Thoughts for Life: Holiness or Wholly-ness

So many do not understand how low a soul must go

To comprehend the love of God Christ died for us to know

Assuming they have simply to avoid the fire of hell

They have no introspection to see just how far they fell

And thus when tried and tempted by the world and other things

By loathsome entertainment and the raucous songs it sings

They slip and falter until they are deeper in their sin

Than when their walk with Jesus did supposedly begin

For though it's often taught by those who think themselves quite wise

About the Holy Bible and the Spirit's exercise

That all we need is cov'ring of Christ's robe of righteousness

The Truth is they have no idea of what is holiness

For holiness is two things though it's spelled the Godly way

It has two applications in what God would have it say

One to be wholly covered by Christ's robe of righteousness

The other to be wholly His in humble fruitfulness

A fruitfulness that starts when we see just how low we are

How absolutely wretched are our sins that cause the scars

The mar those precious hands and feet and dot that precious brow

That perfect love displays today through Christ to show us how

God gave His all to save us gave His all to make us one

In Him through His great Sacrifice when all is said and done

And every soul that clearly sees how evil they have been

Have turned away from everything that leads them back to sin

For when one who's accepted what Christ Jesus did for them

Returns to where they've been before they knew the love of Him

They find those sins are stronger and their roots go deeper still

Until they have no strength to fight and loose the power of will

And give what was the Father's to the father of all lies

Who teaches that the soul that sins by virtue never dies

And uses this to make them think their loved ones that have passed

Will give them love and guidance when in truth they will be cast

Into that lake of fire where the devil and his kind

Will reap destruction's wages for the evil in their mind

When if they'd only listened and abided God's commands

Their home would be in heaven where the whole in Christ will stand

Jeremiah 18:1-10; Matthew 12:43-45

(Google image, Unhappy man)

Holiness or Wholly-ness

By Lee Forbes

Let's pray-

Sharon Jaynes "Heavenly Father, I know that kind words are easy to speak. What I don’t know is why I don’t do it more often. Open my eyes and my mouth to speak kind words to those I come in contact with today. Use me as an instrument of Your grace to sweeten someone’s life today.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

Proverbs 16:24 (ESV)Gracious words are like

a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health

to the body.

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) "For the word of God is quick,

and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,

piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and

spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner

of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Romans 1:16 (KJV) "For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; . . . "

Today's quotes-

~ Oswald Chambers- "If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.

Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Once, the Bible was just so many words to us — “clouds and darkness”— then, suddenly, the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us when our circumstances make the words new. That is the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition (Emphasis added)

~ Pocket Devotions- "I think it is very important to carefully read Scripture. Otherwise it is easy to miss the significance and placement of the words God has given his messengers to speak to us. Our passage today is a good example. Notice Paul's use of the word "created." As believers, our "righteousness and holiness" is not something we grow into. We were created that way at the time we were first born-again. (John 3:3: Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."
Some people might read that statement and completely disagree, "How can you say, I am righteous and holy when I still sin?" The righteousness and holiness is in our new spirits that we received from God. (2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!") However, we are still working out this holiness in our actions. (Philippians 2:12: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed.") © 2019 The Pocket Testament League (Emphasis added)

Today's guest post-

Healing can’t be done alone

Diana Leagh Matthews- "We live in a society, where we are told we should just move on, but that is not healthy. Often times we have to stop and just work through the pain.Digging deep is not easy, but essential to truly healing.

But, healing often cannot be done alone. We are made for relationships and often need someone to listen as we pour out our pain."

Today's sermon spotlight-

JANUARY 20, 2019

Pray for Your Leaders

Speaker: Ben Levendusky. Series: 21 Days of Prayer Topic: CFC Madrid

Upcoming posts-

#7 Trained In Prayer
29th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick

#8 Praying in Secret
31st- Thursday's post by Samuel Chadwick

My Rainbow in the Cloud
2/2- Saturday's post by Oswald Chambers

#9 The Secret Place
5th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick