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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1200858
God’s plan is to make us vessels of His glory for all the world to see! But for that plan to come to pass we must cooperate with Him. We must cast off the works of darkness and walk in the light of what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4: "Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God…. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness" (verses 1-5, 7, "New King James Version"). Freedom, Not Bondage! “But Gloria, isn’t holiness religious bondage?” No, holiness is freedom! The more we please God and walk in His ways, the freer He is to manifest Himself in our circumstances, our health, our finances and our ministry to others. The more we separate ourselves unto Him, and say no to sin, the freer God is to abundantly provide for us, protect us and pour out His glory through us so we shine like stars in this sin-darkened world. Holiness even helps to keep us free from the traps of the devil. As Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him;” and the devil is our arch enemy. He’s the one who’s behind everyone and everything that comes against us. The more we walk in obedience to God, the less room we give the devil to operate. The more we “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness” (2 Corinthians 7:1), the harder it is for the devil to find open doors he can use to gain entrance into our lives. “Well,” someone might say, “I’ve prayed and prayed for God to make me holier, but I haven’t seen any change.” That’s because God has already done His part. He got you born again and re-created your spirit “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). He gave you His holy written Word and filled you with the Holy Spirit. What happens next is up to you. You can either cleanse yourself and live unto God or you can yield to your flesh and keep thinking, talking and acting like the world. Sadly, a lot of Christians choose to do the latter and wind up in trouble. Then, like the man in Proverbs 19:3 who “subverts his way,” they get resentful and fret against the Lord ("Amplified Bible, Classic Edition"). “Why did God do this to me?” they say. God didn’t do anything to them! They chose to walk in the ways of the world, and they got the world’s results. They chose to sin and didn’t repent, so they suffered the consequences. That’s not God’s will for us. He doesn’t want us to live like the people in the world. They don’t know anything about the ways of God or the consequences of sin. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), yet people in the world sin with all their might. They go just as far into sin as they can without being arrested, and many of them go further and do get arrested. This world is crazy. You can’t let it dictate your standards and expect to walk in the glory of God. You enjoy a glorious life by doing what God says; and He said He “hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). 28 : BVOV