If you think about it, holiness has to start in our head, or our thought life. All action seems to flow from that. If our thoughts are holy, then our actions will follow suit. At the same time all our temptations and all of our trials (unless it is an illness) originate in our head. And also when we praise others or pronounce a blessing over anyone or something, it comes from our mind, our head.
Our thoughts must remain holy. Our words must be full of praise and blessing, not because it makes us look good, but because God asks us to be. Leviticus 20:26 says "You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own."
What does it mean to be holy? It is defined as spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God. That is a tall order when you put your mind to it. It is not an easy thing to be pure in heart, or even spiritually whole for that matter. If you notice the definition also says that to be holy is to be free from sinful affections. In other words free from the want to sin, or the desire to sin, a very tall order for anyone. Since Adam we all are born into sin and even have the desire to sin. It is not natural for us to be pure and guiltless, but yet something deep inside us wish and long for that kind of life.
In thinking of a pure or holy thought life, a few thoughts came to mind. First if we are careful what our eyes see, for they can feed us a wrong, impure, unholy thought. For example, we can hardly go anywhere without our eyes falling on something that feeds our mind for the impure. I am particularly thinking about a particular store I was at recently. Since it is spring and summer is fast approaching, this store prominently displays summer swimwear in high traffic areas. You cannot go to any place in the store that you need to go to without passing by this display. This store also places undergarments for both men and women in high traffic places. They not only place it there but they make sure that the ones that are most eye appealing and most lustfully appealing to us. What God showed me about this part of the store, unholy spirits hang out there and tempt people to think about impure things. While they look appealing to our eyes, if we could see the spirits that hangout there, we would see a different scenario. These spirits are not beautiful and would repel us if we could see them, but they are masters at seducing people into thinking unholy thoughts that remain in our minds long after we leave that section and even leave the store. What I saw was the seductive finger that we often see in Hollywood movies except that finger was bony, gray, and very ugly. There was also a cackling laugh associated with it, much like what we think of when we think of wicked witches in fairy tales. We must be on guard as followers of Jesus to keep our minds free from those seductive spirits that attempt to make us be unholy.
If you read my post on protecting the anointing, this is along those same lines. We have to protect our minds from the influence of these images. Once they lodge in our mind, they are difficult to erase. Just like I have heard many times, you can't keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair. We must protect our mind. If we desire to be holy, even if the thoughts go through our mind, or our eyes see something that is impure or causes impure thoughts, we MUST purge it out of our mind through prayer and by turning from those things that can cause those impurities to flood. us. It may feel like we are being tried in the fire when we purge our minds from such things, it is necessary in order to be holy and pure before God.
Also, as part of the gold, praise and blessings must become a natural part of our speech which also comes from our head, our mind. While it is natural for harsh words to come from us, it should not happen. James 3 speaks of the tongue and the damage or the good it does. He tells us in verses 9 and 10: "Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!" So as part of being holy, we must also watch our tongues, being careful of what we say and how we say it.
In order for the church to rise up like the Phoenix, we must have a gold head, protecting what goes in and goes out. Father, I ask that all who read this will be spurred on to holiness that starts in the head and mind. Convict where conviction needs to come, and encourage where encouragement is needed. I also ask that You would make us holy. You yourself even said in 22:32 "It is I, the LORD, who makes you holy." and again in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 "a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth." I thank you Father that You desire holiness from us, and from that holiness flows true freedom to live as we ought, and not as we want.
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