FEBRUARY 6

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

********** ***********

1 Thessalonians 5:24

“Faithful is he who calls you and he also will DO IT.”

Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Psalm 47:8

“God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.”

Psalm 103:1-3

“Bless the Lord, O my soul;  and all that is within me, bless His holy name!

 Bless the Lord, O my soul,  and forget not all His benefits:

Who forgives all your iniquities,  Who heals all your diseases,”

Psalm 48:1

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain.”

Nehemiah 1:5-6

“And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,  please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.”

Psalm 68:35

“O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.

The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.”

********** **********

Our book for this month  is called “100 NAMES OF GOD”  written by Christopher D. Hudson.  Each day we’ll take one Hebrew name for God as given in the Bible to study and relate to.

EL QADOSH

THE HOLY ONE

“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 lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” Isaiah 57:15

Government agencies are lenient regarding impurities in our food supply.  For example, in peanut butter there may be thirty or more insect fragments per 100 grams.  Shocking, isn’t it?

It’s even more shocking to realize that God has NO lenience whatsoever for moral impurity.  That’s the idea behind the divine name “The Holy One.”  The Hebrew word for “holy” means sinless and free from imperfection of any kind.  God is without error or fault.  He is absolute purity and light.

This attribute of holiness sets God apart and makes Him distinct from everything else in this fallen world.  Try as we might, we sinful creatures have a hard time comprehending God’s blinding holiness, which is referred to in some translations of Scripture as ‘terrible” or “dreadful.”

In the same way that an epidemiologist seeks to isolate those infected with a deadly disease, or a surgeon insists on a germ-free operating room, God demands that extreme, even harsh, measures be taken to quarantine and eradicate sin.

Consider the consequences of sin in contrast with  the Holy God:

The payment for offending the Holy God?  DEATH. (Romans 6:23)

The punishment for following another god?  DEATH.  (Leviticus 20:3)

The consequence of getting too close to God’s presence?  DEATH (Exodus 19:12

Such dire consequences for sin reveal the extent of God’s holiness.  Like the north and south ends of a magnet, holiness and sin cannot coexist;  in fact, they violently repel each other.

Thankfully, Isaiah 57:15 expands the holiness of God to mean  there’s not only an aversion to sin but also a desire to seek out, save, and revive the lost!!

God’s holiness drives Him to seek and find us.  In His perfection, God seeks to restore the world to its original holy and perfect state.

It is God’s purity that will not allow Him to discard us, though He has reason to.  His holiness, rooted in love, compels Him to save.  He sent His one and only Son to turn sinners into saints.

God’s holiness means that God hates sin enough to deliver sinners from it.

*** ***

How would you describe God’s holiness?

PRAYER

God, please give me a hatred for sin and a desire to be holy as you are holy.  I pray in Christ’s name.  Amen

Published by liveinthelightofourlord

View all posts by liveinthelightofourlord