Holy Story
God calls His people to consecrate themselves so that each person can be close to Him and find their kingdom calling.
"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you...I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations. You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.”
Leviticus 20:7-8, 23-24, 26
God always starts with the why. He explains why we should do what we do so that He can build belief that moves people to action. God invites us to transformation that happens as we turn to Him and from the ways of the world around us. He speaks in comparative forms that we can understand the difference between customs of the world and consecration.
Do you want to feel closer to God? Do you want to hear His voice more clearly? Consecrate yourself and you will clear room for His presence. It is hard to add more water to a full cup. There is a process of pouring out what is in us so that we can be filled with the holiness and wholeness of God. What could you pour out of your schedule, your habits, or your thinking that could help you create room for more of God in your life?
“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”” Psalms 110:1
So much of our life is spent feeling like we have to solve our problems or the challenges we face on our own. The feeling of being alone or unseen is increasingly common in our culture, but that is not God's design for our lives. We are meant to be connected to Him and each other in way that brings peace to our lives.
Part of consecrating ourselves is changing our thinking. God says we are not meant to wander off, but to wait by His side. When we surrender our lives to Him we find that He will fight our battles, has power to overcome our worst fears, and prepares a feast for us in front of those who are against us. Are you willing to wait on the Lord and stay close to Him? What practices help you feel closest to Him? How can you grow in those?
“Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full."
Proverbs 8:4, 6, 13, 17-21, 30-32, 35
Consecration often involves ridding our hearts of the things that contaminate. What are we clearing out to make space for God? Nothing that helps make our lives any better. God wants to help cleanse our hearts of hatred, pride, arrogance, evil thoughts, and anything that is not true. How often do we lose our most precious commodity, our time, because of offense, bitterness or unforgiveness?
God wants something so much better for us. He wants us to receive the inheritance of a free life that is full of meaning. The fruit He offers is everything that cannot be bought. Peace, joy, hope, and love.
“Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.”
Jeremiah 44:4-5
The Bible is full of stories of people not listening to God, but that never stops God from pursuing personal relationships with each of us. Why did God not just stop at one prophet who was rejected? Why did God send people again and again? Because unconditional love does not stop loving when the recipient falls short.
We live in a world where people often stop trying when love is not reciprocated. God is not like us. His ways are higher than our ways, His love is higher than our love. Thank the Lord that His love does not depend on our performance.
“Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied...What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’
Acts 22:1-10, 21, 27-28
Paul is an amazing example of someone who God pursued even though he was actively harming the people who were carrying out God's plan. Paul simply shares his story of how God loved him unconditionally. What was Paul's response to that perfect love? Consecration and complete devotion to God's calling. The crazy thing is Paul's life got significantly harder after encountering Jesus, but he found a level of intimacy with God that he had never known.
The same thing is true for us today. God wants to meet you where you are and help draw you close to Him. He wants to clear out anything that stands in the way of you full receiving His love and allowing His presence to capture all of your heart. He wants to take your story and turn it into a story of holiness where you wholly pursue the kingdom calling He has for you. Will you respond to the invitation? Will you allow to have full editorial control like He had in Paul's life and rewrite your story? If you do, He promises you will find yourself closer to the Creator in a way you never thought possible.