Seek FIRST God's Kingdom and His Righteousness

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, 
faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord 
out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV)

    God never asks us to remove something from our lives without giving us something good to replace it with (take note of Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 “put off…” followed by “put on…”). In our theme verse, we are told to run from youthful lusts and instead run toward righteousness, faith, love, and peace. It is important that we understand what we are running toward in order to keep our determination focused on the goal.

Side note: The King James Version uses the word “follow” in 2 Timothy 2:22, but I like how the New King James Version uses the word “pursue.” “Follow” feels to me unintentional without thought, coincidental even (although it does not mean that), you are simply following someone down a hall, for example, but “pursue” is ripe with intention and purpose, you are pursuing someone down a hall, you fully determine to get to them!

    We are to PURSUE righteousness.

    Righteousness is ‘equity of character or act.’ ‘Equity of character’ is to possess all good qualities (of God, His attributes) in perfect balance.

    God is just while still possessing compassion and mercy. God is kind but His disposition toward sin will never be altered. God is love, but His love never undermines His Truth. 

For example: 2 Peter 3:9 “[God] is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish (His love for us), but that all should come to repentance” – His truth states that we will perish if we do not repent and submit to Him (see Romans 2:2-11). His love offers us hope, but we have a responsibility toward Him in order to have salvation.

    All that God is is in perfect balance! We should always be striving to be like Him in all things (1 Peter 1:13-16, 1 John 3:1-3), striving to conduct ourselves with that same balance.

    How important is it that we pursue righteousness?

    Consider Matthew 6:33:

“…seek first the kingdom of God 
and His righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you."
(NKJV)

    Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Above all else, seek Him and His righteousness. It’s THAT important!

    What are the things that will be added to you when you seek first God and His righteousness? See verse 31 – you will have life’s necessities: food, drink, and clothing. With these things you can be content (please read 1 Timothy 6:6-8) and you will not have to worry, God WILL provide. God blesses His children with what we need each day; that is why verse 34 states the command “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for today is its own trouble.”

    When we trust God to provide the necessities of life for us each day as we humbly seek and serve Him, we will soon realize that He also provides us with wisdom and strength to get through our day. When we realize that, we will not worry about tomorrow because we will know that if God grants us a new day, with that new day He will also grant us renewed strength and ability (Psalm 103:1-5, Isaiah 40:28-31, Lamentations 3:22-26) to use in that day.

    A woman seeking FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, will not worry about tomorrow. She will not borrow trouble from some future day - destroying the peace of her “today” – she will instead trust wholly in God, knowing He will be there in any tomorrow she may be granted. She will bless God and praise Him for the blessings He grants her today, her heart will overflow with thanksgiving and her mind will be guarded with peace (Philippians 4:6-8).

    God loves us! He is full of lovingkindness. He asks us to seek Him first. With each day we are given, let us do just that! And at the end of each day, let our hearts praise Him for the strength, wisdom, and ability He gave us to get through the day – He is forever faithful! Let us be forever faithful in our pursuit of being like Him, in our pursuit of being found right in His sight, in our pursuit of righteousness!

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,

And Your faithfulness every night.”

(Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV)

 You can do it! So can I!!

New Theme - 2 Timothy 2:22

    Our theme for the remainder of the year is 2 Timothy 2:22 – “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (NKJV) and I would like to suggest the following hymn as our theme song!

Higher Ground

I’m pressing on the upward way,

New heights I’m gaining every day;

Still praying as I onward bound,

“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain: 

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,

By faith, on Heaven’s tableland, 

A higher plane than I have found; 

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay

Where doubts arise and fears dismay;

Though some may dwell where those abound,

My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,

Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;

For faith has caught the joyful sound,

The song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height

And catch a gleam of glory bright;

But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,

“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Written by Johnson Oatman Jr, 1898 
Tune composed by Charles H. Gabriel, 1902

    This hymn may be very familiar to some, but let’s take the time to really look at it and how its words can help motivate us in our pursuit of righteousness, faith, love, and peace.

