Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.
I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight." But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!
(Psa 31:21-24)
Read MoreWhat does the prophet Isaiah really care about? What is he aiming for, ultimately? He wants to renew faith in the faithful God.
Read MoreDiscipleship and Holiness are talking about the same thing: drawing nearer to the Lord. In discipleship, we draw closer to Jesus, living more like Him in every part of our lives. In holiness, we move closer to God in Christ, opening every part of our lives to reflect Him more and more. See? Same thing.
Read MoreThe only way to be holy is to be a disciple of Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus is the only way to progress in holiness. (cf. Eph 4:24)
Read MoreIt takes a lot of strength to wait for the Lord, but we won't know real strength until we do. Waiting on the Lord is hard. Being still is hard. There's a lot to do! And who's going to do it if we don't do it!? Let's get cracking!
Read MoreHow does a person get holy? In the modern church, we tend to think of holiness the way we think of fitness. It’s something you acquire through discipline, routine, exertion, planning, etc. To get fit, well, go for a jog, stretch, do some pushups. Keep it up! You’re doing great! And… now you’re fit. But that’s not how holiness works.
Read MoreIn Matthew 16:1-4 Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and Sadducees for asking Him to "show them a sign from heaven." He answers, "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."
Read MoreGod calls Jesus "My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased," in Matthew 3:17. This is before Jesus has done any of His ministry, and years befo
Read MoreHeading into summer, we're all looking to make improvements. Our selves, our projects, around the house, with the family: we've got summer plans, summer book lists, summer goals, summer projects, summer aspirations.
Psalm 119:95 says, "The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but..."
How would you finish that sentence?
"But I stare intently at them, anxiously alert to their every move."
Or, "But I devote every waking moment and every conscious thought to ruminating on their wickedness, the ways they're lying in wait, and the destruction they plan for me."
It’s time to talk about sin.
Holy Sandwich!
I’m a big fan of sandwiches. But I, like many of you, am plagued by whether or not it’s holy to eat a sandwich! What do I have to do to a sandwich to make it holy? Can it be holy? What about the sandwiches of other cultures, such as gyros or tacos? Are they more holy than ham-on-rye? Less holy? This situation is bewildering.
The quest to be like a god without recognizing that we were made “in the image” of the One True God is what Adam and Eve’s sin was about.
What does being a Christian have to do with being a human? If we don’t know the answer to that question, then there’s a hole in our understanding of holiness.
What does it mean to be truly holy? It’s to be like Christ: to belong, like Jesus, wholly to the Father, and so to be able, like Jesus, to bring cleansing to the world. Too often our idea of holiness falls short of Jesus’ example. The holiness we hear so much about is shrill and weak and unappealing.
The empire of Assyria was ascending; the king of Assyria’s holdings were growing. His armies were heading south. They had “come up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.” (36:1) Jerusalem was all that was left.
God calls His people to holiness. Is this intimidating? Sure. But then, after all, if God is holy, and we love God, perhaps there is a loveliness to holiness that we should consider. Even more so because Jesus embodies God’s holiness perfectly, and we sure love Jesus! Perhaps we’ve been working with an idea of holiness that is incomplete.
We have so-far observed that Scripture tells us to be holy. We have also observed that few of us are interested in holiness, but that perhaps we’re mistaken in this. (Of course we are!) After all, if God is holy, and God is glorious and wonderful and we like God, then perhaps holiness is a part of a kind of life that isn’t so bad. (Of course it is!)
Read MoreWhat does it mean to be holy?
I'm not sure many of us are too worried about what it means to be holy. A little imprecision on this subject seems to benefit all involved. God gets to avoid being described as “too demanding” and we get to avoid being described as “worldy” or “sinful.” Hey! It’s a win-win!
Paul assumes that we will want to be holy, and are becoming holy. (1Cor 7:34; Eph 1:4, 5:27) He also says in those verses that Jesus is at work making us holy. Since that is happening, we ought to be holy. Not meaning, “push really hard and see if holy pops out,” but meaning that if Christ is at work in us doing this thing and it’s assuredly happening, then it ought to be.
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