Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

I read this scripture in a book the other night and God keeps reminding me of it. Actually, this verse and another one about not setting any evil in front of your eyes. But we will do that one another time. Lets take a closer look at this verse. Peter is quoting Lev. 11:44 here and speaking to the believers among the dispersed of Israel found in those provinces of Asia Minor. [Darby] I like to break it down using the original 1828 dictionary by Noah Webster. Holy - Pure in heart, temper or dispositions; free from sin and sinful affections. When a man's heart is conformed in some degree to the image of God, and your life is regulated by the divine precepts, we call that man holy. Synonymous with good, pious, godly. Good - Having moral qualities best adapted to its design and use, or the qualities which God's law requires; virtuous; pious; religious; applied to persons, and opposed to bad, vicious, wicked, evil. Conformable to the moral law; virtuous; applied to actions. Pious - Godly; reverencing and honoring the Supreme Being in heart and in the practice of the duties he has enjoined; having due veneration and affection for the character of God, and habitually obeying his commands; religious; devoted to the service of God. Godly - Reverencing God, and his character and laws. Living in obedience to God's commands, from a principle of love to him and reverence of his character and precepts. Conformed to God's law. Conformed - Made to resemble. Now for some commentary that really hit me good. PNT:We must not only submit to God's commands but seek to imitate his holiness. Obedient children will seek to please and to be like their father. Our Father is holy, and the duty rests upon us of seeking holy lives. So Holiness goes a step further than simply obeying God's commands. It is imitating God, resembling him. When people see how we act they will see the image of God not our flesh. This is similar to a little boy who desperately wants to be just like his daddy, so he dresses like daddy, talks like daddy, walks like daddy and even pretends to work the same job as daddy. We are to be like our daddy in every move we make. Lets look closer at the verse Peter is quoting from. Lev 11:44 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: Commentaries that spoke to my heart. Wesley: Ye shall be holy - By this he gives them to understand, that all these cautions about eating or touching these creatures was not for any real uncleanness in them, but only that by diligent observation of these rules they might learn with greater care to avoid all moral pollutions, and to keep themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and from all familiar and intimate converse with notorious sinners. Barnes: The foundation of the command is, that they professed to be his people, and that as his people they ought to be like their God. Interesting way to look at it. If we are going to profess to be something, well we ought to at least a little bit, resemble that which we profess to be. If I say I follow Christ and I am his, then you better believe I should look like him and show Christ to others. And God, here in Lev 11:44 tells them how to do that. To be Holy as He is Holy. Barnes: It is a great truth, that people everywhere will imitate the God whom they worship. Hence, by knowing what are the characteristics of the gods which are worshipped by any people, we may form a correct estimate of the character of the people themselves; and, hence, as the God who is the object of the Christian’s worship is perfectly holy, the character of His worshipers should also be holy. Many Christians have given a misrepresentation to the God they worship. Many of us do not show the true character of God. Think of how you act the majority of the time. Is this God's true character?