    Verse One speaks of the forward motion of growth. “New heights I’m gaining every day” – a description of zeal toward God, learning and obeying His word, seeing the benefits and blessings found only in Christ and desiring to find out more. ~ Please read Psalm 119:161b-162.

    This beautiful hymn, as clearly seen in the chorus/refrain, is written as a prayer, asking God to ‘lift [us] up to higher ground.’ “Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith, on Heaven’s tableland.” A tableland is a broad, high, level region; a plateau. It’s a plea to have our hope, our focus, our faith, completely anchored in heaven (Hebrews 6:19; 11:13-16). “A higher plane than I have found; Lord plant my feet on higher ground.” It is an appeal to grow further in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18; 5:6-11)

    “My heart has no desire to stay, where doubts arise and fears dismay…” Verse Two states the determination to walk away from where we once were and move forward – from darkness to God’s marvelous light (Ephesians 5:8-10, 1 Peter 2:9-10). “Though some may dwell where those abound…” There will be people in our lives who don’t share our desire for growth and development, but we need to remember the big picture and the joy of being a child of God (1 John 3:1-3) and not let their apathy or negativity dissuade us from this thought: “My prayer, my aim, is higher ground”. ~ Please read Philippians 3:12-4:1. 

    “I want to live above the world, though Satan’s darts at me are hurled…” We all know that the devil’s desire is for Christians to fall. His focus is on us because we refuse to serve him, BUT GOD has promised us help! We are told that if we submit to God and resist the devil that he will flee from us (James 4:7-10). We are also given the armour of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil. Specifically, we have a shield of faith that quenches ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:10-18). Why do we stay in the battle? Because “…faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground.” It is worth every effort! ~ Please read Revelation 4-5.

    “I want to scale the utmost height, and catch a gleam of glory bright…” How beautiful to have the hope of heaven in our hearts! To desire so completely a home in heaven that we willingly climb the mountains of life, fully trusting God to fulfil His promises as we humbly obey His commands! Let your heart determine to seek God more and more each day and to say “but still I’ll pray ‘til heav’n I’ve found, “Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”” ~ Please read Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28, 3:5, 12, 21.

    Does your heart desire heaven, an eternal home in the presence of God?

“When You said, “Seek My face,” 

My heart said to You, “

Your face, LORD, 

I will seek.”” 

(Psalm 27:8 NKJV)       

    Let this hymn remind you of your determination to grow and reach new heights in righteousness, faith, love, and peace!

“Lord, please plant our feet on higher ground!” 

Click to listen to Higher Ground

Be Holy in All Your Conduct - Summary

    Today we close our study on holiness, so let’s summarize what we have learned.

    Holy/Holiness means to be physically pure, morally blameless, set apart, and sacred. It means to be less like the world and more like God.

    God is holy and He wants His children to look like Him (Ephesians 4:23-24, 1 Peter 1:16). God wants you to be holy, not just in one aspect of your life, but in ALL your conduct (1 Peter 1:15).

    We must take holiness seriously. Without holiness we will not see the Lord (Ephesians 5:5, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). It is worth every effort to attain and maintain holiness in our day-to-day living (Romans 8:18, 1 Corinthians 4:17-18)!

    You will work toward attaining and maintaining holiness when you:

