Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Holy, Holy, Holy!



"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 1:7

"And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6:3

"For it is written, "You must be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16

www.bibletourwithjoline.com
www.bibletouravecjoline.blogspot.com
www.bibletourwithjoline.blogspot.com

We often hear that God is holy, but what is holiness? It is simply moral perfection. We live in a world where morality is almost non-existent. The Bible urges us to be “holy” as God is Holy, and in Matthew 5:48,Jesus also said “Be ye prefect." You and I are to do our best with the help of the Holy Spirit to be attain perfection. Our sinful flesh is always resisting the spirit of God because it is prone to sin but we have to try to resist. If we are to be holy as God is Holy, then we ought to hate sin. “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil” (Proverb 8:13). Holiness is the quality of Our Almighty God. Dear friend, our God is holy and He wants us to also be holy. Jesus our Lord and Savior is Holy. Holiness is attainable with the help of the Holy Ghost.

We honor and obey God because He is holy. Our God deserves to be honored, obeyed, and praised because He is holy. God will not force to obey or to surrender to Him. He wants us to willingly give Him What He rightfully deserves. Why does God deserve our reverence? Because He is holy. Meaning He is morally perfect. Our purpose as believers is to progressively (little by little) resemble/become more like God. A person who continues to sin does not know God. He may go to church, pays his tithes but he is not saved. “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.”(1 John 3:9) A believer cannot obliviously go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Friend, awake to holiness and righteousness and put aside the unholy living and be blessed!

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 102

Psalm 102

1 Hear my prayer, LORD;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.

3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

12 But you, LORD, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.

18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:
19 “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the LORD.

23 In the course of my life[b] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”