Be 100 percent holy for the Lord

Don’t be stuck at 1% nor 99% of holiness. Why? Because it’s not one bit holy really! Be 100 percent holy for the Lord. Do this because:
•Being holy gives glory to God.
•Being holy is consistent with Christian living.
•So that your good deeds serve an example to all people including evildoers.
•So that you prevail against evil in the war in against your soul.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11-12)

If there is a man, serving the Lord, helping the poor, and studying the word, and this man is only stealing a small about of money from work every week, he is in danger of hellfire. If there is a lady, serving in the church, leading people to Christ, and sponsoring missionaries, and this lady continues to cheat with only one adulterous partner, she is in danger of hellfire. You should not have any hope that Jesus might break His Word.

Keep the flesh crucified

Let your life be holy and dignified,
And always keep the flesh crucified.
The flesh has desires evil and profane,
So from such things you refrain.

Cut off from yourself all deceit,
Lest you suffer eternal defeat.
For many avoid the path that is narrow,
Stiff necked to the end like Pharaoh.

Crucify your flesh which yearns to sin,
So in righteousness you really win.
Remain pleasing always to the Spirit of God,
By each moment giving to the Gospel your nod.

Put to death all sinful passions,
Keep out from all insidious fashions.
For a child of the light must be pure,
And forever in God’s will must endure.

Prayers leading to Christmas – 2

O Lord God, you who control the ways of the universe, without it controlling you, grant me self control. Send forth your Holy Spirit, to help me bear much fruit, by having self control. Forgive me for the times when I’ve misused my thoughts, logic and impulses, for selfish and worthless pursuits. I ask for wisdom, wherever I lack it, and humility wherever I need it in life. O good Jesus, lead me on the right path, and let me not fall prey to foolish desires and immaturity. Send forth your ministering angels, to go out before me, and destroy all the plans of the Enemy, that have been laid out for me. Like how Joseph was warned in a dream, to avoid danger to his family, so grant me all the knowledge, to refrain from walking in the murky waters hidden about. I know you who are the way, the truth and the life, will guide me away from all self deception, as I trust you above all things. I thank you in advance, for the growth that you will bring in me, prospering in self control. I make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, the eternal king of Israel. Amen.

Control your tongue when you are bitter

“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:4)

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Proverbs 18:21)

“Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” (1 Peter 3:10)

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)

 

For some to control one’s tongue when its pleasant all around is difficult. How much more difficult for them to keep it in check when their heart is filled with bitterness? As for the rest its still an achievement to control themselves when there is bitterness in their life.

However if we remember the words of the Bible then we should know the consequences of speaking the wrong things, the bad things and evil things. Let me make it real to you; there are considerable divorce cases going on which could have been prevented if either or both of the spouses would have not insulted each other by a very wide degree. Or there are people or children who keep running away from their parents because the parents love to speak evil words to them. Now, I don’t justify divorce nor unnecessary running away on account of such things but yes I do strongly recommend control of one’s tongue to prevent any further damage to oneself and others.

Some may say they didn’t actually mean it when they said things that were hurtful to others. That’s exactly my point. Don’t say things that you don’t mean to say in the first place and don’t make any of your emotions whether happiness or bitterness as your excuse for the same!

Make a decision this day to use your tongue more wisely. The benefits are many; better relationships, peace in your dealings with others, living clean and giving glory to God all in all. It’s up to you to control your speech but do pray to the Lord God for his healing and deliverance in this area.

 

You may pray like this:

O Lord God I ask through your Son Jesus Christ that I be holy as you are holy. Make my tongue an instrument of peace. Help me to speak words that are wise and life giving. Empower me by your Holy Spirit to not have be deceived by emotions whether they are mine or of others. In the name of Jesus, I cast out the spirit of discord and perversion of tongue from my life and totally reject the influence of all that is earthly, sensual and demonic. I pray that I be victorious in my life on the inside and the outside so that God be glorified all in all. Amen.

 

Quick reminder : Avoid needless promises or vows

 

“If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. (Deuteronomy 23:21)

It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,” and to reflect only after making vows. (Proverbs 20:25)

When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)

Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (Matthew 5:33-37)

Food discipline on the weekends

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Roman’s 14:17)

The most common cause of indiscipline on the weekends is overeating. Sometimes this causes issues of intestinal colic, obesity and sluggishness. Though the side effects can be countered by diligent exercise most of the time and in some cases medically, why take the risk of overeating? Weekends are a useful time for us if we make good use of it. We are called to live in the righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So we must concentrate on the will of God and be led by the Holy Spirit. Overeating whether it may cause physical issues or not always causes a waste of time.

Let me give you an example, suppose you eat four meals a day and overeat every time. On an average per meal you are spending seven minutes more due to overeating. So if we do the math, 7 minutes multiplied by 4 meals which is then multiplied by 365 days we get 10220 minutes. When you convert these minutes into hours you’d get 170.33 hours which is equivalent to 7.1 days. So it’s roughly a week of your life wasted. Now think about this in another way, you don’t overeat so often by which you save up a lot of time. You then have about a week’s worth of time to utilize. Speaking of which, use your time wisely and constructively.

This means that if you make efforts to control your appetite for food and drink you potentially get more time to use for good. Self control is wise thing to have as a believer in Christ. In fact self control is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (read Galatians 5:22-23). While overeating or gluttony works against the concept of self control. So desire the fruit of Spirit in your actions as well and avoid overeating.

And again, use your time wisely on the weekends. Exercise safely and well enough, take expert advice if you must. Pray for yourself and others. Worship God more freely.
Read the Bible everyday and even more on weekends when you’d have more free time. Avoid making excuses to skip doing what is right. Don’t do it out of compulsion but rather out of the love of God.