• Reverence God as holy, not treating Him like your best buddy or a wish-granting genie, but as He truly is: “glorious in holiness” (Exodus 15:11)!
• Humbly obey God’s commands each and every day (Colossians 1:22-23, Matthew 24:12-13, Revelation 2:10b).
• Live a life without hypocrisy. To him who knows to do right but does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17)
• Apologize and seek forgiveness when you have done wrong against God or another person (1 John 1:9, Matthew 5:23-24).
• Do all you can to make the necessary changes to align yourself with God’s word (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17).
• If you are married, respect your husband, submit to his leadership, and let there not even be a hint of immorality in your interactions with others (Ephesians 5:1-7). Let his heart safely trust you (Proverbs 31:11).
• If you are dating, submit to God, obey His commands and let there not even be a hint of immorality in your speech or interactions with your boyfriend or others (Ephesians 5:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:22).
• If you are working, go the extra mile (Matthew 5:38-42), don’t cheat or steal (Ephesians 4:28). Work as though you are working directly for God (Ephesians 6:5-8), do your very best (Colossians 3:23).
• Think carefully about what you look at online (Psalm 101:3a). Don’t follow social norms and unleash your anger and upset on social media, learn to control and dissolve your anger in a godly way (Ephesians 4:26, 29-31, 5:15-17, Proverbs 22:24-25, Colossians 3:8,12-13, Romans 12:2). You don’t know how long you have in this life, use your time wisely (Ephesians 5:15-17), consider your behaviour, your likes, and your interests, uphold yourself in holy conduct and godliness (2 Peter 3:11). Be a beacon, not a barrier (Matthew 5:16, Romans 13:11-14). 
• Dress modestly. Holy women do not wear too little (drawing attention to physical body by clothing that clings/hugs or by actually exposing/revealing parts of it) nor too much (drawing attention with fancy clothes and accessories) Remember not to put the focus on your physical appearance, let a quiet and gentle spirit be your beauty, which is very precious in God’s sight (1 Peter 3:1-5).

    We must attain holiness. We must maintain holiness. Strive for it – with all your being! Without holiness you will not see the Lord. Live in righteousness (doing what is right in God’s sight) and blamelessness (not having anything bad that can be said against you).

"God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” 
(1Thessalonians 4:7, NKJV)

    God commands us to be holy as He is holy! He wants us to look like Him, so that world may see the light and be drawn to Him! We must honour and appreciate all He has done for us by way of blessings, example, guidance, and hope and BE holy in ALL our conduct! Shine bright for God! Represent Him to the world (Romans 12:1), show God that you are truly grateful for all He has done and continues to do by obeying ALL His commands!

    You can do it! So can I!!

Holy Women

     As we begin to draw our study of holiness to a close, I would like to look at an example given about “holy women” in 1 Peter 3:3-6

“Do not let your adornment be merely outward – arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel – rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands…” (NKJV)

    Holy women adorn themselves inwardly:

• Instead of a closet full of clothes, she has a heart full of kindness.
• Instead of knowing all the designers by name, she knows all the scriptures by heart.
• Instead of “investing” in a fancy, expensive wardrobe, she invests her time in bible study and good works.
• Instead of blinding people with bling, she shines God’s light and love into all her interactions.

    Simply put, holy women exhibit what time, effort, and diligence affords, not what money can buy.

    A woman who adorns herself with a gentle and quiet spirit and puts time into study and prayer (Ephesians 5:15-17, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), effort into obeying/putting her study into action (James 1:22-25), diligent zeal into maintaining good works (Titus 3:8, 14), and will have a beauty that will never fade away! It is this kind of beauty that is VERY precious in God’s sight!

    Holy women trust in God. They trust His word and His commands. They are not swayed by society’s status quo, they trust and obey God. When God instructs them, “Wives be submissive to your own husbands as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18), holy women obey. They are so dedicated to doing what is right and honourable that they can, without speaking a word, influence an unbelieving husband to come to the Lord (1 Peter 3:1-2)!

Do you trust God’s wisdom? Do you trust His commands?

    Strive to put your daily focus on being holy and having the incorruptible beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit!

"God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So you should always clothe yourselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Even more than all this, clothe yourself in love. Love is what holds you all together in perfect unity.” (Colossian 3:12-14 NCV)

    Today, I would like you to consider Romans 6:19

“I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness." (NKJV)

    Paul spends a lot of time teaching the Christians in Rome about God’s grace. God’s grace is AMAZING but we are not to take advantage of it. Simply put we don’t continue to sin (or live any way we want to) in the hope that God’s grace will erase it all when the time comes. No, instead, because we, like the Roman Christians, have been set free from sin, we are to become slaves of righteousness!

