I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
I am praising the Lord for a wonderful time with my family as many of us joined together in SC this week. I got to see my brother (we see each other every couple of years), his family from Colorado, including his new grand baby Juni, and our daughter from Pennsylvania and her granddaughters. We enjoyed meals together, swim time, game time and a lot of laughs. So, praise God!
Think about this verse. We imagine, and God does more, so much more!
This morning in my devotional, I read several scriptures about God’s holiness. Thus, I was enticed to dig in and find out more about what that means to me as a Christian.
The characteristic of holiness is ascribed to God repeatedly. In fact, one source I consulted (see footnote) reports that the word “holy” is used 431 times in the Old Testament in Hebrew and 180 times in the New Testament in Greek. When we think about God’s attributes, we generally think of His mercy, grace and love. Holiness seems to be a part of God that I don’t think about too much, but perhaps I should. God is holy because He is separate from His creation; in fact, the Bible says no one can look at God and live. Moses got to see the back of God from a cleft in a rock, but He did not see God face to face. That marvelous privilege will happen when we live with Him in a new heaven and new earth, where He is the ruler forever and ever.
But why does the Scripture constantly admonish us to be holy? Is that something that happens as soon as we become Christians? No, rather we are “becoming” holy…we will not be complete until we are in His presence.
I cannot imagine the entire earth being filled with God’s glory, but I am excited about it. The angels called God holy, and God tells us to be holy as He is. We are supposed to be separated from the sinful world and sacred to Him, our Creator and Redeemer.
Our God is holy and we can be like him but we cannot be Him. He is the Creator and the One worthy of all of our praise and adoration.
Is Jesus called “holy”? Of course, because He is the Son and has always been with the Father from the beginning. But Jesus doesn’t make us holy; He shows us the way to holiness by living according to the standards he set forth in His words to His disciples. The resource I used stated that even our best efforts cannot make us holy. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that “holy” is part of the name of the third person of the Trinity. He is the One who continually works within us to help us to be holy. That still small voice that reminds you of commitments to God and things you should be doing, wise choices you should make? That’s the Holy Spirit that resides in each of us once we have become adopted into the family of God as His children. God doesn’t just say, “be holy.” He sends a helper to aid us in our quest to be more like Him. (John 14:26)
I have not arrived at holiness yet, and I don’t know anyone who has. I think that Enoch, the man who walked with God and never died, must have reached that goal, but I don’t know for sure. I am on a quest to be better today, closer to Him, more “holy” if you will, than I was yesterday. Will I fail sometimes? Yes, more than I want to, but I am still striving to the goal of holiness because God says to be holy. He didn’t wave a magic wand and say, “Okay. You’re holy now.” We have to make wise choices every day, every hour and every minute in order to move towards the holiness that God wants to see in us. Does that mean that we are not righteous before God? No, I may be wrong, but I think righteousness is different than holiness. Righteousness is the right standing with God that Jesus gave us by dying for us on the cross. Holiness is what we strive towards in our daily walk with the Lord.
I am not sure I am making sense here to anyone but me, but I hope that this post has made you think about holiness and how God is holy all the time and He doesn’t have to work at it. He just is holy! Praise His Name!
**Source: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/what-is-the-biblical-definition-of-holy/
www.bible.com/reading-plans/13696/day/2
I don’t think that I have ever considered Moses a mentor to Joshua because I did not see before the truths pointed out in this devotional. In order to be a good mentor, you have to lead the way and then step back and give credit to the one to whom credit is due. Moses and Joshua both knew all of the glory belongs to God, and that is the greatest truth that Moses taught Joshua.
Glory In The Lord
Pause for a moment and consider how good God is. Thank Him for the breath you have, the life you live, and all the blessings you experience.
God is worthy of your praise.
Life isn’t perfect; there’s pain, suffering, and grief we all must endure. We all face dark and tough seasons.
However, Jesus experienced similar trials in His life. He grieved the loss of His friends, endured pain and suffering, and walked through dark times—feeling abandoned even on the cross.
None of these experiences alter the goodness of God. He remains good, present, and strengthens us in our suffering.
That’s why in 1 Chronicles 16:10, the writer encourages us to glory in His name. It means we should praise and uplift God in our lives. Our lips should overflow with praise, thanking God for who He is and what He has done.
What are some things you can thank God for today? How can you praise Him? Perhaps start by listing things you’re grateful for, then praising God for each one.
