You Shall be Holy

"You shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy." - Leviticus 19:2

What does it mean to be "holy"? To be "holy" is to be set apart. 

Why are we "set apart"? We are set apart from the people of the world to have relationship with our Creator God and Savior.

How are we, the people of God, set apart from the people of the world? 

We are set apart through: (1) relationship (with God and with other believers); (2) brokenness; (3) surrender (to Christ's Lordship); and (4) servanthood.

In the week's ahead we will explore each of the four aspects of holiness. You are encouraged to join us in these studies as we continue our pursuit of God's presence!

To Know Him is to Love Him!

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." - 1 Corinthians 2:2

To know anyone takes time and commitment. We can never be intimate friends with those we only have a casual relationship with.

We may know a lot about them, but nothing that others do not know. How well do you know Jesus? How much time do you spend in His presence? How much time do you spend meditating upon His Word?

He is calling you and I to the NEXT level of surrender, so that He may claim more of your heart for His Kingdom. How willing are you to surrender your will for His?

We choose, every moment of every day, whether we will draw nearer to The Lord, or further away from Him. What have you been choosing that matters more to you than the Lord's will for your life? Yet, despite our half steps and back sliding, The Lord is continually beckoning each of us to come closer to Him.

Most of God's people know a lot about Him. They can quote His Word and may even serve in some capacity in the church. But, few take the time to sit quietly at His feet, to listen to His voice.

God created us to live in continual communion with Him. But, because of ignorance or laziness or unbelief, few of have a real or intimate relationship with our Lord.

The purpose of surrender is not so that you can boast about how close you are to the Lord. The purpose is the manifestation of God's will in, and for, your life.

When you truly know the FATHER's heart, you will share His burden for the hurting and the lost. You were created for the purpose of sharing God's love for the hurting and the lost, with those who live in darkness and need to know of His great Love for them!

Don't allow your time and treasure to be spent on worldly pursuits-the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Surrender all that you are to receive His Life. That's the least that any of us can do for the One who surrendered everything (including His life) for you! S

All I Have is Yours!

All I Have is Yours!
Luke 7:36-48 NLT 

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She's a sinner!" 40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. "Simon," he said to the Pharisee, "I have something to say to you." "Go ahead, Teacher," Simon replied. 41 Then Jesus told him this story: "A man loaned money to two people--500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt." "That's right," Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn't greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. 47 "I tell you, her sins--and they are many--have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love." 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."

She only wanted to serve Him. But, the religious had already judged her and found her lacking. Where were her morals? Why was she in their church? Did she belong there? Didn't she belong on the streets? Was she clean enough to touch Jesus?

Imagine her shame! Imagine her pain! Imagine her love for the only One who really knew her. Though she had done some horrific things during her lifetime. Perhaps, this Man would not embarrass her. Perhaps, this Man would not judge her.

She loved Him so much. She knew He forgave sins and sinners. So, she took all she had. She kissed his feet. She didn't know that she was crying. She didn't know that her tears were flowing over His feet. So, she wiped them with her hair. 

She gave Him all she had: her sin, her shame, her sullied reputation. She poured the alabaster box of ointment on the Master's feet. She didn't know what it was worth. She didn't care what it cost. She only wanted to love Him.

She had sinned so often that she lost count. So, she gave Him all that was left after all the suggestive glances, accusatory stares, and overt hostility. She could have hidden herself beneath shame, resentment, and bitterness. But, she tried love, instead.

She wasn't trying to earn His love. She knew she did not deserve that from Him. She only wanted to give Him what little love remained within her own broken heart.

Would it be enough? It wasn't enough to the religious. It wasn't enough to the other sinners. But, it was enough for Jesus. The only One who would give His life for hers!