    Slaves of righteousness. A servant to righteousness. You bind yourself to righteousness; you are knit together with it.

    To what end?

    So that we are led to holiness!

    We bind ourselves to righteousness so that we will become holy just as God is holy. Righteousness (being right and innocent before God, being just/justified, having equity of character: to possess all good qualities in perfect balance) leads us to holiness (being physically pure and morally blameless, set apart to God).

Being Right (Before God) Requires:

• Being IN Christ: Please read Galatians 3:26-4:7, John 3:5, Mark 16:5-16, John 1:12 and John 14:21, 23-24.
• Knowing What is Wrong: We must know God’s Word and will so that we know what is right to do and what is wrong/sinful (Romans 3:20, Ephesians 5:8, 10, 15-17, Hebrews 5:13-14).
• Careful and Complete Obedience: We need to do more than just “go to church every Sunday”. We need to do more than just hear God’s word – we must submit to it, align ourselves to it by obeying it – all of it! – for the rest of our lives (James 1:21-25, Deuteronomy 6:24-25, 1 John 2:17, Colossians 1:22-23, Matthew 24:12-13, Revelation 2:10b).

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:12-13 NKJV)

    Are you presenting yourself to God as being alive from the dead? Are you presenting your members as slaves of righteousness? Does every aspect of your being exhibit to Him that you are bound to righteousness and desire to do all that is right? 

Let your servitude to righteousness lead you to holiness!

You can do it! So can I!!

Created In True Righteousness and Holiness

    This week we continue our study of verses that link righteousness with holiness.

Holy/Holiness = physical purity, moral blamelessness, sacred, set apart, less like world/more like the Lord

Righteous/Righteousness = justified, innocent, just, equity of character, to possess all good qualities in perfect balance

“…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:23-24 NKJV)

    God wants you always to be renewing your faith, your determination, and your zeal for Him and for the work you need to be doing. Romans 12:2 shows that instead of looking like the rest of the world (conforming to it) you can, through the renewing of your minds, be transformed into a new person with new purpose. This transformation will help you prove to yourself and to others the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The renewing of your mind will also keep your spirit/soul healthy and vibrant even when your physical body weakens and breaks down (2 Corinthians 4:16). Renewal comes from building a knowledge of Jesus and having a willingness to walk as He walked (Colossians 3:10, 16, 1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 1:7).

    In both Ephesians and Colossians Paul writes about “putting on the new man.” You are to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) and in the two aforementioned books you will find practical information concerning what you are to put off (get rid of) and what you are to put on. In most of these instances Paul also gives information to help you renew the spirit of your mind so that you can have success in your discarding of the old and in your attaining of the new qualities that are pleasing to God.

    You also need to understand that this new man is “created according to God” – as a new person you are to look like Him (“as He who called you is holy, you also be holy…” 1 Peter 1:15). You are to look like Him in your holiness and true righteousness (Ephesians 5:1-2)!

    Do you look like God?

    Do all that is necessary to put off the old without regrets (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), and joyfully do what is necessary to put on all that God requires of you! Be holy for He is holy!

    You can do it! So can I!!  

Holiness and Righteousness

    Today I would like you to think on a portion of Zacharias’ prayer/praise/prophecy recorded in Luke 1, but first a bit of background about Zacharias: 

    Zacharias was the father of John, a man who would become “great in the sight of the Lord” and who would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:15-16) by making “ready a people prepared for the Lord” (v17), but Zacharias did not believe the angel Gabriel’s words - that he and Elizabeth would have a child in their old age and with such a purpose - so he was struck mute, unable to talk until Gabriel’s words were fulfilled (vv18-20). ~ Please read all of Luke 1, it is a wonderful account!

