Path To Holiness
Monday, 27th - Friday, 31st July, 2020.
Friday, 31st July, 2020
Topic: Purge Yourself
Anchor Scripture: Hebrews 12: 14 ". . . and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
Focus Scripture: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." - 2 Timothy 2: 21
Admonition
Greetings to you from the Throne of Grace.
On Monday, we countered the wrong teaching that says we don't need to work for holiness or righteousness anymore once we believe in Jesus Christ. Let's explain further: our Focus Scripture today admonishes that it is only when a man did purge himself of these (which are mentioned in the following verse that he would (be holy and) be fit for the Master's use. That is where that teaching got it wrong! Now, let's get the understanding that what the blood of Jesus does for a believer is the purging of sins of the time of ignorance. That is why the book of 2 Corinthians 5: 17 says, ". . . old things have passed away . . ." because the new believer have been purged of them and the new believer is now given a new slate thus, ". . . all things have become new." just because the old sins have been wiped off. Going forward, the believer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, now has an active role to play, which is what our Focus Scripture this morning is pointing out. The work is that of purging oneself of the filth of the past.
Now, as highlighted yesterday, we can't possibly stop sinful thoughts from coming into our minds, but we can stop ourselves from acting on them by continuously renewing our minds as taught yesterday. Now, it is this continuous renewing of our minds that will help us not to conform to the whims and caprices of these sinful thoughts (which are of the world, Romans 12: 1 - 2), thus ensuring that we live right according to the dictates of our new-birth.
It is this continuous renewing of our minds that does the purging of "these" mentioned in our Focus Scripture this morning. Now, it is this continuous renewal of our minds that does the spiritual work of purging, and this will be made possible if we continuously live in the consciousness of our new-birth, carrying with us always, the knowledge of God which we have come to have as believers.
So, how do we live in the consciousness of our new-birth so that we may be able to purge ourselves of the former filthy thoughts? The only way to do this is for one to continually remind oneself that one is no longer who one used to be. In private and even in our conversations with people, one should make conscious efforts to remind oneself that "I am no longer the person I used to be."
Another way of doing this purging is by daring to be different as we learnt about Noah and Daniel and his friends as we learnt on Tuesday. The book of 2 Corinthians 6: 14 - 18 is very explicit on this.
We will also be able to do this self-purging effectively if we bury ourselves in His Word. Ephisians 5: 26 talks about the washing of water by the Word. In John 17: 17, Jesus Christ Himself made it clear that it is the Word that sanctifies: nothing else does it. And the Psalmist aptly supported it by hiding the Word in His heart that he may not sin against Him (Psalm 119: 11).
As we close this morning, our effectual fervent prayers could avail much in this reapect. I must however warn that these must be prayers that are heavenly focused and devoid of the crazy spirit of covetousness and materialism that have taken over the church today. Growing up as a Christian, I will lock myself up in a room during the day and wake up again in the night to pray, "Oh, Lord, every me in me that will not allow me to make heaven or serve you as I ought to, Father, deliver me me of them." That was one major prayer I prayed for years because I needed to purge myself of the filth of the past and because I knew I had to FINISH STRONG to make heaven on the last day.
Lastly this morning, beloved brethren, we spoke yesterday about the role of the Holy Spirit in the continuous renewal of our minds. In the same vein, Apostle Paul once admonished us Galatians 5: 16, to walk in the Spirit. It has been said in the past that the importance of the Holy Spirit in this race can never be overemphasized. We need the Holy Spirit to purge ourselves and be able to FINISH STRONG. I pray that the Holy Spirit shall not depart from us in Jesus' name. Amen.
* * *
Please, pray earnestly, as the Holy Spirit may lead, for divine purging in Jesus' name. Amen.
* * *
Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him.8
Thursday, 30th July, 2020
Topic: Keep Renewing Your Mind
Anchor Scripture: Hebrews 12: 14 ". . . and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
Focus Scripture: ". . . and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." - Genesis 6: 5
Admonition
Greetings to you from the Throne of Grace.
One of the "wrongest" (please, excuse my English) teachings in Christendom today which is part of the lies of the devil to the unsuspecting children of God is that once one has given one's life to Christ, such a person can no longer sin and so, they don't need forgiveness of sins again and again.
I found this kind of teaching odious because in the first place, confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour does not instantly change our human nature into that of angels; even angels sinned. The fact remains that we are still human and blood still flows in our veins. We will only be free from our past sinful thoughts and nature if we held our new state of being born-again in our consciousness at all times.
