What is Holiness?

 

The other day, as I was reading the Bible I came across these verses.

Isaiah 52:10 “The Lord has made bare His holy arm. In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God.”

Psalms 3:4 “I cried to the Lord with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill.”

Psalms 5:7 “But as for me, I will come into Your House in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.”

Revelation 4:8 “The four living creatures, each having six wings were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night saying: “HOLY HOLY HOLY Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

That caught my attention. Here was the word HOLY repeated over and over again. I was suddenly reminded of how all over the Bible it says in many, many places that Our God is Holy. So, I looked up the actual word Holy to understand its meaning better. The Merriam Webster Dictionary meaning is exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness. The other word meanings are sacred, pure, pious, devoted fully.

The Hebrew word for ‘Holy’ means “separate or set apart”. This is helpful as when talking about God’s holiness, we talk about His absolute purity. He is unstained by sin and evil. He is perfect in every way, and perfectly good all the time. – Bible Dictionary.

According to Mother Teresa “ Holiness consists of doing the will of God with a smile.”

Therese of Lisieux “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will , and being just what God wants us to be.”

Jerry Bridges writes in his book  ‘ The pursuit of holiness’: “Holiness is God’s crown. Imagine for a moment that God possessed omnipotence (infinite power), omniscience (perfect and complete knowledge), and omnipresence (everywhere present), but without perfect holiness. Such a one could no longer be described as God. Holiness is the perfection of all His other attributes: His power is holy power; His mercy is holy mercy; His wisdom is holy wisdom. It is His holiness more than any other attribute that makes Him worthy of our praise.”

Holiness in simple terms is to do what pleases God and to shun all forms of evil knowing that it would hurt the heart of Our Father God who gave us His absolute best to save us from eternal judgment. The HOLY Lord didn’t spare His Only Begotten Son Jesus for us and actually turned His face away from the Cross for a moment when the Lord Jesus bore all our sins on Himself. That was the Ultimate Rejection and Jesus cried out in agony “My God , My God why have You forsaken Me?” (Mathew 27:46) The Holy Father loved us so much that it pleased Him to bruise Jesus – Isaiah 53:10 God loved us so much that He just didn’t save us but it delighted Him to save us. Nothing magnifies the Glory of God like the Son of God embracing the Cross. A HOLY GOD who LOVES like no other! Hallelujah …we serve such a wonderful God.

Let us see some more verses about Holiness in the Bible:

1)    Who may ascend His holy hill? Psalms 24:3-6  The one who has clean hands and  a pure heart. Who has not lifted up his soul to any idol. Nor sworn deceitfully. Such a person will receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of His salvation. This means that we too have a part to play and the Lord Jesus gives us His righteousness as a robe at salvation.(Isa 61:10,11)

2)    The Lord commands us to Be Holy for He is Holy (Lev 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16)

3)    In 2 Corin 6:17,18-7:1 we read God calling us to  : “ Come out from among them and be separate says the Lord. Do no touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. I will be a Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters….. Therefore having these promises, beloved , let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

4)     Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us. We read in Heb 7:26-28 that we have a High Priest fitting for us, holy , harmless, undefiled separate from sinners and has become higher than the heavens.The Son has been perfected Forever. He is the ONLY truly HOLY and RIGHTEOUS ONE.

5)    It is the Lord who purifies us ( Isa 6:3-5) In the Presence of the Holy God Isaiah becomes so aware of His uncleanness and He cries out to the Lord ,"Woe I am undone for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." That’s when the seraphim is sent by God to touch his mouth with the live coal from the altar and his iniquity is taken away and sin purged.

In the New Testament, we see in 2 Corin 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus became the Holy Lamb of God for us and was sacrificed once and for all so that by His blood we can go boldly to His throne of Grace and Mercy and plead forgiveness of sin.

It is the Holy Spirit that guides us into all Holiness. The same Power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us today. Rom 8:11

Let us thus rededicate ourselves to the Lord asking for His Mercy and Grace ‘to be holy as our Father is holy.’ Mathew 5:48 Charles Spurgeon “The saints shall preserve in holiness because God preserves in Grace.”

Sharing some beautiful songs on the Holiness of God: Hope you enjoy them.

