Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Written by Débora Rodrigo, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Spain

When I was a teenager, I was struck by those TV shows in which physical appearance professionals doing a complete makeover for common people. The changes ranged from hairstyles, haircuts, wardrobe remodeling, makeup, and many other recommendations that never went beyond their physical appearance. At the end of the TV show, it wasn't easy to recognize the person from the beginning. I often wondered if, after the show ended, the participants would continue assuming that new appearance in their day-to-day or if it would be just a one-time experience. I always doubted it.

When a person decides to become a follower of Christ, another series of changes occurs in him. In this case, it is about not-so-superficial changes, but deeper ones. Changes from within the soul and the inner being, even when many of them can also be seen from the outside. But these are not changes that happen one time and that’s it. It is a process in which new changes will be gradually added and in which, additionally, an effort must be made, often intentional, to maintain them. Holiness is not something that we can suddenly attain or that others can bestow on us. Holiness is something that is built little by little; it is a process that will progress while we are in this world and that will culminate on the day we meet our Lord.

Colossians 3 compares conversion and the process of holiness to a change of clothes. When we started our walk with Jesus, we put our old clothes aside and began our walk with a new outfit. Little by little, we are completing and adding accessories to our clothing. In this case, it is an outfit much more in line with our personality and who we are, and what we have decided for ourselves; not at all like those TV shows made to entertain the masses.

Speaking in spiritual terms, can you see a change in style throughout your life? How would you describe your new outfit? What accessories do you still have to add to it?

Written by Michelle J. Goff

Through the pandemic, we have had the blessing of seeing an increase in the number of babies! I love to hold babies, meet their needs, snuggle them, put them to sleep… I love everything about babies. In the U.S., I speak to babies in Spanish. In Latin America, I speak to them in English. I want them to hear another beautiful language. They are sponges and their brains are growing. When they hear another language and learn new things, more neural pathways are opened.

Over time, they learn more and more. Their teeth are formed, and they get to know new foods and flavors. They learn to crawl, to walk, and then to run. They say their first word and then start to form small sentences. When I was eighteen months old, I was riding in the car with my mom. She was always talking to me, narrating whatever was going on in the world around us. That day, I responded to my mom in a conversational way, and two things happened. 1) Mom realized that there was a little person in there! 2) A conversation began that has continued all the way to today.

From the day we are born, we are born. Period. Whether we are eighteen months or eighteen years old, we are no more or less born than the day in which we were born. We grow. We mature. We learn. We transform. But, until we die, we continue to have been born.

Something else that has happened during the pandemic is that weddings have become simpler. The couple has realized that the union through marriage is more important than the party of a wedding. Whether it is a civil ceremony or a large wedding with all their friends and family surrounding them, one couple is no more or less married than the other. They are married. Period.

My parents have been married forty-five years. During their first year of marriage, they went through a lot of challenging times. In many ways, they were (and still are) opposites. My mom grew up in a large metropolitan city and was a special ed teacher. My dad grew up on the farm and got his PhD in analytical chemistry. In spite of their differences and difficulties, they have grown, matured, and learned through marriage. They have been transformed and they continue to be married. From the day they first got married, they were married. At eighteen months and eighteen years, they were no more or less married than the day of their wedding or today.

In the Bible, our relationship with God is compared to birth and to marriage. We are born again (John 3:3-7; Rom. 6:4; 1 Pet. 1:23). And we are married with Christ, the Lamb (Is. 61:10, 62:5; John 3:29; Rev. 19:7, 21:2, 9).

When we are born again in Christ, we are made new. We must grow, mature, learn and be transformed, but we continue to be spiritually born.

When we are married to Christ, we enter a new union. We grow, mature, learn, and are transformed. However, we continue to be spiritually married.

A Christian is no more born nor more married on the final day of her life than she was on the day of her baptism.

There are people who are more mature than others. There are marriages that are stronger than others. The more mature and the less more mature are no more born again than others. Similarly, the married to Christ are no more or less married to Christ. However, we recognize who is acting more married than others.

These analogies allow us to reflect on holiness. From the day in which we are born again, since we committed ourselves in union to Christ, God sees us as holy. From that day to the final day in which we are presented to Him, we are no more or less holy. In Christ, we have been clothed with Christ and He sees us as holy and without reproach.

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Eph. 1:3-10)

Later in Ephesians 1, God affirms that we have been given the Holy Spirit as a seal and guarantee of our holiness. Through the Holy Spirit, God helps us to grow, mature, learn, and be transformed through the process of sanctification… then others, by our speech and actions, can recognize that we have been born again, married to Christ, and holy.

True or False? I am equally holy today as I was the day I was baptized.
True or False? I can live out my holiness in more ways through the process of sanctification.