If the above teaching was true, Jesus Christ Himself would't have needed teaching us to ask for forgiveness inside the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6: 12. Therefore, anyone that follows that teaching and thereby ignores their self inadequacies whenever such comes calling, does so at their own perils. And I want to say that that kind of teaching accounts for the increased number of atrocities and backsliding that we daily witness in the Christendom today because such teachings make people commit sins without it registering in their minds that they have wronged God.
The truth of the matter, beloved brethren, is that we cannot stop sinful thoughts from coming into our hearts, ( Genesis 6: 5of course, they will always pop in, maybe, once in a while. One of the things we are capable of doing as children of God with the experience of a new-birth is to KEEP RENEWING OUR MINDS, albeit, continually.
I said on Monday that holiness is not a destination, rather, it is a journey. However, as said above, what keeps us straight and focused on the journey is our ability to retain the consciousness in our minds that we are done with the world. This is what the Bible calls "retaining God in our consciousness" Romans 1: 28). It is when one is not able to do this, even as a believer, that they inherit "reprobate minds" to do abominable things (Romans 1: 28 - 31)
Apostle Paul it was that the Holy Spirit used to admonish us to (keep) renewing our minds. Looking at the tense of that word, renewing, it is clear that it is a continuous exercise because we are going to be holy in a day; remember, it is a journey! And we will get there as Apostle Paul got to his (2 Timothy 4: 8), if we keep going and renewing our minds.
As we close this morning, brethren, four things are very important for us to know if the continual renewal of our minds was going to make us holy. One, our FINISHING STRONG in God depends on our holiness because without it, "no one shall see the Lord." (Luke 12: 14). Two, we cannot do the work of renewing our minds by ourselves, except with the help of the Holy Spirit of God (1 Samuel 2: 9, Zechariah 4: 6, John 6: 63). Three, the Holy Spirit will only be able to help us if we retained the knowledge of God in our minds because that is what confirms the true indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. Four, we will be able to keep renewing our minds if focus on the things above (Colossians 3: 2), and forgo the things that are in the world (1 John 2: 15 - 17). May we all FINISH STRONG in Him in Jesus name. Amen.
* * *
Please, pray earnestly (1) the true experience of the new-birth (2) a full in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.
* * *
Till tomorrow when we shall meet again on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him.8
Wedesday, 29th July, 2020
Topic: Be Loyal To God
Anchor Scripture: Hebrews 12: 14 ". . . and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
Focus Scripture: ". . . till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me." -Job 27: 5
Admonition
Greetings to you from the Throne of Grace.
Before God and His Christ proved their existence and validity to me, I was almost an aethist; a traditionalist by choice and almost fetish. But shortly after God arrested me with an almost impossible situation, He opened my eyes to a Scripture, Romans 6: 19 which reads: ". . . for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness." It actually took me no time to understand what He meant because my Teacher, the Holy Spirit, is always there not only to direct, but also to explain.
The generation of today's Christians baffles me and always left me perplexed as I always ask myself, are we serving the same God that the people of the past served? Please, answer this question: can God vouch for you the way He did for Abraham (Genesis 18: 19) or beat His chest boldly about you the way He did about Job (Job 1: 8)?
The story of Job was an amazing one. I know that many of us didn't even know that Job was not an Israelite and that he was a king when all the calamities befell him.
Hello, child of God. You know how many times you have failed to live up to that enviable title, "child of God", just because of a little challenge that didn't even lasted long. You know what you do and can do when any little tempest billows. You know how many times the unbelievers around you have blasphemed the holy name of God because they found what you did objectionable for anyone who goes to church calls themselves a child of God. You know how many times an unmet need has pushed you to deny your integrity before God. Man or woman of God, you know how many times you have lied to your congregation in order to impress them. Each time we do these things and failed to hold our grounds for God, we do the opposite of what Job, who had no share in the covenant of Israel, did. And we allow Satan to mock God to His face.
You may want to say preaching is easy that can I also do what Job did? Brethren, I may not have done up to what Job did, but heaven knows I have also paid some dues. If you are a good follower of FINISHING STRONG, you will recollect that I once said that "I am teaching what I have tested and discovered to be true." I have been through life experiences that querried who I am in Christ. I have been stretched by many "unbearable" experiences, but by His grace, I held my ground in Him. That is why God could use me today to become and remain loyal to Him.
