Holiness: The Heart God Purifies
By Nancy Leigh
DeMoss
Quotes & Summary in white – My thoughts in red
Foreword & Introduction
“Be holy for I am
holy.” God is the reason we should be holy.
But He’s also the empowerment for our holiness… To be holy in our
strength, and for our glory, is to be distinctly unholy. To be holy in Christ’s strength and for His
glory… that’s our calling, and our joy.
I don’t
think I have ever thought of it that way… when we try to be holy in our own
strength… or for our own glory (so others see us as holy) we are in reality living
in an unholy manner… we are disobeying God… Yes, we are commanded to be Holy,
but He knew that we couldn’t do it on our own… which is why He sent us His son to
pave the way for us… so while we are called to be Holy we are also called to have
Faith… and it is through our faith in Christ that we can obey His command to be
holy. The more time we spend with Him
and allow Him to change us the holier we become because of the work He is doing
in us…
Somehow, the evangelical
world has managed to redefine sin; we have come to view it as normal acceptable
behavior- something perhaps to be tamed or controlled, but not to be eradicated
and put to death. We have sunk to such
lows that we not only sin thoughtlessly, we can even laugh at sin and be entertained
by it.
This was
very convicting to me… as lately I have allowed myself to slip and view things
as more normal and acceptable instead of viewing them through God’s eyes. I have allowed myself to be ‘entertained’ by
things that God would find appalling.
Lord, forgive me for lowering my standards and not lifting things up to
Your standard. I know it is not going to
be easy to get back on the right path but as I mentioned before… the more time
I spend with you… the more You will change me… one step at a time.
The following excerpt
represents the concern of this remnant of believers:
The leadership in our church doesn’t seem to have the same fire for purity that
we want to have. They don’t share our
sense of right-from-wrong when it comes to things like movie/TV watching,
modest dress, and drinking. They seem to
think the best way to witness to the lost is to be like them.
We don’t want to be divisive or to come across as self-righteous or ‘legalistic.’
It’s just that the more we learn about purity and godliness, the more we see the
dilution of the Christian life around us, and we’re at a loss to know what to
do about it.
Lord, may I
live a holy life before you while not judging others for the choices they
make. I don’t want to be legalistic. I don’t want to be judgmental. I don’t want to place my convictions on another,
but I do want to be Holy. I do want to
be an example to believers and unbelievers alike. Give me back my fire for living a pure life…
The result is that
as I have worked on this book, the Spirit of God has worked on me. As I have grieved over the subtle (and
not-so-subtle) ravages of sin among professing believers and the extent to
which the church has adopted the world’s values, I’ve had to face the fact that
I am often more bothered by others’ failures than by my own shortcomings. I tend to minimize or rationalize in my life
certain offenses that disturb me when I see them in others.
So often
it is easier to see the failures in others more so than those in our own
life. We don’t like to admit our sins… our
pride keeps us from admitting our failures.
Satan will give us a magnifying glass to see the sins in others’ lives
as long as it will keep us away from acknowledging our own sins and turning
from them. Lord, help me to recognize
the areas in my own life that are not pleasing to You and focus more on You and
what You are asking me to do to change in those areas.
God has gently and
graciously exposed unholiness in my own heart- things like lack of self-control
in relation to my tongue, my reactions, and my eating and spending habits. I’ve had to admit that I love myself more
than I love others, that I care too much about the impression I make on others
and too little about pleasing God, and that I have set up idols (substitutes
for God) in my heart.
I know
that as I start this study there are going to be lots of areas that God brings
to light in my own life… areas where He will gently and graciously bring to
light. Lord, thank you for this study and
for the time to be in Your Word today. Purify
my heart and use this study to draw me close to You.
I invite you to join
me in a pursuit of radical holiness.
Turn back to the prayer on page 20 and make it your own. One phrase at a time, express to the Lord your
desire to have a pure heart. Then I
encourage you to pray this prayer at least once a day for the next thirty
days. As you make these requests to the
Lord from your heart, expect Him to hear and to answer!
Oh, God,
Show me more of Your holiness.
Show me more of my sinfulness.
Help me to hate sin and to love righteousness
as You do.
Grant me a deeper conviction of sin
And a more thorough spirit of repentance.
And make me holy as You are holy.
Lord, I am
committing myself not only to this study but to this prayer. I do desire that You show me more of Your holiness
and what it means to be holy as you are holy.
I do desire for you to open my eyes to my sinfulness and the areas in my
life that need to be changed so I can be more like You. I desire to hate sin and love righteousness as
You do… instead of just living each day for myself. Convict me of my sins and open my eyes to
areas that I don’t even realize that I am living in sin. Lord, may I have
spirit of repentance that doesn’t just acknowledge the sin but truly desires to
change and seeks You to help mold me in those areas. Lord, I want to be holy as you are holy, and
I know I can only do it with Your help!
No comments:
Post a Comment