Can We Be Holy?

"Man's holiness is now his greatest happiness, and in heaven man's greatest happiness will be perfect holiness." Thomas Brooks
(I really like some of the quotes that are in this book!)

So, what is it we think of when we think of holiness? I use to think of it as a word that only described God and His word, because God and His word are perfect. People are not perfect so how can they then be holy? Well for one thing, we cannot be holy without God's Spirit in us. Without God, our good works and our good values will not be considered holy works of God, but these things will be in vain. Only when it is God working through us are we being molded to His holy image. We cannot take any credit for ourselves. ( I speak of personal holiness here and in our personal holiness, it is God at work in us, making us more and more like Him.Not our own doing.)

HOLY (HOLINESS): The original meaning of holy is "other" or even "transcendent." To be made holy in a spiritual sense is to be raised into a transcendent realm, beyond the normal bounds of what would ordinarily be true. Ultimately holiness would have everything to do with a transformation of being.

In the beginning of this lesson, it talked about how people often see holiness as dour faces, rigid rules, and self righteousness. I think I too had some wrong images in my own head about holiness. I didn't think of it as joy and gladness coming with it. Sometimes, I think I even tried to be different then what God intended for me to be, because of my wrong ideas. I didn't know who I was suppose to be as a woman serving God at one point. The ideas I had gotten out of a book I read, seemed so different then what I could be or now I think then what I was suppose to be. As I prayed about it for sometime, God made it clear again. I think we have to be careful with what we read, even if they are Christian books, because we can start loosing sight of God, in some books. (Seek God and He will help us to discern what is of Him)
I could get into a lot of little details here right now, but I won't do that because I am still learning as I go, and I don't want to share anyhting unless I know God 100% directed it.

Conclussion:
With God in us, we will not be able to stay as we are. He will feed us and as we grow, we go through many changes in our lives.(not to mention growing pains.) Each christian is in their own stage of growth; God works in us individually. We cannot judge what God is doing in other believers. It can be easy to judge other believers, but if we think of it as actually judging God's work, it suddenly makes sense why we are not to judge others, but to to pray for them and exhort exhort them.
On the other hand, we can very easily feel as though we are being judged, when maybe that is not the case at all. I know I have felt that way before and once more I needed God to search my own heart to get to the root of my feelings.
May God continue to work in all of our hearts as we seek Him together. May we become more and more like Him.