GOD IS GREAT - HILLSONG WORSHIP

HOLY SPIRIT THOU ART WELCOME IN THIS PLACE- BENNY HINN

 

YOU ARE HOLY - JOSHUA AARON

NEE ENNUM PARISHUDHAN - CHERRY GEORGE CHERIAN

HOLY FOREVER - CHRIS TOMLIN

HOLY , HOLY, HOLY PAUL WILBUR

HOLY IS OUR GOD- ROBIN MARK

YOU ARE HOLY- MICHAEL W SMITH

HOLY IS THE LORD -CHRIS TOMLIN

HOLY LAMB OF GOD - DON MOEN

Have a wonderful week,

Stay blessed!

Sparky laurie

 

HOW TO BELIEVE ?

Hi friends,

Hope you are doing fine. Today I’d like to share about the kind of belief we shouldn’t have and the kind of belief that we should have. This post is based on 2 Kings chapter 7. Let me divide this story into 2 portions for easier understanding.

The Officer’s Unbelief in spite of the Promise-

The first portion is in 2 Kings 7 verses1&2 and 17-20. The story starts by prophet Elisha bringing the Word of the Lord to the King and nation of Israel. Though it is a time of famine, and the king blames God for the calamity, Elisha brings them a good word which is God’s promise that within 24 hours there would be a favorable reversal of the economic situation in Samaria. He says that there would be such abundance in place of scarcity that the food prices would drop drastically in the city. On hearing this , the king’s officer full of unbelief makes a comment “even if the Lord would make windows in heaven …could this thing be?” In response, God pronounces a harsh judgment upon the doubting officer through Elisha saying that “the Word of God would be fulfilled, and he would see it, but he would not benefit from it.” Later, we see the king appointing this particular officer to have the charge of the gate and hungry people on knowing that there was abundance of food rush at the gate where the officer is trampled to death. Just like the man of God says, he sees the food but is unable to eat of it.”

How grave is the sin of unbelief in the eyes of our God! 

Unbelief is a deliberate refusal to have faith and accept the goodness of God. It is different from doubt. Henry Drummond explains it beautifully: “Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt can’t believe. Unbelief won’t believe. Doubt is honesty. Unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light. Unbelief is content with darkness.”

In verses 5-7 we see how we see a fully stocked Syrian camp is suddenly empty of men.

Israel was powerless against the besieging army, but God wasn’t powerless. We see how God attacked the Syrians simply by causing them to hear the noises of an attacking army. Imagining the worst, they flee for their lives leaving behind everything as it is.

The Belief of the Four Lepers despite their hopeless condition-  (verses 3-20)

The 4 lepers were sitting near the gate as they were untouchables and not welcome in the city. They wanted to surrender to the Syrian army as they knew that if they remained at the gate, they would die of hunger anyway. They had nothing to lose in other words. Imagine their surprise when they find the camp deserted but full of food and other supplies. They ate and drank to their heart’s content and carried gold, silver, and clothing from tent to tent and hid them.(vs 8) For some time, the lepers enjoyed the blessings, but they soon realize their responsibility to share it with others. They knew it would be sin to be silent and selfishly enjoy the blessings and so they inform the gatekeepers. Since they were not allowed inside the city, they share the good news with those who they can.

A lesson we can learn from the lepers is that we too who have known Salvation and experienced the love and blessing of the Father have a responsibility to share the Good News of Jesus Christ faithfully with those we can. Another thing is that the lepers enjoyed the feast first before they told others about it. We too can share the Gospel with others only when we ourselves are truly enjoying it.

We may be having our own problems, we may be anxious about many things or broken in many areas of our life like the lepers, we may be misunderstood, unwanted, rejected or even social outcasts, but we must believe that the Lord can take all of us and use us for His Glory. He can give us what we need – Healing, Deliverance, Answers, Restoration and when He puts people in need into our lives just like those grateful lepers, we too have a responsibility to share Jesus as Savior with those who don’t know Him in their lives.

