Holiness
The world wars against holiness. The flesh wars against holiness. Satan wars against holiness. Whole theologies have been fabricated to placate my God-given desire for holiness. Holiness...true holiness...is not about denying myself. Holiness is about pleasure, if I see it the way it really is. Holiness is the greatest treasure this side of heaven. To reach for holiness is to reach to be more like God:
I Peter 1:14-16 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
It is the former lusts...the lesser pleasures...that rob the world of true pleasure. True lasting pleasure is found wherever God is found. Pleasure resides...true pleasure is found...in the presence of God:
Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Most of the world is frustrated that they cannot feel joy...that innate sense of well-being...but they also resist coming to the one place joy springs from. Even in Jesus' body there is a common assault on the Bride against pleasure. The main strategy is to counterfeit pleasure. To desire Jesus' presence but to keep His leadership at arms length is a symptom of this assault. This is a strategy to keep the Bride unsatisfied. The very dryness that comes from keeping Jesus' leadership at arm's length drives the Bride deeper into the world for satisfaction.
Holiness is the only way to break the cycle. I can talk about "freedom" all day, but if my idea of freedom produces no real love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, or self control, I am just a prisoner to darkness trying to convince himself he is free!
True pleasure...Joy...is a fruit of the Holy Spirit...God is the sole spring of joy in all creation. There is not one drop of joy that He did not speak into being. If I want to tap into the river of joy, I need to come nearer and nearer to the author of joy.
Holiness gives me greater access to pleasure. Holiness is simply the process of my heart agreeing with the light of God's presence. Holiness gives me confidence in the light of glory. It is in this nearness where pleasure is found.
John 3:20-21 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
My heart was fashioned to be fascinated in ever-increasing depths of pleasure. Forever, my heart was designed to be fascinated more than today. There is only one infinite well...only one whose very nature is an eternal spring of more good...more joy...more pleasure.
There is not enough wine, there is no drug, there is no accomplishment, no knowledge, no impact, no ministry, no person, no thing, no worldly "freedom"...that can satisfy the thirst of the eternal human heart....only the one who fashioned my heart to draw from Him can truly keep it forever.
To tap into eternal satisfaction in pleasure really requires I turn off the tap of lesser pleasure trying to quench my thirst. I get what I want. For love, God lets me choose my source of satisfaction.
I don't seek holiness as a discipline...I want to connect, by faith, holiness as an act of drinking the supernatural wine that never runs dry...the drink of pleasure that increases in its effect to satisfy a heart growing in love and fascination. I want to hunger and thirst for obedience....I want to hunger and thirst to be holy...set apart for the superior pleasures designed for me to enjoy from the foundation of the world.
Psalms 36:7-9 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
I Peter 1:14-16 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
It is the former lusts...the lesser pleasures...that rob the world of true pleasure. True lasting pleasure is found wherever God is found. Pleasure resides...true pleasure is found...in the presence of God:
Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Most of the world is frustrated that they cannot feel joy...that innate sense of well-being...but they also resist coming to the one place joy springs from. Even in Jesus' body there is a common assault on the Bride against pleasure. The main strategy is to counterfeit pleasure. To desire Jesus' presence but to keep His leadership at arms length is a symptom of this assault. This is a strategy to keep the Bride unsatisfied. The very dryness that comes from keeping Jesus' leadership at arm's length drives the Bride deeper into the world for satisfaction.
Holiness is the only way to break the cycle. I can talk about "freedom" all day, but if my idea of freedom produces no real love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, or self control, I am just a prisoner to darkness trying to convince himself he is free!
True pleasure...Joy...is a fruit of the Holy Spirit...God is the sole spring of joy in all creation. There is not one drop of joy that He did not speak into being. If I want to tap into the river of joy, I need to come nearer and nearer to the author of joy.
Holiness gives me greater access to pleasure. Holiness is simply the process of my heart agreeing with the light of God's presence. Holiness gives me confidence in the light of glory. It is in this nearness where pleasure is found.
John 3:20-21 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
My heart was fashioned to be fascinated in ever-increasing depths of pleasure. Forever, my heart was designed to be fascinated more than today. There is only one infinite well...only one whose very nature is an eternal spring of more good...more joy...more pleasure.
There is not enough wine, there is no drug, there is no accomplishment, no knowledge, no impact, no ministry, no person, no thing, no worldly "freedom"...that can satisfy the thirst of the eternal human heart....only the one who fashioned my heart to draw from Him can truly keep it forever.
To tap into eternal satisfaction in pleasure really requires I turn off the tap of lesser pleasure trying to quench my thirst. I get what I want. For love, God lets me choose my source of satisfaction.
I don't seek holiness as a discipline...I want to connect, by faith, holiness as an act of drinking the supernatural wine that never runs dry...the drink of pleasure that increases in its effect to satisfy a heart growing in love and fascination. I want to hunger and thirst for obedience....I want to hunger and thirst to be holy...set apart for the superior pleasures designed for me to enjoy from the foundation of the world.
Psalms 36:7-9 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
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