The Christian walk is not an easy one. Today everyone is a Christian even though there is no growth and no progression into Christlikeness and no desire for spiritual perfection. As professing Christians, we live the way of the world, we dress like the world, respond like the world and do church like the world. The only difference between our lives and that of none believers is that we go to church on Sundays and know scripture and sing worship songs. The hearts change and inward work of the Holy Spirit to transform us into Christ is lacking. We celebrate at the door of conversion singing I am born again, yet we don’t pay the price to put to death our old man who often is still very much in charge leading and governing our lives. We have lost the reverence and sacredness that comes from pursuing the heart of God. We have made what is sacred common and what is common, sacred. As believers, we must discern in our hearts whether or not the reverence or awe of God is still intact in our hearts. Do we still wonder at the splendour and magnificence of God or have we started to take God for granted. When we do this our walk with God becomes stagnant and dry. We have no new insight or revelation; we lose the sweetness of fellowship and encounter. It is as if we believe we have encountered all we have needed to encounter read all we have needed to read of scripture. But the truth is that with God there is no end to the mysteries of His greatness.

The problem is we have been created to be captivated, our hearts have been created to wonder and gaze at glory. But unfortunately, today with media, marketing and the constant bombardment of information often we are captivated by worthless meaningless things that have taken our attention and reverence from God and has also quenched and dampened our zeal for the sacred mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. We have been captivated, by gossip, condemnation, films, games and news that now hearts are now incapable of gazing with awe and wonder on the things of God. Our appetites have been satisfied with the things of this world that often leave us empty and confused. We use our strength for that which produces death in us. We need to seek God earnestly to empty us of all these vain things that consume our hearts and occupy our minds and we must by the Grace of God guard our hearts with all diligence, that we may grow in Christlikeness.

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for complete deliverance from everything that has captured our hearts and minds. Everything that has caused us to treat you commonly and not with the reverence you deserve. Lord set our hearts free from the bondage of being captivated with useless things that don’t have eternal value. Lord may we never lose our wonder in Jesus mighty name.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

Being strong in the Lord means trusting God, it requires that we rewire our mindsets that make us believe that we have a supernatural strength within ourselves to get us out of the difficult situations we find ourselves in. Being strong in the midst of great anxiety and turmoil is easier said than done. It requires that we fix our hearts, minds and emotions on God as we lean totally on Him. Living an authentic Christian life definitely requires us to be strong. Strong against the many waves and storms of this world and the secular systems that attempt to blow us down and derail us for the call of Christ. Not to fight and not to stand is to be defeated and to succumb to the direction and destination of this age. To be fainthearted and weak willed in this Christian walk is to surrender to mediocracy and to a form of Christianity that bring neither power in this age to overcome nor power to embrace the eternal life that Christ purchased with His blood. Worse still if we surrender to half-heartedness and despondency, we will soon find ourselves unable to awake ourselves from the spiritual slumber and drowsiness that covers our souls making it a humanly impossible task to lift our heads let alone stand. We need to do the due diligence of not becoming discouraged and bewildered when we see the onslaught of the enemy. We must resolve within ourselves that come what may and however hard this world and the enemy of our souls with fight we will stand. We will in the power and might of Gods hand, stand, and come what may we will continue to stand back up when we fall.

Lord give us the grace not to lose heart when we fall but give us the grace to stand in your strength knowing that we only learn how to walk by following a million times. Teach us heavenly father that we will not lose heart and will not become discouraged and quit. But in the day of battle that we will cry out to you who is mighty to save. Lord forgive us for every time we looked to our own strength and ability to save us. Lord we trust, rest and depend on you and pray for your grace, mercy and strength to stand in Jesus mighty Name.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

As Christians we are not fighting against people or a great human war, but we are fighting and withstanding as children of the light to resist and defy the darkness of this age. Our call is to be strong and courageous in the ways and laws of God whilst being surrounded by a generation going in the opposite direction. To stand for holiness when that which is holy is profaned and disregarded.

The world says fight and get revenge, the laws and the ways of God requires us to suffer long and continue to be kind. The world promotes fornication, adultery and things unnatural to one in pursuit of holiness, yet God calls us to not even use our imagination to lust over the opposite sex. God’s standard still remains as the sovereign mandate for all believers, yet this is simply impossible in our own strength as our carnal nature has a leaning towards sin and things pertaining to this world. Not only is society rebellious to the ways of God, we are also embodied within this battle, the clash of two different kingdoms seeking dominion in the life of the believer. Without being watchful and being on guard, guarding our hearts and lives, we end up following and responding to circumstances in our natural old man, in the pattern of this world. The old man that we have been asked to mortify Colossians 3:5 “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, the which is idolatry;” the old man we have been asked to take off Ephesians 4:22-24 “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” has no inclination towards the things of God. This is the unseen warfare those who embrace the cross and the life it beckons one to follow.