We may often think that it would be the officer who had heard the Promise who would be used by God, but God used the unworthy, unlikely lepers to do His work. Similarly, often God will choose not the great or influential but the ordinary and the foolish things of this world to do His work. That’s how we know it is Him and not us. Let us listen to the words of this song MY STORY  YOUR GLORY by Matthew West which summarizes this aptly.

https://youtu.be/_KZJznKgHqU?si=pqWNDwZMO3ZUPx4S

Have a blessed week,

Sparky laurie

A Love Forever & An Endless Hallelujah!

 

^“ We love because He first loved us.”- 1 John 4:19

Hi friends,

Today on Feb 14^th when the whole world is celebrating Love, It is true that we love the people in our lives, our spouses, our children, our parents, our siblings, our nieces , our nephews, our friends, our relatives and those close to our heart too Maybe our teachers, acquaintances or even people who we don’t know well but just love them for who they are….All this is good. However, among all these, the truest and best of all loves is the love God has for us and the Love we have for Him. Nothing could be purer, more complete or more intense than the love of the Creator for His Creation. He loved us enough to give His life for us on the Cross of Calvary and we love Him because He first loved us.

The best thing about His love is that He knows us fully- strengths and weaknesses, flaws and all and yet loves us so fully that there is not an iota of love more for Him to love us with.  When we truly know and understand the depth of His love, we will be the most secure creatures on this planet because His word says in Rom 8:38,39 “ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How blessed are we to experience such a love in this life of ours! What can we give in return for a love so spotless and pure? All He wants is our heartfelt surrender and worship.  Today, I want to share a beautiful worship song by Matt Redman. The central theme of the Song “Endless Hallelujah”  released in 2011 as part of Matt’s album “10,000 Reasons,” revolves around the idea of eternal worship, where believers will one day join in a continuous chorus of praise and adoration to God. It speaks of a future beyond this earthly life, where sorrow, pain, and tears will be replaced with joy, peace, and an endless hallelujah.

It is a song I go back to time and time again and every time it invokes in me the hope and anticipation we have of eternal life with God and one day joining the choir of angels in Heaven where we will all sing an Endless Hallelujah to the King. Let us sing this love song back to Him with a heart full of praise and adoration for His love for us.

https://youtu.be/gtzAciGlgKE?si=idG0PvwL0o51d8vu

 

Have a blessed week!

Sparky Laurie

 

You are the God of all My Days!

 

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalms 139:16

Dear friends,

Hope you are well. This post I wrote inspired by a song by Casting Crowns called ‘GOD OF ALL MY DAYS!’ Do anyone of us know how many days we have? The answer is No …really but we have a God who knows our first and last breath and He is the God of all our Days.

The last week I came to know of the sudden demise of a teacher from the school where my children attend. It was a shock to many and though I didn’t really know this teacher, yet when I heard of her sudden cardiac arrest, the unpredictability of life just dawned on me once again. A few times I have written about the shortness of life in the posts about the sudden departure of my brother- in law and of my dearest friend ‘S’ (both in their early 40’s). Life suddenly turns upside down for the families left behind and that vacuum that they create in our hearts can never really be filled except for a hope that we will meet them once again on the other shore!

However, one thing that we can always bank on is that none of this ever comes as a surprise to our Lord. He is indeed The Alpha & The Omega – The Beginning & The End (Rev 1:8) and there is nothing that is beyond His knowledge and His perfect will. So, we can rest assured that Our Lord who loves us to the point of death, is fully aware of everything that concerns us. How reassuring that we are not just left hanging there in the air in uncertainty but that amid all that has happened, is happening and will be happening, He is on the Throne and in complete control.

Next let us see what kind of a God we have;

When we are broken, He is our Healer ( Jer 30:17)

He is the One who makes all things new (Rev 21:15)

He is the Wisdom to all our questions (1 Corin 1:30-31)

He is our Savior in frightful situations (Isa 41:13)

He is the God who never changes.( Malachi 3:6)

He is the God who pursues us with love (Jer 31:3)

The God whose Grace covers us in our repeated failures.(Exodus 34:6)

He is the God who is our strength when we fall.(2 Corin 12:9)

He is the lifter of our head (Psalms 3:3)

The reason that we sing.(Psalms 59:16, Psalms 63:7)

In our worries, He is our stillness. (Psalms 46:10)

In our searching, He is our answer. ( Jer 29:13)

In our blindness, our Vision (Isa 9:2)

In our bondage, our Freedom! ( Gal 5:1)

What more do we need? He’s the God who is with us unchanging in all the seasons of our life and He loves us more than we could ever imagine!

