November Ladies Ministry * Holiness

“Many know the Lamb who went to calvary, but few know the Lion who is returning to devour His Father’s enemies”. -J. Johnson

Tonya: Why are you afraid of me?

Consecration/ Holiness

Bridesmaids

- Mandate (a commission to do something, the authority to carry out; a course of action) on on our lives: to make Jesus Christ known.

Challenge of the message: walking it out- Stacking my life against the word.

this message: look at your life, how do you look against the message

My responsibility to you: getting the bride ready

This message in it’s entirety, confronting our lives

Consecration: Separation of persons from everyday secular uses for exclusive dedication to holy or sacred use.

Paul spells out the this terms (consecration) Godward meaning in : Therefore, I urge you, brother and sisters, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In everyday life: Christians are meant to live out a “holy” and “royal” priesthood for God’s glory: : ‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”.

- Christians consider the consecration of ones own personality by the work of the Holy Spirit to be an important mark of the spiritual maturity. …what the holy spirit quickens me on before I act or ‘say it’.

Holiness: The absolute sense of separateness and moral and ethical excellence, is the attribute of the Lord God alone. - Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders”?

for people to be consecrated the must be “set aside” to God and “be holy”, that is reflect Gods moral and ethical character. (love the sinner, hate the sin…have we become a people of, love the sinner, accept the sin?)

show of hands: who in here calls themselves a Christian?

Since God is Holy- ALL Christians should live a Holy life:

How?

1- Our Conduct: - ‘So I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh’. 17- for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

v. 19-26: The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery (extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures and especially sexual pleasures : behavior involving sex, drugs, alcohol, etc. that is often considered immoral) idolatry ( immoderate attachment or devotion to something), witchcraft, hatred, discord (lack of agreement or harmony; as between persons, things, or ideas)- **pull my people for examples** jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions (quarreling or disagreement), factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like- those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit…joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. v.26- let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

How do you know if your being led by the spirit: this involves the desire to hear, the readiness to obey Gods word, and the sensitivity to discern between your feelings and His promptings. If you rely on your own wisdom, you will make wrong choices. If we try to follow the spirit by our own human effort, we will fail. We have to led by the Holy Spirit. We all have evil desires, we are human. In order for us to follow the holy spirit, we must deal with the desires decisively…some are obvious: sexual immorality and witchcraft..others, not so obvious but will show up on the surface: selfish ambition, hatred and jealousy. When we ignore dealing with these things internally, our lives will not be transformed.

People can go to church their whole lives, be in leadership, play all the parts- but if they are not submitting to the leading of the holy spirit, they have not been transformed- and that is ultimately what God is asking of us.

Fleshly desires will show up in our lives, but the power of sin over us will be no comparison to the Holy Spirits ability to over come it.

2- Our Character: - No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. - Practice what you preach.

commentary: when Paul says disqualified, he does not mean he could lose his salvation, but rather he could lose his privilege of telling others about Christ. Its easy to tell others how to live and then not to take our own advice. We must be careful to practice what we preach.

If our whole lives, people have said, “oh, thats just the way she is”…I have to tell you, it cant be that way anymore.

shoe example (15-39=29 years, asics), make space for the holy spirit

3- Our Conversation: : But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy”.

After we commit our lives to Christ, there is still a tendency to pull back to our old ways, Peter tells us to be like our heavenly Father- holy in everything we do. Holiness means totally devoted or dedicated to God, set aside for his special use and set apart from sin and its influence. We are to be set apart and different, not blending in with the crowd, yet not being different just for the sake of being different. What makes us different are Gods qualities in our lives. Our focus and priorities must be His.

Ex: nursery, bad mood, my response. (sowing discord- conversation), ,personal opinions of others or what they do. “can I speak freely....no, actually you can’t”.

Old test - new test: law - grace. We do not have to live under the law any longer, we get the gift of grace placed on our lives…but God is God, from the first breath he blew into Adam to the day he comes back for His bride, he has not and will not change.

my call: prepare the bride.