The answer to the cry for Holiness

The answer to the cry for Holiness

I have been inundated lately by a cry from the people of God for a means to holiness. “How do we teach people how to be holy?” they say. “yeah but what way can we make them be holy?” they ask. In my role as youth pastor I am confronted with this question on a daily basis. How do I, as a minister to young people, convince them to leave sin alone or leave sin behind and live out a life of purity and holiness?

The reality is that I know the answer to that question. There is only one, but any time I start talking to people about that one answer, people give me looks of bewilderment and ask me the same question again in another way as if I didn’t hear them the first time! “well, yeah, but how do we make them holy?”. I have to say that when this question has come up lately I have pretended to not know. I start rubbing my chin and shaking my head, because I know my answer is not going to satisfy their question. I know that it won’t satisfy them because it is deeply simple and uncomplicated and it looks NOTHING like religion!

I am tired of being ashamed of the only biblical answer to that question. The answer to the question of holiness is an SIMPLE answer but not an EASY answer! The answer to the cry for holiness is love.

This is the truth. What did Jesus say? Mat 22:37-40 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and first commandment. (39) And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

Why don’t we understand this? When we love God when the First Commandment is ALIVE IN OUR HEARTS for REAL the holiness question will be no more.

I want this to be a reality alive in me. A reality that marks me, brands me. I don’t want to live by a set of rules, I will never remember them all! I want to live out of my passion for Jesus. I want to allow my love for Him to guide and guard my way.

Church we must return to our First Love. We must burn with the First Commandment in the First Place of our hearts, only then will holiness be our way of life.

Jesus holder of all my dreams

Psa 37:4-5 (4) Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (5) Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

These are two verses that I have held onto for a long long time. They have been the secret whispers of my heart to my heart, my silent recitation; They are the truth.

If you have not yet heard I am now the youth pastor of First Assembly of God in Fort Wayne IN. This is a dream I have had for over ten years. A dream I believed had died. I was wrong. Jesus had it in His heart for me all along. Just not yet.

Some have said things to me like, "it's about time" or "something like this should have happened years ago". I understand what they are saying and I am grateful for the kindness but they are incorrect. I wasn't ready and Jesus knew I wasn't. A transformation had to take place in me before I could come to this place and walk it out with integrity. The idol of my dreams had to be torn down, the Lord made central in my affections, and my desires uprooted from empty ideas and planted deep in the glory of the fountain that never runs dry.

The point of this post is simple. I want to thank Jesus for leading me. He knows my heart and He loves me. He truly is the lover of my soul. The good shepherd. Jesus is the holder of all my dreams. He is my dreams. He is my great reward.

I want to write a note to all of my friends languishing in the place of waiting. Those currently "humbled under the mighty hand of the Lord". STAY THERE!!!! Do not leave that place of the wilderness until you hold every treasure of the desert in you hands. Give yourself to this time with passion and understanding. Do not push into "what's next" and miss the glory of where you are. I know it hurts. I know it is hard. I know you HATE it, but hang on. Wait. Be Still! When He is ready to raise you up there will be NO STOPPING HIM!

He is more jealous for your destiny than you are - believe it