Day 1 - Be Holy

We are called to holiness and oneness with Jesus (our first focus towards UNITY).

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:1-2 NIV)

Dear friends, My name is Paul, and I was chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. I’m writing this letter to all the devoted believers who have been made holy by being one with Jesus, the Anointed One. May God himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives. (Ephesians 1:1-2 TPT™)

Let’s consider and mediate on what the Word has to say about repentance:

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:21 NIV

…yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account. 10 For [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces death. 11 For [you can look back and] see what an earnestness and authentic concern this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves [against charges that you tolerate sin], what indignation [at sin], what fear [of offending God], what longing [for righteousness and justice], what passion [to do what is right], what readiness to punish [those who sin and those who tolerate sin]!… 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 AMP

So remember and take to heart the lessons you have received and heard. Keep and obey them, and repent [change your sinful way of thinking, and demonstrate your repentance with new behavior that proves a conscious decision to turn away from sin]. So then, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Revelation 3:3 AMP

Be holy as HE is holy! We are so quick to make our identity in something other than who HE says we are. And yet here, He sets an “unachievable” standard. Why would the all-knowing God ask something of us which is impossible? I believe He gives us some powerful insights here:

As God’s obedient children, never again shape your lives by the desires that you followed when you didn’t know better. Instead, shape your lives to become like the Holy One who called you. For Scripture says: “You are to be holy, because I am holy.”

Since you call on him as your heavenly Father, the impartial Judge who judges according to each one’s works, live each day with holy awe and reverence throughout your time on earth. For you know that your lives were ransomed once and for all from the empty and futile way of life handed down from generation to generation. It was not a ransom payment of silver and gold, which eventually perishes, but the precious blood of Christ—who like a spotless, unblemished lamb was sacrificed for us. 1 Peter 1:14-19 (TPT™)

I will highlight what I see here:

• Don’t allow the desires of our past/when you didn’t know better, to shape who you are today.
• Our example, our model to follow, is Jesus. As we are called to be “one” with Him, we are also to follow the ONE who CALLED us! He calls us by name (John 10:3).
• Live each day in in reverent AWE. He alone is Lord; we must allow our lives to be a reflection of this Truth! Our lives have been PAID for, by His blood – our response to that should be lives fully surrendered.

The Message versions puts a beautiful spin on this passage:

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! 1 Peter 1:13-23 (MSG)

Our lives and our future are in Him. Spend some time meditating on the powerful Truth that WE are a “called out people” – His Ekklesia – our lives should be pressing in towards holiness. We should be a people who look less like this world and more like the Kingdom for which we are citizens (Philippians 3:20)!

I pray for each of you today …being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves… Colossians 1:11-13 (NIV)

PRAYER: Lord God, we pray for an awakened identity that presses in towards holiness. We pray for our lives to be so transformed that we are a powerful testimony that points to the mighty God we serve. Lord, we pray for a revelation understanding of what it means to be one with the ONE who called us out to give us LIFE! We adore you Father and we pray that our lives would begin to more and more become a reflection of the Son! In His holy and precious name, the name Jesus, name above all other names, Amen.

A powerful visual on holiness – pressing in towards the one we desire to be more like – the closer we get to the SON, His presence consumes us!

Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®.
Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

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