What about today. When you were about your daily living. What did you do? How did you act? What was done with your time, your eyes, your ears or your hands? Did they resemble what God or Christ would do? Some may be upset now reading this. Oh, you are being to legalistic. You are getting carried away. The stuff I do is not that bad. I know these thoughts because I used to share them, still do from time to time. Many times when I felt a deep conviction from the Holy Spirit and did not want to listen to Him. I would justify till the bitter end in my mind. But I tell you the truth here, these are not my words these are God's words. So we must all take this matter up with him and what he expects out of us. Henry: We must imitate him, though we can never equal him. This is not about becoming God, that can not be done. It is about looking like Him, acting like Him, thinking like Him and treating others like He would. Just like a son does his daddy. Lev 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. Henry: It is required that Israel be a holy people, because the God of Israel is a holy God. Their being distinguished from all other people by peculiar laws and customs was intended to teach them a real separation from the world and the flesh, and an entire devotedness to God. And this is now the law of Christ (the Lord bring every thought within us into obedience to it!) You shall be holy, for I am holy. We are the followers of the holy Jesus, and therefore must be, according to our capacity, consecrated to God's honour, and conformed to his nature and will. Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. MHCC: Surely more is to be expected from the followers of Christ than from others; surely more will be found in them than in others. Let us beg of God to enable us to prove ourselves his children. Wow, how profound and to the heart of it. More should be expected from us than of the world. We can no longer sit in justification that while everyone else does it, it should be no big deal that I do it too. We are not to resemble this world (everyone else), we are to resemble the LORD! This thought should carry into every area of our lives. WE ARE NOT TO LOOK LIKE THE WORLD! At work, at home, at the grocery store, at the park, at the wedding, in the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the things we watch or at the family function. No!! We should be HOLY as he is HOLY! So just how do we do this? Well lets dig deeper as I am not the expert. I am learning as I type this. Praying for God's wisdom and understanding. Rom 12:2 And be not conformed (Conformed - Made to resemble.) to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. What the Bible says is that we are to not look like the world. The phrase, be in the world and not of it, is not from the Bible. It is a mystical phrase from an off branch Islamic religion called Sufism. I thought that I would mention this, as it is falsely taught behind pulpits that it is from the word of God. Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The Bible says that we are not from this world, because God has taken us out of the world (not in a physical sense, but a moral sense). And everyone who has ever become a Christian against their families or friends best interest knows exactly what this is talking about. They begin to hate you, because you are no longer like them. You no longer resemble that which they resemble. And as God continues to transform you, you will look less and less like the old you. Less like the world. Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word (the gospel); and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Gill: they were of the world by their natural birth, and had their conversation with the men of it, but now they were called out of it, and were guided and led by another spirit; and were separate from the world in their lives and conversations, and which brought the hatred of the world upon them; inasmuch as they had been of them, but now had left them, and professed they did not belong to them; and because their religious lives put a distinguishing mark on them, and reproved and condemned them... Wow, I like the last thing Gill says here. When we are of Christ, the Holy Spirit is like a mark on us, that mark ends up reproving and condemning our family and friends. It is not us doing it, it is the truth of God which has already condemned them. And our presence seems to be a reminder of that fact. Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Hey, it is not time to die just cause we face hardships and hatred. We are here for a reason and were chosen by God for a reason. So we wont be prayed out of here and into heaven just yet. But we will have prayer to be kept from the evil. Joh 17:16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Our home is elsewhere. Again whom do we resemble. This world or our Father? I can see here, like what many religions do, they take pieces of the Bible, as the Sufism religion did and try to add to it and or take away from it a bit. Not all the time are they completely wrong, they are getting pieces of it from the word. But I just don't like that we think that exact phrase is in the word. Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. God has a purpose for us being in this world. We need to honor the Lord and fulfill his purpose for our lives. Joh 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified (Made holy; consecrated) through the truth. Sanctify - To cleanse from corruption; to purify from sin; to make holy by detaching the affections from the world and its defilement's, and exalting them to a supreme love to God. So I say memorize this verse. I bet you already have after reading this only once. Then when you are about to do something, ask "Is this being Holy as God is Holy?" I don't watch much TV at all. But this weekend we went to a motel without the kids. My old addiction came up and I found myself up till 4:30 am watching movies. Like 2 or 3 at one time. Now the movies I watched were considered fine to most of our Christian world. As we all seem to have this certain level of acceptance mixed with justification. I call it slow desensitization over many years. But as I was a half hour from the end of a really good movie, God threw it at me ~ "Be Holy as I am Holy". OUCH! Click went the off button, with just a half hour to the ending. I had to ask myself the real questions. What is holiness, was me wasting a whole night of TV watching of any kind, Holy? Were these movies something I would watch with my kids present? How about if Jesus was sitting there with me? Do I look like the world right now? How will I get up with my husband on his birthday with only 2 hours of sleep?

Well I am glad I turned it off. Who cares about the outcome of a show that would have been considered evil by our forefathers, let alone the apostles who walked with Christ. And I did get up after only 2 hours of sleep. I would not allow myself the pleasure of sleep or to be grumpy that day. I held my emotions and lavished on my dear husband. Confessing to him my folly. Listen, the temptations will always come. I almost picked up the remote again that day, when hubby was in the shower. God simply said to me as I reached for the remote ~ "Set no wicked thing before your eyes, Be Holy as I am Holy" That is why we must know scripture and pray that the Holy Spirit will bring up the scripture in times of temptation or turmoil. Dear Lord, please bless all who read this today. May they look at it as it is from you and not from me. It is simply the thing you are teaching me in my life right now. I just wanted to share it with others. I pray that your Spirit would bring up your words in times of trouble, tribulation and temptation. I pray also that we would hear and listen and obey those words. That we would not ignore or shove away what you are trying to tell us. I pray Lord that we would not justify what we are doing. Not feel like we deserve this thing we are doing. Cause we deserve nothing, yet you give us your grace anyway. Please Lord, guide our steps today and may we follow you and resemble you. In Christ Amen.

