The Ordinary Invaded by Holiness
There is a message stirring inside, but the exact words don't materialize. The Word of God sends forth a clarion call for repenting, returning, aligning ourselves with our Creator God and His ways of doing and being right. His way of speaking, His way of forgiving, His way of conducting business, His way of loving family, His way of loving friends, His way of loving neighbors, His way must become our way. Our way must die that He might live in our words, our ways, our behavior. Loving, caring, comforting, feeding, holding, listening, leading to the One, ONLY One who knows all, sees all, IS all is the life we have been called, destined, prepared for, and created to live. The ONLY life we are to live is the life in the beloved Son of God, the risen Lord, Jesus.
The book of Colossians, especially chapter 3, out of The Passion Translation are the Words of God I am uttering, muttering, and pondering over and over and over. I need these words to be real and true in me! I am staying here in the middle of them until the reality of them flows from my life. I keep returning to verse two "Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm." Feast. I am to feast on the treasures of the heavenly realm. Fill. I am to fill my thoughts with heavenly realities.
Heavenly realities. God is good. He is God. He is the only God. There is none like Him. He is all knowing. He is all powerful. He is all present. He is. No one else but He. He is the great I Am. He is the same. He never changes. He has bought me. He has saved me. He keeps me. He heals me. He delivers me. He shades me. He shields me. He. Only He. None other. Only He, the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent One. None other. Only He.
Verses 7-8,9 "...But now it's time to eliminate them from your lives once and for all--anger, fits of rage, all forms of hatred, cursing, filthy speech, and lying. Lay aside your old Adam-self with its masquerade and disguise." Oh me. Repenting again and again. Then verses 12 - 14 "...So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others. Tolerate the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ. If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them. For love is supreme and must flow through each of these virtues. Love becomes the mark of true maturity." Oh, repenting still.
Verse 17 "Let every activity of your lives and every word that comes from your lips be drenched with the beauty of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. And bring your constant praise to God the Father because of what Christ has done for you!" Every activity, every word drenched with the beauty of Jesus. Oh, how much I need You Jesus! How far from this I am! How will I ever reach this level of goodness? Galatians 5:16 answers my question: "As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life." The days flow by in a pattern of repenting, praying, praising, thanking, then repeating again and again and again. Scripture leads the way to every question's answer. 2 Corinthians 10:5 becomes an established pattern of behavior. "We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One."
The Word of God finds the weak spots that need strengthening and the wounded areas in need of healing. And the days flow on in a masterful mix of the ordinary, the spiritual, and the amazing that only God can create. Home-cooked meals, garden gathering, laundry, and school intermingle with the high and holy presence of All Mighty God. They said it would be like this. The ministers have said Jesus would invade the ordinary to make His glory known, and He has. Every where He is moving. He is healing. He is saving. Everywhere. In a Chicago airport. In a Sandhills ranch house. In a city street. On a beach. At a school table. The ordinary is being inhabited by the Holy, and He is good. Always God is good.
Acts 3:19 reads, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
Psalm 51:10 “Create in us a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within us. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation!”
Isaiah 59:19 declares, “When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against him.”
John 4:23 “A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers.” AMP
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10
“My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17 (AMP)