You might also list challenging aspects of your life. Spend time praying during this Advent season, asking God to oversee your circumstances. Thank Him for listening and being present, even in tough seasons.
Hosea is one of the most interesting books in the Bible since God tells Hosea, a prophet, to marry a woman who will be unfaithful and then to forgive her. It is a beautiful word picture of how much God puts up with us and forgives us, again and again. This morning in my devotional, some of the verses from Hosea jumped out at me and I want to share them with you today.
Like the rich and powerful in today’s world, Israel boasted of being “self made,” forgetting completely all that God had done for them. Aren’t we the same way? When things are going well for us, we tend to pat ourselves on the back and take all of the credit for all of the good things happening in our lives. May we never forget to give God all of the glory and praise!
Again, we tend to forget God when we are satisfied with our lives. Our pride takes over, we become self-sufficient and distance ourselves from God and the relationship with Him. May we never forget that the Lord is the one who provides for us and sustains us!
God is always willing to meet us more than halfway if we will just confess and return to Him. Too often, once we have turned our backs on God, we get further and further away from Him and forget all about His welcoming love and forgiveness. May we never forget that our Father in Heaven always has open arms to receive us!
We are all walking down the path of the Lord, the one that He has set before us to travel. For those of us who have established and kept our relationship with God, the path offers life, safety, security, restoration and peace. For the sinners, it is a path filled with traps into which they stumble and fall. God doesn’t want the sinners to fall for eternity, so my thought is that He is with them on the path just as He is with us because He is trying to get them to focus on Him and not on the path to what they would call success in life. May we stay on the right path in the right way, listening only to God’s directions and find ourselves walking steadily closer to eternity with Him!
One day all of mankind will acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior. Until that marvelous day comes, it is fitting that those of us who believe in His sovereignty now should sing songs of praise to Him.
I don’t praise God because all if right in my world but because all is right as I lean on Him. No matter what I go through, and the Bible tells us that the righteous are not free from troubles. God is right there taking me through them. The fact that He is always with me makes me sing!
In the assembly of believers, we can freely express our adoration for the Lord, the King of all the earth and of our hearts. In exalting His name together, we form a unity of sound and heart that reaches to Heaven. We praise not just to bless God but to also bless each other and ourselves with the understanding that what is happening now is not all that there is.
God receives glory and we work as His loving servants to help carry out His will here on earth. What is more praiseworthy than a God who never changes and who is always working for us and through us?
Sometimes, in the midst of trials or challenges, we just have to take time to remember all that God has already done for us and give Him the glory. It is in the remembering that our faith is built up again and we are then able to press onward with Him through the valley and back again to the mountaintop.
This is a phrase that is popular on school message boards around here. What they mean to say is to be the one who makes a difference. But after my devotional today, I have a new view of who that “one” is.
Ten lepers went to Jesus for healing. All received a touch from the Savior but only one returned to thank him. He is “the one” that I want to emulate. I never want to take Jesus’s blessings for granted. I always want to give Him the thanksgiving and glory. Jesus Himself noticed that only one came back.
If we are going to take the time to pray to God and expect answers from Him, then we also need to take time to give thanks to Him when the answers come. We want to be the one who acknowledges that all glory belongs to God…all we have, all we are and all we will be all come from Him. So, let’s pause in our struggles with life and the daily things that take our focus away from what is really important. Let’s thank God for at least five things today and every day. (There should be a lot more thanksgiving on our list, but we can start small and build up a needed habit.)
Lord God, I come before you today with a heart filled with gratitude and love. You have created me and know all about me and all of my failings. Thank you that you show your love for me by being patient with me. Thank you that you give me the strength to get through the task for each day. Thank you that you have given me a husband, a mate fit for me, who walks beside me in this journey called life. Thank you that you have given me a church with good friends there. And finally, thank you, Lord, that you are still working on me and in me to make me what you want me to be so that I can better serve you. May today be a day of blessing for all who read this. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
At our house, we give gifts at Christmastime, remembering that the greatest gift that we have ever received was God’s gift of His Son Jesus. We bake a birthday cake for Jesus and sing “Happy Birthday” to Him on Christmas Day. Reflecting on how much God has given puts a spirit of generosity into my heart and it seems to be present in others, too.
I recall seasons when we didn’t have much money to give gifts, but we still celebrated, with small tokens of love and a lot of laughter and fun with family. It has never been about the gifts, but it is always about the giver and the thought that the person put into the gift, the effort they made to get something that they were sure I would enjoy.
