Psalm 29:2, John 15:4-5

Julie Brown on the power of abiding in the Vine.

Julie Brown

Most of us will be familiar with David's well-known exhortation in Psalm 29:2, calling us to '"Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness."' The poetic language stirs in our hearts a sense of the pristine glory of the Godhead, the beauty of their absolute holiness as we come to them in worship. It's a beautiful passage of scripture.

In recent times the Lord has been showing me that there is also a wonderful promise for us to lay hold of here. We have a hope in Jesus that we may live a life where we experience the beauty of holiness in a personal way, seeing this transform our lives and our worship of the King.

The journey of understanding started for me, as one day I had a face-to-face encounter where Jesus placed a 'mantle of purity' on me. I write more fully about the encounter and all the revelation that flowed from it, in my book, 'The Mantle of Purity', but for now, I want to share just a few of the core truths Jesus showed me that were so life-changing.

Encountering Jesus personally, I felt His purity fill my whole being and the experience was so powerful that it immediately taught me a profound truth: holiness is the fruit of being connected to the purity of Jesus Himself as we abide in Him.

Abiding is the key. Drawing directly from Jesus.

Jesus called His people into this wonderful place of union and strength in John 15:4-5 '"Abide in Me and I in you. I am the vine, you are the branches."'

At rest in Him, we are no longer striving, attempting to draw from our own source of supply.

The day I saw Jesus face to face, I was in worship, loving Him to the best of my ability. As I did, the mystery of John 15:4-5 became so real as Jesus then stood before me and began to pour provision into my life that came direct from His very own person.

Just as the branches are part of the vine, effortlessly receiving all they need to bear fruit, Jesus gave me supernatural power to live a holy life as His purity flooded into the very depths of my being.

I learned from this experience that holiness has incredible power because it sets you free.

Rather than being a form of restriction, or boundary around our lives as some may have supposed, holiness brings liberty and joy, because we are free and there is nothing the enemy can do to hold us within his power in this area of our lives!

Jesus is holy, He is pure and He is our source.

If you have ever wondered how you can live a life of purity and holiness, then no matter what you have been through, His promise to us today is that as we abide in Him, He will fill us with His strength, providing us with the power to become like Him.

We started our study today with David's lovely exhortation in Psalm 29:2, pondering the meaning held within the passage, '"Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness."' Isn't it wonderful to know that as you intentionally take up your rightful place, abiding in the Vine, the flawless beauty of the holiness of Jesus Himself will fill your life to overflowing. What a Divine exchange. And as we worship Him, how incredibly beautiful this is to Him.