Practical Holiness

Today we just got back from the memorial service of Michael Alan Stevens...He received the Lord weeks before his death...but he exemplified genuine faith. He no longer had the time to exercise any of the virtues of holiness for any length of time...but he left a legacy for his children that will be remembered...a legacy of grace!

Lois was reading from a book by J.C. Ryle...and when I picked it up...I started reading chapter 8

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with hte people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26)

selected excerpts:


I will speak of what Moses gave up and refused.

1. He gave up rank and greatness
2. He refused pleasure
3. He refused riches

I will speak of what Moses chose.

1. He chose suffering and affliction.
2. He chose the company of a despised people.
3. He chose reproach and scorn.

He was not obliged to choose as he did. None compelled him to take such a course. The things he took up did not force themselves upon himagainst his will. He went after them; they did not come after him. All that he did, he did of his own free choice--voluntarily, and of his own accord.

Let me speak of the principle which moved Moses, and made him do as he did.

1. He believed that God would keep His promises.
2. He believed that with God nothing was impossible.
3. He believed that God was all wise.
4. He believed that God was all merciful.
5. Faith was a telescope to Moses. It made him see the land afar off--rest,peace, and victory, when dim-sighted reason could only see trial and bareness, storm and tempest, weariness and pain.
6. Faith was an interpreter to Moses.

Some practical lessons

"What has all this to do with us?" some men will say. "We do not live in Egypt, we have seen no miracles, we are not Israelites, we are weary of the subject."

• If you would ever be saved, you must make the choice that Moses made--you must choose God before the world.
• Nothing will ever enable you to choose God before the world, except faith.
• The true reason why so many are worldly and ungodly persons is that they have no faith.
• The true secret of doing great things for God is to have great faith.

If you...desire to be a thoroughly holy man, begin to act on your belief. Take Moses for your example. Walk in his steps. Go and do likewise.

God's calling...

I went to church today...Jacob Halverson and Sara Pau graduated from highschool. I could not help reflecting on the years it takes God to chisel someone for a particular calling...I don't know how He graduates us but I think somewhere along the line we experience a deep sense of peace...beginning to understand our lives up to that moment as...the Potter's workshop. We begin to see the "tools" He has used, the inevitable pain that went along with the soul surgery that only He can perform, the moulding, the shaping, the breaking...until we see clearly that He calls...but all He requires us to do is to obey His Spirit...and He will fulfill the rest.

The Lord reminded me again of Proverbs 24 and the verse that God gave Alin when he proposed to me...18 years ago. Our anniversary is coming up in August...and somehow, the Lord saw fit to encourage me in a direct way.

Alin's verse:

"My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste; so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; if you have found it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off." (Prov. 24:13,14)

Shortly after our marriage I heard Him call to me, too...

"Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter." (Proverbs 24:11)

Years later, I find that He calls but He empowers...and it is He that delivers all along...it is He that holds back...He just needs me to "listen to His heart" as expressed in Acts 4:30" ...stretching out Your hand to heal..." and when He puts a burden on my heart...I am to pray and fast...

I was getting discouraged because I was looking for His hand to move in my family...faster than it is moving in my life (I am to learn to climb up the Hill Difficulty...and attempting the practical application of certain portions of Prov. 31)...while I hold on to two guardrails: on one hand the realization that God owns my marriage (pinneapple garden) and on the other hand the realization that He is the Author and Finisher of my faith, my husband's faith, my children's faith.

The Hill of Difficulty:

1. "she does (her husband) good and not evil all the days (seasons) of her life"

2. "she opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness."

3. "she watches over the way of her household, and does not eat the bread of
idleness."

4. "she shall rejoice in time to come."

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"He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us..." (Hebrews 7:25,26)

Work out...for it is God who works in you...

I was very much encouraged this morning when I realized that God is willing and able to come alongside each one of His children and to help them in their weaknesses.

"...work out...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." (Phillipians 2:12,13)

I had the opportunity to share with the children at the breakfast table some of the areas that I had struggled with along the years...such as self control/discipline in the area of food/exercise, training the children in obedience and to be diligent workers, maintaining the house and other areas...

I had practiced this truth without realizing it...when years ago I decided to "work out" my salvation by obeying the Holy Spirit's promptings anytime He pointed to a bitter or ungrateful or critical thought...I confessed to God and agreed with Him that His evaluation of the circumstances of my life at that time was the important thing...not my evaluation!

As I "worked out" in this area of obedience, He worked in me a little bit more of His character...and I began to will and to do of His good pleasure...in the area of forgiveness and being grateful for what He does allow in my life.

This time...the Lord seems to point out to me the definite lack of self control...and I need to pay attention to my weight and fitness...for His good pleasure. I have started to exercise and I would like to see how the Lord will work in me ...self control...as a fruit of His Spirit!

As C.J.Mahaney exhorted the pastors at a Together for the Gospel conference...we should focus on one particular area in which we observe deficiencies...and "work out" until it is evident that the Lord has begun to work in us...

I was also especially grateful as I was reminded that the Lord is the Captain of our salvation and He does choose to perfect the faith of His children through suffering...the same way that Christ was "perfected" as He walked on this earth.

I thanked the Lord also for the fact that He authored faith in Jimmy and Lois and Johnny...and He will finish and perfect their faith.

As I look ahead at the remainder of the year...I want to thank God upon every remembrance of my husband and children, praying for them that He would enable each one of them to "work out" in their particular area of weakness. I want to be confident that He who began a good work in them will complete it. I also want to long for each one of them "with the affection of Jesus Christ" realizing that even when they sin and fall short of my expectations, they are worth the blood of the Lord Jesus...and as such I need to "esteem them better than myself", my comforts, my wishes etc.

As a wife and mother, I would like to "work out" in such a way so that I strive to be "sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ." (Phil.1)