Word of the Week - Holiness = Healthy Living - Part II

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and Holiness” Ephesians 4:22-24

Last week’s word of the week was “Holiness – Healthy Living” (see below), and emphasized the fact that as believers we are all called to live godly and Holy lives so we can have the best that God has for us and be healthy and flourish in life.  Living Holy and pure lives is God’s best for us and is available for all followers of Christ not just clergy or full time ministers.  Being Holy is a pursuit and condition of the heart that leads to a new attitude of mind and thus a new person in Christ.So how do we live Holy lives?  Just like most things in life, it takes both offense and defense to be Holy:Offense - Abide in Christ Jesus through the daily disciplines of our faith  - Holiness is the fruit of knowing God and desiring to stay connected to the vine of Christ so we can bear much fruit.  We are Holy as a byproduct of being born of the spirit of God.  We don’t become Holy to get God to love us, but we live Holy lives because we know the love of the Father.  This is our response to the love of God and our desire to remain in Him and grow closer to the Lord. We are all human and thus by nature we are selfish and sinful, and we live in a sin filled fallen world.  With this reality in mind, we must recognize that without an offensive plan for day to day living the law of entropy will kick in and we will gravitate back to our sinful nature of the old self.  Thus the Lord Jesus instructs us throughout scripture to pursue Holiness by pursuing Himself.  This includes “putting on” the Armor of God each day to give us protection, and pursuing intimate relationship and connection with the Lord through Abiding in Him “You are the vine and I am the branches, if you Abide in me then I will Abide in you, and you will bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing”. John 15:5  We must remain in Christ to remain Holy.  We remain in Christ by making Him the priority of our lives each day.  Literally making the Lord the first priority each morning and being determined and vigilant to make everything else in our lives second to Christ and our connection with Him.  I personally have multiple disciplines in my life that make connecting with the Lord each day my first and highest priority.  This includes 1) daily conversations and confessions with the Lord through prayer, 2) reading God’s Word so we can know Him more and have the power of the Word living within us, 3) Praising and worshipping the Lord through song and thanksgiving, and 4) fellowshipping with other believers and ministering the love of Christ to all of those around us who are in need.  The good news is that as we get into these proactive disciplines of faith they become part of our rhythmic nature and identity in Christ.Defense - Being comfortable being different  – The Bible reminds us again and again that there should be a definite line drawn between us and the world (secular culture).  That means our thoughts, actions, words, and behaviors should be noticeably different – we should look more like Jesus than the world.  “As the One who called you is Holy, you yourselves also be Holy in all your conduct and manner of living” 1 Peter 1:15  Being a Christian is not just about going to church and acting nice on Sunday then just living like everyone else the rest of the week.  Much of who we are is about what we feed ourselves day to day.  If we spend our time and fill our minds and souls with things of this world like secular TV, music, philosophy, and hang out with non-believers – we become equally yoked with the world and we become what we are around and what we are feeding ourselves.  Ungodly intake, especially in large and consistent doses, will contaminate our inner man.  We should be feeding ourselves the things that edify & strengthen us, and align our spirit with God’s spirit to include relationships with other believers and media that is pure and life giving.  This will not always be easy and popular but it will lead to life and health.Defense #2 - Setting wise boundaries and fleeing from temptations  – As human beings we all have fleshly desires but God has equipped us to resist temptation.  “When you are tempted, God will provide a way out” 1 Corinthians 10:13.  It is our responsibility to keep ourselves pure, but we need God’s wisdom along with others to help us.  We need to put things in place in our lives to keep us from getting into tempting situations that may cause us to compromise and fall into sin.  For instance if we know we have issues with lust or sexual sin, we should not put ourselves in situations to be tempted.  It is not smart to be alone with the opposite sex or allow our eyes to look at anything that would feed the temptation.  Putting healthy boundaries in our lives and having brothers/sisters that know our deepest temptations and can help hold us accountable is key to staying pure and Holy.  To live a Holy life, you have to flee form temptation.  Don’t entertain it, don’t consider it, don’t have lunch with it.  Don’t think twice about it.  Flee!!!!  In other words - run Forest run!!!!!  This is both physically and mentally.“How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your Word.”  Psalm 119: 9I hope this is helpful to your pursuit of Holiness!!!Thanks,-Duane