Holiness, Living Our Lives for Christ

About three years ago I was involved in a session with a Pastor in Georgia and his spiritual daughter in Canada discussing this very topic - Holiness, Living our Lives for Christ. 

It was very impactful and I thank God for every person who spoke powerfully and genuinely into my life. It has made me a better person and helped me to dig deeper into the Word of God for myself.

It’s amazing how God works eh, and I am just grateful that for me, it has never been about personalities when it comes to my soul salvation. Because as much as someone is learned in the scriptures, you don’t know their heart, only God does. And the other thing is, they don’t have a heaven to put you in. 

So I would encourage each of us to take the Word of God seriously. No being totally dependent on any one person or ministry to feed you, and no lip service when it comes to serving God. No being empty vessels, or no pretending. 

Rather, if we claim to be Christians, we must search the scriptures for ourselves and make sure we represent God well at all times.

Holiness is not a joke. Living for Christ is a must, if we want to please God and gain eternal life.

Family, we must know that our Creator God wants each and everyone of us to be holy.

Leviticus 11:45 NLT version tells us ”For I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.“ 

And 1 Peter 1:13-17 ”So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”“

What does this all mean?

Peter was an apostle, a special messenger, a personally chosen representative of Jesus Christ. 

He encourages us in 1 Peter chapter 1 to hope in Christ, in spite of the trials we may be facing. 

We are reminded that Jesus is our Saviour and once we live holy lives here on earth we will inherit eternal life with Jesus. We are encouraged to have unwavering faith, even amidst persecution, and to be obedient to God no matter what. We must live holy lives, no matter what. No stealing, no committing adultery and fornication, no lying, gossiping and backbiting, no jealousy and condemning one another. None of these things.

Family, being holy is not something we can do half way, or just on some days of the week. It is a serious full time commitment that we must make to Almighty God.

It is not easy, but we can do it. Yes we may slip at times, but the important thing is for us to recognize the error of our ways and get right back up again and resume our walk with Jesus. Amen?!

The Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 24 verse 16: ”The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.“

On which side do we find ourselves today? Are we godly? Are we holy? Are we living our lives for Christ? 

These are questions we have to ask ourselves often, perhaps several times a day, especially as we are tempted to have an outburst or respond to someone harshly or negatively. 

I cannot be a runaway train as a child of God. I have to be resilient and determined to remain righteous in the eyes of the Lord, despite the challenges and setbacks I would face.

To be holy and to live our lives for Christ, we must always strive to reflect the character and standards of God - righteousness, purity, and devotion to God's will. It involves living in accordance with God's commands and seeking to honor Him in all aspects of life.

So I recall that conversation I had 3 years ago with those two persons I mentioned at the beginning.

And even today I am encouraged to encourage you. Hopefully they are still holding on to The Master’s Hand and would not be walking in disobedience.

All of us Family, must remain set apart for The Master’s use and we must recommit ourselves daily to the task. It’s a lifestyle. Not just for Saturday or Sunday.

It’s a call to walk differently - Ephesians 4:1-2

It’s a call for us to be light and salt - Matthew 5:13-16.

It’s a call for us to raise the banner high for Jesus - Psalms 20:5 and Psalms 60 verse 4.

Family, holiness and living for Christ is not a popular thing, but it’s a necessary thing. It can be a lonely walk if we don’t have the right people around us.

But without holiness, Family, we would be missing the mark

And so I want to be anywhere that there is a cry for holiness. Not where I am popular, not where I can act the fool, not where I can get away with a white lie or a little pilfering. Remember now, when we lower the bar as Christians, the world looks down on us and they don’t want to be the Christian we say we are.

Whoever God is instructing through this exhortation today, as He instructed me 3 years ago, wherever we are located, we must ensure that our lives are that example of who God wants us to be. 

And when we are holy Family, when we are living for Jesus, there will be a revival in our circles. Praise the Lord Jesus. 

Then I will be holy, you will be holy and we will have more groups of holy people all over the world. All for the glory of God and to accomplish His purposes. What a beautiful thing.

Remember Family, God sets the bar and will lower His standards for no one.

We are the ones who lower the standard to satisfy our fleshly desires. But that is not acceptable to God. Holiness and righteous and peace in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17.

As the Pastor prayed then, I pray now, that this discussion would bring conviction to souls. Ultimately, conviction should bring us to a place of repentance or turning around and going in a different direction, in order to please God.

Family, if we understand what God requires of us, then we have no excuse.

We must deny ourselves and walk with God daily - surrendering our fleshly desires, receiving God’s grace and strength to stay connected to Him, to walk holy and live for Jesus every day.

aub - 2 April 2024

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