No Bitter Root

Hebrews 12

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Here again we see that holiness requires effort on our part.  We must believe in Jesus, we must repent and turn from our sin, and we must continue on towards obedience and faithfulness to him. 

And look what can cause us to stumble! Bitterness.

Bitterness occurs when we are disappointed, hurt, or judged and continue to hold on to that anger or attitude that causes us to hate or retaliate or judge back.  Bitterness, once it takes hold, is like a root that runs deep and it’s hard to pull out without breaking something.  It’s like those horrible weeds in our yards that are hard to pull, the ones that sometimes cut our hands!

The best way to deal with bitterness is to chop it off the minute it springs up. 

Have you been judged?  Made fun of?  Criticized?  Hurt?

Take it to Jesus, tell him about it, and then leave it to him to make it right.  He’s the righteous judge and we don’t have to try to take his place for him.

Holy Fear

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

Have you ever been warned about something unseen, yet to come?  And then reacted in “holy” fear?  I don’t think this is a fear where Noah was scared to death of God, so he obeyed.  I believe it was a holy fear where Noah believed that if  God said it, he meant it, and he revered God enough to obey because of that belief and love.

There’s a difference.

When we warn our kids about something, they sometimes obey because they’re afraid they’ll get in trouble if they don’t.  I wouldn’t say that’s a holy fear, that just being scared.  But when we give our kids good warning about abstaining from sex before marriage, driving alert and not intoxicated, and other sound wisdom and they obey-because they trust our wisdom – that’s holy fear.

I want to be in tune with God enough that when he prompts me I obey, out of holy fear (reverence and love and trust).  And who knows how many might be saved out of one act of obedience, just like in Noah’s story?

Once and Being

Hebrews 10

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

When I read this passage I found it interesting to note that the first part says we have been made holy once for all, but then the last part says we are being made holy. Does that sound contradictory?

I believe it’s not. 

When we come to Christ, he erases our sins forever, and sets us into right standing with God – done deal.  We don’t have to continually bring sacrifices for sins, He did it once for all.

But after that initial experience, we all know that our bodies, minds and spirits still have a long ways to go to be what anyone would call holy.  That’s the process of being made holy.

When Christ lives in us and we surrender to Him, he continually perfects us to erase and replace old attitudes, judgments, wounds, scars, etc. until we are without blemish from this world and all of the evil in it.

That’s a process.

Sin erased, and forgiven. Done deal.

Becoming like Him in word and deed, that’s a an ongoing process.

What a faithful God we serve!

Called

II Timothy 1:9

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

Think again about us, as parents.  We have children, and we call them to a certain standard of living while they are under our roofs.  We expect them to learn, behave, and conduct themselves in the ways that we teach them, and hopefully they will grow up as adults ready to conquer the world…right? 

We know that doesn’t always happen, because we are flawed, our children have these things called strong wills, and sometimes there are conflicts that send them running the other way!

However, God has saved us and called us to a holy life, and he expects us to run towards it, not away.

But we must realize that his mercy and grace is not because of what WE have done or deserved.  It’s all about Him.

This is the beginning of holiness…acknowledging that He is God and has a good purpose for our lives.

Children with abusive parents never get a chance to learn of a love like that.  Parents with wounds and scars never have the ability to give their kids the hope they need.

But Jesus does.  He has it for all of us, because he loves each one of us.  He calls us to a holy life, and he can work it all out and equip us to live it, when we choose to trust Him and follow what he says to do.

A Holy Life

I Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

I suppose this verse is not anything new.  Why would God call us to be impure?  He is holy.  So it stands to reason that he wants us to be holy like Him.

We, as parents, often want our kids to fulfill our unfulfilled dreams, to be clones of us in the way we look, or to even choose our same occupation so that we feel so proud of them.

However, God made each of us unique and gave us individual gifts so that we exhibit all parts of His love, creativity, and amazing power…yet He wants us all to be holy.

If we admit it, what we really want for our kids is for them to love God and experience Him as their Father, right?  That’s what we know is best for them, it’s that which will sustain them through all of life’s hard knocks.

Our Father knows that to experience Him fully, we must be holy, not impure.

And the only way our impurities can leave our bodies is not through oils or other physical means, but by submitting and surrendering to His love.

Impurity – it comes with birth and only gets uglier as the years roll by.

Holiness – it comes with new birth and only gets more lovely as the years roll by.

Which will it be?

