A New Level.

I feel like God is calling me to a new level of holiness.
He's calling us all to take deeper steps in our relationship with him.

This thought as been brewing for awhile...
I just never knew what God wanted me to do.
"How can I be more holy?"
"Make me more like You."
This was all I knew to pray.

It hit me in Aural Theory I. The teacher asked if anyone wanted to pray before class started, one person raised their hand. I thought, "Wow. We're in a group of future ministers, pastors, and worship leaders and nobody wants to pray....." I thought to myself, "Our hands should just be flying in the air! We should be eager to pray for our fellow classmates and brothers and sisters in Christ. Why aren't we?" The next class my hand shot up.

The same thing happened in finance class....."UGH. Why doesn't anyone want to pray?" I thought we were more spiritual than that, better yet, I thought prayer had more meaning and eagerness than what showed up in class that day. "Who wants to pray for class today?" Nobody....long pause.....5 seconds go by.....the teacher stares at us..... That happens everyday. Of all places, at Bible College!? And nobody wants to pray? Jeez. Maybe I'm being harsh about this, but I'm venting about the entire semester. ALL semester it's been this way. I figured more people would want to step up and be leaders. I decided as an upperclassman, this is my initiative to take.

So...I go to chapel and right after worship I hear God speak to me. He was angry.
He said, "Why do you keep picking up past sin!?" Angry. But, He's right. He always is.
Shoot, He knows me better than I know myself. I immediately have all these thoughts of what exactly I'm letting back into my life. God's already redeemed me. Why am I picking these things up again? Music. Movies. TV in general.

I've thrown away all my bad music.
I've given up bad habits, and formed excellent ones.
I've formed standards and boundaries.
I've started telling the truth. The absolute truth. The bitter truth. The ugly truth.

"Why do you keep picking up past sin!?"
Paul says in Romans 6, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?" I felt bad. Then grace poured out on me. I didn't understand or feel grace for the longest time. Grace is almost unexplainable until you FEEL it. Until you experience it. Until you're grateful for it. Someone got up on stage and prayed God's grace over us, and an immediate peace and joy filled me. Jesus paid for my sin on the cross a long time ago. There's no guilt or condemnation involved. And if there is, I haven't been rebuked out of love.

My hope is that if you're struggling with sin, know that Jesus died for it. We are dead to sin, but very much alive in Christ. Ask for the Holy Spirit's strength and boldness to overcome sin and temptation. Take every thought captive and learn self-control. This the ultimate sign of spiritual maturity. When you can control your flesh and desires. And when you're weak and cannot control them, grace abounds. Accept it, but don't live in it.

Peace and blessings to you.