The Power of Affirmation
The Power of Affirmation by Rebecca Greenwood
Walking in Holiness
Our Lord is One of no compromise. He walked this earth as a man and was able to withstand every temptation that Satan brought to Him. He was without sin. Truthfully, friends when we see the condition of the world around us and even the conditions of many in the Church, we clearly see that we are in desperate need of a true embracing of His holiness. The truth is there are many preached messages that speak of us walking in holiness out of duty. I absolutely agree and also teach that we have to choose a lifestyle of holiness. If we do not intentionally choose to engage in this process then nothing will occur in our lives. But I also firmly believe that God is calling for a sold out holiness movement birthed from spiritual holiness and glory encounters with Him. When we encounter His light, truth, magnificent holiness and fire He captivates our minds and hearts. Not only are we to walk a lifestyle of holiness because we determine to do so, but the more we encounter Him; the more we encounter His unending magnificence and holiness; the more we encounter His love; the more we encounter the infilling of the Holy Spirit and His fire and truth; we become ones who desire to walk pure without compromise because of His sacrifice on the cross, resurrection life, His immense love and great holiness. The truth is once we encounter Him, we know that we know Him and we just cannot be the same. His fire and passion should ignite a consuming fire and passion within each of us. Empowering us: “to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24, NIV).
Humility
Humility has many parallels to holiness. Andrew Murray associated them so closely to one another that he wrote in Humility (New Kingston, PA: Whitaker House, 1982, p.51), “the great test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it produces an increasing humility in us. (emphasis his) The Bible declares, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5, NKJV). What does this mind refer to? The willingness of Jesus to“humble Himself” (Philippians 2:8, NKJV).
Humility does not imply we are lowly in spirit. Humility is living confidently true to who God had called us to be without pride. Pride and confidence are not synonymous. We can be totally humble and yet have great confidence in our Lord. Humility exemplifies preferring others, personal holiness, a lifestyle of obedience and reverence to a holy God. One who has a heart to serve and honor others, and who does not boast in a prideful manner of oneself. Humility believes in the promise that God exalts those who humble themselves before Him. And is content to live a life that is focused on Him and His kingdom and not self.
In order to understand what this mind set and lifestyle of Jesus implies for us, it is best to study the words of Jesus Himself. The following are key verses which Jesus taught.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5, NIV).
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29, NIV).
“Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4, NIV).
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matthew 20:26-27, NIV).
“He who is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11, NIV).
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14b, NIV).
“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet” (john 13:14, NIV).
“The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves” (Luke 22:26-27, NIV).
God did not tell us to do something that is impossible for us to do. God is not a man that He would misrepresent or lie. I steadfastly trust that if Jesus tells us to humble ourselves, that we, in fact, can be humble. This does not mean we can be perfect. Nor does it mean that we have arrived and we have nothing more to learn about humility. We might face roadblocks along the journey. If we stay away from pride, insecurity (which is false humility) and works of the flesh instead of the Spirit; we are well on our way to being victorious in this area of our lives. God will grant freedom. He will promote, bring blessing and favor to those who are truly humble before Him.
Welcoming the Daily Filling of the Holy Spirit
To further explain, the Lord has not left us alone in our pursuit of an empowered lifestyle through holiness and humility. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us. Jesus modeled the prayer to pray inviting the Holy Spirit to keep us from temptation: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13, NIV). While I understand that we all have a sin nature and we will still in a our fallen human state sin, when we pray this prayer daily and invite the Holy Spirit to keep us from temptation and the evil one, meaning Satan, our God will be faithful to show us the way on our journey. And when we do sin, He will quickly bring it to light. In these instances it is important to promptly repent.
In Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul teaches us concerning our inner man. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (NASB).
The first part of Paul’s request is that God, according to the standard of His glorious riches, might empower us to be strong in order to overcome resistance. Therefore, He imparts living power to us through the Holy Spirit in our inner being or our innermost beings. This word eso (innermost being) actually translates and refers to our soul (mind, will and emotions) and conscience. The result being that through faith Christ may dwell in our hearts, that is, our whole personalities. Dwell refers not to the beginning of Christ’s indwelling at the moment of salvation. Instead it signifies the desire that Christ may, literally, “be at home in,” that is, at the very center of or deeply rooted in, our lives. It is divinely designed that from this deep rooted place, we encounter to the greatest supernatural extent the deep things of God in which Christ becomes the dominating influence in our attitudes, thoughts, emotions and conduct. It is hard in our human thinking to fully comprehend the incredible unending greatness of our Heavenly Father. However, the promise made available to us says that in our innermost being we can continue to receive more and more and more of God’s never ending love, glorious presence, supernatural power and His awesome truth that transforms us to His likeness.
Not only does the Holy Spirit keep us from temptation and evil, but He can baptize us with His fire and supernatural anointing. Think about this. From the time of Pentecost and the baptism of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts 2, we witness Peter and the disciples supernaturally filled and emboldened to live holy, humble, abandoned lives. They were anointed to speak truth, fearlessly witness, perform miracles, see lost souls saved, the dead raised, shake cities and nations for God’s kingdom, cast out demons and to take authority over the schemes of the enemy. The transformation in their spiritual walk at the moment of being Baptized by fire into the Holy Spirit is undeniable. The Holy Spirit is available to us to authorize our spiritual journey with supernatural experiences and to exemplify that we are believers in Jesus Christ walking in agreement with His intentions.
In Closing……
In closing, I would like to emphasize one more promise which Paul so beautifully stated: “Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18, The Message). Friends, I love Jesus. He is so unendingly beautiful to me. The more I experience of Him, the more I want to know Him. And I know He is beautiful to each of you as well. As we look into God’s Word, encounter His presence and see God’s Son, the Spirit transforms us into the very image of God. We become alive and truly assured that we are free indeed. We engage in a visible change on the outside that is birthed on the inside. The awesome promise of God provided to us in this change? Moses reflected the glory of God, but you and I may radiate the glory of God. Our lives becoming brighter and brighter and more beautiful like our Lord Jesus Christ as we grow “from glory to glory.”
