I was listening to a sermon yesterday and the pastor was reading from Isaiah 6:1-9. In these verses the prophet Isaiah is describing a vision he had of God enthroned in heaven. I can sense Isaiah's struggle to put into human terms what the glory and majesty of the Most High King was like.
Verses 3 and 4 says, speaking of the antiphonal seraphim, "And one cried to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!' And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who had cried out, and the house was filled with smoke."
The pastor pointed out that, in Hebrew, when something is stated more than once, it adds weight or importance to the statement.
God isn't just holy.
He isn't just completely holy.
He is absolutely completely holy.
Holiness is a word, and concept, that people use almost flippantly today. The word is used to add emphasis to an exclamation or to denote anything as religious.
God is neither of those.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as this: exalted and worthy of complete devotion, as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.
Wow! That doesn't sound like anyone I've ever met!
But it does sound like God.
God's holiness isn't just a lack of evil or an absence of anything impure, though that would be amazing enough. God's holiness is the opposite of that. He IS everything that is pure and true and good and righteous and lovely. James says, "...there is no variation or shadow of turning." Psalm 40:10 speaks of God's faithfulness, salvation, compassion, and truth. He is the source of His own holiness and needs no outside affirmation.
When the seraphim proclaimed God's holiness throughout all of heaven, the very structure was shaken and smoke billowed all around Isaiah. He suddenly saw himself for what he really was- filthy. Isaiah is one of the most famous prophets in the entire Bible, the one through whom came many of the prophecies about the Messiah, and he called himself filthy in the presence of God's holiness.
What do you call yourself when you're in God's holy presence? Do you hand Him your report card of good deeds and long prayers, tax-deductible donations, and impeccable church attendance? Or do you recognize that you are made of dust and instead proclaim the holiness of the One Who gives you breath?
When I finally began to grasp what God's holiness is like, it made the sacrifice of Jesus all the more precious to me. The God Who is holiness put on humanity to save me from myself. That is love I cannot comprehend. The mixture of love and holiness is a perfect balance. Though God loves us as a father and wants to have a personal relationship with us as His children, we must never forget that the One we call Father is also a consuming fire of holiness.

As the world continues it's downward spiral and becomes increasingly evil, I've noticed that the response of many people, Christians included, is fear and worry. Though End Times prophecies and Rapture predictions have been around since the days of the Early Church, they seem to be very numerous these days, and perhaps rightfully so. After all, we are closer to the End of Time now than we were yesterday!
But I'm not here to tell you my timeline for the end of the world as we know it. I am here to tell you something I've learned about how we as Christians should conduct ourselves in times of fear and uncertainty.
The rapture of the Bride of Christ is coming but it's not up to us when it comes, only that we're ready when it does come.
Live like the Rapture could happen tomorrow.
You won't die and have time for a deathbed speech or have a funeral where people remember all the nice, good things you've done. You'll just be here one minute, going about your life and the next second... you'll be in the Presence of God. No time to make up with someone you've held a grudge against for years; no will to donate your money to a worthy cause; no time to do what you always meant to do. Just you and God and your life as it is. Is your life rapture-ready?
Living rapture-ready also takes away any fear you might have over what will happen to you or your family during the End Times. Reading Revelation, Daniel, parts of Ezekiel, and other places in Bible about the end of time- there's some pretty intense stuff there. But read it carefully. Who orchestrates it all? Who plans it all? Who decides when/who/how/why/how long?
God.
Yes, God.
This is not something too big for Him to handle. This is not something He's worried about it going the way He wants it to. He isn't waiting in trepidation for the day of the antichrist.
He already has it all planned out.
From the first to the last, He has planned out the events of history just the way He wanted them.
Whether the Rapture happens in our lifetime or not, God calls us to be vigilant against evil and to prepare for the Day of the Lord.
We in the 21st century stand on the shoulders of thousands of years worth of Godly men and women who impacted their cultures and give us guidance along our journeys of faith. There could yet be thousands of years more. What are you doing to build up the next generation? Whose shoulders will they stand on? Perhaps in their lifetime the end will come and they will be faced with things you can't imagine. How are you helping them prepare for their role?
Zecheriah says, "Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days." Don't let fear of the future rob you of the strength that God gives. "Who by worrying can add one cubit to his life?" asks Jesus. No matter if you live during the tumult of the End of Time or in relative peace and security, you are still priceless in the sight of God. In fact, the only thing that was costly enough to purchase you, was the blood of His very own Son.
So let your hands be strong in these days. The patriarchs and the prophets died in faith, not having received the promise- the Messiah. Yet they foresaw His coming and believed. We have the promise- the Messiah. He has come and we have obtained through His blood eternal life. The part of the promise yet to be fulfilled is that which will take place at the end of all time. So we too, seeing that day approach, rejoice with joy inexpressible.
"Now unto Him Who is able..."

