Month: July 2023

It has been said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I found this to be true for me when I tested it with making my bed every morning. After 21 days it was a piece of cake! However, when I think about holiness, I think of my chief aim in life being to please God.

So, I’m training myself to be set apart from worldly ways of existing and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill me with Himself by yielding more to Him and His desires rather than those of myself or someone else’s. I don’t by any means claim to be without errors in this endeavor, but it is my daily goal that people would experience less of me and more of Him in our time together.

Thankfully, the Bible assures us “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses.” (Acts 1:8)

The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:2-3 that “…we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Further, in 2 Timothy 2:19-21 we are told that “…Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use.  Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”

Salvation occurs when we first commit to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and turn from our old ways of living in sin. Yet, regarding holiness, as a result, we seek to establish new habits of a holy life, demonstrating our love for Christ, which help us and others to grow–namely, through prayer, Bible study, and worship.

It’s important to carve out a specific time daily, whether 15 minutes or an hour, to spend time alone with the Lord, talking to Him, listening to Him, thinking about Him and what He has spoken to us. We need special times in study of the Bible as this is how we come to know God and learn what actually pleases Him, as well as the history of others in His family.

The local church is a place where we can worship together and grow in those things that require our time together as a family of believers. As God has set us apart in our accepting what He’s done for us, as well as His authority as Lord in our lives, we can look forward to experiencing the abundant life He has promised us.

Therefore, “…let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25) Also, “since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

I thought about the love of God today. If you’ve ever wondered what it means to truly love, and whether you can do it, we have the ultimate example of true love shown in the Bible by Jesus Christ toward the whole world. As a Bible reader and Christ follower, I’ve found that no matter what part of the earth we were born in, how we were raised, or where we are now in life, we have the pure and untainted love of God available to us today.

The Bible tells us that God is love. So, to really experience true love, you must know and believe God. To understand that He is love we must recognize that there is no one else like Him, in or outside of the earth. Where else is someone literally defined as love? And yet God has chosen to share Himself and His love with us, not only in allowing us to learn of Him, but by sacrificing His very own life for us as atonement for our sins when we didn’t even ask Him to do so. He truly and freely did it, why? Because He loved us.

The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” How’s that for love? Further, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) So, even when we were at our worst, Christ still died for us. He not only died for us, but He also suffered for us, hanging and nailed to a cross. He was beaten and spat upon and treated inhumanely, yet he had never sinned in His life. Can you imagine God in human flesh being bullied? He was indeed the sinless and supreme sacrifice necessary to reconcile us to a right relationship with Almighty God.

So, when you’re wondering what it really means to love, look at Jesus’ ultimate act of love for us as well as all the other wonderful things He did and said in the Bible. We can also know something about HIs love by seeing what He actually loves. Psalm 33:5 tells us He loves righteousness and justice, and that we are not to love only our neighbors, but even our enemies. (Matthew 5:44). There’s so much to learn about the love of God and He’s made it clear for us to see through His word, the Bible, and time spent alone with Him, in prayer. The spiritual as well as physical gifts He has provided us also show us His love for us.

Further, in 1 Corinthians 13, He’s given us some characteristics regarding love that we should never fail to remember.

Love …

• is patient
• is kind
• doesn’t envy
• doesn’t parade itself
• isn’t puffed up
• doesn’t behave rudely
• doesn’t seek its own
• isn’t provoked
• thinks no evil
• doesn’t rejoice in iniquity
• rejoices in the truth
• bears all things
• believes all things
• hopes all things
• endures all things
• never fails

Learning about these things, meditating on these things, praying about these things, and trusting God for these things, puts us in a great position in life. These things don’t look much like the world because they are truly heavenly things. Yet they are doable things with the help of God’s Holy Spirit working in our hearts and minds. We never have to feel unloved when we have God Almighty loving us. We just have to get to know Him, which grows our faith and confidence in Him as a person, and His love for us.