GOD’S WORD FOR APRIL 11
GOD’S WORD FOR APRIL 11 ~ ~ 1 Samuel 2:2 ~ ~ “There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside you: neither is there any rock like our God.”
Why do people reject Jesus as Savior? Why do even some Christians not understand the lifestyle that is necessary for a true relationship with Him? Why do many of them have one foot in the world system and its sin and the other with Christ?
I believe that the answer to both of these questions is that many people, saved and unsaved alike, do not understand the holiness of God.
It’s in many hymns….more in some churches than others. But, I believe that for many it becomes commonplace. To me, the English word, at least, doesn’t come near to doing justice to God’s holiness.
Every book of the bible tells of the holiness of God, and every book speaks in depth, or at least mentions His creation of the world and universe in 6 literal days.
Those are two bedrock beliefs on which everything else hangs——on them hang the belief of the Crucifixion, Jesus’ Resurrection, and by extension, our coming Resurrections, forgiveness of sins, judgment of evil, and direction of kings, rulers and nations. Our knowledge of His personal Presence, Love, Peace, Guidance, Protection, Wisdom, and anything else that He knows we need, hang on our knowledge of His holiness.
Knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us depends upon us knowing that He will perform all His promises in His perfect will, and that His will is always for our good. That is the summation of the character of God.
His character defines His holiness, because He is the Creator, the only powerful God, and the only true God. He is the only one who took control and defeated death by His resurrection, and humbled Himself to the point of giving up His Glory in heaven to become a man and die for us so we have a choice of going to heaven and living on His perfect earth with Him in the end. All others are just religions thought up by man, and their gods all died and stayed dead.
At least 12 times He said we must be holy, AS He is holy. Some translate the original language as “perfect” We, as His people are commanded to be as perfect as He is!!! This was part of His covenant with the Jews that we inherited, and they wanted to obey it. To be holy means that we are to be set apart for God’s use only. Like an object is set apart as holy, so this means the same thing. But they soon found out that they couldn’t perform their part of the covenant. God set up a system of sacrifices to show them that they could never be holy on their own, and to draw them closer to Him.
After we’re saved—-after we acknowledge Jesus’ sacrifice and suffering out of love for us and are sorry for our sins——-we are “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) We have the power of God to help us live for Him……to be holy, and set apart for Him.
This is an effect of being a “new creation in Christ”. We develop a new character, and it matches the character of God, which is holiness and perfection!
This should make us think about how we live our lives. If we’re saved, Our bodies are His temple, how can that be used for something other than for Him? That’s our new identity, we are not part of this world system anymore. We need to be about the work of growing in Him, learning His Word, and learning to discern His guidance in our lives.
That can’t be done watching worldly and empty TV. It can’t be done by having our main goal be looking for entertainment and fun. Time is short, evil is encroaching at the door. That’s obvious just by listening to the news.
If you have received Jesus as your Savior, and repented of your sins, you will be judged. Even as saved people, we face a judgment. Everything we did will be judged and either burned up or given a reward. How close to holy perfection our lives come, will be judged by our holy and perfect God. Everything that we do, being joined to this world, will be burned up, and as the Bible says, “we will suffer loss” while still being saved. He tells us to come out and be separate from the world. We cannot be holy, as He tells us we must, while imitating this world.
“So come out from among unbelievers and be separate,” says the Lord,
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will graciously receive you and welcome you [with favor], 2 Corinthians 6:17 AMP
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If you haven’t yet acknowledged the holiness of God…..
If you haven’t yet acknowledged that you have sinned and do sin like everyone else, and deserve the certainty of hell that goes with that, and that just one small sin will mean hell because it cancels perfection…………
If you haven’t yet acknowledged that Jesus gave up His glory to not only come to this grubby world,
but to take the lowest social status—be hated by the very people He created and loves, and suffer incredible torture and the lowliest and most painful death ever invented, to give you victory over your sin and live with Him in the glory of heaven and the wonderful perfect earth forever and ever…..
If you haven’t taken that step, then now is the time. You don’t know if you have tomorrow. Nothing is for sure except death,…… and salvation if you will accept the free gift offered to you by the Holiest of all, the God of the Universe!!!
He died for you, but like any other gift, you must accept it. It isn’t automatic.
WILL YOU? If so, all you have to do is tell Him so.
Live in the Light of Our Lord 