As we close this morning, in 1 Corinthians 10: 13, Apostle Paul says we are not faced by any temptation (troubles) that are not common to men and he quickly added that God is faithful that we will not be tested beyond what we could take. In Hebrews 12: 4, he says we have not even yet resisted sin even to the point of shedding blood. So, what are we then talking about? In our focus Scripture today, Job declared that as long as he lived, he won't deny his integrity before God. He said it and stood by it. We all know how his story ended. What we should know is that God is ALWAYS faithful to those that are faithful to Him, but what belongs to such people, He will never give to the unfaithful ones.
Finally this morning brethren, I want us to know right from now on that every mud thrown at us by the devil is a direct attack against our loyalty to God, and it is meant to derail our trust in God. But every one of such that we are able to withstand without unnecessarily bending and twisting the Word of God by saying "that's how God wants it" is a feather to our cap in the Kingdom. The Bible did not just call Job an "upright and righteous man", but for his unquenchable loyalty to God. Job rwmained firm and resolute in the face of adversity because he needed to defend God. That was the reason he was adjudged a righteous and holy man. You will agree with me that the latter part of Job was a testimony to the fact that he FINISHED STRONG. May that be our testimonies too in Jesus Christ's mighty name. Amen.
* * *
Brwthren, we are in the End Time, and according to the Scripture, the love of many will wax cold. Please, pray and ask for the grace to remain firm and resolute in this race in Jesus' name. Amen.
* * *
Till tomorrow when we shall meet on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him.8
Tuesday, 28th July, 2020
Topic: Choose To Be Different
Anchor Scripture: Hebrews 12: 14 ". . . and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
Focus Scripture: "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." - Genesis 6: 9
Admonition
Greetings to you from the Throne of Grace.
Today, the Holy Spirit of God is leading us to study in the Scriptures, the early part of a man like you and I, Noah, who chose to be different in his generation.
Noah lived in a generation that could be adjudged to be the grand founder of the present evil world. He lived amongst people whose violent and corrupt lifestyle was so unprecedented that it got the Heaven noticed. He lived in a generation that got mixed with fallen angels, the Nephilims. Noah loved in a generation like ours that believed so much in pleasures, drinking eating, partying and all sorts, were as commonplace, if not more, then as they are today. Such was the kind of a pervert generation Noah lived in.
However, Noah chose to be different; he walked with God. He was found to be just and perfect before God. If you have been following this devotional for some times now, you may recall a series titled "Living in His Presence" where the Holy Spirit tutored us on the requirements for coming into His Presence; clean hands and a pure heart are very key.
So, despite all the drunkeness, sexual orgies, murder, fighting, indecent dressings and other abominable acts that reigned during Noah's generation, the man elected in his heart, like Daniel, Mishael, Azariah and Hananiah, to be different. Noah refused to be influenced. Thus, he refused to follow the crowd.
I have always said that the major problem with Christianity and its constituents today is the fact that we don't want to look odd. We don't want to be different. We want to be like the others. So, we continue to do what the world does, go where they go, wear what they wear, speak how they speak, eat what they eat, drink what they drink, and all sorts. Yet, we come into church and lift up "holy hands." I always tell people whenever the opportunity presents itself that if you say you are born-again, but your friends before your new-birth are still same people you go around with after, please stop deceiving yourself; your not born anything.
The English will say "you cannot eat your cake and have it." But Christianity today is living exactly opposite of that. We are eating our cakes and we are believing that it is still in our hands. We hide under grace to commit sin and believe we have the righteousness of Christ Jesus in us even though Romans 6: 1 says that is not possible and should not be. The book of 2 Timothy 2: 4 warns thus: "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Is that true of us Christians, today? Are you as Christian living to please God? The clothes you wear, the gatherings you attend, the music you sing and dance and listen to, the way you speak and what comes out of your mouth, your hairstyles and in fact, your entire being, are they all of and for God? Are they all not to please you, even though you are supposed to please God?
As we close this morning, beloved brethren, God did not just pick Noah as He did Jacob. Noah worked for the prize of righteousness that he got. He shunned every abominable things there present in his generation. Thus, he chose to live differently to please his God. That was the reason he was adjudged perfect and righteous before God. Another good example of people who lived to please God was the four Hebrew boys, Daniel and his friends who rejected the King's delicacies because they knew those delicacies had death in their pot. So, they chose to feed on beans and water. At the end of the day, they had better countenance than those who ate delicacies.
Finally brethren, 1 John 2: 15 - 17 warned against loving the world and the things in the world, lest we sacrifice the love of our Father, Who art in heaven. Truly, the world is sweet, but the end of it is bitter because it is perdition. You and I too can choose to be different from other people around us, if only we choose to be. If we did, we can be sure that God, the righteous judge will also call us "perfect, holy and righteous." That is when we can FINISH STRONG and have the hope heaven on the Last Day.
