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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Longing for Him

I long for holiness. My desire is for holiness to settle down upon me, flowing freely from the Throne of Grace and flood my heart and soul.

I pray that holiness penetrates and saturates my entire being.

I long for righteousness. My desire is for righteousness to flow down from the rivers of heaven and fill me to overflowing.

The Lord is Holy, therefore I desire to be Holy.

He is righteousness, therefore I desire to be righteous.

He is merciful and I need mercy.

He is gracious and oh, I need His grace.

He is compassionate and I desperately need compassion.

He is salvation and I need a Savior!

He is majestic. Glorious. Faithful. Truth. Life.

In all His ways, He is holy and righteous.

In all my ways, I am lost and undone. I am nothing.

But, praise God, through Him and because of Him, we can sanctify ourselves and partake of His holiness.

Sanctification is being set apart for God’s service. It is the ongoing process of God’s grace by which we separate ourselves from sinful things and dedicate ourselves to the righteousness of God.

Holiness is being conformed to the will of God and to be like God. It is the result of being sanctified in Him. We can’t achieve holiness on our own but we CAN make choices that allow holiness and purity to be manifest in our lives.

We can only do this through Him and His Word. Galatians 5:24 tells us, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”.

This is telling us that those of us who belong to Christ are not slaves to our flesh, but that we should live and walk in the Spirit.

To achieve this, we must put aside our fleshly attitudes and ask God to purify our thoughts and our hearts. We walk closely with God in bible study, prayer and right living. We guard our hearts and our minds from worldly morals and values. We must allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and transform us.

“By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10)

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14)

As a Christian, living a sanctified life is an ongoing process. We are not perfect. We will mess up. We will need His mercy and grace in our lives on a daily basis! His Word tells us in Romans, that nothing good dwells in our flesh, but if Christ is in us, we have life because of His righteousness. Glory and Hallelujah!

I am so thankful that His mercies are new every morning. I am so thankful that He is patient and loving. I am thankful that I don’t have to do it on my own - because He lives in me, I have mercy, forgiveness and redemption.

Sanctifying grace is the breath of God. It restores relationships, imparts newness, perfects us in His image and equips us to be His hands and feet.

My challenge to myself and anyone who wants to join me, is to go facedown each morning, without fail. Facedown in humility. Facedown in surrender. Asking my precious Lord to give me the strength I need each day to live a life sanctified for Him. To live a life worthy of my calling. To live a life that is pleasing to Him.

“… that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12)

I long for holiness.

I long for righteousness.

Beth

17 comments:

Andrea said...

Falling forward into HIS arms....joining in prayer,
andrea

Anonymous said...

Oh, Beth, thank you ever so much for this timely reminder. Actually, as you say, it is an ongoing process, a daily need and I need this reminder DAILY, MOMENT-BY=MOMENT!!!

I do desire His sanctifying grace. What a beautiful picture you place this 'sanctifying grace' in - "the breath of God".

I accept your challenge, my friend ... desiring to face each morning on my face in humility, surrendering all that I am to my LORD that I may walk in His strength according to His will and plan for my very life.

In God we breathe, ~ linda

Elyse said...

I will be going facedown each morning with you! What a wonderful reminder!
~Elyse

Tammy said...

I pray that these words will jump of this post into the hearts of those who read this!

There is POWER and TRUTH in the message that God has put into your heart.

love and hugs~Tammy

Lisa said...

God has been dealing in my heart about my lack of time spent in prayer. Please pray for me this week as I commit to going face-down. I so want the passion to return.
Blessings ~ Lisa

Kathleen said...

I'm longing with you, sister. In recent years that longing has been more acute than ever, and I have to wonder if it's not His Holy Spirit drawing His own deeper & nearer & safer?

Lovely post. Thank you.
Kathleen

Alleluiabelle said...

My Precious Friend,

Can I just say, "I love you." Your words penetrate so sweetly, so deeply inside my mind, heart and soul. How I always long for Him. I will be joining you in prayer every morning my dear sister...you can count on that.

Blessings, Love & Prayers,
Alleluiabelle

Heart2Heart said...

Beth,

Please stop by my blog this morning to pick up your very special award.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

christy rose said...

The longing of our hearts to be like Him is the working of the Spirit of God wooing our hearts and minds to come deeper into a place of fellowship with Him that will transform us into the image that we already are inside because of the work of Jesus on the cross and our faith in Him. The Word of God is our mirror and as we look to Him consistently, we become on the outside what He has accomplished in us on the inside. God is so good. His mercy is so rich! His grace is so amazing! He does the work on the inside and as we look to Him and enjoy that new work that He has accomplished in us and lean on Him for our everything, the life changing power of His glory transforms us on the outside too. What a salvation we have been given!! This was beautiful Beth!!!

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

What a beautiful post...

Yolanda said...

In agreement, and I think that perhaps as Believers that are walking with Him, He places this desire in us, to be more like Him. To be holy and blameless.

Lovingly,
Yolanda

PS: I have to watch out though or I'll tend to dip into the attitude of the Pharisee's; I must remember that I am nothing special and that I am not better than my Sister or Brother in Christ. Just a check that I, myself, have to do.

Heidi said...

Thanks for visiting me today and following my blog!

What a gift that we have been made righteous through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who loves and longs for us. May we grow to know Him more and more with every passing day!

Heidi

Unknown said...

Beth,
How are the members that you mentioned in an earlier blog?

Laurie said...

I long for Holiness too. If you have never seen Time Changer (a Christian movie) it is fabulous and very much convicted me in regards to being holy and set apart in our culture. Love ya, Laurie

Joan Carr said...

Very good post and so true and though provoking. This reminds me of this verse.

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.
II Chronciles 7;14

Oh that we as God's people would live a holy, cleaner life before God and the world what would we see HIM do.

LisaShaw said...

Amen! Beautiful and powerful sharing!

I'm at the feet of Jesus always longing for HIM. I confess that I NEED HIM desperately.

Love you dear sister.

Karen Hossink said...

Oh, Beth, I long for holiness, too.
Can't get there without HIM. So thankful for God's patience with me as He leads me down this road and sanctifies my heart!