Holiness...striving in frustration or joyful intimacy?

Have you ever felt like your pursuit of God is missing something? Do you ever feel like that you are never "doing enough"...that you will never measure up to the expectations of God? What about feeling like your walk has become about nothing but sacrifice and difficulty, which you are "supposed" to subject yourself to in order to measure up to the standard set by those that have gone before you or even those who are currently in your life? Do feel like you are striving for acceptance from God and other believers?

I am convinced that as Christians begin to get dissatisfied with the status quo religion they have been involved in (possibly their entire walk), they begin to desire the "real thing". They begin to seek out holiness which is very pure at first. Somehow along the way, they begin to compare themselves with other Christians and the measures that they see these other Christians taking. They feel as though they will never live up to "that kind" of devotion.

After going through a very difficult season of this in my own walk, the Lord began to, and continues to, teach me and grow me in truth in this area. I finally realized, once I discovered the secret of entering into the secret place of communion with Him, that the simple answer to what I was desiring was right there all along. He taught me that seeking Him in lieu of seeking holiness would produce the holiness that I desired. At first, I had a hard time accepting the notion that it was this simple.

Before I go any further, I would like to state for the record that I DO believe it is very important to our growth to starve our flesh from the things that distract us from the presence of God. There is a fine line here though. Fasting, extended times of prayer, removing things like:TV, Internet, etc., are things that will produce incredible fruit IF they are done with the right motives. Have you ever noticed that you get a completely different result in your heart and spirit when you do something for a loved one out of a desire to bless them rather than doing it out of a guilty conscience? God is more concerned with our heart than He is the sacrifice. If you fast, do it with the purpose of drawing near to Him. If you shut off the TV, do it once you have truly come to the place that you see the harm it is causing and don't want to pollute your mind. Do it because you actually believe that what God has to say to you is more exhilarating than any tv show or spriting event could ever be. You see if you do some thing like stop watching TV because others tell you to, your heart is in the wrong place...the motive is wrong...and what you will get as a result is a resentful heart towards God. It will also leave you feeling like you must be a masochist in order to be a "real" Christian.

Here is the wonderful truth that I pray will set you free if you are struggling with a performance mentality in your walk.

SEEKING HIM WILL PRODUCE WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!

Think about this with me. If you spend all of your energy in your pursuit of God in the area of intimacy, you will begin to see things change without feeling like you are striving. I know this from personal experience. The more time you spend in the presence of God...the more time you spend listening to Him speak to you...the more time you spend in His Word allowing him to speak to you...the more you will see the character flaws effortlessly melt away! As you begin to know Him...to know His voice...to know His heart, you will begin to take on His character. You start removing the impurities in your life with a joyful heart because it is the Spirit of revelation that has revealed to you the availability of a deeper relationship with Him. When we have His heart, the things that grieve Him will grieve us. The things that break His heart will break ours. The things that bring joy to Him will bring joy to us. As long as our desire remains on Him, the pursuit of holiness will be the area of our life that brings us great Joy instead of feeling like a never-ending maze of frustration.

John 15:4 - Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

WOW - Jesus said so himself. If you desire holiness, then abide in Him.

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The Devil's Secret Plan

I was recently sent an email with the following content. Messages like these are great because they shine the light on th plan of the enemy. If we pursue truth, holiness, and mostly...intimacy with Christ, these things will become obvious to us every day. It really is very sad that we, as a culture & society, have gotten so far off track for the life that God intended us to live.

SATAN'S MEETING:

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.

In his opening address he said,

"We can't keep Christians from going to church."

"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing
the truth."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate
relationship with their savior."

"Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over
them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their
covered dish dinners,
BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a
relationship with Jesus Christ.."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and
maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent
innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the
husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford
their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no
escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that
still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever
they drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in
their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays
non-biblical music constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."

"Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs,
sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free
products, services and false hopes.."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so
their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and
they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too! "

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they
will begin to look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their
children the real meaning of Christmas."

"Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his
resurrection and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's
creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts,
and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them
in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no
time to seek power from Jesus."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength,
sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!"

"It will work!"

It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing
Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.

Having little time for their God or their families.

Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to
change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in
his schemes?

You be the judge!!!!!

Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?

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