Holiness

PART 1 - WHAT IS HOLINESS?

When I was a kid and heard the word “holiness” I pictured someone with a halo over their head who floated around rather than walk. Someone special to God who regular folks don’t have a chance of being like.

Well...I was wrong. Holiness has nothing to do with halos or the ability to float. Holiness actually means being separate from the world and put aside for God. Disciples might be in this world physically, but spiritually they are separate from this world and dedicated to God. This is accomplished when we are being led by the Holy Spirit and looking at the world through spiritual eyes. Like salvation, holiness isn’t a one time deal, but rather a work in progress. We can slip in and out of holiness. Holiness is maintained through discipline. When we start out as new Christians we are occasionally holy. As our faith and spiritual discipline increases, we are led by the Holy Spirit more and so we start looking at the world through spiritual eyes more. Our goal is to continually be led by the Spirit and be looking through spiritual eyes. Everything we do throughout the day and night should have God in mind. Even if we are doing a task or job that doesn’t directly involve God, we should be doing it with Him in mind and in a way pleasing to Him.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:13-16)(NKJV). The quotes are referencing...And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Leviticus 19:1-2)(NKJV).

Through vigilance and discipline, a Christian develops holiness. When a Christian walks in holiness AND walks in Holy Spirit power...a disciple is being forged! Notice the closeness of “discipline” and “disciple?”

PART 2 - THE BATTLE FOR OUR MIND

We must choose to follow the world or the Holy Spirit. If we choose the world, we will look through carnal/worldly eyes and be led by our own thoughts, desires, and feelings. If we choose the Holy Spirit, we will look through spiritual eyes and be led by Jesus. The world and the Holy Spirit are at odds with each other.

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish (Galatians 5:17)(NKJV).

We have two obstacles to holiness. The first is ourselves. If we don’t put much effort into submitting to the Holy Spirit, we choose the world by default. The second is demons. They do everything they can to influence us through our thoughts, desires, and feelings to prevent us from submitting to Him.

To live holy we must do the following…

Know the Word. We must read or listen to It ourselves. We can’t limit our knowledge of the Word by what we are spoon fed by someone else. We must take initiative and learn it ourselves.
Do the Word. Knowledge is good. But if we don’t DO the Word, knowledge is useless. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:15-17)(NKJV). This includes doing the great commission, in its entirety.
Get out of the Holy Spirit’s way so He can lead us. Take every thought, desire, and feeling captive before accepting it. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)(NKJV). Is that thought, desire, or feeling consistent with the Holy Spirit’s will? If yes, accept it. If not, reject it. The Holy Spirit will give us conviction to help us. Conviction is that yucky feeling that something isn’t right. If we get conviction, listen to Him and reject it!

Letting the Holy Spirit lead us takes humbleness and a dogged tenacity. The world will do everything it can to pull us into it through our thoughts, feelings, and desires. Heck, that’s what demons do for a living! Demons try to take us over and force their desires on us. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit doesn’t force Himself on us. He just hopes we choose Him out of love.

This is the battle for our mind! Which do you choose? The choice isn’t made through the mouth, it’s made through action.

PART 3 - DON’T GET SUCKED INTO THE WORLD!

Anything that consistently draws our focus away from Jesus and His will is an idol. Idols pull us out of holiness. Read the teaching on idols to learn more about them.

The world constantly distracts us to draw our energy and attention away from God. Here are a few things to help keep us focused on God…

Stop looking at news channels/websites/apps that focus on a political ideology. Instead, look at ones that focus on God. For example, remove the political news sites from your computer and phone and add the following for the important news...

We don’t need to be politically ignorant or drop out of the political world entirely. We just can’t develop negative feelings

because of politics. As we approach the end times, a unified world government will probably develop that will be run by the

anti-christ. It’s inevitable. Let it go and stay focused on the Lord, we’ll be fine. Trust in Him.

2. Time wasting spirits are good at what they do...gotta hand it to ‘em. So many Americans work a hard day’s work, come

home and eat dinner, socialize a bit, and then turn on the TV and go brain dead for the rest of the night. Actually, it would be

more correct to say turn on the TV and “get programmed into the ways of the world.”

A quarter or third of their day is wasted. Instead, they could be doing something fun and pleasing to God such as doing

stuff with family and/or friends. Affection, getting to know each other deeper, and general family cohesion isn’t fully

developed as a result. It’s sad when people shut themselves off from their family and the world because they think they ran

out of energy. It simply isn’t true, it’s just a bad habit. Social media can be just as bad.

Time wasting is rooted in the fact that Christians don’t understand what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit. They don’t

understand the authority and power they have that’s ready to be utilized as soon as their spiritual eyes are opened. If

Christians routinely saw God’s power demonstrated, they would be EXCITED to do His will and stay focused on Him.

If you enjoy listening to things as you work such as podcasts or youtube videos and like to mix in some Christianity topics, a

great place to look is Hardcore Christianity. They have their own youtube channel. They do a good job of giving the nuts-

and-bolts of living like a disciple.

3. Busyness and clutter distract us from God and pull us out of holiness. The more we concern ourselves with the little busy

stuff, the less we can focus on God and carrying out the great commission He gave us. Keeping our lives as simple as

possible...learning to truly enjoy the simple life, will allow us to be led by the Spirit easier. This will allow us to bask in the fruit

of the Spirit, which is the source of the deepest joy and peace.

PART 4 - ATTACKING THE PROBLEM

If we catch ourselves being sucked into the world it may just be something we weren’t conscious of and now am. Just make the needed changes. If we find ourselves having a real hard time making those changes, then we need to get some deliverance and learn to bind and loose spirits. Walking in continual holiness is what disciples strive to do.