Several years ago, many people were wearing bracelets with the letters WWJD on them, which stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” The bracelets were intended to encourage the wearer to consider what Jesus would do in any given situation before making a decision or doing something. I don’t see those bracelets much anymore. I think a lot of people had to take them off over the last few decades before they could vote.
Holiness is not a harsh word; it is God’s love language. Holiness makes fellowship and relationship with God possible. The words “be holy” occur thirty-nine times in the Bible. Apostle Peter said, “as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1Pt 1:15), and the writer of Hebrews warns that without holiness, “no one will see the Lord” (12:14).
Paul, Silas, and Timothy had pure motives. They lived righteous lives because they never wanted anything they did or said to detract from the Good News that Jesus saves. As my mother told me when I was just a child growing up in the hills of West Virginia, God is always watching. Even now, when I return to my old home place, there is no cell service or internet. They call it being “off the grid,” but when it comes to God, there is no place where He does not know what we are doing, or saying, or thinking.
We serve God with our hands by what we do. James warned us not to be hearers of the Word only but to be doers of the Word (1:22). With our hands, we feed the hungry and clothe the naked. With our hands, we touch the people that are sick and need prayer. James said, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (5:14). With our hands, we serve God by ministering to others who need to know that God cares. We are the body of Christ, and as His body, we need to be His hands touching, helping, healing, and holding the wounded souls of this world.
The Holy Spirit, through Paul, is telling us not to dwell on those negative things. Instead, Paul said to let God’s peace guard your hearts and minds. Trust that God is in control. Let the peace that passeth understanding cover your mind and heart. