Holiness in our lives is vital!

Jill Southern (Director of NETS) encourages us to apply four principles in our lives as we journey towards holiness...

I have just finished a series on keys to holiness, and would like to share with you the four areas I believe are essential in living a holy lifestyle before God: courage, discipline, vision, and endurance.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” When we put these areas of our lives in godly order we will be more equipped to run our own personal race to the finish line.

In our everyday Christian life we have many choices that require courage. If we find that we are not courageous in a certain area then we need to ask ourselves why. What is it that will stop you from being courageous? Fear. Fear is the opposite of courage and we believers do not want to be those who give up when the going gets tough. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power.” When presented with challenging decisions do you stick to biblical principles or do you cave in so that others will approve? We need to be willing to risk faith in God instead of crawling into a shrinking shell of safety, security, or even passivity.

Some people seem to succeed in everything: their families, personal lives, and their work lives as well as service in the Church or ministry. They are active and are really going for God. When you get close to them and try to determine just how they manage to fulfil so much of their potential you’ll find that discipline plays a significant role. Discipline is one of the most important character qualities we can possess and plays a key role in every area of life. It means that, often, we have to make a decision to face the tough challenges first so that we can enjoy the rewards later. When we go to a university or college we are choosing to put off earning money now so that we will benefit later on. Galatians 5:23 says that the Holy Spirit helps us to produce discipline in our lives. We can always depend on God for His strength for us to do His will in our lives.

Vision is the ability to be far-seeing, in our own lives and in the Body of Christ. Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Jesus told us that in the world there would be trouble, and you know from experience that many trials and problems come our way. Because of this, holiness is absolutely critical if we want to be victorious. We must not let our problems overwhelm us no matter how big. For whatever problem or adversity you face today, there is always a solution in God if you are willing to be a visionary. Learning to fix our eyes on God and not on the trial itself will help to keep the problem in perspective.

Finally, the fourth key to holiness I want to discuss is endurance. Have you ever quit something and paid a high price for it? Many people live in regret after having quit something, particularly marriages and other close relationships, and wonder why they gave up so easily. The answer is obvious. It is easier to quit than to endure. It is much easier to walk away from an argument than to stay and resolve the conflict. It may even feel easier to stop following Jesus Christ than to go through the painful process of daily surrender. James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who endures trials, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of Christ.” Have you ever thought that you may spend a lot of time and energy trying to avoid trials when you should be thanking God for them? Trials are used to strengthen our character. Our carnal nature wants overnight spiritual maturity and we even have a strong tendency to quit if these expectations are not met. Consistent quitting can make a person weak-willed as they have not learned to push through and endure. Patient endurance is a essential quality of a leader and is critical for a holy life.

Walking in holiness paves the way for the Lord Jesus to come into our lives more powerfully. As you begin to walk more in courage, discipline, vision and endurance I pray your Christian walk is transformed with deeper intimacy with your Lord and Saviour.

Jill Southern, Director of Ellel Ministries Pierrepont & NETS

Jill's full article can be found here.

Bonus mp3 - Inspiring teaching from Jill Southern of Ellel Ministries

Are you willing to respond to God's call with 'Here I am Lord, send me'?

Listen as Jill (International Speaker & Director of NETS) inspires and challenges us to pay the ultimate price for the one who paid the ultimate price for us.

Click here to listen (or right click, and 'Save Target As...' to download).

Jill Southern is the director of NETS, a Life Transforming Ministry Training Programme from Ellel Ministries.

Holiness in 2010!

Message from Jill Southern, Director of NETS:

We are grateful to God for His faithfulness at Pierrepont (Home of NETS) in 2009 and are waiting in expectation for what He’ll do this upcoming year.  Many changes have taken place here in recent months as we sought to bring the ministry into yet another level of godly order, and as we move into 2010 we are actively preparing ourselves for a great move of God among us. We hope you’ll come be part of it!

Blessings,
Jill

Jill is the Director of NETS, a life transforming christian ministry training programme based at Ellel Ministries Pierrepont in the UK.