Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for being such a wonderful Father. You are holy, and Your righteousness, glory, and honor endure forever. There is none like You, and Your power and authority are unmatched. You have chosen us to be Your children of light. It is an unfathomable privilege, and we are so incredibly thankful. You tell us in Ephesians 1:4(NLT), “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” You want us to live our lives in holiness, but sometimes we miss the mark, Heavenly Father. We do the very things You have told us in Your Word not to do. We allow our emotions to rule us, and we allow our hearts to be unguarded and filled with sin and negativity. Please forgive us for this, Father.
We can be very stubborn people, determined to ignore Your Will for the sake of pursuing our own wills. We want to do the things that we think will bring our flesh pleasure, and this will get us into lots of trouble. Choosing to honor our relationship with You over our desires to please the flesh demonstrates that we are Your children. But when we do the opposite, when we indulge the sins of the flesh and choose to make decisions that do not honor You, we are going in the opposite direction of Your love and Will for our lives.
When we are obstinate and abandon Your way, You do not leave us to fend for ourselves. Instead, You teach us the right way through Your discipline and correction. Hebrews 12:5-8(NIV) says, “6 My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.”
None of us want to be disciplined and corrected, because it doesn’t feel good, especially when You show us a mirror of our ugliest flaws. Correction can be very uncomfortable and embarrassing at times, and we may find ourselves sinking into condemnation, but that is not the point of Your discipline. You tell us in Hebrews 12:10-11(NIV), “10 God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Holiness is Your goal for every one of Your children, and we all must be trained to live according to it. You are correcting us out of Your pure love. Please help us to realize this, Heavenly Father. You want us to share an eternity with You, and this requires that we have a clean heart and a right spirit.
You help us through Your Holy Spirit, who lovingly shows us the right way to go. He helps us to open our eyes so that we will release our bad attitudes, behaviors, thoughts and deeds. We must not make excuses when we fall short of Your grace, and we must not allow bitter roots of sinfulness to rule our lives. Instead, we must cling to You and Your Word, because this is our salvation. You have made us a part of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, and we must be ever so thankful that we can worship You in Spirit and in truth. Thank You for loving us so intensely, for Hebrews 12:29 tells us that Your love for us is a consuming fire. It purifies us, and through Christ You have paved the way for us to live holy. In the powerful name of Jesus Christ and in the name of the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
“Living Holy Before God”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.