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Home » holy

Be Holy

By Paula

But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 1 Peter 1:15

What comes to mind when you think holy?
Be honest.

Something like …
Sanctimonious cataloging of sins
Unrealistic rigidity
Impractical detachment from the world
Loneliness?

Actually, it’s more like…
Godliness
Untiring intervention in the world
Constant striving to be conformed to Christ
Humble dependence on the Holy Spirit.

It is our goal,
Our calling,
The consummation of our salvation.

Be holy.

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: 1 Peter, godliness, holiness, holy

Who Is the LORD?

By Paula

And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2

 

Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?

Who is the Lord?

If He’s just some figment of someone’s imagination …
If He’s a leftover relic of a bygone era …
If He’s a symptom of mental weakness …

Or if He’s a cosmic Santa Claus …
A sugar daddy, a genie …
Or if He exists to make my life easier,
To solve my problems, to meet my needs …

If He’s just there to rescue me when I mess up
Or when something really, really bad happens …
If I can just use His name to once in a while
So people think I’m spiritual or moral …

Then He’s probably not worth obeying.

But if He is the LORD, Holy and Awesome …

Worship and obedience are the only reasonable response.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: Exodus, holy, Lord, Obedience, Obey

Holiness

By Paula

holinessFor I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Leviticus 11:44

If I had to write a list of adjectives to describes myself, it would be in the second ream of paper before I came up with the word holy. Maybe that’s because at some point in our imaginations, “holy” became “holier-than-thou,” and we don’t want any part of that. Or we picture seclusion, scratchy clothes, bland food and lots of praying and chanting. In 1 Peter, the apostle writes to a group of believers who are living in a hostile culture facing continued persecution. While encouraging them to faithfulness, or perseverance, might seem more logical — and he does both of those — Peter stresses holiness.

What is holiness?

The short answer: holiness is the expression of God’s perfection. But it also denotes those that have been set apart by God, for His purposes. So Peter’s advice on how to live a Christian life in the middle of a hostile culture under the ever-increasing threat and reality of persecution is to be set apart by God, for God.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 1 Peter 1:13-15 ESV

Holiness requires mental preparation.

The mind can help us push through when we’re ready to give up, or it can feed us devastating lies that cripple us. Paul reminds us it is one of Satan’s favorite avenues of attack, (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) and he encourages us to have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16)
Mental preparation for holiness means identifying the goal and committing to the steps it takes to get there. The steps include things like identifying thoughts or attitudes that are not Christlike and getting rid of them. It means opening up to the Holy Spirit’s inspection when we think we’ve done the job of getting stuff cleaned out. And it means understanding this is not an afternoon or even a weekend project. Holiness is a lifetime discipline. Discipline comes from the same Latin root as the word student. It is important to remember that students sometimes fail. When that happens it doesn’t mean we give up. It means we begin again.

Holiness requires obedience.

Obedience, not conformity. Obedient to God, not conformed to the world around us. In the ways we analyze our situations. In the way we seek solutions to our problems. In the way we conduct business. In the way we work. In the way we relate to others. Holiness means we follow God’s standards and not what feels right, seems right or looks right. We don’t act one the basis of what we deserve, what is justified, or what is owed to us. We act on the basis of God’s grace and mercy.

Holiness requires action.

It’s not enough to agree that holiness is a good thing. It’s not enough to acknowledge that I should be living a holy life. I must do it. I must put forth the effort and do the work. ‘Be holy’ is as much of a commandment as ‘thou shalt not kill’ or ‘love thy neighbor.’ So I have to be diligent. I must not allow ungodly, unloving thoughts to stay in my mind. I must take action when the Holy Spirit prompts me.
Peter began verse 4 with “therefore.” If the commitment to holiness is a burden or we don’t feel particularly motivated or obligated to it, then we don’t understand the wonder that salvation is. We don’t comprehend what it cost. We don’t realize what it’s worth. I’m pretty sure the two are directly related.

The measure of my holiness and the passion with which I pursue it are a direct reflection of my love for and devotion to a Savior who suffered and bled and died to accomplish it.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: 1 Peter, holiness, holy

The Temple

By Paula

The Temple‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Leviticus 19:2

 
We tend to think of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple as places where the people came to worship God. While it’s true that worship occurred there, and rightly so, the tabernacle and temple were the places God chose to be present.

After painstakingly following God’s instructions concerning the construction and equipping of the tabernacle in the wilderness, Exodus 40:34-35 describes God’s presence in the form of a cloud moving in and inhabiting the place.

Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

 

Later, under King Solomon a great temple was built. In 1 Kings 8:10-11, once again, God’s presence in the form of a cloud, moves in and inhabits the place.

And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

 

In the New Testament, Jesus asserts that He is the temple, not the building where worship occurred, but the physical presence of God.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. John 2:19-21

 

After Jesus ascended to heaven, what happened to the presence of God? An amazing thing happened. God chose to dwell in individual believers. We became the temple of God.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

 

Often we read these verses as an encouragement to eat our veggies and exercise, or an admonition not to smoke or drink. Gotta take care of the temple, after all. And yes, we should be good stewards of the body, health and life God has entrusted to us, but being a temple is so much more.

Remember the temple is where God dwells. God has chosen to live IN us. Not in a faraway place. Not a place we only visit a few times a year. IN us. As wondrous as the Incarnation is, the Indwelling is even more marvelous. The glory that filled the tabernacle, the glory that filled the temple … lives in us. Moses couldn’t go inside, the priests couldn’t minister because the glory was too much. That glory was displayed on the cross, and revealed in resurrection three days later.

That glory lives in us.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Thursday Theology Tagged With: 1 Corinthians, 1 Kings, Exodus, glory, holy, Holy Spirit, John, Leviticus, tabernacle, temple

Holy

By Paula

 

In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet gets a glimpse of God in His glory. When we see God for who He is, we cannot help but respond the way Isaiah does –
 
Woe is me, for I am undone! (v.5)
 
Hopeless, doomed, ruined. 
 
But God fixes that. He sends the seraphim to touch the prophet with a live coal from the altar. 
 
“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” (v.7)
 
He touches us with the fires of His holiness and we are forgiven, cleansed, and qualified to be in His presence.
 
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts (v.3)

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: holy, Isaiah

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