Category Archives: Definitions

Pursuing Holiness

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My momma used to say something like this: “Watch who you hang with, where you go and what you do. Remember your reputation. You want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror when you wake up.” My momma’s words did help me to choose my friends wisely, for the most part (’cause y’all know I got some male scallywags that I want to remain in my closet). But as a maverick, I would go just about anywhere and try just about anything because I wanted to give the testimony and not hear from any witnesses. But the scars from this type of strong black woman existence are still with me, and I made up my mind that I have enough war wounds to share the course of another’s lifetime. My mother’s advice brought me a long way, but God’s Word is what now keeps me along my way.

I told you I wasn’t going to give you a list of do’s and don’ts, but I will list areas of holiness and some criteria that you should consider when accessing your involvement in these areas:

    • People you hang with (Friends)
    • Places you go (Facilities, like social gathering spots)
    • Pursuits you plan (Future, like a career and education goals
    and material items)
    • Passions you have (Fancies, like hobbies and community involvement)

As I searched the Scriptures (see below), what I find I could sum up as this: Because your friends have a great influence in your life, make sure you choose those who have your back, won’t gossip about you, try to influence you to do wrong, compete with you or think they are better than you, and will guide you away from places that have a reputation for being evil, help you pursue God’s will for your life and encourage you to find pleasure in God more than anything else. These are people seeking to walk in holiness and the type you should choose as friends. This is also the type of person you should seek to be as a friend. This is what I got from God’s Word. As you consider walking in holiness in relation to your friends, facilities, future and fancies, you probably won’t get anything much different than what I have summarized. But, please, let the scriptures govern your choices. Here are some to consider:

Friends: John 15:13; Proverbs 17:9; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Philippians 2:3;
2 Corinthians 6:14
Facilities: 1 Thessalonians 5:22
Future: 2 Corinthians 6:14; James 4:13-16
Fancies: 1 Timothy 6:8-10; 1 John 2:15-16

I am interested in hearing about your choice in friends, facilities, and future and fancies pursuits. Write me back so the conversation continues.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Understanding Holiness

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You ever been accused of acting holier than thou? Well, I have, maybe not quite in those words, but old friends have wondered why I don’t do what I used to do, go where I used to go and say what I used to say. “That’s just not what I do anymore. God has really changed me,” I say, playing it safe when really the response should be “I’m trying to live holy.” But that sounds so rigid, so legalistic, so holy. Nonetheless, holiness is what God calls us to. His call to holiness is not for us to think we’re better than others so we shun them, and it’s not to set us up for others to shun us. God says, “Be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16) to indicate to us why holiness is important.

Holiness is important because when you set yourself apart from what others are doing so God can use you, others will know that there is a power at work in your life other than you. When people acknowledge this power, we can’t just stop at saying, “God has really changed me.” We must give details about this change, to be a witness of the power of Jesus Christ in our lives. Holiness is to point others to Jesus Christ—not to you—so they have a relationship with God and can, too, walk in holiness. You are not the focus of holiness; God is the focus of holiness. “Be ye holy, for I am holy” is like God is saying, “In order for you to represent me to a world that needs the hope that only I can give, you must be like me.” 2 Corinthians 5:20 bears this out: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Others will be reconciled to God when we are holy, when we are the salt and light He tells us to be to an unsavory and dark world. We must be holy for our sakes, for the world’s sake, for Christ’s sake.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Holy Vision

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“I go to a sanctified church,” my neighbor Tommy would say, as he went to double beat clapping and alternate foot stomping while singing a song that his choir performed. “We be jammin’.” And as a girl I longed to go to his church to see his sanctified choir in action, but I knew I had to wear a long dress, and I didn’t have any long dresses, and it would also be hard for me to look somber like his plain-faced mother and sisters did. They looked so serious, I guess about God. I asked my mother what a sanctified church was and she told me about some of their practices, but all I remember is “the women have to wear long dresses and little or no makeup, especially red lipstick and nail polish.” As a young lover of fashion and makeup, I knew I couldn’t go to a sanctified church. I would have to settle for my Methodist one.

You may have heard of sanctified churches too, and maybe, like me, you thought they were a part of the sanctified denomination. But age and wisdom helped me to understand that there is no sanctified denomination and that all Christian churches should have sanctified, or holy, people, those whose hearts yearn to be like God.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that we are gods, with a little “g,” but God, through Jesus Christ, has called Christians to work in His behalf while we are on the earth (2 Corinthians 5:20). In order to do this, you have to set yourself apart from a human agenda and align yourself to God for His use. This is being sanctified (sanctification); this is being holy. This does have something to do with music, makeup and clothes because sanctification has everything to do with your behavior that emanates from a pure heart (1 Peter 1:13-23).

