The Beauty of Holiness

Have you ever stopped to meditate on the phrase used to describe God in our worship called the “beauty of Holiness”? We always sing about it in church. But holiness has earned a bad stigma to it because of man-derived rules. But let’s start from the top down, per se. Look at holiness from God’s view. One of my favorite scriptures about God is Exodus 15:11:

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?

Here’s some other scriptures that speaks of His holiness:

1The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. 2The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. 3Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. (Psalm 99:1-3 KJV)

“There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God (1 Samuel 2:2).

There is no one like Thee among the gods, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Thine. 9 All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; And they shall glorify Thy name. 10 For Thou art great and doest wondrous deeds; Thou alone art God (Psalms 86:8-10).

25To whom then will you liken Me, that I should be equal to him? says the Holy One.    26Lift up your eyes on high and see! Who has created these? He Who brings out their host by number and calls them all by name; through the greatness of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing or lacks anything.    27Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, My way and my lot are hidden from the Lord, and my right is passed over without regard from my God? (Isaiah 40:25-27, Amplified Bible (AMP))

“For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy:“I live in a high and holy place,but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,to revive the spirit of the lowlyand to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15, New International Version (NIV))

But there is beauty in holiness. There’s freedom in holiness. God is holy! Holy means separate. God is separate from sin. He does not associate with it. So we can’t say we love God and live in sin. Holiness is beyond man-made dos and donts. God requires it. It is a REQUIREMENT. Without holiness, NO man shall see God (Hebrews 12:14).  And when I think about all the sins I’ve committed, I rather choose holiness. TRUST ME, there’s beauty in holiness. I experience it every time I say no to sin. I’m able to see God when I live a holy life. There’s nothing like it.

Sin brings feelings of condemnation, shame, horrible memories. Pleasure for a moment, but for those of us that our conscious has not be seared, it brings a disgusting feeling of guilt, and it tries to pull us from God’s presence. In some ways, I’m grateful for those feelings. Those feelings remind me of how low my flesh can go, and I do not desire to experience those feelings all the time. And I know that if I ever stop feeling sorry for my sins, then sin has fully conceived, and I’m dead spiritually (James 1:14-16).

We cannot see God without living holy. And of course, your mind goes to topics that we have labeled “major sins”, i.e. sexual sins, murder, etc. But we never consider that UNFORGIVENESS is a major sin. Strife, malice, anger (rage), resentment, disobedience, slander (Galatians 5:21-24). All those things will keep us from seeing God.

So I want you to have a different perspective about holiness. If you truly love God, you will strive for holiness in EVERY area of your life.

Love,

Ose

Keep Your Mind...God's In Control

This is for someone today….especially for those who love giving people “a piece of their mind”, or telling people off, or cutting people off. Take heed.

The urge to defend yourself as a Christian when someone does you ill or wrong is very strong, isn’t it? When you’re misunderstood, judged (and I use this word in its rightful meaning, not the “DON’T Judge me” jargon that’s been spewed around an…

d abused), and mistreated, it is a natural inclination to defend yourself. But the problem is, when we decide to do it, God sits back and allows us to do it, and He no longer becomes your defender. And we do such a bang-up job of it, that it makes us look worse than perceived! And for people that have personalities like mine (outgoing, love EVERYBODY, etc), it’s much harder for us.

But remember, Jesus “opened not His mouth”, when he was being reviled and talked about. He chose a disciple from the beginning that He knew would betray Him. He was judged, maligned, had people “defriend” him (I know…I know…they didn’t have facebook then, but it was MUCH worse!) So do you think you’re bigger and better than your Master now? Did you honestly think that you were exempt just because you get “likes” on your posts? Don’t be fooled into complacency. Be sober about the DAY you’re living in. Be discerning of the people around you. Don’t just listen to words. “See” past their words. Look at their actions. You will be hated by other “Christians” and the world for standing up for what’s right.

And as the Bible says, “As He is, so are WE in this world”. So just sit back, and let the Lord defend you. And finally, YOU STILL HAVE TO LOVE THEM. Sorry…can’t get past that. You MUST love. Sometimes saying NOTHING is your defense. Just let God handle this one. #speakingfromexperience