Tag: Jesus

God Is Holy

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song2 Comments

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/

Holy Forever-Chris Tomlin

Holy Is the Lord God Almighty-Chris Tomlin

Banished/Driven Out/Cast Out

On By vickleaIn Admonition, ScriptureLeave a comment

These verses are very sad, aren’t they? Adam and Eve were living in a perfect world, in total harmony with God and nature. Then, they sinned and God banished them from the Garden of Eden that He had created for them. Not only that, God put cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life. God, who made man in His image, casts him away from the closeness that he had enjoyed since creation. The hopelessness and despair must have been overwhelming.

Lest we decide to blame Adam and Eve for all of mankind’s problems, the Bible is filled with reminders that we are ALL sinners. Not one of us would have been allowed to stay in the Garden of Eden! We can now stop pointing that finger at Adam and Eve and point it back at ourselves. We are sinners. We are the reason that Christ had to die for the sins of mankind.

Aha! Hope follows despair if we know that Jesus is our Lord and that He died for us. God didn’t just send man out of the garden. He already had a plan for the redemption of mankind, if man would only believe and accept His free gift of salvation.

Like many of you, I have been watching with horror as a great swath of Los Angeles burns. I have been praying for the people there and for the firefighters and rescuers. But I have also been praying that no one has to suffer the eternal fires of hell. These fires in L.A. look hot and unrelenting. Imagine if you can the torment of eternity in a fire created by God for those who choose to go there. Yes, that’s right. If we don’t repent and ask Jesus to be our Savior, we are choosing to spend eternity separated from God and in the eternal fire of damnation.

As you sit mesmerized in front of your screen, please pray for all the people in L.A. But, more importantly, pray for the souls of all those who have not yet come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Let’s pray together that they come to salvation before Judgment Day.

Not Alone in Battle

On By vickleaIn devotional, Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

Sometimes, I feel as though I am all alone, fighting the battle against my own sinful nature. Today’s devotional was a welcome and humorous reminder that I am never alone. I used to watch the Popeye cartoons every Saturday morning. In spite of the fact that the show always ended the same way, I sat in front of the TV weekly to get my weekly look into heroism and true love. The answer was in a can of spinach. (Yuck!)

These days, when I am battling against temptation, I have only to call upon the name of the Lord and He is right there, reminding me of scriptures that I have memorized and testimonies from my past. God is always there and He does truly love me. We are all blessed to have a Savior as close as the next prayer and always willing to help us in our struggles.

From the YouVersion Bible App, “Daily Power, Day 9” by Craig Groeschel

I loved the old Popeye cartoons. You know, Popeye the Sailor Man? It was clear he was our hero and Brutus was his natural enemy, threatening to harm poor Olive Oil, the love of Popeye’s life. Every episode, after Brutus’ taunting and bullying, Popeye reached the point where “that’s all I can standz, and I can’t standz no more.” Out came his can of spinach, down it went, and suddenly his muscles were popping and fists were flying. Brutus didn’t stand a chance!

I’m convinced we occasionally need to choose a “Popeye moment.” When the Enemy attacks and we keep struggling, we need to “draw a line in the sand” and have a showdown. That’s all we can stand, and it’s time to change.

What fight are you facing today? Are you overworking, missing what’s most important in life? Are you battling an addiction and telling yourself it’s not that big of a deal? Are you putting off a conversation, hoping the problem will solve itself? Are you making excuses as to why you can’t drop the pounds, making jokes about it to help relieve your pain?

Maybe it’s time to stop. Make a decision. Enough is enough. It’s time to change. The good news is your strength doesn’t come from a can of spinach. Yours comes from our God. His power is available to you. His strength dwells within you. His spirit will help you do what you can’t do on your own.

Power Lift: That’s it, Lord. I’m tired of fighting temptation and giving in more times than I can count. Help me change—and help me change now!

Advent: Day 1

On By vickleaIn Christmas, Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

From the You Version Bible App devotional, “Advent: 25 Days”

Find Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love This Season

How are you feeling this holiday season? Is life like a Christmas movie, full of wonder, happiness, and endless cups of hot cocoa? Or are you feeling stressed out, anxious, or maybe even grieving? The classic Christmas song says it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but for many of us, it can be the most overwhelming time of the year.

We can’t guarantee that reading this Bible Plan will make it snow on Christmas or magically make all your holiday worries disappear, but it is designed to help you find hope, peace, joy, and love this season.

What Is Advent?

Advent is a Christian tradition of anticipating Jesus’ birth on Christmas. Each week of Advent focuses on one word that reveals how Jesus’ birth changes us. The four words which you’ve seen already are hope, peace, joy, and love.

Now, let’s pause because if you’ve been to church, read the Bible, or spent any time around Christians, then you’ve probably heard these words a lot. And maybe these words feel a bit vague. That’s why we’ve defined these words below.

