Simple Techniques For Holy Living

Photo credit: cgmnetwork.org

In Genesis 1 we understood that God carried out creation. He made everything in the world today and He said "It was good". Everything God had made was good and in its perfect shape. 

In the course of history, something took place. Adam and his wife, Eve whom God placed in the garden of Eden were deceived by Satan, the devil into disobeying God's instructions.

By disobeying God, the devil was able to introduce sin into God's perfect creation consequentially soiling God's creation which gave rise to the various ills we see in the world today.

The introduction of sin meant that every offspring of Adam and Eve was condemned to eternal death and damnation even before being born because .. the wages of sin is death.. (Romans 6:23). We were all condemned to eternal death by virtue of the sin of Adam and Eve.

God been merciful decided to redeem man and so He sent His son, Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world. Jesus' death paid the price we needed to pay to avoid eternal death. Hence the concluding part of Romans 6:23 reads

... but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus

Glory Hallelujah!!!

We are no longer condemned since Jesus has paid the price for our redemption.

We understand that there are two places of abode after our temporal stay on the earth; heaven and hell. 

Hell is a place prepared for the devil and his angels and all who do not believe in Jesus, the son of God. It is a place of pains, anguish, torment, agony, and burning sulphur.

Heaven on the other hand is a place of comfort, joy, peace, and happiness. The abode of God and the celestial beings were all the saints of God shall stay forever when they exit this earth.

The similarity between these two places; heaven and hell is that they are places of eternal stay i.e we are all going to stay in any of these two places and our stay has no end.

Believers have been enjoined to live holy lives primarily because it is our ticket to the most preferred eternal abode, heaven. No sinner can enter into the kingdom of God. Only holy people can make it to heaven.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: – Hebrews 12:14

The requirement for making heaven is holy living. To not make heaven is the worst thing that can happen to any man. Hell is so not a place to be in. Looking at my description of hell I am sure you wouldn't want to end up in such a place to spend the rest of your life. Would you? Certainly Not!
Holiness must be our watchword to avoid the fires of hell.

Without doubt, living a holy life in our day and time can be very demanding. I won't deny the fact that considering the present state of the world, the demands of holiness are too daunting. With the increase in immorality, perversion, moral decadence, corruption and the several other ills which besets the world, staying holy is hardly desirous let alone upheld.

As much as it seems hard to live a holy life, it is not impossible. Mind you, it has never been easy to live holy in the world. If Joseph could stay holy in Egypt.
If Daniel stayed holy in a place as corrupt as Babylon.
If Noah was found and approved of God as a holy man when everyone in the world was sinful.
Then we have no excuse at all. Notice that these men I mentioned didn't have the access to the Word of God like we do neither did they have the Spirit of God. We have these hence we are completely inexcusable.

The focus of this article is to show you simple techniques you can apply to stay holy. Let me say this again, you can live a holy life even when everyone around you seem to have dedicated themselves to sin.

TECHNIQUE #1: Understand Your Posture In The Spirit

The realization of where you stand as a believer would greatly influence your decision to stay holy. When I understood my posture and stance in the Spirit it cautioned me whenever I was tempted to yield my members to sin.

Read the following scriptures and notice the emphasis... 

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, BEFORE WHOM I STAND, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word – 1 Kings 17:1

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. – Psalms 19:14

The scriptures above shows our posture in the Spirit. We are standing before God. If you're standing before God and you truly fear Him and you're aware He hates iniquity you would never want to sin.

If you're tempted to commit fornication and you remember you're standing before God you wouldn't do it. If your heart is filled with immoral thoughts and you recall that the meditations of your heart are before God you will purge your heart from such thoughts.

If the consciousness of where you stand is in you, you would never want to indulge in any sinful act thereby making holiness your code of conduct.

TECHNIQUE #2: Watch Your Association 

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. – 1 Corinthians 15:33

The persons who you constantly relate with have the wherewithal to channel the course of your life. Your association could be the reason why you are unable to live holy. 

When I repented, I struggled to live holy but the more I tried the more I failed.
Then I started to disconnecting myself from certain friends. Even though it was painful, I look back and I am glad I did.

Prophet Isaiah when he encountered God screamed in Isaiah 6;

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

This man was a prophet yet because he pitched his tent with men of unclean lips he soon became a prophet with unclean lips. Your association has the potency of shaping your life. Although a prophet, Isaiah had unclean lips on the strength of his association.

Apostle Paul warns 

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? – 2 Cor 6:14

You can't continually be in the midst of sinners and expect to live a holy life. I may not be here today if I had not forcefully disconnected from some friends. Show me your friends and I would tell you your destination either hell or heaven.

If your friend is a fornicator be sure that by your continual followership of that friend will end you in the fires of Hell. Am I preaching discrimination??  Not at all. But while you associate with them remember that your association determines your destination.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. – 2 Cor 6:17

TECHNIQUE #3: Be Careful Of The Things You See and Hear

If you would live holy you must place strict discipline on your eyes and ears, watching the things which you see and hear.

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? – Job 31:1 

This sort of covenant Job made is the kind we have to make in order to live holy. We ought not to listen to certain songs, watch certain movies or look upon certain photos.
If we are careless about what we see and hear, we place our heart in a disadvantaged position and in that position our hearts are quick to wander away into sin.

I remember how watching a romantic movie nearly got me into an immoral relationship. Strict caution and discipline must be placed on our sight and hearing. 

The more you keep listening to the lyrics of that love song the more your soul would long for love because that's what the song is suggesting to it.
The more you watch movies with a strong sex and romance theme the more vulnerable you would become in fighting the temptation of fornication.

Fill your mind only with that which brings you closer to God and strengthens your Christian faith. Run away from songs and movies that seeks to point you away from holiness and holy living.

TECHNIQUE #4: Meditate On Scriptures

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" – Psalms 119:11

The word of God is a potent tool for helping us to live holy. David in the scripture above gives voice to the fact that in order for someone not to fall into sin, such a person must have hidden the word of God sufficiently in his/her heart.

When God's word is firmly established in your heart it has the ability to keep you from falling into sin. The only way with which you can hide God's word in your heart so that it can keep you from falling into sin is by meditating on the word.

The prescribed dose for meditating on the word is found in Psalms 1:2

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate DAY AND NIGHT"

Meditation on the word must be a frequent phenomenon in a believer's life. For God's word to bear the potency of keeping you from falling into sin you would need to meditate daily.

TECHNIQUE #5: Yield To Much Prayers

Dr. Paul Enenche wrote in his book "Principles and Power of Prayers" that "Prayers keep you from sin as much as sin keeps you from prayers". 

Prayers inject you with immunity to assist you in fighting sin. The fire from the place of prayer insulates you from sin.

Sometime in June, 2019 due to the constraints of my lecture schedule, my prayer time was greatly affected. In that period I noticed I was more and more comfortable around sin-prone areas. 

If anything should stop in your life it must never be prayers. Prayer is indispensable.

Prayer is a tool for survival and if you must live a holy life you must yield to prayers.

These techniques would surely help us stay away from sin even as we await the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

If you're not saved, now is not the right time to be unsaved. Click HERE immediately.

I'd love to hear from you. Tell me how this blog has blessed you and assisted your Christian journey. Get in touch with me via gospelcaster@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!