Dear Heavenly father we thank you in advance that you have made a way of escape as we encounter various trials and temptations to take us off the path that leads to life. Lord we pray for the grace not to lose heart and surrender to the dictates of the flesh and the world. Teach us how to deny ourselves and how to take off the old man and all his passions. Lord we pray that you will release a greater measure of who you are in us. Lord overcome every enemy of our souls in Jesus name.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

In this generation and I am sure in many before, there lingers another gospel that attempts to derail the followers of Christ from living an authentic biblical life that glorifies God. When Christianity’s main goal is how to meet physical, emotional and merely natural needs, this is not the whole gospel but a one-sided gospel. We are not to neglect the needs of our human existent, what to eat, what to wear and how to feed our families. Yet we are also not to make it an idol or focus solely on our needs and wants as if our soul does not exist. Often the Christianity of this period has a self-centred, natural needs-based approach to communing with God. We seek God for the things we need and never examine and align our lives to be pleasing in His sight. We give much adoration and time needed to commune with God, being consumed and distracted with things that have no eternal worth and cause us to waste the cherished time we could be using to cultivate disciplines to give the Holy Spirit access to transform us. Our partnership with the Holy Spirit and full attention is necessary so He can reconstruct us from the inside out into the image of Christ. Nonetheless, we are unable to even grasp the essence of salvation as we now embrace a Christianity that glorify our idols and worldly cultures within the church walls. It’s a Christianity that encourages the believer to pursue and embrace the values and goals of a worldly generation, usually and unwittingly at the cost of their souls. It’s a Christianity that doesn’t teach the ways of God or the essential necessity of living a life by the power of the Holy Spirit growing daily in Christlikeness. It’s a cross less Christianity, void of the living sacrifice, void of the power and void of eternal salvation of which they promise. As children of God we have to continually ask God to examine and search our hearts to ensure that we are still on the narrow way that leads to life while we still have time.

Dear Heavenly Father we pray for your grace and mercy, Lord open our eyes to every teaching we are embracing that takes us out of your purpose and will. God convict us of the sins that keep us bound and keep us away from having an authentic relationship with you. Lord I pray that you keep us on the narrow way that leads to life and that you give us discernment and discretion in Jesus mighty name.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

Prayer is the essence of the Christian life; it is the source of the spiritual life, in which the power of God is released into the life of the believer to do great and mighty exploits. It is through prayer that the sick are healed, and the dead are brought to life. It is through prayer that justice is brought to pass. It is through prayer that yokes are broken, and captives are set free, and it is through this same prayer that our heart of stone is exchanged with a heart of flesh so that we can serve God in spirit and truth.

Prayer is the highest act of humility as it is simply saying Lord, I seek you earnestly as I know I can do nothing without you. Lord, unless you do this, nothing will change. Spiritually weak and empty people are people of prayer, they persevere in prayer as they have no other hope or solution but to wait on the Lord. As Christians God has given us a mighty tool which we can use to bring about God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven, yet the life of prayer is a work that the believer must fight for to obtain. Prayer is not just merely the opening of one’s mouth in a petition to God. Prayer isn’t a careless act, but it is like a child communes with his father, hands stretched out and heart lifted. Prayer is a sacred art of communing with God until we are no longer until our countenance is changed by the refining fire of the Holy Spirit. To pray correctly, one has to have everything in their lives aligned with the action of prayer. We can’t fight, steal and kill in the daytime and expect our time of night prayer to be fruitful. Our prayer has to first and foremost change us. Change our hearts, our thinking and our attitudes. With our praying, we must add much watchfulness so that when we collect the harvest of our prayers, we don’t lose them through carelessness and negligence.

Lord, we come to you today as your disciples of old, and we ask you to teach us how to pray. Teach us how to seek your face and deliver us from apathy and prayerlessness. Lord, we pray that you will baptise us afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit. That you will give us the spirit of prayer and supplication and that you heavenly father will breathe your breath of life in and through us that we may pray without ceasing and seek you earnestly in Jesus mighty name.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

It was in the midst of the large crowd following Him, that Jesus then turns and says that to truly follow me has a cost. It’s as if Christ is saying “seeing miracles, getting mesmerised and following me around is a pointless activity, it’s not true discipleship”. “To truly following me there is a requirement and there is a price”. It’s as if Christ is setting boundaries, “those who genuinely follow Me are willing to sacrifice their lives.” This would have been a reality call for those who had followed Jesus around and wanted to be His apprentice and disciples, wanting to know how they could follow Christ how they could be part of this movement. Christ’s standard “Simply hate your life on this earth”.

