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Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
Do you think about being HOLY? What does it mean to you?
Peter writes, “as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘you shall be holy, for I am holy.’” (1 Pet 1:15-16 ESV.)
Simply defined, “holy” means “set apart for a purpose.” The word is used over 900 times in Scripture. To me, that means it is important...that God is trying to get a message across to us.
In Isaiah 6:1-6 we read of Isaiah’s vision and how in verse 1 the train of God’s robe filled the temple. In ancient days the length of the train of a king’s robe measured his greatness. Isaiah tells us God’s train filled the temple, and the earth is filled with His glory.
We are the temple of God, and His glory should fill our lives.
“Be holy as I am holy” is found several times in Leviticus and in 1 Peter 1:16. Other passages like John 14:23, 1 Corinthians 3:16, and Galatians 3:20 speak of Christ and the Spirit living in us.
So, if the Holy One lives in us, we have become the temple in which He resides. What does it mean for us to become the temple of God?
In John 17 Jesus prayed for us to live in the world, yet be separate from the world and that we would be protected from the evil one. We stand between two places…the holy and the common…the clean and the unclean…and we daily seek the difference and strive to make choices that bring glory to the Father. Part of being holy is making a decision between what Jesus would have us do and the enticement of the world around us.
When we are holy it affects our speech, our dress, our choice of entertainment, how we spend our time, and our attitude towards others. We don’t joke about the Holy One, but we treat Him with reverence.
Our Heavenly Father demands that we treat Him as holy. Moses was not allowed into the Promised Land because he did not uphold God as holy (Numbers 20:12.)
Nadab and Abihu failed to treat God as holy. In Exodus 24 and Leviticus 9 we read they had been among those chosen to go with Moses and the 70 to see God…then in Leviticus 10 they decided to “do things their way.” (verses 1-5). God was not pleased and they died. They treated God casually, not as holy.
In Lev 10:3 (ESV) we read: “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.” And Aaron held his peace.”
Sanctified means: set apart or declared holy.
Glorified means: to honor or exalt.
We all bear the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin…they exalted the words of the serpent and did not honor the holiness of God.
God demands to be treated as holy, and He wants us to be like Him. Heb 12:14 (ESV): “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”
That’s how important our holiness is to God. If we are not holy, we will not see Him.
Jesus did not come to earth and die because of pity. He came to make us holy and return us to the relationship for which we were created.
As believers we are to be holy not because we want to be loved by God but because we are already loved in Christ. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and the best way to show that we love God is by seeking to become holy because He is Holy.
One thing I have done in reading through the Bible is to write down Scriptures that mention holy or being like Jesus. Making Jesus our LORD is the path to being holy as He is holy, and we do that by absolute surrender to His will.
I want to challenge you as you read through the Scriptures to mark or make a list of Scriptures that speak to being holy. They may not have the word “holy” in them. It may be a scripture like Eph 4:32 which tells us to be kind and tender-hearted towards one another.
Remember: without holiness we will not see God. Let’s live our lives, asking if what we are doing is making us more like God… let’s strive to be holy as He is holy!
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Written by Rayne Paz, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Brazil
Jesus revolutionized the world. His actions caused dislike and distrust in a society that was trying to understand God’s will but was wrong so many times. Christ brought a direct message from God - what God really wanted from His creation. But some of His followers were being treated negatively Women!
How did Jesus treat and relate to this particular audience?
The middle eastern woman was very underestimated. References from the Old Testament like Deborah, Ruth, and Esther had been forgotten during God’s “silent years”, which led to women being undervalued and underrepresented.
During New Testament times, women were seen as inferior compared to men, but Jesus saw them as equal partners. Not as superiors , but as God’s divine creation and of importance to God and to society. Jesus faced the challenge of including women as participants in His redeeming work. He knew the impact that women would have on His journey. Luke talks about this in chapter 8, verses 1-3, “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”
Jesus traveled with His disciples, both men and women, but the women were the ones who supported him financially. Amongst them was Mary Magdalene.
Mary’s past was not the best, she was tormented by demons (Luke 8:2). That fact was a part of who she was, part of her HIStory. Perhaps she was insecure about possibly falling again, but this time everything was different; she had been set free by the CHRIST and from that moment on she decided to follow and support Him.
Mary was a faithful follower of Jesus until the day of His crucifixion. When everyone ran away because they were scared, embarrassed, or powerless seeing their Master on the cross, Mary and the other women were there (Mt 27:55-56) touched, moved, and worried for their Lord. These women were among the last people to see Jesus’ face before He died on the cross and God allowed them to be the first ones to see His body resurrected (Mt 28:1-10).
After three-day Mary went to the tomb to anoint Christ’s body. She was worried about being able to open the tomb by herself, but bravely went anyways (Mark 16:1-3). Seeing the empty tomb and receiving the order to go and announce that Jesus was resurrected was really scary, so she didn’t say anything (Mark 16:8). She was just a woman, who would believe her? And maybe they would think it was her fault. It was too risky. But everything changed when Jesus Himself came to her. The one who gave her a second chance, freed her and healed her. Christ called her by her name: Mary! Her eyes were opened at that moment and she overcame her fear because of the faith she had in the resurrected Christ, Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:18, NAA) Her encounter with the Master made her overcome her fears to testify and announce the resurrection.
We learn so much from Mary Magdalene’s HIStory! A lot of times we are free, but our own past clings on to us in a way that makes us feel insecure. Just like Mary, we need to overcome our fears because in doing so we can have an encounter with the Lord, and gain resilience, new life, confidence, and faithfulness. No matter what our situation is, with Him, even when we feel broken, sad, or helpless, we can be confident that will be with Him. Just like Mary Magdalene, if we stay with Him until the end, we will be able to see Him resurrected. He already is!
Are you ready to announce the good news to all?