My Idle Conversation

Recently my pride was injured. After what I thought was a great visit with old friends, being used by God, & visiting with those I care deeply about, I was shot where it hurts most. My pride got the better of me and I did the very thing God has instructed me not to do. That is to defend myself. Why do I have such a hard time following God's instruction? Here is what God showed me only 2 days after my disobedience, I would have gotten it sooner, but I avoided him altogether yesterday. Psalm 50:23 - Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. Order: To lead, To conduct, To subject to rules or laws. Conversation: Behavior, Deportment: Manner of acting, behavior, demeanor, conduct, management. (notice that it is more then simple chit chat) Aright: In a right form. Rightly: Honestly, uprightly, truth or fact, according to the divine ill or moral rectitude. Salvation: Preservation from destruction or calamity. Delivered from Enemies. Basically, I felt like God was telling me, that I was ruining a good thing, by not conducting and managing myself. See I defended myself and in doing that I showed selfishness and anger. I was also mean and was getting away from the truth of God as I focused on personal hurts and pride. I can't just glorify and praise God with my lips, I must also lead my behavior in a manner that is right and according to God's will not my own will. I believe God would have delivered me from the calamity I am now in, had I just simply followed the words in this verse. God didn't end it there. He wanted to hit it home with me. Apparently, my hard head needs confirmation and this confirmation was hard to swallow. Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

Mat 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Mat 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. I admit in defending myself, I was not speaking good things. Which sadly revealed my heart. Weather I want to admit it or not. Idle: Unprofitable, not tending to edification. Edification: A building up, in a moral & religious sense. Instruction, improvement and progress of the mind, in knowledge, in morals or in faith and holiness. I went from edifying according to God, to idle, according to me. I left the instruction of improvement, to the instruction of I'm a good person and you need to know that. But the Bible is clear, no one is good, not one. I now must go and apologize to my friend and seek forgiveness for my idle words & my selfish conversation. I also pray that what I recently did does not mess up what God was doing while we were with them. I can only pray that as I get my conversation corrected that I will be delivered from this calamity. Definitions taken from the original Websters Dictionary.

(2Ch 7:14) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It's a 4 step process according to this verse on how to be forgiven and the land to be healed. Solomon had prayed to God concerning his people in hopes that God would open his ears to their prayers. The above passage is God's response to Solomon. Obviously, Christ has paid the ultimate penalty for our sins. But for one to assume no responsibility just because they are now followers of Christ, in my opinion, is more than naive. Lets take a deeper look at the verse. Humble means to be meek, submissive and penitent. Meek here seems to mean not proud, submissive to the divine will and not complaining about that divine will. Submissive is yielding to the will or power of God, obedient, acknowledging our inferiority. Penitent is one who is sorrowful on account of their transgressions. One who repents of sin. So the first thing we must do is to realize our sin and come humbly before God ready to yield to his will, giving up our own. Pray is to ask God with reverence, adoration and humility. To petition. Reverence is fear mingled with respect and esteem. Adoration goes along with reverence in that it gives God high honor. An example is to bow, kneel or lay prostrate before God. Humility is a deep sense of our own unworthiness in the sight of God. Petition is a prayer addressed to God for something needed or desired. So the second thing we must do is to pray to God, but not with this list of 'you owe me, so give me- give me - give me', but rather with a deep understanding of who we are compared to who God is. A respect and a reverence that brings us to our knees as we petition our great King. Seek is to make a search, endeavor, to discover, to attempt to find. Endeavor means to attempt to gain. An exertion of physical strength or the intellectual powers. Discover is to reveal or make known. We discover what before existed, though to us it was unknown. So for the third thing, we must seek, but how do we seek? We seek by reading God's word. It is all right there before us, we just need to take advantage of it. I discover things in the Bible everyday that make me stand in awe. It has always been there, but only when I seek it out, is when I will find what he wants me to know. Seeking is not always easy either. I did not want to read my Bible tonight. I struggled with my flesh. I wanted to sleep or go on the Internet and just veg out. Seeking God can be such an exertion of my strength and mind, just like the definition says. And many times I don't want to make the effort but I'm always glad when I do. Turn means to transform, to turn evil to good. To change direction. To adapt the mind. Transform Changing from being enmity to God, into the image of God. Adapt To make suitable, to become what we were meant to become and be used how we were meant to be used. Wicked is deviating from the divine law, sinful, immoral. Everything contrary to the moral law. Now the last thing that we must do is to turn. We must turn from our wicked ways. Most people would never admit they are wicked, they define wicked as the very evil who kill and destroy. But God defined wicked as anyone who did contrary to his law. Thus us liars - are wicked, even the little white lies, still make us wicked. We must transform ourselves into the image or likeness of God, turning from our fleshy desires and becoming vessels God can use, the way he desires us to be used.

Now what happens when we humble, pray, seek and turn? He will hear us, forgive us and heal our land. Go ahead and try it. I have, and it is amazing.

All definitions are from the original Websters dictionary.