“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’ If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:14-19 NASB
Lord, I LONG to know more of Your Word and for it to more and more show me where I truly, truly stand AND where to walk – that I may be HOLY in all my behavior!
I do not want to just say “grace, grace, peace, peace” to myself and allow the Holy Spirit to be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
I think we too often settle for a quenched Holy Spirit and think that it’s normal. May we rise up and say to ourselves and others, “It is NOT! This is not normal.”
“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:14
Peace is only found in Jesus Christ and in living according to how He says to live.
Oh Lord, raise up a generation that knows You, Your Word, Your truth, and the whole counsel of God. Currently, they are being bombarded, led astray, and confused by “persuasive” (Colossians 2:4) and even non-persuasive “arguments”. Confusion is not of You (1 Corinthians 14:33). May we, as believers in Christ (the way, the truth, and the LIFE – John 14:6), step in with the REAL truth that people are looking for. (And they are looking!) The enemy has no qualms about stepping in with deceit. So, as we “shrink back” from stepping in with truth, we are leaving a void that the enemy is filling with his lies.
Let’s fill that gap with the power of the truth.
Let us live out truth in integrity as we cling to (and fully depend upon) the power of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fully have His way in us.
Let’s fill our minds with His truth and remember that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)! May we use it and not be confused.
Let’s pray for protection from being influenced by the enemy’s lies!
Let us “cling to what is good” and “abhor what is evil” (Romans 12:9)!
Let’s live holy lives that others long for.
And may this be our testimony, like Paul’s: “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Acts 20:26-27
Let’s step into the void with God’s life-saving, life-giving truth and declare the whole counsel of God, teaching them to observe all that He has commanded us (Matthew 28:20, the Great Commission).
Oh, Lord, let us not settle for quenched, mediocre lives!
May we not remain silent.
-What in your life is currently quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit?
-Are you taking seriously the instruction “like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior”?
-Where have you settled for less than God has for you?
-Where have you allowed yourself to shrink back in fear from declaring the whole counsel of God?
-How will you take action?
“. . . we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:9-10 ESV
