SET APART WITH SACRED CARE
You can set something or someone aside as special or different and NOT give them the proper respect that is due their station in life. But with the word Holy or Holiness you must have both the person set apart from all others WITH sacred care, levels above respect, being administered to that person.
God fulfills this role of being Holy. Long before He created humans, God was set apart and received the sacred care due Him by the angelic host. From then to this very second and beyond their are Seraphim encircling The Throne proclaiming at every new glorious characteristic of God - "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of your glory." (Isa. 6:3). Thank you God that your character never changes. You God will forever be Holy.
Several times in Leviticus (11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7; 21:8) God challenges us to take on this Mantle of Holiness. The reference with the wording I want to share is Leviticus 19:2 - "Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." Notice two things here - (1) God issues a challenge - "Be holy" and (2) God declares something about Himself in the justifying of why you should meet that challenge - "for I am Holy".
However, now-a-days I observe a terrible lack of His Holiness in the believer's life. There is not a difference that would make me want to consider the Christian lifestyle. People do not reverence the name of Jesus Christ, instead it comes across as a exclamation, slander or curse. Interesting that of all the faiths in the world, that the name of Jesus Christ is singled out to use disrespectfully. Because I belong to Christ, to hear someone in the faith or out of the faith misuse The Lord's name - spears my spirit and I cannot hang around them for long.
With God's help, Christians can do a much better job of living a life of differentiation or Holiness. This is not an I'm better than you because I am a Christian mentality or attitude. Being Holy is a lifestyle of difference, a positive option for others to consider choosing because they can see and sense The Source (God) in you. God is the believer's Holiness.
"Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, 'I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.'” - Hebrews 2:11-12
Being Holy, separate and sacred because of Jesus, in front of everyone else is not easy, but it is the essence of the believer's identity in Christ.
If we as believers in Christ do not live set apart from the world AND tend to our lives with Sacred Care, then respect for God's Sacrifice and our witness as His followers goes down the drain. But if you flip the script with God's help we can be Holy as He is Holy - Set Apart With Sacred Care.
God fulfills this role of being Holy. Long before He created humans, God was set apart and received the sacred care due Him by the angelic host. From then to this very second and beyond their are Seraphim encircling The Throne proclaiming at every new glorious characteristic of God - "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of your glory." (Isa. 6:3). Thank you God that your character never changes. You God will forever be Holy.
Several times in Leviticus (11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7; 21:8) God challenges us to take on this Mantle of Holiness. The reference with the wording I want to share is Leviticus 19:2 - "Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." Notice two things here - (1) God issues a challenge - "Be holy" and (2) God declares something about Himself in the justifying of why you should meet that challenge - "for I am Holy".
However, now-a-days I observe a terrible lack of His Holiness in the believer's life. There is not a difference that would make me want to consider the Christian lifestyle. People do not reverence the name of Jesus Christ, instead it comes across as a exclamation, slander or curse. Interesting that of all the faiths in the world, that the name of Jesus Christ is singled out to use disrespectfully. Because I belong to Christ, to hear someone in the faith or out of the faith misuse The Lord's name - spears my spirit and I cannot hang around them for long.
With God's help, Christians can do a much better job of living a life of differentiation or Holiness. This is not an I'm better than you because I am a Christian mentality or attitude. Being Holy is a lifestyle of difference, a positive option for others to consider choosing because they can see and sense The Source (God) in you. God is the believer's Holiness.
"Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, 'I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.'” - Hebrews 2:11-12
Being Holy, separate and sacred because of Jesus, in front of everyone else is not easy, but it is the essence of the believer's identity in Christ.
If we as believers in Christ do not live set apart from the world AND tend to our lives with Sacred Care, then respect for God's Sacrifice and our witness as His followers goes down the drain. But if you flip the script with God's help we can be Holy as He is Holy - Set Apart With Sacred Care.
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