God's Invitation to You!

Jeremiah 29:13 (HCSB) You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

 

God wants us to seek Him. He is not playing a galactic game of hide and seek with us. When we get serious about God, we will find God.

 

 

James 4:8 (HCSB) Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people!

 

As we enter this journey, we will be drawing nearer to God, we will be cleansing our hands and our hearts, we will cease to be double minded! He will draw near to us!

 

 

God be with us as we enter the journey!

Choose your partner

As you go through this journey, I encourage you to find an accountability partner. Ask each other questions, like, what is God revealing to you? Has God been sharpening you?

Pray for each other.

 

Matthew 18:19 (HCSB) Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.

 

 

You need to have someone with whom you are willing to share your sins. Not necessarily the horrid gruesome deatails, but confessing your sins so that they can pray for you and so that you can be healed. It helps to have the accounbtability in your life as well.

 

James 5:16 (HCSB) Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful.

 

 

As you enter the journey there may be times of discouragement. A partnewr will help you through those times. Keep praying!

 

Luke 18:1 (HCSB) He then told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not become discouraged:

 

Resist!

1 Peter 5:8 (HCSB) Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

 

Face it. If you choose the path of cleansing, you are choosing spiritual warfare. But, really, if you are a Christian, you are already in the war, but in choosing to seek God for cleansing and repentance and revival, you are engaging big time. This offensive strategy, not defensive. It is kicking down the gates of hell kind of activity.

 

Matthew 16:18 (HCSB) And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.

 

Remember that Satan is a liar. He will try everything in his arsenal of lies to dissuade you from this journey. He will seek to keep you from the path of cleansing. The more he can keep you from God, the weaker you will be and the less damage you will inflict on his kingdom.

 

John 8:44 (HCSB) You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.

 

We can stand strong against Satan with the strength and armor of God! Put on the armor…

 

Ephesians 6:11 (HCSB) Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.

 

As we seek God and draw near to him we are resisting the devil. Resisting the devil is offensive. It requires offensive weapons. The gospel, the Word and prayer.

 

James 4:7 (HCSB) Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

 

In the end, when we do this, the Devil will flee.  He will eventually leave you, like he did with Christ… for a time. The battle rages on!

 

Luke 4:13 (HCSB) After the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time.

God Forgives!

1 John 1:9 (HCSB) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

Isn’t it great that we can know that God forgives! Look again at the verse… all unrighteousness… God forgives and cleanses. We do not need to be afraid of condemnation when we come to God.

 

Romans 8:1 (HCSB) Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,

 

Isaiah 1:18 (HCSB) “Come, let us discuss this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.

 

God wants to set us free from sin!

 

John 8:36 (HCSB) Therefore if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

 

It is a matter of small steps. Take it slow, do not be overwhelmed, and before you know it you will be a lot further than you ever dreamed possible on the journey of discipleship!

 

It's the Relationship, Saints!

When Bill Clinton won his first term as president, it was said that on the wall at campaign headquarters was the phrase"it's the economy, stupid!"

The point was, focus on the issue of the economy and you will win the election. Apparently it worked!

I wouldn't want to call anyone stupid, so let's just say "It's the relationship, Saints!"

God wants a relationship with you, not a ritual of prayer and cleansing. let's not get into this thinking that if we push the right buttons and pray the right prayers we can manipulate God to do what we want. in reality if we truly come before God and seek Him it will be about changing US to do what HE wants. But more importantly it is about having a glorious wonderful loving relationship with God!

Jeremiah 31:3 (HCSB) …I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.

Go Deep

God brings spiritual discernment and conviction.

 

John 16:3 (HCSB) They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or Me.

 

1 Corinthians 2:11 (HCSB) For who among men knows the concerns of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the concerns of God except the Spirit of God.

 

We don’t even know our own hearts.

 

Jeremiah 17:9 (HCSB) The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick—who can understand it?

 

Prayerfully seek God through the whole process – all the scriptures. Stay committed. God will bring you through.

Keep a Record

Reading Suggestion: “Returning to Holiness” Pages 6 through 10

Writing down the things God tells you are important. Keep a journal during this time of cleansing. When you discover areas of sin, find God’s Word to comfort and replace the patterns of sin.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (HCSB) ³ For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, ⁴ since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments ⁵ and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Practical tip: You may want to “code” your journal in order to keep private matters private. You may also want to symbolically write your sins on paper and then shred them indicating how God has forgiven them.

De-program

The spiritual journey is NOT a program.

Programs are good, sometimes great, but that’s not what this is.

This is about your RELATIONSHIP with God. The book we are using (“Returning to Holiness”) is comprised mostly of scripture. Expect God to speak to your heart. Experience the relationship with God as your pray through the words. When you begin to work through the book (or read the blogs here) read the scripture and the accompanying thought provoking questions and ask God to speak to you. If sin is revealed, confess it and seek the Holy Spirit’s power to overcome the sin. We are all on a journey and will all need to change something to move closer in our relationship with God. Remember that God loves you and wants you to come to Him… and remember that He loves us while we are still sinners – but He wants us to change.

 

Declaration of Independance

Note: These initial blogs are being prompted by pages 3-11 (Preparing for Your Journey) of "Returning to Holiness" by Dr. Frizzell.

As we enter this journey, we need to know that God will give us victory.

Romans 6:14 (HCSB) For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.
Being under grace does not give us freedom to sin, but freedom from sin!

Romans 6:6 (HCSB) For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,

In order to succeed we must live in Christ!
Galatians 2:20 (HCSB) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Colossians 2:6 (HCSB) Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,

When a person is saved, they follow Jesus by faith. The same is true as we are convicted of sin after we are saved. We must recieve God's forgiveness and grace by faith.

Invitation, Promise and Challenge

We are invited by God...
Isaiah 1:18 (HCSB) “Come, let us discuss this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool.

We are promised by God...
1 John 1:9 (HCSB) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We are challenged by God...
Psalms 139:23-24 (HCSB) 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.

Serious cleansing requires time with God.

Goals and Strategies

Dr. Frizzell writes that the book Returning to Holiness can be among other things ...
"To provide a concise, biblical tool for leading the entire congregation into profound spiritual cleansing..."

He also says "Virtually all historic revivals and awakenings have occured one way. God's people were confronted with their specific sin through intense exposure to a full array of Scriptures."

What do you think?