When we hear Christs’ call to give up our lives and the cost associated to it, this is a real sacrifice its Christ life for our life. Christ died that we may live and now He requires that our carnal self-centred adamic nature dies so that Christ can live in and through us. When we share the finished work of the cross and salvation with unbelievers, often, we speak of all the benefits of our relationship with God. We tell people, “if you come to Christ, He will heal you, He’ll give you hope and a purpose, He’ll provide for all your needs”. We speak merely about the benefits believers have in Christ, but rarely do we speak of the cost of being a true Christian. In fact, at times we have even encouraged them coming with all their idols, vanities, lusts and worldly passions. We say come as you are and often forget that true discipleship requires a sacrifice as one grows in maturity. More critically, you have places called churches that attempt and revive this old man that Christ requires dies.

The truth is that unless our Christianity renounces all that Christ requires of us, if our Christianity is void of sacrifice, the cross and separation from the world, we cannot be His disciples. It doesn’t matter whether we are a bishop, pastor or mother, it doesn’t matter if we are in church 7 days a week and give much to the poor. God is calling us all to the place of death, a death that brings forth much life. If we are still holding unto our lives, our habits our way, we may have a label as Christian yet through negligence or disobedience we cannot be His disciple.

Lord open our spiritual eyes that we may see clearly our spiritual condition. Lord search our hearts and convict us of self-love and self-righteousness, so that we may seek your power to die and renounce all that takes us away from your presence.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

The difference between true biblical Christianity and the false message we often come up against is the hatred of the things of this world and everything that pertains to it. Hating the world means to live according to the word of God, following His ways and statues as our standard and to renounce the ways and doctrines of society. These sometimes-unspoken rules that are communicated to the hearts of nations through films, marketing, values, systems and culture are the world and they are opposed to the ways of God. The world promotes rebellion and forgetfulness concerning God and eternity, causing people to live for this life alone, while neglecting the urgently needed care of their souls.

In order to truly hate the world we must hate our carnal man, our old man also known as our adamic nature without this utter disdain and hatred living an authentic Christian life is impossible because the natural tendency of our flesh is to pursue and desire things that take us out of the will and purposes of God. Jesus set the standard and was a living example. It is through death alone that we are to gain true life. It is the death, mortification of our members that makes us alive in the spirit. As long as we are alive and kicking in the flesh, we can never be partakers of the authentic things of the spirit. There is also nothing we can give in exchange to the requirement of dying daily, we can’t give good deeds or knowledge. God requires Adam dies so that Christ can live in and through us.

This is a constant battle. It is only when we attempt to live this life as true disciples of Christ that we come face to face with the unseen battle of the saints, who wrestled tirelessly until Christ was fully formed in them. Ease, excessive worldly care and lack of this inward struggle is evident that you have yet to begin the race or you have strayed off of the path to salvation. But God is so faithful He is knocking at the door, can you hear Him? He is daily attempting to get your attention above the distractions and busyness of this age.

Dear Heavenly Father remove everything in me that is drawn to and is in love with the world. I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit that you cleanse me from the inside out. Wash me, cleanse me and purge me the blood of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Lord I surrender my heart, mind, soul, spirit into your hands and I say have your way in me and through me in Jesus mighty name.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

It’s important to have meaningful life-giving fellowship with others, this brings the much-needed warmth in times of difficulty and the safety net of accountability that helps one grow in spiritual maturity. It’s even a blessing to gather in the house of the Lord to worship Him and seek His face and to pursue Him with likeminded believers. Nevertheless, unless we acknowledge that we are the temple of God and fan the flame of His spirit within us all the church attendance is in vain. We are the temple of the living God and we have ensured we live lives that allows His spirit not to be grieved so that He can live and remain in us.

Carelessness and spiritual apathy harden our hearts and cloud our spiritual discernment and sensitivity. Mingling with worldly people and engaging with worldly activities causes one to backslide as the spiritual impact on the heart is detrimental. It causes us to quench the zeal for intimacy with God, it makes us earthly minded, no longer satisfying our yearning and desires with heavenly things, but responding with our carnal natural man seeking solutions and hope in temporal created things and people that don’t deliver, often leaving us even more thirsty and don’t satisfy.

