"Holy, holy, holy..."

There is so much time and so little to do.... wait, scratch that, back up and reverse....you know what I mean....This endeavor to chronicle my journey in godliness has been more difficult than I imagained. Not only is the fact I have very little free time to compose posts, the very act of thinking and processing what to compose has been the most challenging. God is doing so many things in my life, in my growth, in nourishing my soul, in convicting my flesh, renewing my mind and in changing me to be even a fraction closer to what He wants me to be; I often times don't know where to begin.

First, I have been challenging myself to read the Bible in 90 days (more or less). Haven of Rest Ministries (http://www.haventoday.org/) has a reading plan my husband and I are working through together. This has been so wonderful and refreshing to read through the Bible from beginning to end to absorb the big picture of God's redemptive work through His Holy Scriptures. I have to confess, I have never read through the Bible, completely, from cover to cover. One might ask, "why?" as my boss did when I told him. Not only for the self challenge (which I enjoy) but because I beleive I have missed the big picture by reading only snippets from the Word, a story hear, a parable there, an epipstle here...you know what I mean. Just in the last couple of weeks, as I am now in Joshua, I have a deeper sense of God's holiness that I have never had before. After reading Leviticus 10, coupled with reading Gospel Worship which Jeremiah Burrows uses Leviticus 10:3 as the starting point for mulitple sermons, then moving on to Leveticus 11 where God makes it very clear to Moses, the Isrealites and US "I am the LORD your God, Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy...For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." It doesn't get much simpler or more complicated than that! Why am I to consecrate myself? Because God is the LORD! Why am I to be holy? Because God is the LORD and He is holy! He has brought be, better yet, BOUGHT me with the blood and body of His own Son so that He will be my God! My only response should be and may it always be, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a woman of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" May I join with the angles in heaven and cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

I honestly believe I will not be the woman of God, set apart to be different, denying myself for the sake of the Gospel if I don't completely understand to my fullest ability and responsibilty the holiness of God. How can I truly be repentant of my sin without the fullest understanding of a holy God who is unable to even glance or be in the presence of sin? How can I truly be appreciative of the sacrifice of Jesus and the call he has on my life without truly grasping the severity of the separation of God's holiness from sin? How can I truly embrace the responsibiliy God has communicated in His Word without completely realizing my sin will always distract me from what is right and only His righteousness and holiness, through the circumcision of my heart, will I ever be able to act and live a godly life? The answer, at least to me is obvious, I can't. Jeremiah Burrows says in Gospel Worship, "I beseech you, brethern, to consider this. God stands upon nothing more than to appear to all the world to be a holy God. There's the glory of God's name in an eminent way. God does not so much stand upon this, to appear to be a strong God, to appear to ba a powerful God, to be a God of patience, long suffering (or a loving God I might add). God does not so much stand to be an omniscient God, though these atributes are dear to God, but that He may appear to be a holy God, that He stands upon." There is no other attribute the angles cry out but, "Holy, holy, holy."

This is serious business! May God have mercy on us, because that will be the only attribute of God that will save us, if and when we treat his Holiness flipantly!