I Desire Your Heart

By Denise Jordan Have you ever watched a horse that has been trained to do certain tricks? At their master’s every tug, they perform the action they are trained to perform. My child, sometimes you are a bit like that horse with me. You think that I am a master who tells you what to do and what not to do. You try to fulfill all that I have asked you to do, by just performing the right action so that you would win the prize at the end, says the Lord. My child, this is not what I am asking of you. I do not need you to dance to the right tune or perform the right action at the right time. All I ask of you is your heart and your submission to me and my will, says the Lord. I much rather would have you be like a wild horse that runs with abandon through the fields. The wild horses that run through the fields look so strong and they are so determined and passionate. Those qualities my child are so much more important to me than your actions. As you find your passion and your strength in me, we can work on getting you to do the right thing. Because as you surrender to me out of love and out of passion, those things will come automatically. It will no longer be an act that you perform to get my approval, but you will become that different person because you love me and because you are passionate about me.

To Know Him is to Love Him!

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." - 1 Corinthians 2:2

To know anyone takes time and commitment. We can never be intimate friends with those we only have a casual relationship with.

We may know a lot about them, but nothing that others do not know. How well do you know Jesus? How much time do you spend in His presence? How much time do you spend meditating upon His Word?

He is calling you and I to the NEXT level of surrender, so that He may claim more of your heart for His Kingdom. How willing are you to surrender your will for His?

We choose, every moment of every day, whether we will draw nearer to The Lord, or further away from Him. What have you been choosing that matters more to you than the Lord's will for your life? Yet, despite our half steps and back sliding, The Lord is continually beckoning each of us to come closer to Him.

Most of God's people know a lot about Him. They can quote His Word and may even serve in some capacity in the church. But, few take the time to sit quietly at His feet, to listen to His voice.

God created us to live in continual communion with Him. But, because of ignorance or laziness or unbelief, few of have a real or intimate relationship with our Lord.

The purpose of surrender is not so that you can boast about how close you are to the Lord. The purpose is the manifestation of God's will in, and for, your life.

When you truly know the FATHER's heart, you will share His burden for the hurting and the lost. You were created for the purpose of sharing God's love for the hurting and the lost, with those who live in darkness and need to know of His great Love for them!

Don't allow your time and treasure to be spent on worldly pursuits-the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Surrender all that you are to receive His Life. That's the least that any of us can do for the One who surrendered everything (including His life) for you! Surrender always leads to exaltation, just as it did for our resurrected Savior!!!

True Intimacy Begins With Total Surrender

How surrendered are you to the Master's will and way? It's easy to say, "yes", when He asks us to do things that are easy. I can love my neighbor, as myself, because chances are that being kind to someone I barely know does not require as much from me as loving my stubborn spouse or an obstinate child. 

The more time that we spend in His Presence, the more that we begin to see ourselves, just as we are. When He shows us ourselves, He wants us to acknowledge our weakness and to rely upon Him more for His grace (enabling power). 

We understandably fear the place of total surrender because it means less of what we want and more of what He wants! Yet, this is exactly what He asks from all of us. He asks us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him. Follow Him where? To the place of "death"! 

How easy is it for us to die to our will when He asks us to give up the very thing that we cherish most in this life?

If you have true intimacy with Him, the place of surrender is the place where we give Him our plans, dreams, schemes, and wills, in exchange for His.

He is calling all of us to that next level of surrender, will you say, "yes!"

The Surrendered Heart

"Not my will, but Thine!"

One of the most difficult tests to take is one in which there is a clash of the wills: God's will versus ours! The Lord's will, and way, must always prevail. 

What the Father asks of us does not always make sense. Neither does His way or His timing. But, this is the choice that we must make, every second of every day: God's will, or mine? God's way or mine? God's timing, or mine?

The Father is not expecting sinless perfection from any one of us. But, He rightfully expects us to surrender so that He can use us for His purposes, instead of ours.

God is not as concerned about what we do for Him, as He is about our love for Him. The test of our love is our willingness to sacrifice whatever He may ask us to. The more yielded we are to His will, the more He can use us. 

The more that we "die" to our wants and desires, the more territory He can claim within our hearts, for the advancing of His kingdom on this earth.