Cleansing and Purifying the Highway of Holiness in our Hearts

Luke 3:4-5

^4 “Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!
⁵ The valleys will be filled,
    and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
    and the rough places made smooth.
⁶ And then all people will see
    the salvation sent from God.” NLT

This is an interesting time for many in the Church in which some people in Christ`s body are starting to go through a season that seems not too pleasant, but is very necessary. It is a season of allowing the Lord to do greater works in them so He can take them to higher levels in Him that will help them see Him in a new and more accurate way and will also help them see themselves the way He sees them. This takes a purging and cleansing that brings the mountains of fleshly works that were not birthed out of His Spirit to be made flat, the valleys of fear based works to be shaken so they can be filled with true worship, every crooked place will be made straight and the rough places will be made smooth. This is God intended to bring us to higher levels of righteousness and  holiness where God can come and show forth His goodness and His glory in us in order to demonstrate in us what He wants to do through us in the lives of those He has called us to influence for His glory alone.

Isaiah 35:8 says, “And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.” NLT

The ways of the world that have greatly influenced us require a removal of that mindset that is contrary to God`s character and ways of doing things and have kept us from being truly obedient to His Word because we want to have control of our circumstances and reject the process God has prescribed for us to be cleansed and purified.  The steadfast yielding and surrender that we must give to God is contrary to the ways of the world which says that the pride of life, the lust of the eye, and the lust of the flesh are more important than giving ourselves in surrender so we can become true worshipers who worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Also, as mentioned in other posts, this takes a shaking and uprooting of the things that were not born of God´s  Spirit and out of eternity not only in our generation but in previous generations that became our normal way of thinking and living, but God by His Spirit shakes them off of our foundations so they can be replaced with the eternal things that are born out of His Spirit not only for us, but for generations to come so that not only us, but our descendants can learn the true ways of God and of His Kingdom and make them their standard of living in every area of their lives.

In addition, we have heard that judgment starts in the house of God (us the temple of the Holy Spirit) and many people are afraid of that word but what it really is, is a restitution to the reverent fear of the Lord that causes us to not want to miss His pathway for the reverent fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and true knowledge of God (Proverbs 9:10). This also brings us to learn to be truly dependent on God with a type of dependence that makes Him our first and utmost necessity and requirement for apart from Him we can do nothing (John 5:30, 15:5).

Furthermore, the process that God has prescribed for us to come to higher levels of righteousness and holiness will bring us to a more intentional and conscious walk after the Spirit that gives us the hunger and thirst to know more of His higher thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8) and a deeper establishment of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in us. God has made us many wonderful promises, but He also commands us to seek first, His Kingdom and live in righteousness (right standing with Him) and then the things He has spoken over our lives will be added on to us (Matthew 6:33). The bigger the promise the higher levels of righteousness and holiness are required of us for to whom much is given also much is required of him.

Luke 12:48 says it this way in the New Living Translation version, “But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”

Therefore, there is a way God is requiring for us to allow Him to come to cleanse and purify us. It is found in 2 Chronicles 29:3 which says, “In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord [which his father had closed] and repaired them.” AMP

This passage speaks of King Hezekiah who opened the doors of the temple (in our case the doors of our hearts and our lives) in surrender and consecration, being set apart for the works He wants to do in us so He can later do them through us. At this moment, the areas where He wants to manifest through us are in great need of being repaired so the enemy cannot come to use our wounded hearts and lives to manifest his abominations found in Proverbs 6:16-19 which explains that,

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates—
    no, seven things he detests:
¹⁷ haughty eyes,
    a lying tongue,
    hands that kill the innocent,
¹⁸ a heart that plots evil,
    feet that race to do wrong,
¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies,
    a person who sows discord in a family. NLT

Allowing God to work in us the process prescribed for our lives and in accordance to His plan and purpose for us will also bring out of us the standard of Christ for these end-times. Therefore, in order to go to higher levels of righteousness and holiness we must consecrate (set our lives apart) to make what is important to God to also be important to us. This begins with restoring the worship of God that has not been the way of a true worshiper that removes defilement and helps us be cleansed and purified of the influence of the ruler of this world, the antichrist and its religion, mammon worship, and the control and manipulation of Jezebel. To God alone be all the glory. © 2015