Written by Kara Benson, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

When I was growing up, I had several misconceptions about baptism. Although I was raised attending church services and Bible classes, no one had ever explained it to me. For example, I thought that if you sinned after you were baptized, you somehow tainted your salvation. Consequently, I would practice how long I could go without sinning to see if I was ready to be baptized. A day, perhaps two, would pass. By the third day, though, I would inevitably mess up and realize that I was not ready for baptism.

Of course, we know that this is not the reality of baptism or the life that follows. Striving for holiness does not mean perfection or that we will never sin. It is a lifestyle, a direction in which we walk. A certain preacher repeatedly says, “Repentance is linear.” I would venture to include holiness in that category as well. If it were to be depicted on a graph, pursuing holiness is not represented by a single line shooting straight upward toward heaven, but rather a line that zigzags while moving in the upward direction.

If something is holy, it is set apart, sacred, dedicated, or consecrated to God. In short, holiness for Christians means that we are different and devoted: different from the world and devoted to God.

Different. Ephesians 5:3 says, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any king of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” Philippians 2:15 exhorts us to be “blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” As Christians, we should look different from the world. We should not dress like the world, in revealing clothing that is sensual in nature or calls attention to our bodies. We should not sound like the world, whether in foul language, coarse joking, or speech that is dishonoring to God. We should not act like the world in our decisions and conduct. We should not find ourselves fitting in with worldly people because “friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4). Instead, we should look like our God who calls us to be holy in all we do because he is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Devoted. According to Ephesians 5:26-27, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” A wife is supposed to keep herself pure for her husband and vice versa. Likewise, we as the church and the bride of Christ need to keep ourselves pure for Him. 2 Corinthians 7:1 teaches that we should “purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” There should be nothing evil or impure within us because we are the temple of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Imagine the saints in heaven from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They are wearing white robes that represent their purity. To be holy as Christians, we are to be wholly devoted to God (pun intended). Colossians 3 :17 says, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

When we obeyed the call in Acts 22:16 to “get up, be baptized, wash [our] sins away, calling on His name,” we committed to pursuing holiness. Let us allow our pursuit of holiness to redefine us as different from the world and devoted to God.

Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

“Must be nice to be so holy!” Or someone might say, “You just think you are better than anyone else.” Has anyone ever said that to you when you made the decision not to participate in something you felt was wrong?

In the beginning God said, “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26-27, ESV).

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Briefly, it means we act like God.

Look at children you know well. Do their mannerisms, speech patterns, and attitudes remind you of one of their parents? This is what God wants from us… to be like Him.

The main attribute of God is His holiness. HOLY is the only attribute taken to the third degree… holy, holy, holy!

“Be holy as I am holy,” is repeated several times in the book of Leviticus (11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7, 26).

1 Peter 1:16 repeated the admonition to Christians.

To be holy is to be set apart. Isaiah 43:7 tells us we are created for His glory.

When we confess Jesus as the Christ, our Savior, the promised Messiah, and are immersed for remission of our sins, we have made our decision to be like our Heavenly Father and reflect His image. We have “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). We have chosen to be different from the world. We have been called to a different purpose.

How does this look in daily life? It means our thoughts, speech, and actions are holy, that they would be how God would choose to be. It means we choose to practice the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). It means, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8).

In John 17:14-16, Jesus prayed, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Jesus knew we would encounter difficulties in our quest to follow Him and be holy, so He prayed for us to be protected from Satan.

The Hebrew writer impresses how important holiness is when he writes, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Holiness is imperative, if we want to see God!

The Father created us in the beginning in His image… an image of holiness… so as we walk towards our home with Him, let us strive to make His original plan our reality.

Written by Wendy Neill, Advancement Coordinator for Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life - in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” (Phil. 2:14-16, NIV 1985)

I complain. I argue. I admit it. This is one of those lessons I might need more than you.

As I meditated on the theme of “Redefined by Holiness,” my thoughts turned to this verse. But I could only remember the middle part where it says “in which you shine like stars in the universe.” I pulled out my concordance to find the context of the verse, so I could remember what we do to shine like stars. The phrase “do everything without complaining or arguing” hit me like a sledgehammer. Oof.

But isn’t it true? Think of someone you know that rarely complains or argues. It might take you a minute because they are rare. Don’t they stand out as bright lights in the middle of all the griping and conflict in our world?

If we let God work in us to replace complaining with gratefulness, and arguing with humility, we will find ourselves redefined. The Word says we will be “blameless and pure...without fault.” Holy. Set apart. Like stars in the universe.

My favorite name for Jesus is “The Bright Morning Star” (Rev 22:16). In astronomy, the morning star refers to the brightness of Venus, the star Sirius, or Mercury when they appear in the east, right before sunrise. Jesus did not argue or complain about the mission God gave Him. He is the brightest star of all, and He will appear right before our eternal “sunrise.”

Do you struggle with complaining and arguing? Ask “The Bright Morning Star” and an Iron Rose Sister to help you this week. Then hold out that word of life and shine, Sister!