HOLY LIVING

Leviticus 20:7-8,26

So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God.

Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the lord who makes you holy.

You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.

(Read: Leviticus 20:1-27)

We see God's instructions to the children of Israel concerning holy living. There were specific instructions concerning actions that would lead to death, the major ones had to do with:

* sacrificing one's child to an idol

* sexual immorality with blood relations

* adultery

* homosexuality and beastiality

* sorcery and all those who practice all types of mediums

One thing we must understand about these practices is that they make the culprit unholy. They are no longer separated to God but are making themselves properties of strange spirits. Thus they become a cast away.

Does this change even for believers? No. It remains the same, and more so because your body has been bought and made the temple of God.

Paul explains:

1 Corinthians 6:12,15,18-20

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.

Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

John concludes his first letter by saying:

1 John 5:18-19,21

We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

The children of Israel were coming to occupy a land that was blessed, however the people that lived there and those around them walked in evil ways, the Lord was warning them before hand not to copy their lifestyle but walk in obedience to Him.

The same way when we become believers, we are coming into a prosperous world but with a system that is full of sin and under the control of the evil one. Every believer must beware not to conform to the world and it's evil system.

Pastors, teachers, parents, guardians, elders, ministers of every cadre we need to wake up to our responsibilities. Discipleship should be the first step for new converts and children alike. 

The flock must be rightly fed!

Colossians 3:16-17

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

We mustn't get distracted by desire for wealth/money, fame and relevance, we must do the will of the Lord.

The mirage will make us think that we would live forever on earth. No we won't and there is nothing we can do about that. Many of the things that appeal so much to us today will lose it's taste soon. That is why those that steal never seem to be satisfied for vanity cannot be satisfied.

The wise man said:

Ecclesiastes 1:2,14

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Thus Christ asked:

Mark 8:37 (kjv)

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Holy living is not an option for the believer, it is the believer's lifestyle.

That is why God repeated again and again:

Leviticus 20:7

So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God.

Ephesians 1:4

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

Ephesians 5:26-27

to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

1 Peter 1:15-16

But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Holiness is not an option for the believer!

It is the believer's lifestyle!

The enemy doesn't want you to be holy for he knows that without holiness you will never see God and you will not fulfill purpose!

Help us Good Lord.

Revelation 4:8b

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

Glory to God forevermore.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father keep me in your holiness that I may continue to prosper in this life with no filth but by the power of Your Spirit, pleasing You in all things. I am Yours Lord, the enemy has no part in me. Thank You Dear Father.

He calls us blessed.

Love

@the watcher