Let us not deceive ourselves with such an important and delicate issue, worldly people are not just unbelievers, often times the people that have the greatest impact of dampening our initial fervour towards the things of God are doubleminded Christian who have yet to be surrendered to God and now become a stumble block to those in the way to salvation. So, we may go to a physical church, but we still need to be watchful, we still need to guard our heart. The spirit of this world will limit and restrain the spirit of God working actively within us. So even when we desire in this state of spiritual coldness and apathy, to connect with God it is as if our spirit man is imprisoned and immobilised. The desire within us for the things of God is neutralised. Though we know what to do and what is required the strength to bring it about is not in us. We have given room for wild animals to destroy the temple of God through bad choices and carelessness.

Self-control and discipline by the power of the Holy Spirit is what is needed and what is essential. It’s necessary so that we are able to guard our hearts. It’s also essential so that we don’t foolishly lose our way. So that in the midst of external demands and pressures we make choices that give us the necessary room and lifestyles to nurture and tend to the temple of God within us.

Dear Heavenly Father forgive me for every way I have carelessly not guarded your gift within me. Forgive me for every way I have grieved your spirit. Lord take not your Holy Spirit away from me. I pray for wisdom and discernment that will empower me to make decisions that fan the flame of your presence in my life.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

Silence and study purge the soul it allows God to do what only he can do when we are powerless, He restores our soul. When the waves of the world have come in and infiltrated our soul and taken away our peace until we have lost all hope, we must like Jesus retreat into the comforting, loving embrace of the Father’s arms. We can see why the world spends so much time trying to get everyone so busy, so distracted and so very restless. Because in the chaos and confusion, they are unable to examine their hearts and give God the necessary space and time to do the required heart surgery needed to make us whole. This was very much the same with Jesus in the bible. He would leave the crowd and go to a quiet place to be alone with God.

This is the only way to keep one’s heart and soul alive in the things of God, frequently there’s a need to retreat from people, even the people we love and hold dear. To pause to have a moment of unbroken silence to be brought by the still waters of God’s presence so that He can wash, cleanse and make whole all that has been fragmented along the way. So that he can have the time to mend the broken areas of our spiritual lives that have been wounded by the busyness and the cares of the world. In the quiet, in the stillness, in the weight of God’s presence, there is a sound, the eternal sound of the splendour of God that rests upon us and engulfs us in the cloud of the beauty of our God.

Studying in the silence allows us to steady our hearts and minds from the distractions of the world that attempt to steal the inner rest that comes from setting our hearts and minds on God. It allows us to just set our focus on the things of God in the sweet silent fellowship that becomes a source of strength and life in a busy age. The word of God also has cleansing properties and searches our hearts and motives, and like a car satnav allows us to recalculate our direction when we have been blown in the wrong direction by the waves of this world. Sometimes when the storms of life attempt to blow you over, we are tempted to rush and continue doing what we have always done this often causes us much confusion and distress; instead we need to be still and know.

Being still allows us to encounter the rest and peace of God that surpasses all understanding. We have to remember that tending our soul requires that at times though there are many voices and many demands, even worthy demands of those in need. Just like Jesus, when everyone is looking for you, you have to find that still quiet untouched space to be still and be alone with God.

Lord teach me to me still, to rest in the nothingness of silence so that I can be made whole. Lead me beside still waters and restore my soul. Take a few minutes to pause to be still as you silently reflect and rest in God.

Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach

In the busyness of life when we get tired and weary it is so easy to give up. We hear all the voices internally and externally telling us that we have messed up and there is simply no way out. We feel the weight of disappointment, which in a short time turns to discouragement, despair and finally despondency. The aim of these waves is to disconnect us from our hope and our source and to keep us looking at our selves and our in ability and to make us feel there is no way out.

The truth is that within ourselves there is no way out there is no hope. Without God we are hopeless, but God has not left us alone. He is always there is in our very darkest hour when we want to throw in the towel because we have fallen so many times and now we are so very disappointed in ourselves, our failures, our sins and mistakes. God is such a good good father. Yes He wants us to learn from our falls and many mistakes but He doesn’t want us to get stuck in yesterday analyse until we are immobilised to take steps in the right direction.

My sister my brother get up and don’t give up knowing that you God is able to perfect His will concerning everything in your life. Don’t focus on the waves but set your gaze on God who is so mighty to save. Shake off the dust, shake off the past.

There is so much power in confession, confessing our sins to one another and coming with a repentance heart before God acknowledging your weakness and your inability to do anything apart from God.
Much Love in Christ,

Your Sister,

Ruth 
Pursuing Holiness

Biblical Counsellor | Spiritual Director | Leadership Coach