But Christmas is not the only season when people need to be remembered and receive gifts. This is a habit that should continue all year long, as God brings someone to our minds and whispers a need that they may have. Then, we meet that need and we end up receiving a blessing because we were obedient. Some people use the phrase, “what goes around comes around” and others say it’s something called Karma. I prefer to think that it’s a circle with God. We give; others receive; they, in turn, give, and eventually, when we least expect it, we receive a blessing. And the end result is being thankful and giving glory to God!
Let me give an example of what happened to us when we were attending Youth With A Mission in New Jersey. This was back in the 70’s and our daughter was still in diapers when God spoke to us about attending this school. I must confess that is was not what I thought it would be because the organization itself was geared more towards young singles, not young families and they really were not ready or equipped to deal with the needs of those of us who had children. There were seven families there with little ones and after a few weeks of struggling with the demanding schedule and lack of nutritious food for our children, we met together to pray. I’m not joking about the food; it was enough to fill the belly but I’m not convinced it was nutritious for any of us. We had muesli for breakfast, which was really baked oatmeal immersed in water. Filling, yes, so we were thankful, but I must say that it was not at all tasty. We usually had PBJ sandwiches for lunch and sometimes for dinner, we had what we jokingly called “chicken fly” soup. We said the chicken flew over the soup but there was no real chicken in it. Anyway, there was no milk on the menu for our little ones. Hope had recently been weaned and needed milk for her young bones to develop well, as did the the other little ones with us. So, in our prayers, we specifically asked God for milk for our children. I don’t remember how faith-filled I felt that night as I went to bed, but I knew somehow God would provide milk for our children; I just had no idea how. After all, each couple had come to the school with only the personal possessions we had not sold to be able to attend the school, so we had no money to go out and purchase it. At the time, none of us was employed, so there was no income to depend on. We had not told anyone else in the school about our concerns and our prayer for milk, so it absolutely had to be a God thing that the next morning, each couple awoke to find a cold gallon of milk outside our doors. Seven gallons for seven couples! We were amazed at God’s provision, testified in the group meeting and waited expectantly for someone to admit that they had been prodded to buy milk for us. No one admitted the purchase, but what was even more miraculous was that each time one of us was running low on milk, a new gallon appeared outside of our door. We thankfully received and gave the milk to our little ones, nourishing their bodies and our souls. That gift has been a testimony for years of God’s provision. He loves little children so much that He takes the time to provide for the nourishment of their physical bodies. I have no doubt that He used someone at that school to do so, but no one came forward to admit their generosity, so I give all of the glory to God who is the provider of all things. In receiving that milk, I was encouraged to complete the training at the school and learned a lot about the Bible, its history and its Author from some really great teachers. I received so much more than the milk for Hope. I got a testimony of God’s provision that has remained a constant reminder of just how much He cares about the little details of our lives. I have shared the testimony numerous times and each time, someone receives a blessing from hearing about it. Not from my words, but from God’s work and the surprises that He has in store for us when we believe and step out in faith.
Generous giving leads to thanksgiving to God which in turn leads to more generous giving and overflowing thanks to God. It’s a circle of giving and receiving and thanking and then doing it all over again. I am always amazed at how God knows and meets our needs, and the story that I told above is a true one that I have shared with my grandchildren who need to know how much God loves them. He truly, truly, watches over each of us and meets our needs. Sometimes, He may use me to meet a need of someone else. Sometimes, if you’re listening, He may use you. Be ready and willing to give and enter the circle of thanksgiving and giving glory to God!
I must admit that I make a very poor servant, especially when unexpected circumstances come up. A point in case is this week when I found out that I need to stay in Maryland. I haven’t been whining, not externally at least, but inside, every part of me has been saying, “But I had other plans. What about my plans?” Today, God spoke to me through His Word and gave me the answer I have been needing all along.
I am not as strong as I once was. I don’t have the stamina or physical capability to do many things, but I can do some things and God will help me through the next two months when I need to be a caregiver for my grandchildren. I pray that the ultimate result will be that God will be praised and get the glory for my being willing to serve. Therein is the secret to service…we don’t serve to get thanked or gifts. Rather, we serve to give all of the glory to God. May the children see Jesus in me as I love them in a special way during this season of giving. Instead of being all about me and what I am sacrificing, it has become all about Jesus and what He already sacrificed so that I could share His love with my young grandchildren.
Vickie's Book Nook and Meditation Corner 