    Eight days after their baby was born, his parents named him John, as Gabriel instructed (v13), and Zacharias’ “tongue was loosed, and he spoke, praising God.” 

    Please consider this excerpt:

“Blessed be the God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people… to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:68, 74-75 NKJV)

    The Holy Spirit gave Zacharias a message to proclaim (vv67-79), a prophecy pertaining to the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham. Please read the whole of the prophecy, it’s so joyful! I can almost hear Zacharias’ voice crack with emotion and sheer exultation of the Lord! All that was promised, all that was prophesied about is happening in his life - God is preparing the way for His Son, the world’s Redeemer!  

    Zacharias exuberantly declares that the time is coming when those who are redeemed and delivered from the hand of the enemy “might serve Him without fear.”

    See the fulfillment in these passages:

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in the world. There is not fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love, we love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:17-19 NKJV)

“Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)

    Because of Jesus’ sacrifice and establishment of the new covenant, we can now approach God ourselves. We can come to Him with proper awe and reverence and communicate with Him – a vastly different approach than that found under the old covenant! See Hebrews 9-13. We can serve Him without fear! We can know His complete will, all the commands, all the instruction – it is ours to know and obey (Colossians 1:26-28)!

    “…serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.” – we can serve God without fear when we strive to be holy and righteous before Him all the days of our life! We know that holy means to be pure (physically) and morally blameless – just as God is (1 Peter 1:15-16). Righteousness in this verse means, to be justified, free, or innocent – which is exactly what Christ’s sacrifice made allowance for – see Colossians 1:19-23.

    Zacharias’ joyed in knowing God's promise was about to be fulfilled, we can joy even more so in knowing that it is fulfilled and we can now reap the bounty of benefits found only in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14)! We can be a child of God (1 John 3:1-3)!! We can reverently serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness! 

    If you have been reconciled through Christ, make it your daily determination to be holy in all your conduct and do all you can to learn and live righteously in God's sight!

You can do it! So can I!! 

Knowing the Father's and Son's Holiness, So We Can Walk in Holiness

    As we continue our study of holiness I would like to share with you some scriptures to think on, scriptures that describe God’s holiness and the holiness of His Son Jesus Christ.

    In Exodus 15, Moses sings praise to the LORD after He "saved them out of the hand of the Egyptians;" look at how Moses describes God in these selected phrases:

“I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously!” (v.1b)

“Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power…” (v.6)

“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (v.11)

    Glorious means to be great, magnificent, and honourable. It means that what has been exhibited is worthy of receiving great amounts of glory and honour.

    God is glorious in power and glorious in holiness! His power and holiness are so magnificent, they are worthy of ALL honour, glory and praise! Consider this while you read Psalm 145:1-13.

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power…” (Revelation 4:11)

In similar fashion, Jesus is also proclaimed worthy in Revelation 5:12:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honour and glory and blessing!”

    Jesus is described as “holy, innocent, undefiled, and separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). He is further described as “He who is holy, He who is true” in Revelations 3:7a

    We are to be holy in all our conduct just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15). Jesus left us an example to follow that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21-24). So if we wear His name (“Christian”) we must always remember “he who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:6)

    Think on these things today! Determine to walk in holiness just as Jesus did, to be holy as God is holy! Praise God and give Him the glory He is SO worthy of!! 

"Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Give to the LORD glory and strength.
Give to the LORD the glory due HIs name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!"
(1 Chronicles 16:28-29 NKJV)

You can do it! So can I!!

Holy, So We Can Be Presented Blameless

“And you, who were once alienated and enemies 

in your mind by wicked works, 

yet now He has reconciled 

in the body of His flesh through death, 
to present you holy, and blameless, 
and above reproach in His sight 
– if indeed you continue in the faith, 
grounded and steadfast, 
and are not moved away 
from the hope of the gospel 
which you heard, which was preached 
to every creature under heaven, 
of which I, Paul, became a minister.” 
(Colossians 1:21-23 NKJV)

    This is a beautiful passage showing that God was/is pleased that persons can be reconciled to Him (brought to peace again) because of Jesus’ sacrifice. We, because of our selfish thoughts and bad choices, alienated/removed ourselves from Him – our sin separated us from our God (Isaiah 59:1-2), but Jesus’ death on the cross, His shed blood allowed us to be reconciled to God (Ephesians 1:7, 2:14-17)!