Captive

"Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope..." (Zech. 9:12) What is prisoner of hope?? To be a prisoner means you are held captive. Not always unwillingly, though that's what most people think of first. Some people are willingly held captive to their circumstances saying, "It's just the way things are." Others are held captive to their emotions, unwilling to step outside of them to gain a new perspective. Still others are held captive by expectations, either of their own making or by those put upon them by someone else.
Captivity is usually thought of as something negative while hope is a positive thing. How then can you be negatively positive?
I Peter 1 has the answer. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."
That verse is laden with amazing, beautiful truths.
"...who according to His abundant mercy..." God our Father is never done with us. His mercy is new every morning and His compassion is unending. His mercy is the foundation of our hope.
"...has begotten us again..." Our Creator designed us in His image to bring glory to Himself. By our sin we corrupted our glorious design and now seek our own glory. But, through the Lamb slain since the foundation of the world, we are given a new identity as sons and daughters of God.
"...to a living hope..." To me, that is one the most beautiful phrases in the Bible. A living hope does not die. A living hope has been in eternity past and will be in eternity future. A living hope does not wither when the hot winds of persecution and trial blow. A living hope infuses energy into a weary soul. A living hope is a constant reminder that this beautiful world is only a shadow of the splendor that is to come.
"...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." The resurrection of our Savior is the source of our hope. Jesus is alive! He passed through the very depths of Hell in the blackness of our sin and returned victoriously to His Father in the heights of Heaven. And He will return when the appointed days have been completed. He has gone but He will return. Our bodies He will redeem from the corruption of death and our souls He will restore to the original purpose for which they were created: To glorify Himself.
When I take a long look into the hope that Jesus has made available to me... I am captivated. The longings of my soul- to belong, to have peace, to see an end of pain and suffering, to see with my very own, brand-new kingdom eyes, the face of my God- are fulfilled in the Person who inhabits this living hope Peter speaks of. The glorious beauty of that promise causes me to willingly bind myself to the source of that hope, Jesus Christ. I am kept, by the power of God, in the stronghold of faith and am willingly held captive to the hope for which Jesus died.
I become a prisoner of hope.

Christmas in Chains

Christmastime is warm and fuzzy at my house. Spicy candles, twinkly lights, warm fires, and yummy smells are all part of what Christmastime is. Certain traditions must take place... watching White Christmas, reading Christmas with Anne by L.M. Montgomery, and singing O, Holy Night in the dark. I go to church on Christmas Eve and sing Silent Night and hold candles, eat homemade ice cream and go sleep under layers of blankets.
But elsewhere in the world,a man is weeping in a cold, hard cell. A woman huddles in the corner and tries to ignore the hunger gnawing at her insides. Children stare with glassy eyes at the ceiling and try to forget the image of their mother being beaten to death.
Thousands of our brothers and sisters around the world are beaten, tortured, abused, and killed because they are not ashamed to confess the name of Jesus Christ. They do give up everything to follow the One they love, the One Who died for them. They grasp in the depth of their soul what it means to take up their cross and follow. Their very lives they pour out before the Father as an offering, the highest one they can give.
The enemy of our souls laughs when that man finally succumbs to a beating; when that woman finally starves. But their blood cries out to El Elyon and He will not always leave them unavenged. The day is coming, when the last martyr goes Home, when He will rend the heavens and come to earth with a sword.
But until that day, remember your brothers and sisters all around the world who will this year celebrate Christmas in chains.

