Tuesday, June 05, 2007 A call to holiness! I have to tell you as I have sat with the Lord the last few days I have cherished more than ever our time together. Today on my lunch break I went to my church and honestly just danced before Him in our sanctuary. Shortly, I realized and marveled at the mere fact that physically I could do such a thing. Praise was in my heart for certain. As I danced I was reminded how praise can unlock wonderful things with the Lord. He adores when His children praise Him wholeheartedly. If someone had decided to sneak a peak it might have brought tremendous laughter but oh well I wouldnt have noticed:) I pray He was as delighted as I was. Lately I have talked with one of my sisters in Christ about a burden on my heart. The Lord has been revealing to me in many ways how we want to walk with Him but as Christians we really do not want to be Holy. Remember "If my people who are called by my name will HUMBLE themselves and pray and seek my face , and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. NKJV 2Chron 7:14 Why is it we leave out the "turn from our wicked ways" part? the next word is THEN. Not OR... If I hit a time in my life where I cannot hear the voice of the Lord I begin to pray and question whether there is sin I have not dealt with (repented of). We really cant have our cake and eat it too! In the beginning of my journey with the Lord I had a lot of OBVIOUS sin in my life. One by one the Lord showed me that it had to go.... We cannot hold onto the sin and progress with Jesus. We must turn away. We must change! I was a dramatic conversion I will confess. When He swooped down and took me over, He got me hook, line, and sinker. I have NO desire to go back now. As we walk together He seems to get a bit pickier. Things that people may overlook He sees as sin. Gossip, lack of submission to a spouse or authority, judgement or hautiness, or lack of humility. Selfishness is one of my big ones. I constantly battle it. I get in my own little world but trust me He brings me back and when He does it aint always pretty. Being Holy doesnt mean we wont struggle or that we will achieve perfection and yes He is ready to pour out grace and mercy at the sound of our cry. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. (Isa 30:18 NIV) But if we long to walk with Him, closely and intimately we must try. He will honor our efforts. Ignoring the call to holiness will do nothing but silence us from His sweet voice and I am not interested in that at all. I want to be on every ledge imaginable with my Saviour. I want the crazy adventures, the moments of weeping as I realize again what He did for me. The moments when I know I have just cracked Him up because I am such an idiot. The memories of my battles, struggles, fears so that I can remember how He rode in and saved me and the valuable lessons He taught me through it. I want nothing to stand between that, nope we cant let sin do that to us. It's not our heritage. Lord Jesus, with all that I am take me! There truly is no good thing in me but you... Do not leave me unchanged, work with me, challenge me, love on me, reveal yourself to me in amazing ways. Grant me the gift of divine discernment to see what you see, what you need for me to do or say, who needs you as I walk daily, how I should pray, how I should live, the things of sin that rise up and cause me to be unpure before your eyes. Pour yourself into me until I am bursting at the seams Lord. Until it's almost more than I can stand!! With all the love this faulty human can have, Shelly