APRIL 26

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

***** *****

Isaiah 54:5

“For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.”

Isaiah 47:4

“As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.”

Psalm 89:18

“For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 30:15

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength…..”

Isaiah 43:3

“For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.”

Psalm 71:22

“Also with the lute I will praise You— And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.”

***** *****

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.

QADOSH YISRAEL

THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL

Isaiah 48:17

“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

One of the great titles of God is “the Holy One of Israel.”  It’s a name that tells us a lot about our Maker, and a name worth exploring.

The word HOLY is found 625 times in the New International Version of the Bible.  It means literally “TO CUT” or “TO SEPARATE.”  The idea, then, is that holy things are separated from all unclean, impure, sinful things.  To be holy is to be set apart.  It means to be distinct.

In calling Himself “THE HOLY ONE.”  God is letting us know He isn’t like other so-called gods;  He’s in a class by Himself.  Furthermore, the kingdom He is building requires subjects who are set apart and who operate according to standards that are dissimilar from the common standards all around them.

We see God’s expectations in verses like these.

“You are to be my holy people.”  ~ Exodus 22:31

“Be holy, because I am holy.” ~ Leviticus 11:44;  1 Peter 1:16

“Make every effort …to be holy.” ~ Hebrews 12:14

So how can unholy people like us live up to such commands?  The only answer:  “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.”  Hebrews 13:12.  In short, we can only be holy through the death of Christ.  We can only be holy if Jesus first makes us holy ~ by His grace and through our faith.

Holiness was God’s goal for Israel, and it’s also God’s goal for us.  By living in pure, God-honoring ways, we distinguish ourselves.  We live differently than our neighbors.  We aren’t trying to act “better than anyone,” because holiness isn’t a competitive thing, and we know it doesn’t come from us, but from the Lord Jesus.   We are trying to be like Jesus, because true holiness is an attractive thing.  Remember how the least holy people were DRAWN to Jesus?

Are you letting “the Holy One of Israel” make you holy?

In what ways do you struggle to see yourselves as holy and to live a holy life?

PRAYER

Holy God, thank You for Jesus, who makes me holy.  Please help me reflect Your holiness to those around me without coming across as “holier-than-thou.”  Amen

Published by liveinthelightofourlord

View all posts by liveinthelightofourlord