  • Hope: A wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present
  • Peace: A state of wholeness, calm, and renewal between us, God, and others
  • Joy: A resilient cheerfulness anchored in the goodness of God
  • Love: Following Jesus’ example by treating everyone as valuable and worthy of sacrificial care

Over the next few weeks, we will explore the Bible and see how God’s gift to us provides hope, peace, joy, and love. We’ll also see how these gifts impact how we live every day.

So whether you’ve practiced Advent for years or you’re just learning about this tradition, we can all find hope, peace, joy, and love this season. Tomorrow, we’ll begin our first week by taking a closer look at God’s plan for hope.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, thank You for the great gift of Your Son. Please help me focus on You this Christmas season. Free my life from distractions and give me Your hope, peace, joy, and love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Thoughts

I researched a little bit and found out that Advent comes from that Latin word “adventus” which means arrival. Arrival of what? At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of Jesus on the earth, the only One who can reconcile us to the Father and who teaches us about what true hope, peace, joy and love are.

I just returned from a trip to Maryland and got to witness just a little. I shared with my young grandchildren about our tradition of baking a birthday cake for Jesus. We have been doing that since our children were very young. I told them that Christmas isn’t about the tree and presents but it’s all about Jesus. One of the kids was amazed while the toddler was bored and the oldest wandered away. But I least I got to share about the real meaning of Christmas and hope that it stays with them in some way for a long time. It breaks my heart that the only meaning some people have for Christmas is a wish list and a visit to Santa. The real meaning is lost in the commercialism of the season that the retailers have hyped so much that Jesus seems lost in the commercials for the newest gadgets, toys and must-haves before anyone else has things. I don’t think Jesus minds our enjoying giving, but I am fairly sure that He does not appreciate the greed associated with the “this is what I want for Christmas.” If we have Jesus, we actually have all that we need.

I hope that the first day of Advent is one that you can take time to reflect on the arrival of the One who changed your life forever. That’s my goal for today.

The New Covenant

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “A God Who Is Faithful”, Day 7

Old Testament Connection

People broke the relationship with God that he had established. The creation and the Creator were once tethered together by a life-giving relationship, and humanity broke the bond by sinning against their Creator. Since that moment, life has been filled with pain and frustration because it has not had the life-giving power of God flowing through it. But God loves people too much to leave them in this condition, so he made a series of promises to bring his people out of it.

The Bible speaks of a “new covenant” that God makes with his people. This covenant does not depend on people’s ability to fulfill it by loving and being faithful to God. Instead, this covenant depends on God. In this covenant, God promises to help his people obey his law (Jer 31:31 – 34). God also promises to bring his people from death to life and to care for them forever (Eze 37:24 – 26). The author of Hebrews declared that God has fulfilled and accomplished that covenant through Jesus. The sacrifice of the great high priest Jesus supersedes all Old Testament rituals. Jesus, therefore, fulfilled the Old Testament laws. He fulfilled the terms of the covenant by being the priest who presides over the covenant. He is the priest who brings his people into the presence of God (Heb 10:19).

Today’s Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for the new covenant. Thank you for bringing me out of death and into life. Amen.

My Thoughts

It never gets old for me to be reminded of the new covenant that God has established through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. God set the terms of the agreement and God works to make sure that it is fulfilled. What we have to do is accept the sacrifice and then dedicate our lives to living for the Creator who gave us life and then renewed that life through Jesus. That is the good news of the new covenant and the reason we can share our joy this season!

A Pure Heart

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

The Levites were the closest people to God of all the Israelites because they ministered before Him. But they had to purify themselves repeatedly. I am not a scholar of Levitical law and practices, but I know that Aaron had to be purified before he first went into the tabernacle. I remember reading that those who were near dead bodies had to be purified and stay away from ministering for a certain amount of time. There were all kinds of laws about purification and offerings that the people made to achieve this goal.

The good news for us is that Jesus paid the price once and for all for us to be purified forever. Our sins were washed away and we are in right standing before God just because of Jesus’s sacrifice. No rituals, no animal sacrifices, just confession, repentance and maintaining that pure heart before the Lord by coming before Him regularly and telling Him where we have failed and need help. I am in awe of God’s plan. What started as so many laws and rituals ended in the cross and therein lies the pure heart that we all want to have before God. Jesus’s death was not an easy one and our daily walk may be filled with uphill battles against our own human nature to sin. But each day, we need to crucify our worldly desires and continue to make the choices to keep our hearts pure. Some days and some choices are harder than others. But it will be worth it…we have the promise to see God!

Is Your Heart Pure?

What do you think about when you hear the word pure?

Do you picture a tall glass of crystal clear water? A freshly washed load of white sheets? Or maybe someone who’s morally wholesome and good?

