7.15.2010
Hebrews 12:14 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. ESV
To strive for peace with everyone means mainly to live at all cost as far as I am able to be at peace with everyone I encounter at all times. It doesn’t mean there will be mutual peace it just means that I am responsible to God to live at peace and not harbor enmity in my heart. I can’t control the other person but I can control me.
And to strive for holiness means I am different from the man of the world. The man of the world is caught up in possession, position, and performance – I am to be caught up in God’s word and His will. Holiness is living differently from those who don’t know the Lord. Holiness means faithfully and quietly enduring the hard times and trusting God in the midst of them that His will may be accomplished in my puny little life. ...but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pe 1:15-16 ESV) The only way to relate to a Holy God is to be holy oneself…
All this means I must be careful to make daily assessment and correction to the behavioral patterns I have and try with all my might (strive) to live like God – not as God but like Him. And how does God live? God loves. I cannot live as God loves and hate people. I cannot live as God loves and remain contentious. I must get into the groove of God’s goodness and do everything in my power to stay there; by loving, living, and learning to live holy as God is holy.
Father in Heaven,
This can only be done as You guide me by Your Spirit. This can only be done as the Spirit of Christ within me reveals Your way and causes me to live in it by showing me the dire consequences of living without Your love. Fill me with love Father and may my life be a struggle and striving for divine love and holiness – in Jesus I pray, amen.
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