Purity & Holiness

God has really been moving & shaking my world....or should I say my world as I know it. He spoke Galatians 5:16-26 to the flock I abide with but also to His bride at large. God is really calling for His bride to get real and get ready. When one does a self exam based upon Galatians 5:16-26 it can be a bit disheartening...especially if you read it in the Amplified version.

vs. 19-21 "Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious); they are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions) heresies, envy, drunkenness, carousing and the like." Now impurity isn't just sexual....it could be impurity in thoughts, thinking things that are not godly like how you want to slap someone for being stupid. When you get to the bottom of all these "fleshly" qualities and how they relate to relationships in your life, it becomes painfully clear that you don't measure up once again....well at least that is what happened to me this past week. I felt mournful that I wasn't pleasing to my Lord, but also rejoiceful in the fact that even though this was a slap to my flesh God was still speaking to me. I would rather He speak and I get rebuked then Him to be totally silent and I am left wondering about my salvation and losing my relationship with Him. To be honest I have felt angry lately for what seemed no apparent reason, but when I worked my steps of anger management and got to the bottom line I found out the reason I was angry was because my flesh didn't get it's way.

Then this morning during devotional time, I got a bit of wisdom that helped. "Daily With the King" by W. Glyn Evans gave me some relief from this brick bashing I have been doing to myself...YES I am my own worst enemy! Today's devotional was titled "Flubs, Flaws & Brittleness"
"I must not be disheartened when I flub my spiritual life. A lot of my flubs are not sins, just mistakes and mistakes are the marks of immaturity & greenness." Ok I agree a bit with Mr. Evans' statement just a tad....let's be honest when you know you shouldn't do something and yet you continue on and do it....it is sin. We can't blame it on immaturity as we were told and yet still did it. Mr. Evans goes on....
"As a disciple of Jesus Christ I must believe in progressive satisfaction. When God begins a work,the result thereof must be HIS satisfaction. His creation was very good. He viewed the work of His Son on Calvary and was satisfied. So I believe He is progressively satisfied with His work in His children, especially His growing children. This does not mean that our condition at a given moment is perfect morally, but it means that, like a potter, He is satisfied with our progress."

Again I agree with Mr. Evans' statement, but I believe He is satisfied with our progress if we are progressing. If we take what He gives us as a "course" correction, digest it and allow it to change us from the inside out. This is what I have been doing this week....examining myself with the measuring stick of His word. Searching out any roots of bitterness, anger, impurity, etc. and using His Holy Ghost weed killer on them. Am I a spotless bride yet? Heck no, but I am taking every word I hear....I grab a hold of it and I digest it. The word may or may not be for me personally, but I figured anything the Lord says either through a prophet, a prophetic word spoken in service, or something that I see in a new way in His word is something to nourish my spirit in one way or another. That is what Pastor was speaking about a bit today...taking words that are spoken and digesting them and allowing them to change you. Not to hear a word and just put it aside and then when trouble comes eat that word because it might be poisonous to you and cause more harm then good....kind of like the children of Israel and the manna.

To hear His voice, whether a word of encouragement or correction I don't care which as long as I can still hear His voice I know I will be alright. Two times in one day this past week He spoke, "I will never leave nor forsake you". It was a timely word as I hit a rough patch with my finances, the enemy tried to steal my lunch money, but I gave the enemy a black eye in turning it over to the Father for collection. God loves me. I AM the apple of His eye. He will NEVER leave nor forsake me. He might be silent in an effort for me to push in and seek Him more, but He is just a breathe and heartbeat away....closer then a brother. Big Hugs, Have a good week!