Embracing Internal Holiness for Resilience and Strength

Father, we thank you right now, God, for your goodness, your mercy. We thank you right now, God, for all that you're doing. We ask, God, that you would help us tonight. God bless as only you can. Lord, we're going to give you all the glory and the honor in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's go ahead. Let's do that. All right. All right. We were looking and studying in our Bible studies on holiness. And so we wanted to take a look at internal holiness. And by giving ourselves to God. And when we say that internal holiness. We're really talking about a commitment, really serving God from the heart and wanting to give God our everything. [00:00:57] (35 seconds)


become a disciple of Christ for the rest of our lives, it begins to reshape how we think things. It reshapes how we do things. And so we, at one time, when you only have a little bit of religion and because you only want to do certain things and you only have, you know, so much you'll serve, you go to serve up to this point where you have to step out of your comfort zone or it's going to require more effort from you. You know, it means people don't want to go that route. But when you just have a little bit of religion, just that easy religion, it causes you to be tossed to and fro with every word or doctrine that comes around. And so people say something and you don't know the difference. And so you start believing that someone else says something and you go that next, you know, people saying, I don't know what to think because they have no ground. They're not grounded in God. They're not rooted and grounded in God's word. And so when you begin to really give yourself to God and eternal holiness and really strengthen yourself, it gives you that center. It gives you that anchor that you need in your mind so that as you begin to go forward, you're able to have a more stable mind. You're able to give yourself to what God wants you to do. And because you're anchored in Jesus, you no longer have all these susceptible times of being susceptible to anger, anxieties, fear, because why? You believe in God. You're anchored in God. And you said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. Because you believe in God, you're able to hold on to his hand spiritually and you're able to continue going through every single problem that you have to deal with. So we're talking tonight about how that the holiness, the pursuit [00:04:41] (85 seconds)


The Word of God says in Psalms 27, verse 14, wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart. And so the more we allow God to strengthen our heart, the more we're able to do what God wants us to do, the more we're able to stay focused and keep on going. Sometimes when we deal with people, they fall apart under the lethal thing. Somebody says something they don't like, or maybe somebody says something against them, or someone does something, and next thing you know, the whole world is falling apart. That's because they're not emotionally stable. They don't really have that firm foundation. But as you really begin to seek the face of God and really give yourself to internal holiness, then you begin to have that firm foundation. And that's when you begin to have that firm foundation. More of emotional resilience. And so if somebody says something to you or about you, you don't have to fall apart. You're able to keep on going. If you may not have everything that you want for Christmas, you're still able to say, thank you, Jesus, for down on the cross for me. The more you really give yourself to God, the more you're able to keep on going. And so when we have this internal holiness, it's not so much that we're trying to be perfect. We're just trying to be closer to God. I know a lot of times when we talk about holiness, people think about the external holiness. And I did say, the more of God you have on the inside, the more it shows on the outside. So that is true. But that's not saying that we have to [00:06:31] (79 seconds)


look and act a certain way, and then we're holy. Holiness means on the inside, first and foremost, I want more of God. I want to be a disciple of God. And the more you begin to do that, it's not about, I want to seem to the world as being perfect. It's just, I just want to be close to God. I want to be in his presence. And so the more we walk in holiness, the more we are committing ourselves to God in a firm foundation, if you will, our strong relationship with God, we want to begin to really work on some things in our life. Just like a psychologist, many times they'll begin to probe your life and try to help you develop strategies to overcome things in life. So it is when you begin to walk with God, God gives you strategies to help you continually stay in your journey and stay with God. In fact, I've always taught, and I really believe it, it should still be a constant thrill to serve God. It was a thrill when we got saved, when God washed away your sins, when you got filled with the Holy Spirit, the first time you get healed, the first time you pray for a financial blessing. And that blessing came in. It was exciting. And serving God gets sweeter and sweeter every single day. So now, the more you serve God and the closer you get to him, you become so emotionally resilient. You want to serve God. You know you're going to have bad times. You already know you're going to have situations, but it's something about it. I'm ready to serve God for the rest of my life. It really helps you to bounce back from hardships. [00:09:08] (78 seconds)


Many years ago, I remember when my first church was in Regina, St. Louis, Missouri. In North St. Louis, we had a little storefront church and we used to have fellowship meetings with all the churches there in Missouri. And so different ones would take turns coming. I remember they were all coming to my place one day. It was a Saturday for a fellowship meeting. And on the way to the fellowship meeting at our place in the little storefront, the brother that was supposed to preach got into a really bad accident, a car accident. And it really totaled his van. He really, you know, could not drive anymore. He had to get somebody to drive him from the accident. He had to do all the police report and all that stuff to get to the church. And then he got up and started preaching. And he said, you know what? God's good. My wife's okay. I'm okay. And I'm not going to let a piece of metal stop me from worshiping God. And he just preached. And we had a good time. We were shouting and dancing, having a good time. You know, it's because of that walk with God, some things that used to just lay us out for days, no longer able to impact us to that degree. Why? Because we know God's with us and God says he's going to be there for us. And so therefore, you would know no matter what. I go through, he's going to be holding me up in his right hand. So when we begin to really seek that internal holiness. [00:09:48] (75 seconds)


we become more emotionally resilient. Now, as you walk with God and as you begin to really seek the face of God and really begin to really look at God in a way that I want to serve God, I'm not just here on Sunday morning fulfilling my time in some religious activity, but I truly want to serve God. The more you serve God, the more by the power of God it lowers your defenses against anxiety. So here's what it says. Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he's trusted in thee. We have our anxieties of life. Things happen. And as we are having things hit us, we're able to hold on to God, hold up in the shield of faith, and really we're able to keep that perfect peace. [00:10:56] (47 seconds)


Anxiety often arises when people are trying to handle all their burdens all by themselves. And so as people go through life, they're trying to do everything all by themselves. And we learn very quickly that we have to learn to trust in God, hold on to His hand, hold on to what God has given to us. It says, trust all, cast all your care upon Him because He cares for you. And so the more we begin to give ourselves to God, even though we may feel that constant pressure of life, we're able to continue on and do what God wants us to do. So ask yourself, how much are you trying to do by yourself and how much do you invite God into your life so that God can help you and God can guide and direct you? God really, truly wants to walk with you. From the very beginning, you see in the Garden of Avid, God wanted to have that relationship with man. God still wants to have that relationship with you. So when you're going through your battles, that's not a time to leave God and revert back and hide in your apartment and don't do anything. That's not a time to leave God and revert back and hide in your apartment and don't talk to anybody for days. [00:12:32] (56 seconds)


Holiness, it involves engagement. It requires us to step out of our comfort zone, not just say, I'm a Christian, raise up your hands and say, I'm a Christian, but it really requires us to show up and to be what God wants us to be. No matter how things may be going on around about us, no matter what kind of situation you get going on in the family, you do what God's called you to do. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes people tell me when I'm going through so much hard time, I just want to be in church. I got other things. I got to take care of. I got to do this. I got to do that. And you know what? I'll get back to serving God. And I just look at him. How are you going to get back to serving God? [00:17:15] (33 seconds)


He's supposed to be your God in the good times and the bad. He's either the Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. So you've got to make up your mind. Are you in? Are you out? And so many times people want to have this little bit of Christianity and they want to run around all scary, like a little rabbit trying to find things. But you have to make up your mind. Serve God. Engage in God. Prayer. Bible reading. [00:18:31] (24 seconds)