Holy smoke! What is all this holiness about? As far as I am concerned, I am holy in going about doing what I do. My ministry is my work and my business is my ministry. And my coaching is my ministry. In helping others I am being holy. I go to church and pray. I am holy in what I do… <<the sound of screeching brakes>>
Wait…what?
What Makes Me Holy?
Doing our own thing wears us down causing us to compromise. And it feels warranted. In all of our doing it is us trying to manage our lives. We’ve lost focus. We’ve lost our holiness.
If you are good at leading and managing it’s not uncommon for this to trump holy living. Perception is that holiness is not an issue. Many who lack holiness compensate by managing well – their ‘good’ families, ‘prosperous’ ministries, and ‘successful’ careers. Our success makes us feel holy. It is a great self-perception that makes us feel good about ourselves.
“Look at how holy I am.”
I Have Arrived
Holy smoke, look what I’ve done for God. Look what I have done because of God. And look what I’ve allowed God to do through me. And I say all of this humbly.
The center of God’s plan has nothing to do with well-managed families, ministries, careers, or accomplishments. Not even our status. When the center of His plan is not the center of your hope, your world is unstable and your soul becomes weakened.
Don’t stop reading, please! This is a journey we are all on.
The Holiness of Solomon
Solomon’s priority on power made him vulnerable. In all his wisdom, wealth, and power, look at the (not-so-good) things he still did. The power to manage life never fills the depths of one’s soul. It will never fill the deep satisfaction God made you to enjoy. And it didn’t even do that for Solomon. In all of this, Solomon had issues. He tried to manage his way through it.
We all have issues. It’s a human thing. Welcome to the world! Everyone, even King Solomon, has issues. And he wanted to manage them with his wealth, power, wisdom, and accomplishments. Solomon lost his focus. That was his downfall.
Has your striving caused you to lose focus?
Jesus Made Us Holy
To be holy means to be set aside for a divine purpose. It has nothing to do with behavior. Your life has been redeemed and made holy by Jesus. Being made holy means maintaining a spiritual self-awareness.
So then, being holy also means turning away from sin and worldliness. In no way does this mean we become sinless and perfect. But it now allows us to fulfill His divine purpose.
Ephesians 1:3-4 AMP
Blessed and worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ, just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight.
The following YouTube clip is for the worship of His holiness only. If you don’t have 20 minutes right now then don’t play this. When you do have time, please worship His holiness…
Challenge of the Week
Holy smoke! Being holy isn’t a status to be earned by your striving. Let His work in you free you from doing. From striving. That you would see it is about Him, not about you. God and only God is worthy – Angus Dei. Turn your focus from what you are accomplishing and turn your focus to Him and His divine purpose. So be it.
