Reflecting Holiness

Isaiah 40:3-5

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Many believers assume that God will do what He wants to do regardless of our participation. There is truth to that assumption, God’s purpose and desire will ultimately be fulfilled, but we can either hinder or assist God in bringing those purposes to pass. However, if we refuse to participate, we will miss the glory of God, be guilty of holding back the revelation of his glory, and the manifestation of His power will pass us by. God wants to do a new thing in our churches today, He has called us to participate, the only question that remains is will we know it?

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

God wants to manifest his power and reveal His glory in the earth, and God’s primary instrument of choice for this revelation is the church:

Ephesians 3:10

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

The Church is the venue for the display of God’s glory and power! David Knew the heart of God, David desired Gods power and glory to be manifested in the earth.

Psalm 63:1-2

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

This passage of Scripture shows us that to bring in the glory, we must experience the glory in the sanctuary. We must come before him in surrender to His holiness and allow Him to purify us. God will only trust a holy anointing to holy lives. When God was preparing to manifest His glory to the children of Israel, He required them to sanctify themselves, He required them to be holy.

Exodus 19:10-11

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

Joshua 3:5

And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

Here in Isaiah we see this process of preparation for the power and the glory of God. The valley is exalted, and the mountains and hills made low. This tells us, we must evaluate life from Gods perspective not our own, we must align our lives with His Word. That which has been ignored and neglected must be raised to its rightful place, and that which is magnified and glorified and exalted in pride and in self nature, must be brought down. The crooked places must be made straight. This way is to be made in the desert.

Crooked = bent, dishonest, fraudulent, deceitful, polluted, criminal.

Straight = Free from curves, bends, angles, Unmixed, having the elements in order.

Desert= Sterility

Isaiah 62:10

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

We were created for glory and God desires to manifest His divine power and glory through the church. There is the demand on the people of God to prepare the way of the Lord, to make the way of Jesus clear, and to lift people onto the highway of Holiness We have all been called to gather out the stones – those things that are offensive to the Holy Ghost and that hinder the work of God in the church. It is our responsibility as the church, to lift up a standard, and to distinguish clearly our connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. How you live matters! How you talk matters! What you wear matters! What you listen to matters! Holiness matters!

We are called to be a reflection of the God we say we love, and by doing so, His presence in us will overflow from us as springs of living water to a world that thirsts for something more than this life can offer them.

If we want to know if we are preparing the way for His glory or hindering the manifestation of His glory and power that the world needs, take a moment to see your reflection against the Word of God. Read it, meditate on it, and allow the Holy Ghost to show you the image that you portray to others. What do you see? The image of Jesus, or a reflection of the world around you? Now, make adjustments as needed, and "prepare ye the way of the Lord.”