* * *
Please, pray and ask for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Who is meant to quicken you (John 6: 63) in Jesus' name. Amen.
* * *
Till tomorrow when we shall meet on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him.8
Monday, 27th July, 2020
Topic: Have Faith
Anchor Scripture: Hebrews 12: 14 ". . . and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
Focus Scripture: "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." - Genesis 15: 6
Admonition
The teaching from old times is that no one can be holy for which many allusions have been made in the Scriptures to support that position. Nowadays, the teaching has shifted to that we don't need to work for righteousness or holiness again since Jesus Christ had died for us; all we need do is just believe. The question however arises as to if either or both positions are true, why then did God command us to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling"? (Philippians 2: 12)
The question of holiness is with no doubt, central to our FINISHING STRONG in and with God and to our making heaven at last. Therefore, it deserves every attention we may give it. Let me reiterate what I have always said: "holiness is not a destinatiom, but a journey." What this means is that we keep working on our perfection until we can beat our chest like Apostle Paul and say, "yes I have fought the good fight."
Today, our journey into holiness according to our Focus Scripture takes us into another central issue in Christianity, Faith. Permit me to assume that we all know what faith is as defined in the book of Hebrews, 11: 1. That is what Abraham did and God declared him a righteous man. Abraham was a man like you and I and according to the Scripture, he had his own individual flaws like everyone of us. But because he was a man who believed or trusted so much in God, he was counted among the saints.
Now, let me say that believing in God has nothing to do with attending all services in church. It has nothing to do with being a worker in a church. Paying your tithe and offerings regularly is equally not symbols of having faith. These and many more that we do, believing are our exhibitions for having faith are nothing, but religious functions that counts not much when FINISHING STRONG and making heaven is considered.
Faith is actionable. That is, having faith in God is an action thing. The Bible says that we believe with our hearts unto righteousness (Romans 10: 10), but to show God that we truly believe Him, we MUST act on whatever He says. That exactly is what father Abraham was credited with righteousness for, acting promptly on the Word of God. And that exactly is the reason he became the only friend God has among humans.
Now, a faith that will FINISH STRONG and be counted righteous like that of Abraham will not think of itself for any gratifications or at any point, but will have God as its focus. What that means is that such a faith will not have the "what's-in-it-for-me" mentality that we have today. I dare say that many of us do most of the things we do in church today because of the inherent benefits we hope to gain from God by doing them. For example, most people pay tithe and offering and give alms because there is a promise of abundant blessings attached to it. Unfortunately, Pastors who hammer on these as the only source of blessing don't know that there are surer ways to Godly blessings than these. I am trusting the Holy Spirit, my only Teacher, to bring us into that soon. But the faith that will be counted righteous looks for no personal gains, but acts just because God says so. Or what do you think Abraham stands to gain by killing his only son which he had at an old age of one hundred years? Nothing! But he acted because God instructed him to do so.
As we close this morning beloved brethren, our faith in God that will be counted as righteousness for us and count us worthy on the Last Day will be the one that acts promptly on the Word of God. Jesus Christ has made it very clear in Matthew 7: 23 that just calling Him "Lord, Lord" will not count on the Last Day, but what will count is whether we acted upon God's Word or not. So, the admonition today is that if our focus is FINISHING STRONG in God, our faith must grow to the point of obedience to God's Word without any hesitation as long as we are sure it was God Who spoke. But a total refusal or a reluctant obedience to act on God's Word depicts our lack of faith in Him.
Finally this morning, the Holy Spirit warns that we should stop seeing religiousness, either in others or in ourselves, as righteousness. It all amounts to self-deceits, and it fuels hypocrisy, which receives no grace from God. The Pharisees of old were focused on being religious. That was why they missed Jesus. Even Jesus Christ's parents were religious and lost Him at a point. Religiousness has no place in and with God again because it has to do with fulfilling the works of the law which He has done away with. No one whose faith is based on the works of the law will ever FINISH STRONG. I pray this will not be our testimony in Jesus Christ's mighty name. Amen.
* * *
Please, pray and ask for forgiveness for your lack of faith in the past and ask Him to give you a heart of obedience in Jesus' name. Amen.
* * *
Till tomorrow when we shall meet on this beautiful journey of FINISHING STRONG together, please, keep keeping on in Him.
"A faith that will FINISH STRONG and be counted righteous like that of Abraham will not think of itself for any gratifications at any point, but will have God as its focus."