Holiness is Obedience to God

I've been thinking about what exactly it means to be holy... Does it have to look a certain way? I thought about a couple of different examples from the Bible to look at. For instance, John the baptist was very separate from the world and lived what "we" would consider a very holy lifestyle. He got away from the world for the most part unless he was preaching and baptizing. He lived in the desert and ate locust and honey. He didn't drink wine and followed the law as "most people" thought it should be followed. Jesus on the other hand, did quite the opposite. He hung out with sinners, drank wine, touched the "unclean" which was considered an unholy thing to do. He and his disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate, which was a big no no in Jewish culture. So, what do we do with this... who is right? who is wrong? was Jesus right or was John the baptist? what is the holy way to live?

I think they were both right because they were obedient to God with the way they lived. God called John the baptist to be holy and separate. and Jesus lived a holy life among the sinners. There are things that are non-negotiable, like Christ died for our sins and he is the only way to eternal life. that does not change and is the hard fact. So, what is holy by God's standard is obedience to him, and he has different plans for all of our lives, and how we are obedient is different for each person. (except for the non-negotiable things that make up the foundation of our faith) I don't think being surrounded by worldly things is a sin. it can't be, otherwise Jesus was a sinner. I think this passage helps sum things up. Jesus said in Matthew 15:17-20 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'" I think also, the things we hear, touch, taste, and smell, do not make us unholy. they can influence us that way. that is for sure. And if the influence does cause unclean things to come from our heart, we better get away from the influence.

Peter put what he thought was holy above obedience to God in Acts 10:9-16 as well, when he wouldn't eat the "unclean" animals. We can do all of the stereotypical things that the "good" christian should do and be very unholy if we are not being obedient to God. We shouldn't argue with God. Look at Hosea. God said go marry and have a family with this woman that will cheat on you constantly. What God??? are you serious!!!? Hosea did what God asked, so was he holy? Absolutely, because he was obedient to God. Does that mean we should all do what Hosea did? NO! Let me say that again. NO! lol We must discover what God is calling us to do, and live in obedience to him according to his plan for us. The point of this blog post is not to tell you that you have the freedom to go do whatever you want. It is not an excuse to sin. The point is to make think about what holiness is, and to enable people the freedom to follow God without feeling like they have to fit the stereotype of years past. Have a good day! :)

Relationship in Praise

I got to watch an online service last night, that was going on in Orlando. It was a great service! One of the biggest things that hit me was during the praise service. I was talking on Sunday with my friend Mary about music and how some of our praise songs are not truly praise songs. Traditionally our praise time is meant to be a time when we lift up Gods name and praise him, for how great he is. It seemed that some of our songs have gotten off base from that concept. Not that they are bad by any means, because they are all christian songs. It is just that they had seemed to of gotten away from praising God, and one song in particular seemed to be focused on how much God loves us, which is opposite of what is considered a traditional praise service. So, last night in the service they sang a song that was praising God very directly and very obviously. then they went into the next song that says "How he loves us, oh how he loves us" at first I was a little thrown off because I recognized the shift in focus moving from God to us. I mean, I love the song, it is one of my favorites actually, but it didn't fit into the box I put around what I thought praise should be. All of the sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks. That song wasn't about us praising God it was a prophetic response to our praise! God has always been about relationship. and relationship must be bi-directional. God ripped my box up, and took me to a new level. I LOVE THAT! I love new revelation! interactive relationship in praise opens up a whole new realm of experience. We sang to him "Bless the Lord oh my Soul, Bless the Lord!" and he returned our blessing by blessing us by reminding us "he loves us! oh how he loves us!" I am thankful for a God that desires a relationship with me! We serve an amazing God!