Let's Strive to Live Holy!

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

My mother and I were watching a national talk show this morning and the subject of the Bible came up. My mom pointed out to me that celebrities a lot of the time do not say “Holy Bible” but “the Bible” instead. I’ve never paid much attention to that but it dawned on me that I say “the Bible” in place of “Holy Bible” in my dialogue and writing. I felt ashamed b/c we had a discussion about why people would rather say Bible as opposed to Holy Bible. Now I want to be more aware of what I call God’s Holy Word. It may seem weird to use the word Holy in front of what is already known as God’s Word but we need to understand how reverent the Bible truly is.

Webster defines holy as recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated. It is also dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion. Other terms used to describe holy are saintly and devout. Having a spiritually pure quality, venerated as or as if sacred; inspiring fear, awe, or distress.

It is told and true that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God. God wanted to communicate with us besides doing it through prayer and meditation. He wanted to give us a book that would pass down through generations the stories and psalms of people who loved Him as much as we do. That is love. I think about writing a book to each of my children and it overwhelms me to think I could do that one day for each of them. A labor of love is what each of them will know is theirs but the book will be such a work that I’ll want to share it with the world too. I do keep personal journals to each of my children, my mother, and one other special person in my life. Those journals are precious, prized possessions of mine. And they will one day be the person with whom I’m writing them to and they will see how my love was thought for them as I wrote.

My words are far from Holy but think about how God breathed His Word to us. He used chosen men to convey His love toward us with His Holy Word, the love stories and heartbreaks of His creation. I just cannot imagine why He loved us enough to do that but God doesn’t have a habit of giving me all His understanding and wisdom so….

In Lisa Clements book, Let My People Go!, she explains the reasons we should turn from sin and strive to live Holy lives. “The Test of Holy living, that is, the turning away from sin to fellowship with God. The scripture reads, ‘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’ ” 1 Peter 1:16. The third test of assurance of salvation is that of Holy living. God is holy and calls His people who represent Him to be holy. ‘Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy, without holiness no one will see the Lord’ Hebrews 12:14. Salvation involves a work of God in the life of every believer. Such a work is called sanctification. Sanctification by definition means ‘to make holy, to consecrate, to separate from the world, to be set apart from sin’, so that we may have intimate fellowship with God. You cannot ‘get holy’ on your own! But you are expected as a believer to surrender to the work of God in your life. Such a sanctifying work is the job of the Holy Spirit. It is by His bidding we are beckoned out of worldly ways, ungodly behavior, language, attitudes or relationships. It is the power of the Holy Spirit within to enable us to walk away from temptation. It is also the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that causes us to repent when we fail. True salvation demands surrender to such ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Such ongoing work is the purifying process of our hearts that leads to holiness - the holiness of God desires in each of us. 1 John 1:16 states “If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, (to live in sin and immoral pleasure) we lie and do not live by the truth (Amplified Bible).”

I don’t know about you but after reading just part of this book I am reminded of why I have a conscience about the sin in my life. The Holy Spirit of God calls us to keep our bodies (His temple) pure and our minds clear of impure thoughts. Just before I finished this piece earlier this evening I found myself in a thought process that was going to easily get me caught into a temptation that would have been almost impossible to get out of. I’m so thankful that my friends are aware of the ‘straight & narrow’ I’ve been on since this spring. They even use that phrase to compliment me. We’re planning a mini vacation together and they are so proud of me telling them that I will remain on the ‘straight & narrow’ no matter what they chose to do on the trip. This afternoon my friend was aware of the temptation I was about to enter into and when she called me back she said, “Billie Jean, I couldn’t do that to you. You have definitely been happier since you’ve taken the path you’ve chosen and I wasn’t going to allow you to opportunity to mess that up in your life. I care about you too much than to do that to you. God speaks to me through your actions.” I was flattered to say the least but it reminded me of the times I haven’t always been that example to this friend but she knows I’m very sorry for that b/c I told her so this past spring. That’s when she knew I was striving to live a holy life before God, her, and the world. I mess up all the time, who of us doesn’t? But I’m determined with the Holy Spirit indwelling me every day to live each day for Christ and to strive to be holy for my God. He’s the only one I want to impress ever!!