Living a Holy Life

Ever wonder why your prayers are not answered? There are several factors that go into answered prayer. I talked about the will of God and praying in Jesus' name in my last post. Today I would like to talk about living a holy life.

What is a holy life? A question to ask myself is if there any known and willful sin in my life? For example, am I sexually pure, do I tithe, am I honest and truthful, is there any unforgiveness in my life?

1 Peter 1:19 commands us to "Be holy, as I am holy." Am I living in my old ways, giving in to the lusts of the flesh? Or have I disciplined myself enough to walk in the Spirit? Am I morally alert? God's desire, like any good parent, is to protect his children. I know in my life, when I have strayed and disobeyed, I reap a bounty of hurt and pain. I have learned that it is best to obey God, and leave the consequences to Him, as Dr. Charles Stanley says so often.

I can't go wrong when I obey God. Living a holy life to me means being pure, being honest, and being loving. It means exemplifying the character traits of God and eliminating any unwholesome thoughts, words, and actions.

How about you, beloved? Are you living a holy life? I encourage you to stand firm and walk in the Spirit instead of the flesh. The Lord desires to bless us, but cannot do so when we choose to deliberately disobey and live in sin. Think about this and let me know your thoughts.

The Power of Attraction

So you've all probably heard of the best-selling book called "The Secret", right? The premise of the book is that we can "attract" wonderful things into our lives merely by thinking about them. Thinking about them draws them to us; everything from riches, to good relationships, to good health. Now there is something to thinking positive thoughts, and visualizing what you want in life. With that, I totally agree. I don't want to burst your bubble if you read the book, however, there is a big BUT in this whole concept. The BUT is God. We can think about something all we want, BUT if it's not God's will for us to have it, we aren't going to get it. Period, end of story. I can dream of winning the lottery, making a million dollars or whatever, BUT God may have other plans for me. He only gives us what we can handle and some of us may not be ready to handle a million dollars :) Spend, yes, but not handle it wisely. The book has sold millions of copies world-wide. Do you believe in God's will? Or are you in total control of your destiny? Drop me a note - I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Until next time, stay positive and keep looking up