OMBS7/ The Habit of Holiness

PRAYER - "Praying Your Way Out Of Depression" David was deeply depressed, and suffering from some disease. "My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. ...my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. ...My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore." He mourned God's heavy-handed punishments for past sins. Still, he prayed for help. Psalms 38:15, 21-22 - "For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. ...Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation." PRINCIPALS - "Jeduthun, The Chief Musician" Jeduthun, Asaph and Heman were musicians on trumpet, cymbals, psaltries, harps and other stringed instruments. David wrote three psalms (39, 62, 77) dedicated to Jeduthun, apparently to be sung by a choir. All three songs were much longer than those we are accustomed to hearing today. But they had a richer, more poignant message than songs nowadays. Perhaps we should invest more meaning into our modern songs than seven words sung eleven times. Psalms 39:4 - "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am." PRINCIPLES - "An Unbridled Tongue Brings Divine Rebuke" This song-prayer languishes God's stroke of rebuke. David promises to be much more careful with his tongue, and keep his mouth with a bridle, because he has suffered so much from his previous errors. "My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue." Always engage your brain before running your mouth. Psalms 39:10-11 - "Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth." PROPHECIES - "I Come To Do Thy Will, O God" Paul quoted from Psalm 40 in Hebrews 10. David prophesied of Christ. "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God," vs. 5-7. David spoke of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Psalms 40:7 - "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me." The Habit of Holiness

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. – John 14:21

There's a dimension of living you can only experience when you make a decision to please the Father in every activity of your life. In that dimension, Jesus becomes real to you and manifests Himself to you. Just after the turn of the 20th century, God poured out His Spirit and started a revival on Azusa Street. It was an awesome time, a time when people's entire lives were turned inside out. Everything else in their world seemed to lose importance. Supernatural things were happening. God was manifesting Himself in their presence. The people involved in that revival soon began to be known to the world as "holiness" people. They got that title because they were so obviously different from everyone else. They would let go of anything they thought didn't please God. They were so caught up in the power of the spiritual realm, they lost interest in natural things. Few believers today even know what "holiness" means. Even fewer understand the outpouring of God that comes to those who dare to step into it. Holiness simply means "separated to God." It's what you do with your life day by day. It's ordering your conduct according to the Word of God and the promptings of the Spirit. Holiness is the habit of being one mind with God, of turning away from the ways of the world and living instead in agreement with Him. Holiness doesn't happen to anyone by accident. It requires a decision of the will. Make that decision today. Love God with all your heart by keeping His commandments. He'll show His love to you by manifesting Himself to you in powerful new ways. He'll pour Himself out on you just like He did on those believers at Azusa Street—and revival will truly begin in you.

Plan of Salvation read acts 2:38