A Life Of Wholeness

When the blind man received his sight, he received wholeness. Until that day, his life was incomplete. He could not see. When Jesus touches our lives, He makes us whole. Closely connected with the word, "wholeness", is the word, "holiness." There is no wholeness without holiness. Our lives are incomplete if we are not walking in the way of holiness. There's a children's chorus which says, "I'm walking on the King's Highway." What does this mean? - The King's Highway is the Highway of holiness. In Isaiah 35:8, we read about the Highway of Holiness: "And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way (Revised Standard Version) or the way of holiness (Authorized Version)." We are walking on the King's Highway when we are walking on the Highway of Holiness. Whenever we think of the love of Jesus, we must also think of His holiness. Jesus, our loving Saviour, is also Jesus, the holy Son of God. Jesus' love is a holy love. It is not a gushy, sentimentalized thing. His love is holy. It is filled with moral strength, strength of character. If we are to show the love of Christ to the world, we must also show His holiness. living as men and women who are different, men and women who have been changed by the holy love of Christ.

The Holy Spirit Uses The Word Of God To Make The Man Of God, Complete For Every Good Work.

‘Man of God’ - isn’t that a wonderful expression? That’s what God calls us! We don’t deserve to be called this, but this is what God has made us in Christ. God is determined to make us worthy of this marvellous title which He has so graciously bestowed upon us! We are called to maturity. we are called to mature holiness. We are to mature in our response to God’s call to holiness, that call which is at one and the same time both a command and a promise - ‘be holy, for I am holy’, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). God’s call to holiness is clear - ”God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness’. This call is followed by these solemn words of warning - ‘whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you’ (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8). Maturity is bound up with holiness. The nearest we have, in Scripture, to a definition of maturity is found in Hebrews 5:14 - ’solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil’. ‘Trained by practice to distinguish good from evil’ - what a practical definition of maturity! May God grant a revival of such maturity in our day. We are being ‘equipped for every good work’ These good works are the works of faith - ‘By grace you have been saved through faith … to do good works’ (Ephesians 2:8-10). These good works are produced in us through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. As we ‘let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly’, the Spirit works in us to make us more like our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ - ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Colossians 3:16; Galatians 5:22-23).

We Need More Than The Words Of The Preacher. We Need The Power Of The Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:20
If God is to be glorified through the preaching of His Word, there needs to be more than the ‘words’ of the preacher. There needs to be ‘the power of the Holy Spirit’(1:5). Good preaching is not a matter of ‘plausible words of wisdom’. We must look for ‘a demonstration of the Spirit’s power’(1 Corinthians 2:4). When the Spirit is at work, there is effective communication, leading to a life-changing encounter with God. ‘When you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers’(13). Don’t let God’s Word ‘go in one ear and out the other’. The ‘message’ will do you no good if you don’t hear it ‘with faith’- ‘Today, when you hear His voice, harden not your hearts’(Hebrews 4:2; 3:15).

1 Thessalonians 3:1-4:12
We need both ‘love’ and ‘holiness’(3:12-13). Our love is to be holy. Our holiness is to be loving. Getting the right balance between love and holiness is like walking a tightrope. You can easily lose your balance and fall off. We can be too soft - all love and no holiness. We can be too hard - all holiness and no love. Love doesn’t mean ‘anything goes’- ‘I don’t care how you live’. That’s not love. That’s indifference, a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude. Holiness doesn’t mean looking down your nose at other people - ‘You’ve sinned and I will never let you forget it’. Don’t be like ‘the Pharisees’. They wanted to ‘stone the woman caught in adultery’. We must not ‘stone’ people with our ‘hot tongue and cold shoulder’! Be like Jesus. Show love- ‘I don’t condemn you’- and holiness- ‘Do not sin again’(John 8:3-11).

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:28
Do you feel like giving up? God is not about to give up on you: ‘He who calls you is utterly faithful and He will finish what He set out to do’(23). He has a great future for us: ‘God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ’(9). We look forward to the Return of our Lord Jesus Christ: ‘The Lord Himself will descend from heaven’(4:16). We look forward to heavenly and eternal glory: ‘We shall always be with the Lord’(4:17). This is the kind of encouragement we need. We are to remind one another of these things: ‘Comfort one another with these words’(4:18). We are ‘to encourage one another’ to go on with the Lord. Let’s ‘build one another up’, encouraging each other to build on ‘the Rock’ which is ‘Christ’(11; 1 Corinthians 10:3; Matthew 7:24-27).
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Do We Have Faith? – Let Us Commit Ourselves To A Life Of Holiness.

What blessings are given to those who draw near to God - ‘Your God... will come and save you’ (Isaiah 35:4).

The Good News of Christ comes to us as a call to faith - ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’ (Acts 16:31).

We have been saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot remain the same. We are called to live a new life. We must travel on the Lord’s ‘highway’- ‘the Way of Holiness’ (Isaiah 35:8). This is ‘the Way’ which leads to ‘everlasting joy’ (Isaiah 35:10).

This ‘Way’ is so different from the world’s way. The world has no time for those who seek to live a holy life. This is what Jesus says about the world’s way of life: ‘the gate is wide and the way is wide that leads to destruction’ (Matthew 7:13).

Whatever the world may say, we must never forget this: ‘Without holiness, no-one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14).