Tag: chasing holiness

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness – Be Holy Part 3

livingwholecoaching

This conversation I had the other day with another believer left me confused. I was sharing with them about the journey I was on learning from Holy Spirit about holy fear of God and holiness. I always get super excited when God reveals His word to me in an intimate way, because it shows me that He loves me and trust me if He would allow me to mature in His grace and develop more intimacy with Him. But when I share with other believers and their attitude is lukewarm to the things of God, especially His word, it confuses me. How can you say you belong to the Lord and love Him, but you don’t seek Him. How can you not desire to please Him in the newness of your life that you received when He gave His son, Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for you so you didn’t have to go to hell because of your sins?

The person’s position on being holy was that it is not attainable. But I beg to differ, because not only does God say it in His word; it is a command. 1 Peter 1:13-16 says: “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be bought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 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.” And the latter part of this scripture Peter took directly from the Old Testament scripture; Leviticus 11:44-45 “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be Holy, because I am Holy. I am the Lord, who bought you out of Egypt to be your God; therefore, be Holy because I am Holy.” My question would be why God would command us to be holy if it was not attainable?

Let’s dive in a little deeper. Perhaps our perspective about what Holy means is incorrect. Let’s see what the biblical definition of Holy states. The first thing that the definition starts off with is that there is over 430 times that the word holy or holiness is mentioned in the Old Testament only and over 180 times it’s mentioned in the New Testament. So needless to say, the meaning of word holy and holiness is important to God. The Hebrew word for holy is “godesh” which means apartness, sacredness, or separateness (God is set apart from His creation) above Him there is no other. The Greek word for Holiness is “hagios” which means pure, morally blameless or set apart. (reference: http://www.whatchritianswant toknow.com)

With this additional information about what the word holy or holiness means in the biblical sense perhaps we can begin to understand what God meant when He co mmands us to be holy. Holy doesn’t mean that we are perfect and to me I don’t even believe that it means we reach the completion of holiness while still in the flesh. What I do believe it means is that we are set apart to God and if we truly have been born again, embracing the free gift of justification through salvation because of what Jesus did on the cross, then we would desire to please God in every area of our lives.

When we allow Holy Spirit to have His perfect way in our lives then we are allowing the process of sanctification to be fulfilled through us. Holy Spirit will convict us of our sins so we can repent and then point us back to Jesus and His attributes which we should also develop. Being holy and walking in holiness is a daily process and we need to crucify our flesh daily as the word states. If you desire to build your intimate relationship with God and walk in holiness then you should develop these daily habits; read and study the Bible each day, develop a daily prayer life, and serve the people of God with the gifts and talents God gave you to glorify Him.

Back to my conversation with my friend, I don’t understand why a believer would want to only have the bare minimum life that God has for us. For me I want all that He has for me in every aspect. I seek Him with my whole heart, and He wants you to do the same. God longs for an intimate relationship with all of us who love Him.

Question to ponder: Are you seeking God and His holiness?

Father God, we honor and adore you! We worship You for who You are in all of Your holiness and sovereignness. We thank you Father that we can know You intimately. We ask Holy Spirit to come into our lives to lead and guide us to all Your truth that is in Your word. We repent for not seeking You with our whole heart because we do love You and want to please You in our new life as Your children. In Jesus Christ precious name we pray. Amen.

In His service,

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness Part 2 – Justification vs. Sanctification

livingwholecoaching

I am reading this wonderful book called: “The Awe of God” by bestselling author John Bevere. And something that he says in the book that really gave me pause was that we can love God and walk in error because we do not fear God. That really shook me to my core.

This takes us back to why Jesus came to begin with and that was to fulfill the will of God to become a holy sacrifice and cleansing blood that atoned for our sins and redeemed us back to a right place with Father God. If you remember the scriptures when Jesus was about to be crucified, He pleaded with God to take this assignment from him, but His ultimate resolve was, “not my will Father, but your will be done”.

The gift of salvation from the completed work of Jesus, justifies us. When we receive this gift, we are then justified at which point the work of sanctification should begin. Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone and the new is here.” NIV This is where sanctification comes in to teach us how to be holy. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13 “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” NKJV We have to will to do things in the right context of what God says in His word. Sanctification means “set apart to God”. When you pursue a life “set apart to God”; you are maturing your relationship with God. Transformation can begin to take place in your life. And with transformation becomes your will starts to look like that of your Father God’s will. There is so much more to this, but we will begin to pull pieces out that God wants us to focus on.

There are two things that I am learning so far from pursuing holiness: 1. I need to learn from Holy Spirit and God’s Holy word in order to understand who God is and 2. having holy fear of God allows me the will to do the things that He wants of me in reverence to His glory.

I don’t want to get to judgment day and not have done things in the correct way because I was ignorant of it. I want all that God has for me in order to glorify Him. And that’s why I share, because God has called me to teach and share His word of truth with His children.

Thoughts to ponder: Do we understand the process of sanctification? Are we pursuing it as we should?

If you are getting anything from my insights as Holy Spirit is teaching me, please let me know, I’d love to interact with you! Come back next week for Part 3. Subscribe to the blog and you can get notification when a new blog post is up!

In His service,

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness

livingwholecoaching

In this season I have been pursuing God and His purpose for my life. Amazingly, as I have been pursuing God, the Holy Spirit has taken me on a quest to understand the holy fear of God.

The fear of the Lord is the starting place for an intimate relationship with God.

I’ve heard some preachers talk about the Western churches and how we have lost our pursuit of the holy fear of God. We’ve compromised too much of God’s word, because the enemy has used culture to say; “Oh it’s not that deep.” But oh, to the contrary it is that deep, it’s eternal.

As God is teaching me about having holy fear or reverential fear of Him; it is making it more and more clear why I see some of my brothers and sisters in Christ walking in lack. They love the Lord, but they don’t fear Him. Having holy fear is not being afraid of God, but rather a deep respect, reverence, and awe of His holiness. It also reminds me that pursuing the things of God are super important to our eternal lives. Because if we are truly seeking God with our whole hearts, we will surely find Him. Studying and learning the word of God holds true to open up the mysteries of what God has for us.

Let’s look at what some scriptures have to say about the fear of the Lord:

Psalm 25:12-14 “Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.” NIV

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” NIV

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” NIV

Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

I know that this posture is not an easy study but trust me as the Holy Spirit gives us understanding and revelation into all truths and righteousness we will understand and have a clear understanding of God’s word and the ability to chase after His holiness.

Lock in or subscribe to my blog as we delve into this wonderous word about, the holy fear of God. I will be uploading new insights and thoughts each week.

I leave you with a question to ponder. Do I understand the meaning of holy fear of God?

Until the next blog, pray for God to begin to give you insight on where you are in your pursuit of holiness.

God’s servant,

Sister Lisa