"For the Scriptures say, You must be holy because I am holy." ~1 Peter 1:16
Thoughts on holiness of God began swirling in my heart near the end of 2014, more so than normal. Every year I ask God for a focus, rather than a resolution, and every year, starting around October, He takes me by the hand and walks me right into His will. When I seek Him with all my heart, mind and soul, that is! I actually get all tingly inside, like a little girl waiting anxiously for her daddy to return with a surprise gift he promised her. My Father never, ever fails me!
2015 my heart has been called to LIVE HOLY!
STOP! Stop that mind before it even gets started on thinking craziness! Let me straighten this out right away...I am not called to live holy in my own efforts. Nor am I called to figure out how it should look and what to do in order to live a perfect, holy life. That would be exhausting and ridiculous! That's called religion! What has come to light for me is the very fact that I get to rest in Him and let HIM live HIS holiness in and through me. Jehovah God IS holy! Completely, through and through. Nothing can add or take away from His holiness. My heart has been meditating on that for months now, and truly seeking how to simply abide in my Holy LORD and let Him be who He is in and through me!
My part is to die, His part is to LIVE!
I always know when I'm on the right track with my Savior because He doesn't let up easy. Once I have my focus, I create a visual and post it next to my mirror to see everyday, all year long. I'm ready! Yeah, not so fast there little creation of Mine, there is so much more!
Jesus gently turned me to His silence. Just how silent He is and the profound holiness found in silence. Here is why I was hit with it, I tend to fight to defend myself. I want to be understood, nearly demand it. I don't necessarily want to be heard, anymore, I want to be understood when I am being misunderstood. So I go into defense mode and stand to make my point clear and understood and welcomed. Jesus reminded me of how silent He stood in the face of His enemies. Then I read this...
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. ~Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth...Gulp! Oh my heart! Tears stung my eyes and all I could get out in a faint whisper was, "Jesus! Help me!" Even in the face of attack and affliction, He said not a word.
Knowing how deep the stake has to be driven in my sinful heart, my Father kept it up for the rest of the week. No matter what I picked up to read, it seemed He kept on about the silence. The next thing I read in a devotional was Joshua 1:8...
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you
may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
This Book of the Law shall NOT depart from your mouth??? I had NEVER seen that before! In fact, last year my focus was LIVE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS from Joshua 1:9. What I didn't take time to take in was right before that God told Joshua to keep quiet about the Book of the Law! Whaaaat?!?! "LORD, if I've read something, don't I need to let people know when they misquote you or misunderstand us?!" <silence>.
God is anointing Joshua as the next leader of the nation of Israel after Moses dies. God is telling him he will lead the people, an entire nation, into the Promise Land, but then He basically tells Joshua, "YOU get ready to lead the people! YOU meditate on my Law! YOU be strong and courageous! And YOU keep that mouth shut!" (okay, that is absolutely my translation, not the God's!)
Still, the stake needs to go deeper. That night I'm reading and He shows me 2 Corinthians 10:12...
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
LORD HAVE MERCY! Being silent at times is not being weak, being silent at times is letting Christ's holiness flow through me!
My sweet Savior whispered to me,
"You do not have to defend yourself or explain your heart to the point of fighting. I was there. I saw everything that happened, and I heard every word. Besides, I have an even greater advantage, I am the only one who can search the heart and test the mind (Jeremiah 17:10)! Sssssshhhhhhh...precious child of mine. YOU MUST BE HOLY BECAUSE I AM HOLY!"
Thoughts on holiness of God began swirling in my heart near the end of 2014, more so than normal. Every year I ask God for a focus, rather than a resolution, and every year, starting around October, He takes me by the hand and walks me right into His will. When I seek Him with all my heart, mind and soul, that is! I actually get all tingly inside, like a little girl waiting anxiously for her daddy to return with a surprise gift he promised her. My Father never, ever fails me!
2015 my heart has been called to LIVE HOLY!
STOP! Stop that mind before it even gets started on thinking craziness! Let me straighten this out right away...I am not called to live holy in my own efforts. Nor am I called to figure out how it should look and what to do in order to live a perfect, holy life. That would be exhausting and ridiculous! That's called religion! What has come to light for me is the very fact that I get to rest in Him and let HIM live HIS holiness in and through me. Jehovah God IS holy! Completely, through and through. Nothing can add or take away from His holiness. My heart has been meditating on that for months now, and truly seeking how to simply abide in my Holy LORD and let Him be who He is in and through me!
My part is to die, His part is to LIVE!
I always know when I'm on the right track with my Savior because He doesn't let up easy. Once I have my focus, I create a visual and post it next to my mirror to see everyday, all year long. I'm ready! Yeah, not so fast there little creation of Mine, there is so much more!
Jesus gently turned me to His silence. Just how silent He is and the profound holiness found in silence. Here is why I was hit with it, I tend to fight to defend myself. I want to be understood, nearly demand it. I don't necessarily want to be heard, anymore, I want to be understood when I am being misunderstood. So I go into defense mode and stand to make my point clear and understood and welcomed. Jesus reminded me of how silent He stood in the face of His enemies. Then I read this...
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. ~Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth...Gulp! Oh my heart! Tears stung my eyes and all I could get out in a faint whisper was, "Jesus! Help me!" Even in the face of attack and affliction, He said not a word.
Knowing how deep the stake has to be driven in my sinful heart, my Father kept it up for the rest of the week. No matter what I picked up to read, it seemed He kept on about the silence. The next thing I read in a devotional was Joshua 1:8...
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you
may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
This Book of the Law shall NOT depart from your mouth??? I had NEVER seen that before! In fact, last year my focus was LIVE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS from Joshua 1:9. What I didn't take time to take in was right before that God told Joshua to keep quiet about the Book of the Law! Whaaaat?!?! "LORD, if I've read something, don't I need to let people know when they misquote you or misunderstand us?!" <silence>.
God is anointing Joshua as the next leader of the nation of Israel after Moses dies. God is telling him he will lead the people, an entire nation, into the Promise Land, but then He basically tells Joshua, "YOU get ready to lead the people! YOU meditate on my Law! YOU be strong and courageous! And YOU keep that mouth shut!" (okay, that is absolutely my translation, not the God's!)
Still, the stake needs to go deeper. That night I'm reading and He shows me 2 Corinthians 10:12...
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
LORD HAVE MERCY! Being silent at times is not being weak, being silent at times is letting Christ's holiness flow through me!
My sweet Savior whispered to me,
"You do not have to defend yourself or explain your heart to the point of fighting. I was there. I saw everything that happened, and I heard every word. Besides, I have an even greater advantage, I am the only one who can search the heart and test the mind (Jeremiah 17:10)! Sssssshhhhhhh...precious child of mine. YOU MUST BE HOLY BECAUSE I AM HOLY!"
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