November 15, 2019
Hebrews 12:14
"Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. (NLT)
Let me interact with the second part of this verse. Work at living a "holy" life means that we have a plan and are totally committed to implementing it. What is your plan for holiness? Let me share mine. I use the word "PURITY" as an acrostic so I can remember it.
"P" Put your name by a signature sin. We must know our key weakness and where Satan is going to attempt to trip us up. This means we own our sin and stop blaming others for it.
"U" Unmask who you are before God. Get honest with God and admit that you can't win this battle alone. Say to the Lord, "this is who I am and I need both your forgiveness and your strength to overcome this sin." It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that we will gain the victory. There is no victory without frontline prayer.
"R" Replace old patterns with new possibilities. Our signature sin has created bad patterns of thinking and behaving in our lives. Getting rid of those patterns involves replacing them with godly patterns. It takes about 30 days to break an old pattern.
"I" Identify your new Identity. Choose a new identity. Are you a sinner or a saint? Before Christ I was a different person. Now I am in Christ, and He is in me. I am a new creation; my old identity has gone. The gospel changes our identity.
"T" Trust a friend to help you. God never intended us to take this journey alone. Develop a trusted friendship and confess your sins. We all need someone to stand with us in the battle.
"Y" Yell at the start and the finish. We must not give a sin more than 5 seconds of airtime before we launch a violent counterattack. First we shout, "NO! Get out of my head. Oh God, in the name of Jesus help me. Save me now, I am yours." Then when we are victorious, we shout out, "Praise the Lord for giving me the victory."
Jesus can give us the power to live a holy life. But we must practice PURITY.
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