Part of my French language education included a three-week immersion program at LSU during the summer. I was petrified as I unloaded my luggage in front of a dormitory filled with strangers from around the world. I came within a breath of changing my mind about staying in a place I could speak only French when the instructor told us we had to even "dream in French." However, those three weeks turned out to be the most productive time I've ever invested in my language skills and by the end of the program, I couldn't remember the English word for suitcase. Setting apart three weeks to hear and speak only French helped me achieve a greater fluency than I ever imagined I could achieve without leaving the United States. Immersion taught me what the mind can do when focused on one goal.
God calls us to set aside time to immerse ourselves in His Presence and focus on Jesus. "Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest." (Heb. 3:1) Sarah Young's entry in Jesus Calling today begins with "Take time to be holy." Holiness isn't a garment we can put on and take off, it's an internal lifestyle. It isn't a stained-glass voice, a hellfire and brimstone sermon or a resume filled with good deeds. Holiness takes shape as we dedicate our hearts, minds, souls and time to God for His transforming purposes within us, His temple. Immersing ourselves in God's Presence does the following:
*Fosters our emotional and physical healing;
*Opens the way for God to bless us with every good gift He's prepared for us;
*Cleanses us as God's temples so He can do "more than all we ask or imagine;"
*Unites our hearts with God's Will;
*Strengthens our faith and fills us with God's Peace;
As we focus on Him, His holiness pours out of our lives, setting us apart from the world. Maybe the reason Christmas has the potential to bring out the best in us is because we set a season apart from the rest of the year to focus on Jesus.
Holy Spirit, fill us with the desire to spend as much time as possible in Your Presence. Override every other pull. Help us dedicate ourselves to experiencing You and show specific ways to focus on You. We're already Your holy people; help us live up to who You've called us to be today. Make the most of this Christmas in our hearts and in the ways Your holiness pours out of us into those around us. We love and praise You Lord!
In the name of Jesus, the Centerpiece of the Season!
Take Time to Be Holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word:
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone:
By looking to Jesus like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy guide,
And run not before Him whatever betide;
In joy or in sorrow still follow thy Lord,
And looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul;
Each tho't and each motive beneath His control;
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou shalt be fitted for service above.
Words by William D. Longstaff
"on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." 2 Thessalonians 1:10
"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple." Psalm 27:4
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"1 Corinthians 6:19
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,"Ephesians 3:20
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