Chosen Grace

Hey everyone! I hope that everything is going well with you! Enjoy this blog post.

Lately in my walk with God things have been changing. And while they are changing for my good- I must admit that it’s not easy for me to go through this season. And this season is one of refinement.

It started a few months ago when I was watching a movie on Tubi. I absolutely love the Tubi app on my TV because all of the content is free and I get to see some of my favorite shows from years ago, as well as being exposed to new movies and shows from up and coming creators of all different backgrounds and races.

As I was watching this movie, I felt the Lord convict me. The Lord told me “Malaysia, cut this movie off.” I did as I knew the content of the movie was not pleasing to Him.

A few weeks went by and I found myself watching this reality show that I had not seen in years! I absolutely loved the women on the show and each episode left me wanting more and more.

As I was watching the show, I heard the Lord again say: “Malaysia, cut this off.” And so, I did. But unlike the movie I had watched a few months before, I really did not understand why God wanted me to stop watching this show. In my eyes, the show was good! So I’ll admit- I was upset at God telling me to turn from that reality television show.

That night as I got ready to do my night time Bible study, I began to flip pages in my Bible and heard the Lord say to me clearly: “Be ye Holy as I am Holy.”

I immediately paused and thought, “I know I didn’t hear what I thought I heard”. But, I had. As as soon as I heard it, the Lord began to urge me to do some research on what “Holy” actually means. And this led me to the Scripture below:

“Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Isaiah 6:2-3, NKJV

In the verses above, the prophet Isaiah is experiencing what goes on in Heaven. At God’s throne the seraphim worship Him day and night, declaring that He is holy.

This Scripture stood out to me, because as I began to study it and do more research, I learned that the word holy does not mean being an old church lady with her nose turned up and her hat six feet in the air. No, holy simply means “to be set apart”.

What I was learning was exactly what Isaiah had experienced: our God is set apart and, in the words of Jackie Hill Perry, He is the upmost holy one. He is the holiest of all things. This means that unlike the mean old church lady, God’s very nature is to be holy. He can’t be anything else and, quite frankly, isn’t trying to be.

As I type these words to you, reader, with joy, I was the exact opposite when God first ministered this to me. In fact, I felt exactly like Isaiah did in the verse below:

“So I said: “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 my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

-Isaiah 6:5, NKJV

Isaiah’s vulnerableness in the Scripture above mirrored my fear of God during these initial moments of revelation.

You see, for God to tell me- a mere mortal– to be HOLY as He is was absolutely mindblowing. Like Isaiah, I began to go down my list of why I was not worthy of being called to Him:

God, I just sinned five minutes ago.

I’m not done with school yet.

Um, I think you’ve got the wrong person.

I’ll admit y’all- for the first time in a long time, I really was not trying to hear God’s instruction in this matter. But, the one thing I have learned is that God is persistent in His call. Everyday I heard the Lord call me ‘holy’ and everyday I wanted to rebel.

Why? Human nature.

I believed that because God was calling me holy meant that I would suddenly have to become this stuck up wierdo who only recited Scripture. And like Isaiah, I felt that I was too much of a mess to do the job right. I was scared to fail God.

However, God was gentle and kind with me. Instead of rebuking me harshly, He reminded me that I never have to walk alone in this process. In fact, He let me know that the price was already paid for me to even be seen as His holy one:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

– 2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV

You see, while I was busy trying to figure out how in the world I was supposed to be holy, God had already planned it out for me through Jesus.

Because Jesus took on my debt, shame, sins, and evil nature- I have been reconciled to The Father. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross- I have the right to stand before God as one of His own. God bought me with a price. And because of that I now stand before Him holy and blameless.

The same goes for you too, reader. Once you decided to give your life to Christ- you no longer are required or expected to walk in the way you used to. You are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). You are free, loved, and holy.

Now- the beautiful thing about this journey is that God knows full well that we are a work in progress. He knows that we still battle with the flesh (Romans 7) and we are bound to fall short. So God patiently and intentionally takes us through His refining process.

“Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.  For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another.”

-Isaiah 48:10-11, NKJV

This is the process I describing in my opening. This refining process is not an easy one- but it is worth it. Like pressure makes diamonds, God is only refining us so that we can reflect more of His light in this world.

The refining process takes away all of our impurities on the surface and deep down below so that when we are finished- God’s glory will shine without blemish, for He cannot be defiled!

For me, the refining process looked like me having to do away with certain movies and TV shows. For you- it may be something else. But God’s refining process is for His glory and our good! Trust that when He calls you to a thing- He will not only provide, but restore what you think you lost 10 fold!

As I close, I won’t sit here and lie to y’all: I’m still getting used to the refining process and even walking in a holy manner. It confronts me daily and can be scary at first. But, I take it one step at a time knowing that My Refiner is walking beside me patiently and purposefully.

With love and a new appreciation for refinement,

Malaysia