Week 1 Holiness

It’s inevitable! The enemy will attempt to overwhelm you with lustful thoughts. You cannot negotiate your way out of this, or beg the devil to leave you alone. If you want to keep your freedom, you’re going to have to call on the strength of God, knuckle-up, and posture yourself for battle.

 Before you engage this fight, you better know what you’re fighting for.   

 You are fighting for HOLINESS.    

 The statement “be holy, because I am holy” seems so intimidating and far-fetched.  Here’s why: 

Most of us fall into the lie that that we must first make ourselves holy before we can approach Jesus. Let’s clear this up right now.

Lie: Holiness is the way to Jesus.

Truth: Jesus is the way to holiness.

We can’t get holy by our best efforts.  Let’s face it, in your own strength - you don’t have a fighting chance. However, through Jesus and because you have the death-defying Spirit of God living in you, victory is possible.

In the above scripture the invitation to become holy begins with “dear children…”.

Here is why that is important: holiness is not produced by religious compliance. Holiness is a byproduct of our connection to Him; His love in us produces holiness.

Every son inherits a physical or character trait from their earthly father. Maybe you have you dad’s eyes, hair, or mannerisms. In the same way, because you have been born again, you have the traits of God in you. While we’ve inherited these virtues, we have the responsibility to develop and exercise them. 

As a child of God, we are deeply loved, pursued, healed, saved from imminent death, and made completely brand-new. With such affections lavished on us, why is it hard to believe that we have God’s DNA inside of us? We must grapple with our doubts that rage against this truth and willfully believe that the victory of Jesus flows through our veins. 

We are compelled by love to walk in our destiny as children called to holiness. However, love is more than a mere feeling. Love is choosing to obey God even when we so strongly want to go in the opposite direction. Holiness, produced by His love, means to turn our back on the fleeting excitement sin offers, and turn our face to the one who won our hearts on the cross. Every day we are called to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all of our energy into growing more like Christ – this is a process. 

Holiness means to be consecrated; set apart for his good work – this means that you are called to be separated from sin and dedicated to God as an extension of His love, grace, mercy, and authority.

Here a just a few areas we should intentionally dedicate to God: 

Head: Think like God. Think thoughts that glorify Him. Fill your mind with His truth, with His promises, and with His plans. Lay aside vain imaginations, and fill your mind with the imagery of God.    

Heart: Yearn to hunger for Jesus. Make your prayer time count. Ask God to increase your love for Him. Let God teach you how to love what He loves, and hate what He hates. Seek to gain REVELATION (not just head knowledge) of His ferocious, all-consuming  love for you.        

Hands: The members of your body are not meant for you to use for personal gratification. They’re meant to be offerings of sacrifice. Which means that your hands are designed to pray over the sick, to be lifted up in worship, to create, to embrace those that grieve, and to express the love, strength, and kindness of God to those  you love and to those around you. 

We have abused what God has given us. Thankfully we have the power to reclaim that which we’ve lost. Let’s reclaim the belief that we are created in His image and that His love in us produces holiness.

Process & Reflect:

Spend some time with the Lord and invite Him to help you accept the truth that, with His help,  holiness is possible.

Allow God to reveal to you that holiness is a response to experiencing His great love for you. Rededicate  your head, heart and hands to the Lord. Journal your time with God and process through the steps you will take to keep yourself dedicated (set apart) to the Lord.

Daily Scripture for Week 1

DAY 2 | SCRIPTURE  

Psalm 119:9

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word.

Process & Reflect:

This scripture answers the BIG QUESTION: How does one stay pure?

Open your bible and read the remainder of Psalm 119. It’s really long, but read as much as you can! Put yourself in the place of the psalmist and join him in his bold desire to know, abide, and delight in the Truth. Listen to his desperate plea to never fall away from knowing God. Accompany the psalmist in his steadfast devotion to keep God’s word with all of his heart, and discover the answer we all long for. 

Journal what God is revealing to you as you read through Psalm 119

DAY 3 | SCRIPTURE

Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Process & Reflect:

Pray the above scripture over yourself. Ask  God to reveal to  you what is in your heart and mind. What are the  offenses that stand in between you and Him?

Journal what He shows you.

DAY 4 | SCRIPTURE

Romans 12:1 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Process & Reflect:

The word MERCY means: God’s compassion, emotions & longings for us. The next verse urges us to OFFER ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. The word offer means to proffer: To offer for acceptance; to propose to give; to offer as a gift; to offer services; to offer friendship.

Think through this scripture and ask God to reveal His MERCIES over you.  Journal your revelation of His love and how His love motivates you to present your entire being as a living sacrifice.   

DAY 5 | SCRIPTURE

2 Corinthians 7:1

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Process & Reflect:

The above scripture states, “since we have these promises…” What are these promises? Discover these promises in the preceding chapter (2 Cor 6:1-18).

Journal how these promises personally speak to you, and how these promises provoke the desire for you to purify yourself form everything that contaminates.  

DAY 6 | SCRIPTURE 

Romans 6:22 TPT

But now, as God’s loving servants, you live in joyous freedom from the power of sin. So consider the benefits you now enjoy—you are brought deeper into the experience of true holiness that ends with eternal life!

Process & Reflect:

What a profound truth!  As you are brought into a deeper experience of holiness, you will find joyous freedom. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to move this theory from your head into the revelatory depths of your heart.

Capture, in writing, what you experienced in your personal time with God.

DAY 7 |  DISCUSS IN SMALL-GROUP

1.       As a warrior, how does holiness contribute to you experiencing victory?  

2.       Evaluate your definition of holiness. Has your perception of this topic changed?

3.       Do you believe it is possible to live holy?   

4.       What have you done with your head, heart, and hands that do not line up with God’s divine DNA living  inside of you?

5.       How will you keep your head, heart and hands dedicated (set apart) to the Lord.