As you ask the Lord for holiness of personality and behavior He will draw you into the Consuming Fire. Then you will begin to have created in you a passion for holiness. The closer you get to the Divine Fire the more it draws you into Itself. Soon all you want is to dwell in the Center of the Consuming Fire of Israel.

There is a beauty that goes along with holiness. It is the beauty of God Himself. When you are around truly holy people you will, from time to time, be able to witness the beauty of holiness. There is nothing more beautiful than a man or woman, boy or girl, who is filled with the holiness of God.

The world pictures holy people as sour, bitter cranks with faces of pickles soaked in vinegar. These are people with a religious spirit, not those who are truly holy with the holiness of Jesus Christ.

At one time there was no beauty in the Son of God because He was brought down into the mud for our sakes. But now He is in His holy temple. He is the fairest of ten thousand. His Bride is being filled with His Holy Nature and clothed with the holy raiments that proceed from Him. When she has been purified of all sin and rebellion she will be lovelier than the loveliest. The awe-inspiring beauty and majesty of the Lord, and of His Bride because of her nearness to Him, is purer, more splendid than can be imagined. It is a breathtaking beauty, graceful in motion, spectacular in appearance. It is the beauty of holiness. The Lamb and His Bride are God's poem. There is nothing else as glorious.

Get a passion for holiness. Crave holiness. Ask God to keep drawing you into the Fire until everything not of Him will be consumed. He will do this, you know.

How utterly wonderful to live in the holy Fire. This is to be with Jesus where He always is. Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing compares with such Divine glory.

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8—NIV)

The new covenant is the writing of the eternal law of God in our mind, so we will understand what it is we are supposed to do, and in our heart, so we will have the motivation and will to do it.

It all boils down to sternly obeying the Father. We employ the adverb "sternly" because the pressures on us require sternness of character if we are to overcome all forces that seek to induce us to disobey God.

When I first became a Christian I was told that the world was waiting to see someone who would obey God fully. At that time and yet today I find such talk to be foolishness. Of course we obey God! God is our Father. It would be unthinkable not to obey Him in every detail.

To be continued.