More on Holiness

By David Hobbs, New Year's Day, 2015

Heb. 12:14--Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord [NKJV].

It’s amazing how blasé the church is about holiness, considering the importance the Bible puts upon it. I hear very few sermons preached on it, and very little emphasis seems to be placed on it. Jesus said almost the same thing in the Sermon on the Mt.:

Mt. 5:8--Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God  [KJV].

People just zero in on “by grace I’m saved through faith,” and that becomes all that matters—their ticket to heaven! Then why does the Bible bother giving us scriptures like this one in Hebrews, even telling us we need to pursue peace and holiness—strive after them—because they are a necessary part of our seeing God? Sadly, the church seems happy to stress the parts of God’s Word it likes, and ignore the rest!

I had an experience with the Lord once that showed me more about these verses. I was at my old church in its previous sanctuary praying in the middle of the night. The room has a vaulted ceiling, which goes up about 20 feet. As I was walking around praying, it was as if the room became a pool of clear water that I was walking through along the bottom.  He made me to understand that this was like a human life: it had a top, a bottom, and depths that might not be readily visible from above. This concept finds support in Proverbs in the Bible. Prov. 18:4 says “the words of a man’s mouth are deep waters [NIV],” and Prov. 20:5 says “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out [NKJV].”

Holiness and purity are like clear water all the way to the bottom. But most people have murkiness somewhere down inside: doubts, fears, insecurities, unresolved issues, guilt, selfish desires, etc. All these cloud the water of their lives. Though on the surface the water is clear and they seem just fine, if you ever penetrate their depths by getting to know them in a deeper way, at some point you will encounter this dark murkiness. "Hm, Sister Suzie has issues," we tell ourselves.

Some people’s lives are more than murky; they can be turbulent with strong underlying currents that swirl around and bring up all kinds of mud and debris from the depths. Like the prophet says in Isa. 57:20-21 [KJV]:

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Another thing I saw: The murkiness in the depths hides doors to the demonic underworld. These are the access points the enemy can use to come through and sabotage our lives and use us for his purposes. An unresolved hurt from the past, for instance, can provide a door to demonic anger to come forth against those we otherwise love. 

Our lives can look clear and peaceful, but the pressure from a trial can muddy our waters with impatience, frustration and anxiety and we lose our peace.

A little self-indulgence and laziness in King David’s life stirred up a hidden, muddy, lust problem that opened the door to the enemy and before it was over, David had committed adultery, treachery, lying, deceit and murder. No wonder he cries out in Psalm 139:23-24 [NIV]:

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

And in Psalm 19:12-13 he says:

But who can discern their own errors?  Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

“Search the waters of my life; bring to light any hidden places of murkiness and sin where the enemy can lurk and wait for the right moment of temptation. May I be clear through and through.”

Clear water is a perfect transmitter of light. And it’s the light of the Lord that He wants shining through us to the world. Any muddiness of sin blocks the flow of light. John Worldyman can’t see Jesus in us when we’re screaming at our kids or cutting him off in traffic because we’re late to our prayer meeting!

But what a glorious thing it was that night to contemplate a life clear all the way to the bottom with no hidden depths, no alligators hiding in the mud ready to rise up and grab the unsuspecting swimmer.  There was a great peace about it: a serenity and security.

The Bible says of Jesus in Heb. 7:26 that He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens.” Part of Jesus’ holiness was that He was harmless, and that’s the way we should be too. No hidden shoals or whirlpools the unsuspecting can get sucked into—just clear, placid water from top to bottom. Then not only can we see God, but others can too, through us!

My Christmas Wish

By David Hobbs, Christmas of 2014

Everybody’s allowed a Christmas wish, right? My Christmas wish to the Lord is that He would grant me to communicate to one soul the meaning of God’s holiness so that they connect with it.  If you are reading this, pray that you might be the one, because it’s the most precious revelation.

Luke recounts the story where Jesus went to eat at a Pharisee’s house. Though Christ was treated cavalierly by His host, one woman of scandalous reputation approached Him weeping, washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, then kissed and anointed them with fragrant oil (Luke 7:37-38).

There is something about the holiness of God, the forgiveness of sin, His overflowing love and electrifying presence that can intertwine in the most precious revelation. We don’t have a word big enough to describe  it,  something ike the holovpresness of God. Very few in the Bible, even in Jesus’ day, seemed to receive the fullness of this revelation. But this woman did. And Martha’s sister Mary did when she refused to give up her place at Jesus’ feet in order to wait tables [Luke 10:38-42].  She confirms it shortly thereafter when John records her breaking an alabaster box of very costly perfume and pouring it on Jesus’ feet [John 12:3] (Mark’s gospel says on His head [Mark 14:3]). is holiness

            Jesus hinted at it when He talked about the man who found a treasure in a field that was so valuable he went and sold everything he had in order to buy that field. Speaking of Himself, He said He was greater than Solomon, the richest and wisest man of his day, and greater than Jonah, who brought an entire evil kingdom to its knees with a one-sentence message. In fact, the Bible has so much to say about the greatness of Jesus that words can’t convey it. (Especially since words go to the head as intellectual knowledge, which falls far short.)

