He Declares Us Holy
We are holy for one reason alone-HIS BLOOD SPEAKS A BETTER WORD OVER US.
His shed blood and sacrifice on the cross declares us as his HOLY ONES. Once and for all times. He did away with our past and sins to establish who we are becoming and already are. He declares us holy as we accept his sacrifice for our sin. Read and meditate on Hebrews 10. It really brought freedom to my soul.
HE WANTS TO UPDATE YOUR THINKING ABOUT HIM, YOURSELF AND OTHERS.
He said-“Be Holy as I am Holy.” God is Holy and his life in us makes us clean, makes us Holy. Everything I’m about to share is something God has been stirring in me about intimacy with God and going deeper into him.
I believe the more we encounter his glory everything in us will change as he calls us up into higher ways of thinking and BEING IN HIM. But it’s his glorious grace that takes us there. This higher thinking forges our identity.
I pray this post encourages you to know you are Holy because God says so. I truly believe things will change in your life when you change the way you view holiness.
So what does the fullness of this insight mean? I don’t know, but I know God is stirring me to personally remember and also share with you that He is Holy, and as he is, so are we.
Hang On-Restoration is Coming on the Highway of Holiness
A prophetic picture:
“Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.”” Isaiah 35:1-4 NLT
Interactions with Angels
On two separate occasions, I encountered the holiness of God in a profound way. In both encounters I couldn’t help but to fall on my face, covering it, worshiping God in reverence and awe. I know now that the Lord sent his angels in these encounters.
In scripture we see the involvement of angels time and again with mankind as God desires to reveal his nature and holiness. Moses experiences God’s glory and holiness at the burning bush and on Mt. Sinai; and Isaiah encounters his holiness in a vision after the death of King Uzziah.
But he didn’t just have a vision -he encountered God in his Holiness as the seraphim angels entered the room and touched his lips with a coal from the altar of the Lord.
“It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”” Isaiah 6:1-7 NLT
As you pursue God in this season, expect to see the involvement of angels. I believe we will once again see or experience the interaction between the heavenly realm and earth more this year, especially the more intimate we are with the Lord.
The Lord has had me camped out in the book of Isaiah and Hebrews lately. The writer of Hebrews concluded his letter encourging them to love, visit those that are imprisoned because of the gospel and pay attention to the presence of angelic activity. That was not new to them, they encountered angels often.
“Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” Hebrews 13:2 NLT
The writer in Psalms and Hebrews tells us that he sends his messengers, they are angels of fire who do his bidding.
“Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.” Psalms 104:4 NKJV
I grew up believing that holiness was what you did or didn’t do right. I lived a good portion of my life not knowing who I was IN CHRIST. And my life showed it. My belief was based on law -not a person, not from identity of being in him. Notice I said- WAS. If you struggle in this area please meditate on the scriptures in this article. The BLOOD of Jesus will cleanse your guilty conscious and that will be huge in you experiencing peace in your soul. Don’t get stuck thinking you can do enough to become holy and acceptable in God’s sight. Jesus already did that for you.
But even here in the Old Testament, we see holiness as an encounter with the presence of God. Isaiah did not encounter rules or regulations, he encountered the fiery presence of God himself as seraphim are angels that are around the throne of God.
God knows how to set you apart- yield to his voice and presence.
Peace Through His Sacrifice
Holiness Through Jesus brings us peace.
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.” Ephesians 2:14-15 NLT
As we journey this Highway of Holiness we will experience restoration and resurrection to all areas of our lives, including our peace. This peace and hope anchors our soul. It’s a road where we no longer experience hope deferred, but great outpourings of his fiery presence along with healing, restoration and deliverance. A road of divine encounter.
“And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland. The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived. And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.” Isaiah 35:5-8 NLT
Journeying This Road of Holiness with Other Believers
This one on one intimacy that I refer to, is the garden of personal connection with God; but it does not negate the necessity of gathering with other believers. And it does not give us permission to live however we want, gratifying our flesh. Being in community fosters accountability and you need that accountability more than you may realize.
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25 NLT
Holiness Helps Us Discern Our Real Enemy
We have natural and supernatural senses. As we surrender our senses to the Lord, we become more keen and aware in matters pertaining to the spiritual realms. Remember we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in the unseen realm. You have a real enemy who will oppose your new life of holiness, In Christ. He wants to unseat you in your position of identityand authority and allure you into double mindedness. This is to to get you focused on your ability to be holy. So You must practice and train your senses to discern between good and evil.
Holiness Through Sacrifice
“Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been MADE HOLY THROUGH the SACRIFICE of the BODY of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Hebrews 10:9-14, 16-18 NIV “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a LIVING SACRIFICE, HOLY and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 ESV
The Standard of Holiness
It opens up a new and living way. Our lives are measured by this standard. It’s to be our norm and how we are to live. Lives marked by separation unto God.
“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.” Isaiah 35:8 NLT
You learn HIS WAYS on this highway and it’s only for the redeemed.
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the BLOOD of Jesus, by a NEW and LIVING way opened for us through the curtain, that is, HIS BODY, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our HEARTS SPRINKLED to CLEANSE us from a GUILTY CONSCIENCE and having our BODIES WASHED with PURE WATER.” Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV
Holiness Through the Lord’s Table
Here on this pathway of holiness you learn to steward well the blood and body of Jesus, feasting weekly from the Lord’s table.
God makes us Holy by the sacrifice of his body and his blood. From this revelation we live according to who we are now. Feasting at the table of the Lord keeps us in this position.
As you take communion on a weekly, possibly daily basis, you receive an impartation of the life of Christ. We are told to do this often and remember him.
“Then He took a loaf [of bread], and when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and gave it to them saying, This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. And in like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament or covenant [ratified] in My blood, which is shed (poured out) for you.” Luke 22:19-20 AMPC
The Truth of His Word, the Power of His Blood and the Riches of His Grace.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” Ephesians 1:7 NIV
““But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.” HABAKKUK 2:14 AMP
Tommy Walker says it best in the lyrics of this song:
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