Clothed

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

What are you wearing today?  Why did you pick that outfit?  Maybe it was cold outside, so you’re wearing a sweater.  Perhaps your feet hurt from yesterday’s long walk, so you’re wearing comfy sneakers.  Or if your hair is not quite right, maybe you’ve got a hat on top of your head.

What if we thought about what we wear daily in the way of our hearts?  In this verse, it says we as his HOLY people can chose to clothe ourselves in proper attire:

Compassion

Kindness

Humility

Gentleness

Patience

I sometimes run out the door without any of these, because I never even noticed them in my closet.  I run out bare armed, nothing on my head, and wrongly shoed, and I end up exhausted and wind blown by the end of the day.

I want to stop and choose, and wear, and clothe myself so that I walk completely covered beautifully and effectively, to face each day with Him.

Without Blemish

Colossians 1:22

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

We, as women, work quite a bit at concealing our blemishes, erasing fine lines, and presenting a face that looks younger than it actually is.  And we are happy to try new creams and lotions and even surgeries to make this happen.

But when God wants to remove our blemishes and scars, we want to squirm and get off the table before he can even start to work on us with his loving hands.

From the time we are born, we start losing our baby soft perfect skin to bruises, scrapes and eventually scars…over time.  And some of those never go away.

However, Jesus comes and wipes away every scar and blemish made on our hearts and spirits, if we sit still long enough to let him, and if we trust him with his tender hands to heal us.

Isn’t that beautiful?  Aren’t we beautiful? Yes, we are.

Sonship

Ephesians 1

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…

God’s love is eternal, it always was, and it always will be.  We were in his thoughts and plans before we ever took our first breath.

It was in his purpose and plan for our lives to bring us into a holy and blameless life in his sight, so that we could experience sonship.

That’s a huge revelation when we get that concept.  He doesn’t require us to be holy so that he can whip us into shape.  HE IS HOLY.  And if we want to experience every aspect of his holiness, we must be holy.

If we want to visit a King of a country, we are not allowed in just because we ask.  But if we are part of his family, we are allowed freedom to live in his quarters, eat at his table, and enjoy his riches.  That’s what God desires for each of us, to be his children, but he gives us the choice to believe and receive that adoption…or not.

It’s our choice.  His holiness…or our forever loss of the King’s gifts that are ours as part of his family.

Offer it Up

Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

This verse seems to indicate that being holy is part of OUR will, our choice, our presentation.  In order to be holy, we have to offer ourselves to Him to allow his holiness to take place.  A living sacrifice.

God didn’t pick up Abraham’s son and throw him on the altar, but he asked Abraham to do it.  And in obedience, he offered “true and proper worship” and God spared his son.

God requires our offering.  Our giving.  Our willing hearts.

And when we give freely to him, offering our lives completely, this is holy and pleasing and true and proper.

It’s hard to do this when we don’t trust Him, we don’t believe He is good, and we don’t know Him as our Father.

Just ask him, and he will come and he will hold you, and he will reveal his love to you so that you can offer yourself completely to him.

The Roots

Romans 11:16 …if the root is holy, so are the branches.

There’s the foundation.

Our roots must be holy.

In other words, whatever we drink from, reach for and dig into must be holy if we are to be holy. 

We can’t drink from other sources to satisfy our thirst…like money, fame, or pleasure.  Those are all fun things to experience, but they can’t be our sustenance.

We can’t reach for shallow experiences continually in our lives, as our roots must run deep, so that we survive in times of no rain.

We must dig down to where the water runs always and constantly, so that we are daily experiencing the seasons of life as we are supposed to do so…so that we emerge in full bloom every spring.

Are our roots holy?

Jesus' Prayer

John 17:11

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

What a great petition that Jesus prayed for us personally…he asks his “HOLY” father to protect us by the power of his “name” so that we can be one like he and his father are one.

Can you imagine a life where we are one with our Father like Jesus was?  I can’t.  Yet, that’s what Jesus prayed for us.

God, our Father, is holy.  His name is all powerful.  He has given that name to us.   So that we too can be holy, and be one with him and experience ALL of his goodness and glory.

It’s a process, this holiness thing.  It only happens as we surrender to his holiness, his power, and his name, so that He is our everything.

We are still in the world, but there is coming a day when we no longer will be…and just like Jesus…we will go to our Father’s house…forever...one with Him.

If then...

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

I love this verse!