But these women understood it at the heart level, where it changed their lives forever! None of the disciples were recorded as having that deep a level of understanding, though they certainly had enough to follow Jesus wherever He went. But these humble women … it’s like they were immersed in His holiness, washed through and through by His purity, saturated by His love and forgiveness which coursed through their beings in glorious waves that words could not express.

            There is a little country church not far from here that I’ve never been to. But a friend who has tells me that whenever the pianist begins to play, a spirit of weeping comes over the congregation, including him. It’s as if the holiness of God invades the room, and weeping is the only possible response.

            I was in a prayer meeting last week where they put on some background music: a CD with just a piano playing. It was so beautiful and worshipful that I had a similar response—I was overcome by tears. It was a revelation of the inexpressible beauty of God.

            The Bible says that if we seek God we will find Him if we search for Him with all our hearts. As Christians we pray a lot, usually asking for things. But how many have sought the Lord until He came with a revelation of Himself like these women received? How many have prayed and asked Jesus to reveal Himself in His holiness, His absolute purity, His beauty and forgiveness that breaks their hearts in adoring love? That makes them like the man in the parable, willing to sell all they have if they could only buy the field containing this revelation?

That’s my Christmas wish—that there would be at least one person out there reading this who would seek the Lord until they connect with His holiness, until they are overcome by His love--until their life is ruined for anything but seeking more of Him.

Passing Through the Valley of Weeping

By David Hobbs

Are you in the Valley of Weeping? If I asked that to a crowd of Christians, I’m sure many hands would go up. The struggles of life seem endless at times—health issues, relationship struggles with children, spouse or parents, job crises, financial setbacks, tragic accidents… the list goes on and on. 

 I had 10 years of personal revival in my life, many experiences of which I chronicled in this blog and in my book Walking in the Spirit. But then to my dismay the revival ended, my marriage hit the rocks, my health was staggered… I entered the Valley of Weeping and have been there for the last 3 ½ years. 

 Recently the Holy Spirit gave me a passage that greatly encouraged me—Psalm 84. It’s all good, but verses 5-7 especially lifted me. Verse 5 starts out, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you.” It’s good when you enter the Valley of Weeping to be strong in the Lord. Otherwise it might destroy whatever faith you do have and leave your life shipwrecked. If you’re not in a crisis now, strengthen your faith so you will be ready when they come. 

Hebrews 6:18-19 talks about what the psalmist is referring to here, “that … we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil….” When we enter that desolate valley, we need to have lines of hope anchored to the very throne of God. 

What are we talking about here? What are these lines of hope? The surety of our salvation through Christ’s blood on the cross, the knowledge that He will make all things work together for good to those who love Him, the faithfulness of all His promises, like “Surely I am with you always, even unto the end of the age,” and “He always leads us about in triumph in Christ.” "Though sorrows may last for the night, joy comes in the morning." 

James puts it well (Jas. 1:2-4): “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

But after we enter into that Valley, there is another key many people miss: Ps. 84:5—“Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
 whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” The Valley of weeping is a place we are passing through with our hearts set on pilgrimage. We know we are not stopping here, and we know where we are going. 

 Some people act like the Valley of Weeping is their destiny, and they weep and cry and roll around in the muddy swamp of their misery. Their error? Their hearts were not set on pilgrimage. They came to believe that this valley was their lot in life, that it will always be this way. 

 There was a time I found myself thinking this way. But one day I realized that David, whose many, severe trials we can trace through the Psalms, was brought through and out of every single one by God. Though his trial of fleeing from Saul seemed to go on forever—certainly many years—yet the time came when he passed out of that Valley of Weeping and assumed the throne he had been promised. No trial can last forever! But our faith in God can. So we need to set our hearts on pilgrimage. 

What then is our final destination? Where are we going? Psalm 84 has the answer to this too, which really jumped out at me. Verse 7--“They go from strength to strength,
 till each appears before God in Zion.” That’s our final destination—God Himself. In the Valley of Weeping it is often hard to feel His presence; He seems very far away! But we’re not going to stop until we are in His presence for good! And you can bet there isn’t a trial in existence that can follow us into that presence! 

 We may be in the Valley of Weeping now, but we’re not staying there. Our pilgrimage may take us into many such valleys along the path of life, as it did for David, but God delivered him out of them all. And He will do the same for us. Don’t stop! Don’t falter until you appear before God in Zion. Then your trials, and your journey will be over! “In His presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”