Grace and a Canyon

The other day my friends and I were driving by the Grand Canyon and a song come on the radio. One of my favorites... Amazing Grace: My Chains are Gone. As I looked at the canyon with the song playing in the background, the grace of God took on a different meaning. Sometimes it seems so abstract. Theologians have argued over the correct definition and many books have been written trying to explain it to the common masses. But there before my eyes was the tangible, very visible expression of God's grace.
The canyon was formed by Noah's Flood. The land is scarred from the weight of the punishment that was God's wrath. The wound healed, leaving only a scar, but people travel from all over the world to see that scar. The immensity of the canyon is hard for our minds to comprehend. But the fact that we are here to see it and enjoy it is another act of grace. The wickedness that caused God's wrath to pour out on the earth is still present today. The hearts on mankind are just just as black and the vileness of their sin just as great. But God's made a promise and He never goes back on His own word. Judgment is held off, kept in the storehouse, until the end of the ages. Until God's time is complete. He gives time for us to repent of out sin and turn to Him. Like Noah on the Ark, He provides a way of escape for the coming judgment. But as in that time so it is now. Judgment will come and only those who are covered in His blood will escape.
I was humbled again at the enormity of God's plan. The Flood was so long ago yet the effects are still visible. Jesus died so long ago yet His blood is still potent and powerful. Time is nothing to Him Who created time and exists outside its confines. Yet He orders the ages so that we can see His works and know that He is God... full of grace and truth, abounding in mercy and love toward us, His creation.

Heroes

Every night before my two little friends go to bed I've been telling them stories out of the Old Testament. Being boys, they like the ones best where somebody get killed and armies clash in battles. They love the drama of the stories and the fact that they're real. That it really happened. Telling these stories that I have heard my whole life, and putting them into words that little boys can understand has opened my eyes to things in these stories that I never noticed.
These are the stories of heroes. The original heroes. Real, live people. Some of them have long stories like Samuel, David, Samson, Moses... but others have only a few verses like Shamgar, Othniel, and Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest.
But does that make them any less of a hero in God's eyes? No.
Every one of those men did what God asked them to. They were given a task and they completed that task with the resources they had.
David had an army and a core group of loyal, mighty warriors. Shamgar had an ox goad, but God used both of them to deliver His people from their enemies.
Samuel was God's voice for many years, in many different situations. Zechariah was God's voice in one instance and he was stoned for it. But both men were obedient to the Word of the Lord and spoke it to those it was meant for.
Moses delivered Israel from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and led them for 40 years in the Wilderness and experienced incredible acts of God. Othneil delivered Israel from 8 years of servitude to the king of Mesopotamia and led them in peace for 40 years.
The stories of these men are all so different but with a common thread... obedience. They became heroes because they were humble enough to hear God and courageous enough to act on what they heard.
God has called you to be a hero too. He designed you for a task that no one else can do. It's tailor made just to fit you and the resources that He has given you. Maybe your story won't take up a whole book like Nehemiah or Esther, or several books like David and Moses. But He has a story written out for you that is unique and special to Him. Right now, at this very moment, you have what you need to be a hero. You have what it takes.
Will you use it?

"Who was, Who is, Who is to come..."

I love writing.
I do it a lot because it helps me to put my thoughts into coherent order. I love words and their beauty, both physically how they look on a page and the pictures they give your mind.
So today I was in one of those moods where I have to write but I'm not sure what exactly will come off the end of my pen. So I picked up my pen and started writing. What ended up coming out of my pen was a page and a half of truths that i believe about God. The first one that came to me was, "I believe that God is."
When I was finished writing I looked back at the top of my page and saw that sentence. I was awestruck. Not by my own writing but by that thought.
God Is.
There are incredible implications if you believe that statement to be true.
If God is... then who are you?
If God is... then why are you?
If God is... then why is there evil?
If God is... then where is He?
If God is... then......
Nothing is more frightening... nothing is more comforting... than knowing God is. The very fact that we can make such statement is incredible. God could have chosen to keep Himself to Himself. He doesn't need us... but He wants us. He wants us so much that He showed Himself and allows Himself to be found.
So many questions are answered and so many more created by that statement. But contained within that statement are the answers to every question we could ever ask. The simplicity of those two words is astounding. They beg to be studied. Those words, those two beautiful words, created in me a thirst to know... deeply, intimately, passionately, neverendingly... who God is.