The Works of Our Father

Today we got together again to share with each other what God showed us through this lesson and what he has been doing. I was very encouraged by our time together. I see again that God is not finished with me yet and that He wants to draw us all nearer to Him. I pray that He will overflow in my life in a way that will touch many others as well. I see how, I myself do not have anything to give but with Him all things are possible. I want to be transparent and honest in all things. I want to be willing to share God's word, and just become .... like an open book, I guess you could say. That isn't easy for me, but I want to do it for God.

This study is not about obtaining more knowledge for ourselves. It's about God doing a miracle in our lives and bringing us to a point, we didn't know existed. Is He bringing us to a whole new level again? Is He bringing us revival? I pray that it is evident that He is. I pray that He Himself has His hand over all of us and is blessing us with a real touch of Him.

We will not find satisfaction in anything else, but Him. The world can fall apart around us, the ecomomy can be in a pit, things can look pretty gloomy but with our eyes on Jesus and the ultimate prize, we will not fall into the world's pit.

I pray oh Father, that you will keep us in your arms and that your spirit will take over our lives in a way that we can not even put into words. Lord make us a light to shine brightly, and lead many more to the light. May your love flow through each of us and may our actions show your love to those around us. I am so unworthy to be your child and I know that I deserved punishment for my sins. Lord, I thank you that you have taken my punishment for me and that you are still with us. I pray for all of those who are seeking you. Bless them all with a revived heart. In the name of Jesus , I pray. Amen.

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.

Every Spiritual Blessing

"Blessed be the God and Father of out Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Eph. 1:3

'The contents of the Christian's heavenly "bank account": adoption, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, inheritance, the seal of the Holy Spirit, life, grace, citizenship - in short, "every spiritual blessing." '

We are to put off the old man, be renewed in our mind and then "put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Eph. 4:24

Holiness - without spot (sin) and blameless - (Here, in 2 Peter 2:10-15, “spots” are described)

Wow...this was a big one for us at Bible Study on Monday. The proud people...humble people list. Ouch. That really did hurt. But God is definitely working on us ladies. A number of them shared how God is at work and its hurting but God sometimes has to break us before He can really mend us or heal us. Either from past hurts or past sins. We are not about jump off the surgery table now. God Is Good.

Positional & Personal Holiness

(From Seeking Him)

“Holiness can be defined on two levels.
Positional holiness is what God imparts to us when we become His children. Since Hod is holy and we are sinners, we are reconciled to God by the blood of Christ shed on the cross.
Personal holiness on the other hand, is the outworking and fruit of pesional holiness, evidenced in the way we thinkand live. "

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27

“To be sanctified is to be made holy in our practice. Sanctification is a process that begins in every child of God at the point of regenaration and continues untill our final glorification whrn we see Christ face to face.”