Let everything
that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD! Psalm150:6
My
Brethren,
As I knelt in prayer before
my heavenly Father, I spoke these words of honor and relationship: “Abba,
Daddy, Holy One…” when I was interrupted,
stopped in the moment by this thought! ‘I speak the words, “Holy One”, but do I
even have a clue what they truly mean or understand a smidgeon of the Truth
they represent?’ Holy is a word I relate to God, yes, but what if He suddenly
chose to reveal the Truth of these two words to me? What if His great and
terrible Presence, His Almighty being, were suddenly manifested before me? These
words I am writing would be the last words you would ever read from my hand! This frail, temporary body is not
designed to be in the manifest presence of the Holy God and I am certainly not a ‘Moses’!
Imagine with me how it would
effect us if we experienced what the Jewish people did as they waited on Moses
to intercede on their behalf with the living God? They came to a mountain they
were not to approach. And there was the blazing fire and darkness and gloom,
whirlwind and trumpet blasts and God’s words, reverberating like thunder, and so
frightening that those who heard it begged
that no further word be spoken to them, for they feared greatly the command
given by God, “If
even a beast touches the mountain it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the
sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and
trembling.”
How would this change your view of God?
Then there is the difficulty
of reconciling His holiness with the truth of God being a God who loves me!
Thee Omnipotent, Creator God, Eternal and unapproachable sees me in Christ,
forgiven and made holy. But there is so much more than being loved and forgiven.
I am invited to come boldly to His throne although His holiness has not diminished!
This is beyond imagining! Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, has opened the way
for me. Albeit we do not hear much about God being a consuming fire, nor are we
reminded often of His holiness, His word is adamant: God is holy. We can fall
into the thinking that our sins are not really so bad now, because we have
Jesus as our Savior. But I must give account of every idle word, every
attitude, and every deed, before this holy God. God’s view of sin never
changes. Why? because He is holy.
Hear the ending words of
Hebrews12:
Therefore
since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by
which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for
our God
is a consuming fire. Heb 12:29
For many
Christians, their view of God comes from a kind of spiritual fun house mirror,
It is distorted and inaccurate.
L.W.
How do you see Him? As a
cosmic kill-joy? rules-focused? demanding? hard to please? In the beginning,
God created man and He will not now be ‘created’ by man. Are you frustrated trying to reconcile these thoughts with your
view of God? Not only is God Holy, He always has been Holy, and always will be
Holy. And what is so astounding is
that He is Love. Run to Him. He loves us immeasurably and unconditionally. (My
feet are dancing) But being loving does not negate His holiness! Not a
smidgeon. God, wake your church and give us a reverence for You that will knock
us to our knees. For He is not the ‘man upstairs’, He is not ‘our buddy’, nor a
divine vending machine we can require to pop out answers to our two-bit prayers!!
(complicated by the fact we want
only the answer we deem best.) And of course He is to keep all trouble far from
your door and make us happy. Any less and we are upset with Him. In our
unbelief and presumption, we conclude ‘God is not good’. But it is us that are
not good and our Father loves us too well to leave us as we are.
But just as he
who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy,
because I am holy.” I P 1:15-16
The more we are conformed to
the world the more our view of God is warped. May God forgive us and bring us
to repentance. Only being in God’s word will transform and strengthen us in
truth and give us a correct view of God. In our world the word ‘holy’ is
frequently misused. It pricks my heart with sadness to hear carelessly spoken
exclamations such as ‘ holy cow’ or ‘holy smoke’, not to mention the endless abuse
of the word ‘God’. My heart is
torn a bit more every time I hear His precious name used in vain. I have
decided every time I hear it, I will bring Him praise immediately. He alone is
Holy and worthy of all praise.
We are commanded to praise
the LORD! Yes! It benefits us! God says He inhabits our praises.(I have some
questions…) Doesn’t that Truth bring you to your knees? Don’t you want to cry
out ‘LORD, quicken me, fill me with a desire and hunger for You. Teach me to praise
You.’
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in holy array. Psalm 29:1-2
Father-God, You
who are Holy beyond comprehension, You who never break Your word and are to be
reverenced and worshiped as Holy! I bow, unworthy in myself, but acceptable in
Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer. I rejoice in You. ‘Give me a heart that hungers
for you to be manifested in me! Establish Your word to me as that which
produces reverence for You. Awaken in me a desperate desire for You, a deep,
awareness of Your holiness. Cleanse me from wrong attitudes and corrupt
thinking about who You are. Give me a heart of surrender to bring You glory and
enjoy You now and forever. I tremble before You… and I cannot help but love
You. I pray in the name of the Lamb of God, my sacrifice and Savior, amen.
Praying for you all this week,
