Good Morning.

Yesterday I floated the notion of striving for holiness. . . not only because it is commanded of us to do so, but also because the cost is so high when we don't. Cost? You'll recall the Times' writer who said, "I started to wonder about the low level of holiness I was seeing" [in believing people]. In the book of Hebrews it says, 'without holiness no one will see the Lord.' (12.14) That is a strong statement, isn't it? Some of you are saying, 'okay, so I can see where this might be important--but where do I start? How do I endeavor to raise the bar of my own holiness standard?' Good question--so, let's dig a little deeper. . .

We might indeed look for purity - pura vida - by taking a look at three areas of our lives. Here is a little worksheet for you to print

and then complete--interviewing yourself--and then looking to see what Scripture has to say~ [holy=set apart, morally blameless]

1. Pure Deeds - Is there enough evidence in our lives to 'convict' us of being Christians?

Luke 6.46 - "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?" > calls for obedience

1 John 5.3 - This is love for God: to obey His commands > calls for our obedience

~if we are obedient to God's commands, we will not struggle with purity in our deeds~

James 1.21-25 - (paraphrase these verses) >

2. Pure Words - Are my words pure?

1 Peter 2.1 - Rid yourselves of all malice, deceit. . . slander. . .

Matthew 12.36-37 -- LOOK THIS ONE UP--underline it in your Bible - write it out here:_______________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Ephesians 4.29 - Let no unwholesome talk proceed from your mouth, only what is helpful ___ ________ _______ ___, that it may benefit _______

___ ____________. Three standards: 1) Let no 2) only what is 3) that it

3. Thoughts - How pure are my thoughts?

Matthew 5.8 - Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. (What does that mean for the impure in thought? hmm.....)

Proverbs 4.23 - Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Matthew 12.34 - . . . For out of the overflow of the __________, the mouth speaks.

2 Corinthians 10.5 - 'Taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ. Are you?

As I was preparing this lesson, I thought 'Wouldn't it be great if we had a role model for purity?' Just that quickly,

the Lord brought to my mind--YOU DO. . .Remember? His name is Jesus.

What can we learn from the life of Jesus about making our personal holiness a priority? Here are a few things I observed:

Jesus was IN the world, not OF the world ~ Jesus loved "outsiders" (or sinners, nonbelievers, whatever you wish to call them),

He spent time with them, but didn't become them, or start living like them ~ Jesus thought of others before Himself. (He was self-less)

Jesus had habits or 'disciplines' that we would do well to make our own--

He got away, alone with His Father ~ He prayed~

He knew the Scriptures (from above--how can we obey God's commands if we don't know what they are?)

He always had His eye on His final destination--and ours. (and so ought we)

These are just a few things I noted that we can learn about the pursuit of holiness from Jesus; there are many more. . . hit "reply" and let me know how His life serves to model purity for you. . .

Let us consider how well we reflect the label of "Christian" - do we bring it honor or shame? Does Christ shake His head, and think, 'Could they just call themselves something else?' Again. . . what prompted this discussion was the impact that hypocrisy had on one reporter. The damage was tremendous. Hypocrisy steals and robs from the kingdom of God. We must do something about that--you and me.

May we strive to make our lives a benchmark of holiness, Christine