Monday, November 22, 2010

Beautiful, Glorious – Holy


“On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy...”

~Isaiah 4:2-3a (NRSV).

It’s all that matters now: holy. When we cut away all of the life that we’re otherwise disposed to, holiness is all that matters. It’s all that is left. It’s all that matters to God, for all of life springs from it.

The Holiness Gap

If we’re normal on our track to God we’ll be patently aware of the gaps between us and holiness. But, we’ll not often see that God sees us as holy in the Lord.

The trouble is we’re not that well prepared to actually believe this reality of God’s. Spiritually, we’re often still struggling at half rat-power and we’re not prepared yet to completely hand over our lives.

The moment we’ve done it, however, a wonderful reality is made known to us.

The Influx of the Holy Spirit

Without beginning many useless controversies over one theology as opposed to another, it is fair to say that the personal knowledge of the Holy Spirit’s Presence within—as we worship God wholeheartedly, for instance—converts for us into holiness.

It is the feeling of holiness on loan to us, and it can be tapped into at any time, provided we’re ready to receive it.

When we figuratively or actually fall without doubt to our knees, ending any subjugation to ourselves, we’re suddenly brought to that holy place of God’s.

Holiness, then, is the devotee’s style. To the amount of our commitment to God in the exercise of our worship, it is commensurate for us to receive—that is the amount of holiness received (read also, “felt”); to be experienced for that moment.

It has subsequently two states, does holiness. We are holy in Christ. Secondly, we’re in the experience of holiness to the accord of our own God-worship.

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.

Acknowledgement: inspiration for this articles was drawn from Nichole Nordeman’s song, Holy (2002), from the album, Woven & Spun (2002) from Sparrow Records.

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