are so compelling…and even holy to us.  But, the holiest of desires is to be content to be used by God in whatever way He chooses…to be fully satisfied by Him wherever He has us.

Where we are today is because of HIM…and for His Glory and the glory of His Kingdom (“Not to us, O Lord, Not to us, but to you be all the glory because of your love and faithfulness”).  Let us passionately pursue the Giver of all wonderful things…the Great I am Himself.  And He shall grant all things wonderful because of His love for us and His desire for us to further use our gifts and holiness to love others and praise Him.

I can take a deep sigh and know I am on His perfect path to redemption, salvation, deliverance, and sanctification for His glory.  All I need is a willing and worshipful heart, seeking Him with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind.  I praise you Lord for this understanding.  I pray it truly penetrates my heart and changes my ways.