In the sixth of the beatitudes—a series of promises Jesus made about God’s Kingdom—Jesus said this:

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8 NIV

The word “pure” means clean or blameless, free from corruption or contamination, purified by fire, or unstained by guilt. None of us can truly be pure on our own—despite our best efforts.

Before Jesus showed up, the highest ranking Levitical priests were charged with ministering and mediating in the holiest spaces (inside the tabernacle in the wilderness and, later, the temple in Jerusalem)—where God’s presence dwelled on earth. But even they had to be purified over and over again.

Now, because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross, He has paved the way for us. His blood covered our sins, and when we accept the sacrifice, He makes us pure. Now and forever, we can “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God,” where we can find mercy and grace when we need it most (Hebrews 4:16). Now, our bodies are the modern-day temples where God’s Spirit has chosen to dwell.

Being pure of heart is not about being perfect, but trusting in Jesus to purify our souls.

As Isaiah once prophesied…

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
Isaiah‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Have you been made pure by trusting in Jesus? Today can be your day. By believing in Him and trusting in Him, you become a new creation, pure and blameless through faith. He paid the price for you to be made pure. Do you receive it?

One More Thing

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/22

As a recovering perfectionist, I know the frustration of wanting everything to be just right, of planning for everything to be just right, and then of feeling after the event that if I had done one more thing, it would have been perfect. But then perfection is not possible in this broken world. We have to accept that and do the best we can to change what we can and live with what we cannot change. I like that the devotional’s author says that we need to help people get to that perfect place. How do we do that? We share the gospel so that they can know the peace that comes from not striving to be perfect here on earth, knowing that we are God’s children and can rest in His love, even in an imperfect world. Let that one more thing you need to do be to tell someone the difference Jesus has made in your life.

Sinless v. Sin Less

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/14

I feel like Paul sometimes who wrote that the things he wants to do, he doesn’t do and the things he doesn’t want to do, he does. And he added, “O, wretched man that I am!” That’s the problem…the whole human thing means that we are, well, human. We aren’t God and will never be God, but we are supposed to strive to be as perfect as we can, with every day being a new beginning for us. There would be no need for I John 1:9 if there were no sin, right? Thus, I am one of those imperfect Christians, under construction by the Holy Spirit and praying each day that I will sin less. I am made righteous before God, but I am not sinless and don’t think I will be until I reach my eternal destination. I hope this post makes sense because I feel as though I am rambling. Perhaps that is because I don’t totally understand the scriptures that say to “be perfect” and then to “confess your sins one to another.” I think it’s a work in progress. Jesus finished His work when He died on the cross, but my work on myself, to become more like Him, started the day I accepted Him as Savior and will continue until the day I did. My hope is in Him who helps me to sin less and love more!

The General of My Life

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/4

As the wife of a retired military veteran, I understand rank and the responsibilities that come with it. Jesus’s being the general of my life means that I can let go and just let Him lead me where I need to go in order to be victorious in each battle. He is in charge and carries the heavy responsibility of getting each of us to the end of our race, whole and totally committed to Him. We have to do our part and follow Him daily, listening carefully as He gives us our “marching orders” for the day. Our job is to be so close to Him that we can clearly hear His voice and follow what He is telling us to do. That will lead to our victory in the world, over our flesh and over Satan. Jesus already won His battle and came out of that grave victorious! Now, He is helping us to win ours.

Recognizing Those You Know

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App8 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/31835/day/5

I have a problem that seems to have come along with aging. When I see a person who smiles at me and says, “Hi, Mrs. Watts” or “Hi, Vickie” I have been known to freeze, smile broadly and return the greeting but without a name attached. The honest truth is I recognize the face, but I genuinely have no idea who they are. Having taught for almost twenty years in VA and having between 140-170 students every year, I don’t expect myself to remember everyone, but it would be nice if I could come up with a gracious way to tell them I have no idea who they are.

If Jesus were to suddenly appear and greet me, I hope that I would recognize Him and be grateful for all He has done for me. But recognition comes with spending time with that person. If it has been days, months or years since you have spent time with someone, it is no wonder you don’t recognize them even though they may know who you are. (I figure the students had fewer teachers than I had students. That’s my excuse and I am sticking with it!) I know who Jesus is, that He is all-knowing, all wise, that He heals and shows the Father’s love wherever He goes. What I don’t know is if I would recognize Him, but I am hoping and praying that the time I spend in His Word and in prayer will lead me to instantly recognize the one I have been reading about and praying to all these years. I don’t think it will be His physical appearance that I will know, but I do think His Spirit will communicate with my Spirit, much like Elizabeth’s unborn baby knew the baby Jesus in Mary’s womb. You know, I cannot imagine what it will be like to be in the actual presence of the Lord for the first time. But I am excited about it and know that He will know me just as I am and love me just as He always has.