We know how to give gifts to our children, we love to do it, it pleases our hearts and theirs and yet…we doubt that our heavenly Father enjoys it so much more when he gives good things to us!

The Holy Spirit is a gift that he gladly gives to those who ask.  It’s the embodiment of his power and love within us through his son Jesus Christ.  He came and lived a sinless life so that we could experience that same holiness, though we sin often.

I don’t know of a greater demonstration of love than that!

When our kids disappoint us or walk over us or abandon us, we are tempted to write them out of our will, shame them, and leave them.

But God never does that.  He dwells in us and will never leave us.  He’s that Good.

Ask the Holy Spirit to come, to guide, to lead and to provide.

He promises to do so, because he loves us, he loves his son, and he wants us to know we are his children…and he is a good father.

The Wilderness

Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness.

Right after Jesus’ amazing experience of God being pleased with him, alighting on his head like a dove, we now read that the Holy Spirit is with him in the wilderness leading him.

The Holy Spirit isn’t just with us in good times, but in lean times as well.  The wilderness is a place of wandering, thirst, wondering, and lack.  However, it can be a place of great solitude and holiness, if we allow the Spirit to lead us.

How does he do that? 

He speaks to us, guides us, and just asks us to follow one step at a time, THROUGH the temptations and seasons of lack.

There is no purpose or intent for the wilderness to be a place where we shrivel up and die.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  It’s a place where we can and will thrive against all odds – because of the Holy Spirit in us.

That’s a great comfort and a great source of hope, no matter where you are today – under the cool waters with a dove nearby – or out in the desert with no water in sight.

Well-Pleased

Luke 3:22

and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

This is the end of the verse from yesterday.

When John acknowledged the Holy Spirit and gave preference and might and power to the Worthy One, he then baptized Jesus and the Holy Spirit came in bodily form like a dove – and God spoke.

He said that he was pleased with his son.

He was pleased that his son obeyed his purpose, came to earth, was born and lived among men, and was going about his Father’s business.

I don’t know what that must have felt like – to have the holiness of God descend upon you – but it must have been great.

Have you ever felt his presence that strongly, like a dove lighting on your head?  I have not.  But I think it would be awesome.

There is a place and a time and it’s occurring daily, as we allow the Holy Spirit to do his work in us and we can then physically feel and see his presence as he changes us into His image – to be holy – so we can have fellowship and relationship with the God the Father who loves us.

Not Fit

Luke 3:16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John recognized that he was unholy and “not fit” but that the one who was holy and mighty was coming.  He pointed to the one who was mightier than he was.

That is a mark of holiness…when we realize that we are unworthy, unfit, and powerless in the presence of the Worthy One, the Mighty, and the All Powerful God.

To baptize includes being immersed in, to go under and come out of, and we are promised to experience that in the Holy Spirit…along with the fire…the refining.

It may sound “spooky” or totally “out there” but it’s anything but.  It’s just an overcoming presence of his holiness over our weakness and it's igniting us to be like Him, because he loves us and wants us near.

That’s amazing, isn’t it?

And it’s something to be desired.

Whatever

Mark 13:11 When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.

We now read about how this Holy Spirit, the One who placed Jesus on earth as a baby, now dwells in us to enable us to stand against persecution and even..arrest.

That’s a powerful Spirit.

We live in uncertain times in an uncertain country.  And there are Christians across the world and some even here, who are being persecuted for their faith. 

However, we are told not to worry about what to say, because of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and will give us what to say when we need to say it.

Isn’t that great comfort and assurance?

The Holy One is no longer out there, up there, over there…but he’s in us and available and ready to help us in times of great need.

Holy Spirit

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

This is the first time – now in the New Testament – where we read of the word “holy” associated with “spirit” – Holy Spirit.

Jesus is now coming to earth to fulfill his purpose of bringing God’s holiness to man, to offer him a way – the only way – to the holy God. 

Mary was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  That holy part of God did the miraculous of impregnating a virgin, but also did the unthinkable of coming to dwell among unholy people, all to bring them to the Holy One.

We saw the creation of mankind and all existence in the beginning of the Old Testament in Genesis, and now we see the creation of hope for all people in the beginning of the New Testament in Matthew, through the work of the Holy Spirit.

He is holy.  He is divine.  He is amazing.  He is mine.

We just celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus.  Now that it’s a new year, let’s celebrate the Holy One who came and who now desires to dwell in us – to make us holy – to experience his presence.