All tagged holiness

Our devotional thought this morning surrounds praying as a holy act, and focuses on the subsidence of holiness in the church today. Our scripture verse tells us that unless we are holy then we will not see the Lord, and yet we, and our churches, spend an inordinate amount of time in the physical world. Even when we pray we tend to focus more on our wants and less on loving God and our neighbors, thanksgiving, asking for forgiveness, and other spiritual things. We need to lean into these things as we pray.

We read in scripture that we are to strive for peace with everyone so that we can see the Lord, and we think that maybe with our own effort we can accomplish this, but along with that it is written that we should also strive for holiness, and we have no idea how we can possibly become holy. Perhaps this is because we see who we are, and the decrepit nature of our starting point. When we compare this with the ultimate goal of achieving holiness, we wonder how it is possible to do that. So how do we become holy? Is holiness something that man can accomplish, or is it unobtainable for us?

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to sanctify us, but do we treat his presence too lightly, and deny him the full access to our spirit that he requires to make this happen... to make us holy? Do we as Christians seek to become better men and women in Christ, but stop short of committing ourselves to the pursuit of holiness, and perfection, that should be our greater goal? Are we satisfied with doing enough to be saved, yet fall short of pursuing sanctification, and holiness?

Our God is Holy, and his holiness is majestic, so much so that the angels sing Holy, Holy, Holy to Him. We too must realize Him to be Majestically Holy, and to worship Him with the same emphasis as the angels... Holy, Holy, Holy. Yet, we too are told to be holy, but how is that possible for us? It can only happen if we are made so through our faith, and belief in Jesus Christ... by His blood.