I often like to look back at history as it teaches me a lot of things. It’s good when we can learn from the past and see how some people were successful, and others were failures. It’s been quite some time since I have seen a real move of God in the church.
I remember back decades ago when the body of Christ experienced the holy spirit in a real way. People were so passionate and hungry for God that oftentimes the churches were packed full of people. They could sit for hours and listen to someone preach the word.
As time went on, the hunger for God seemed to disappear. People stepped back from their commitment to him compared to what they used to do before. Their walk with the Lord stepped down several levels.
When I asked the Lord why this was, he pointed me back to years ago when people would pray at the end of a service. It was in those times of prayer that they seemed to really hear from him more clearly.
Eventually, over time, the church stopped praying this way. People were expected to seek God through prayer and their Bibles at home. Nowadays, it seems as if people only seek God one day a week at church.
Praying For Revival
The prayer team here at Aftermath Ireland is praying for Revival. But if we really want to see this happen, it has two starts within ourselves. If we want to see the move of God, we have two starts to live holy once again.
This leads me to a question that we should ask ourselves every day. Are we in the right standing with God? Many Believers would say yes because they have asked Jesus into their hearts. Well, let me ask you another question “are you walking in the spirit and following God’s principles?
What Is Holiness?
Holiness is not something that is brought up in church much today. When I grew up, we were very familiar with that word and what it meant. Many of us were taught it before we could even pronounce it.
The Bible is very clear about how we should live before the Lord. God wants us to live a holy life that reflects Jesus in all that we do. This isn’t saying that we have to be perfect. It just means that we have to try our best. If we make a mistake, we can ask for forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9.
The Story Of Jacob
I’d like to talk about the story of Jacob because I feel that it is so applicable. The Bible says that he stole his brother’s blessing and then ran away. He eventually got married and served his father-in-law for 20 years. Then one day, God told him to go back to where he came from and settle down.
When Jacob heard this, he knew he had a big job ahead of him. So before he did anything else, he got his life in check and purified himself.
God is no different today. He has assignments for each of us to complete that is impossible for us to do on our own. In order to complete them, we have to clean up our lives first.
Living Holy
If I could make this article on Holiness practical, I would say that it means a holy lifestyle is one where God controls every decision and action.
This means we need to set a guard over our minds and our mouths. We need to think before we say a word. We need to think before we take action.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and words cannot be taken back. We can try as hard as we can, but words spoken inappropriately cannot ever be returned to us. That is why it is better not to say anything at all if we can help it.
Decide today to keep yourself pure, an instrument that God can use. When you live a holy life, you will be ready for God to use you for every good work.
