Day 12: Pursue Holiness to Be Filled

Come Before Him in Worship: Pause and remember that the Father in heaven has done everything to break down the barrier between us and the power of sin in our lives. Praise him for his abiding presence through every season of your life. Thank him for the incredible gift of his Spirit in you and with you.

Reflect: Jesus calls us to obey him. He tells us that if we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). In this verse and the one cited above, we see the direct correlation between obedience and abiding in God. But God would not call us to something that he would not then come in power to help us achieve. Jesus came and by his death and resurrection broke the power of sin in our lives! Obviously, on this side of heaven, we will never be perfect, and this one requirement alone can be enough on certain days to make us lay down in defeat! Dear brother and sister, Jesus said, whoever sins is a slave to sin, (John 8:34), and he wants us free! Do not think that you are forever stuck in your addictions and the things that trip you up. We are more than conquerors through him who loves us! Confess your sins to him now (and daily!), the big and the small. Ask him to search your heart so that you can come completely clean before him. He tells us to confess our sins and he is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9). Do not doubt his faithfulness to you! With your whole heart, give him the things which have come between you. Maybe it is bitterness, unforgiveness, envy, divisions, idolatry, impurity, or anger. These are desires of the flesh and keep us from being filled with the Spirit of God. Ask him to make you willing to hand it all over, if you are not. If there is something in my house that I wish to have taken away, but it is too heavy for me, I call for help and say, “take this away.” Like this, God will help you in your weakness and cleanse you from all your uncleanness and idols (Ezek 36). Now ask him to achieve that surrender for you throughout the day. Jesus honors the heart that desires to be obedient and will come in the power of the Spirit to help. Trust his heart to set you free!

Respond in Prayer: Holy Spirit, I know that your call to obedience is also a call to freedom. Help me to believe that with my whole being. Show me the ways that I have not walked in holiness now. I confess and repent of these things, Lord, and ask you to help me pursue holiness in my heart today, especially with the things I most struggle to relinquish. I believe you when you say that you are giving me all of the strength, power, and victory that I need to walk through this life. Teach me how to receive your grace and find your help in all of my needs. I surrender to your love and will for my life again today.