So the vision of a holy woman is one who exchanges her desires and other people’s agendas for her so she can clearly be aligned with Christ and able to accomplish His mission. Depending on the woman, this may affect your choice in music and the way you wear your makeup and clothes. Most likely your heart’s desire will demonstrate who has your attention—you and the world or God. But know this: sanctification is an ongoing process, one we don’t complete until we go to heaven. So be encouraged if you can’t seem to shake that hoochie in you; keep seeking God and eventually that hoochie will shake you loose.

By Rhonda J. Smith copyright 2009

Lover of God-Hater of Men

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He was a lover of God and a hater of men, at least he claimed one and seemed to be the other, the guy on the Christian call-in radio show about would you as a Christian accept a free Koran.
“Hi, what’s your name and city?”
“Rhonda; Detroit.”
“Do you want to be on air with Paul?”
“Sure.”
“Wasalakasumko.”
“Pardon me?”
“Wasalekeselee. Oh, whatever.”
Silence. I couldn’t believe my ears. The guy sounded like he was trying to say “Alsalaam alakum,” the Muslim greeting “Peace be upon you,” but for whatever reason I am not sure. What I do know was that I was offended. Maybe the raspyness of my ancestral blue notes or the urban bite of my saying Detroit led him to believe that I was black (right) and led him to believe that I was a black Muslim (wrong). I’m not sure what was going on in his head, but I know what went on in mine.

Here was a Christian on a Christian radio show seemingly making fun of Muslims. And the nerve of him to stereotype, then act like he was trying to relate, then get the word wrong and then be rude. His attempt at “connecting” the Christian and the Muslim was ill conceived at best and planned to offend at worst. This supposed lover of God didn’t fear God because if he had he wouldn’t have chosen to belittle another of God’s creations and even use coarse jesting to do so. His behavior led me as a Christian who is black and a woman to sum up how a God fearing strong Christian woman should be, and that’s loving to everyone, not just other Christians.

I know what I’m saying isn’t groundbreaking, but love is the key that so many have lost so doors remain not just closed but locked. Sure, I could give you a list of do’s and don’ts; if you want that check out Galatians 5:19-25 and Ephesians 4:22-32. But you won’t be able to actually fear God until you hate what God hates and love what God loves, and you can only do that with a change of heart.

So to be God fearing you must 1) want the mind of Christ (Phil 2:4-5) and 2) ask God to search your heart for what’s evil in it so your mind and heart correlate and your actions will follow (Psalm 139:23-24; Matthew 12:34). In this way you will be on your way to parlaying the hostility of man and the wrath of God.

As always, I want to know your thoughts. Would you have been offended? Just tell me what you think.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

God Understands My Heart

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“God understands my heart” is a frequent response of Christians who have done something that would be displeasing to God: gambling so they can tithe; drinking to cope with problem kids; or having sex outside of marriage because they’re lonely. God understands my heart. And, yes, He does. He understands that we do what we don’t want to do (Romans 7:15), that we will fall if we don’t take heed to his word (1 Corinthians 10:12 & Galatians 6:1), that we need the Holy Spirit so we won’t fall prey to our own desires (Galatians 5:16). He understands our heart and does extend grace (Romans 5:20). This grace is for those who struggle with wrong and truly want to do right, and it is even for those who have no qualms about sinning (Matthew 5:45). But be warned: those who don’t fear God will not only cause people to shun Christianity but will also cause God’s wrath to fall upon them who disregard His standards in favor of their own. These are people who willfully sin because “God knows my heart.”

Yes, God knows our hearts and understands whether our actions proceed from a pure one or not: Jeremiah 17:9 says our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, and then asks “Who can know it?” Verse 10 answers that God knows our hearts. Because God knows our hearts, Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” So while God extends grace to 1) those who know to do right and do; 2) those who know to do right and don’t; and 3) those who don’t know to do right and don’t, there will come a time when the grace runs out. “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:9). God’s not just going to keep letting you willfully sin—disrespect Him, not fear Him. He extends grace because He wants to give you time to make a change (2 Peter 3:9).

I know I was heavy-handed on the scriptures this time, but I think a lot of times we make statements like “God understands my heart” and we don’t understand God’s word enough to really have a biblical basis for our comments. Sure, the God we may have created in our minds may understand our hearts the way we want him to, but not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the God we must understand. This is the God we must follow. This is the God we must fear. All else is man-made conjuring and has no place in true Christianity.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith