What is Holy?

You might be thinking of the Holy Bible,, or a Holy-day (Holiday), or maybe when you think of Holy, you think of purity, goodness, or righteousness. All of these resemble some aspect of ‘Holy,’ but it’s hard to say that any one of these things accurately defines holiness.

Holy is defined as “something dedicated or consecrated to God; sacred.” Although the word is almost exclusively used in religious settings, it isn’t necessarily limited to religious things. Ultimately, holiness is reserved for something set apart from the regular or normal for the purpose of reflecting on something highly esteemed. Psalms 99:9, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.”

Therefore, we must be careful not to assume that just because it’s done in a church building, or in the name of Jesus, that it fits the criteria of Holy. Holiness has more to do with a deep genuine relationship than ritualistic actions. Jesus helped the woman at the well (John 4) understand that when she asked,  "Which place was more holy?" He described to her the kind of people that God is looking to be in a relationship with. He said, “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (4:23)

How would you describe your ‘seeking process’? Are God’s desires highly esteemed in your eyes? Within Jesus’ answer, He points to the way through which God has made pleasing worship available—through Jesus (John 14:6, Hebrews 11:6), but within His words, He also describes a heart that is eager to love God, passion in devotion to Him, and in a way that aligns with who God is and what pleases Him. 

Consider this passage from Rom 12 as a description of what Holiness really looks like, and how that display of Holiness is, at least in part, a good definition of what it means to worship him in Spirit and in truth. Rom 12:9-12, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord…”

The Lord's Prayer

The path of righteousness was illustrated, in a literal journey, with Jesus during His ministry. People joined His travels from town to town; they came out to one place or another to hear him preach and teach. Jesus often invited people to “follow me” (Matthew 4:19), recalling Moses making a journey to the Promised Land.

There were times when Jesus sent people out to ultimately see if they could point others to Jesus (Luke 10), and they came back excited that others listened to them and demons even obeyed them! But Jesus seems to softly rebuke them by reminding them that He had watched “Satan fall from heaven” (10:18-20). Then Jesus said a prayer to His Heavenly Father… “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.”

What did they hear in this prayer? Jesus tells a story of the Good Samaritan as an iconic view of acting Christlike on this journey of life.

Then His followers asked Jesus a question about prayer that many people still would like to know. They asked in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” A reader’s natural question might be, “What did John teach about prayer?”

But the Bible doesn’t really say what John taught; however, like Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan, John taught how we are to treat others (Luke 3:10-14). Jesus doesn’t quote anything that John taught, but He focused on the coming kingdom and offering thanksgiving just like John did. Jesus said in Luke 11:2-4, “Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation, [but deliver us from the evil one].”

How does this prayer reflect Jesus’ love and appreciation for His father? How does it help you to do the same for your father? We focus on Fathers on Father’s Day; consider how their example of provisions, mercy, and protection have changed your journey for the better.

What is Hope?

What is hope? It’s been defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. The key is that it is something that hasn’t happened yet. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith in a similar way, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Faith, like hope, is something that may require a lot of patience before its fully realized. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18 concerning the importance of faith through trials, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

But what if you had no promises of a better tomorrow? No relief from suffering, no peace! As Proverbs 13:12 says, “hope deferred (delayed—indefinitely) makes the heart sick…” In other words, we need hope to get through the day-to-day grind that drives us into depression or to help us persevere.

In essence, that’s the story of God’s promise to a people (now all people) who follow and trust Him. Jesus came to become the hope of salvation, the avenue of peace, the way to heaven! But prior to His arrival, the Israelites didn’t have a lot of hope. They’d lost their kingdom and their prosperity, and they even lived in captivity for several generations. Once “free,” they only had a broken-down dream of peace and prosperity. They were hopeless, but they made efforts to rekindle that hope.

One thing they did was rebuild Jerusalem in an attempt to restore the worship that was done there (in part—read Malachi for a picture of how it wasn’t up to God’s standard). It was during this time that many historians believe that the Psalms of Ascent were written and sung. They were a series of 15 Psalms from 120-134 that reflected the trials of life while going to Jerusalem, the place of their hope. These Psalms still carry a lot of hope for us, regardless if it isn’t about Jerusalem. Their “Jerusalem” was where God’s promises had been visually recognized in earlier times. The hope was that it would one day be restored to its former glory. Thankfully, we’re not waiting on a town to be rebuilt in order to have hope; we know that hope comes through Christ!

Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Mission Work

What is the work of the church? Ultimately, most would describe it as the Great Commission mentioned in Mathew 28:19-20. But “going out in the world” has plenty of challenges. As Jesus said in John 15:20-27, “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me... When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about Me. And you also must testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning.” 

The Apostles may not have fully grasped the dangerous mission Jesus was commissioning them to undertake, but no doubt about it, it was dangerous. In fact, the danger is still there. As John said in his Gospel concerning the True Light, “Light is come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of Light because their deeds were evil...” (John 3:19)

One of the dangers might be our attitudes that develop after constant rejection, constant rebellion, and constant abuses among those who claim to be followers. Paul addressed this many times throughout his Epistles. The challenges, therefore, us to maintain godliness even when there’s opposition. Preaching the truth is important, but living the truth is truly impactful. 

This is where, as they say, “The rubber meets the road.” This has always been an issue; from the early history of the Israelite nation who constantly rebelled and had many prophets try to set them straight, all the way to today. A tremendous way to end problems that impact our effectiveness in spreading the Word of God is to follow Jesus’ example. This passage from Philippians 26 is believed to have been an early Christian hymn sung in worship. Meditate on the humility modeled by Jesus and ultimately the impact it had on the world: 

“Who, being in the very name God, 

 did not consider equality with God 

something to be used to His advantage; 

rather, He made Himself nothing 

 by taking the very nature of a servant, 

 being made in human likeness. 

 And being found in appearance as a man, 

He humbled Himself 

by becoming obedient to death— 

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place 

 and gave Him the name that is above every name, 

that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 

 in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

 and every tongue knowledge 

 that Jesus Christ is Lord 

 to the glory of God the Father.” 

This is an upside down way to do mission work in a world that hates the very light that will save them. But thank God, we have been shown the way!