Let us sing this song with the quiet reassurance that no matter what happens to us in our lives, He is the God who stays and the God of All Our Days!

 https://youtu.be/ZYkZE8AogDE?si=l5P5cNHb64V7O0Z_

Let me end with this quote by Hugh Prather : 

Have a blessed week!

Sparky laurie

Destined For Greatness!

“Now all glory to God, who is able ,through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”- Ephesians 3:20

Hi friends,

Hope you are doing fine. It’s been a while now since I’ve penned something. Today I want to share 2 keys to overcoming any trial in your life successfully. This post is based on something I learnt recently from a great man of God who has been through one of the biggest trials of his life and has come out stronger!

We all go through different types of trials in our lives. For some it may be some financial issue, for another it may be death of a loved one or a sickness in the body or mind or some kind of family/ personal relationship issue. Sometimes however, we may go through trials that may seem so unfair that we may be tempted to ask Lord why has this happened or worse…may even cause us to wallow in self-pity asking the question, “ why Me Lord?”…Those are instances in life when we suffer despite doing the right thing. We suffer for standing up for the right cause. In such cases, we must remember the Biblical examples of Stephen the Martyr, John the Baptist and of course our Lord Jesus Christ- all of whom suffered pain, misunderstanding, rejection, loneliness and ultimately death despite living righteous lives and causing no harm to anyone. Yes, there are such times in our lives when we need to remember that we are followers of Christ and that means we need to embrace the Cross and follow Him daily. Jesus says in Mathew 16:24 that “If anyone wants to be my Disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”

We are all born in the image of God and therefore each one of us has a great purpose in this life that only we can accomplish.  It may be visible to others, or it may not be visible to others, but we must continue faithfully whatever task the Lord has given us and shine as bright as we can in our respective places that the Lord has placed us. Amidst this, there may be instances for us to get disappointed or discouraged due to the trials in our life. As mentioned in John 16:33 we are only human and so it is only natural that by default; as being part of this fallen world, that we go through different kinds of problems, trials, and testing but the real question is how can we rise above them successfully? Here are 2 main keys for this :  1) Do Not Allow Offense to Sabotage your Greatness.  

2)      Do Not Allow Intimidation to Sabotage your Greatness.

 Let us see each point in detail. The first point is do not let Offense sabotage your greatness- Offense means we perceive an insult or disregard to ourselves. It means we are hurt over the slightest of issues. This must not be so if we are true followers of Christ. We must be humble and forgiving and full of love even to those who hurt us whether it be intentional or not. This can be very difficult but the Lord who watches over us will reward us when we choose to be free of offense. Our life too would be hassle-free from issues and misunderstandings that stem from assumptions. We instead choose to be intentional and deliberate in our love walk. Proverbs 19:11 says :”A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”

The 2nd point is Do not allow Intimidation or Fear to Sabotage your Greatness- Often in life, we know the right thing to do, but somehow we bow down to fear. Often its fear of what other people will say or think or will I be misunderstood or may be even will I be understood??? And that keeps us from doing the good we know we should and being the best that we can be so let’s just roll up our sleeves and look fear in the face and say not today fear “ For God has not given me a Spirit of Fear but of Power, Love & a Sound Mind!” – 2 Timothy 1:7 & add to that Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Let me end with this quote from Nike: “Greatness…… it’s just something we made up. Somehow, we’ve come to believe that ‘greatness’ is a gift reserved for a Chosen few- for Prodigies, for Superstars & the rest of us can only stand by …. watching! You can forget that ‘greatness’ is not some rare DNA Strand, it’s not some precious thing, ‘greatness’ is no more unique to us than breathing! We’re all capable of it, all of us! Find your Greatness!”

https://youtu.be/nQWMLWoGEOw?si=YZicpQOmSk3UBcju

https://youtu.be/KBD18rsVJHk?si=kdBGO_1eUdzpVnUr

 

Have a blessed week!

Sparkylaurie