    God the Father and Jesus the Son want you to continue in the faith, to "press toward the goal" (Philippians 3:12-15)! They desire for you to keep digging in, through study and application, so that you are grounded and steadfast (1 Corinthians 15:58, Hebrews 5:13-14)! They do not want you to be moved away from the hope of the gospel (Galatians 5:9, Hebrews 6:17-20)!

    Why?

    Because Jesus wants to present you INNOCENT of wrong doing; PURE and SET APART for God!!

    Is knowing that Jesus loved you enough to suffer and die for you so that you could return in peace to His Father enough to motivate you to be holy in all your conduct?

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, 
a worker who does not need to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of truth.” 
(1 Timothy 2:15 NKJV)

You can do it! So can I!!

    Good Morning! This week we are taking a closer look at holiness being linked with blamelessness in the New Testament.

    Please read and consider this passage: 

“…may the Lord make you increase and abound in love

 to one another and to all… that He may establish your 

hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father 

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” 

(1 Thessalonians 3:13-14, NKJV)

    Paul’s prayer for the church in Thessalonica was that they would maintain their faith (3:1-10) and that God would make them increase and abound in love.

    In 2 Corinthians 9:8 we can read that “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things, may have abundance for every good work.”

    God can give an increase in all things. Through obedience of His commands – doing it His way – we can increase our love towards others because He instructs us to love and esteem others (Matthew 22:36-40, Romans 12:9-10, Galatians 6:10, Philippians 2:1-4).

    Paul asked for this increase so that God could establish their hearts blameless in holiness, which basically means blameless in blamelessness. Sounds a lot like the phrase: “without spot or blemish,” doesn’t it?

    The Aramaic Bible in Plain English reads: “…establish your hearts without a fault in holiness before God Our Father.”

    Holiness is a vital topic. It is an attribute we absolutely must strive for and maintain in our lives - “without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

    We simply must continue to grow and develop as a Christian! It is necessary that we increase in all areas – faith/trust, love, holiness, and hope. We cannot be satisfied with what we think we have already attained, or rest on the self-given laurels of what we did at the “peak” of our zeal, which, for some, may have been long years past.   

    Let God make you increase and abound in love so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness!

You can do it! So can I!!

Holy and Blameless

    We have learned that holy/holiness means to be physically pure (no immorality), morally blameless (cannot be accused of any wrong doing because of good/proper behaviour), sacred, and set apart. It means we are less like the world and more like God, as we strive to conform to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).

    I have found blamelessness is linked with holiness in several passages in the New Testament, so as our study continues, as God wills, we will look at these passages one by one.

“…He chose us in Him 

before the foundation 

of the world that 

we should be holy 

and without blame 

before Him in love…” 

(Ephesians 1:4 NKJV)

    Before the foundations of the earth, before creation ever took place, God desired that there would be a people who should be holy and without blame before Him, a people whom He would bless while they humbly obey and faithfully serve Him, and after death He would, by His grace, give them the ultimate reward: eternal life in heaven.

    God planned ALL of this from before the beginning.

    And please note that the verse does not say “that we might be holy and without blame” but “that we should be holy and without blame.” God commands it, He requires it (1 Peter 1:13-16).

“Pursue peace with 

all people and holiness, 

without which no one 

will see the Lord.” 

(Hebrews 12:14 NKJV) 

    Do you appreciate all God has done for you? Be holy and without blame before Him in love. Pursue holiness. Live a moral life so that you are above blame or accusation. Let your love and appreciation for God motivate you to live properly before Him!!

You can do it! So can I!!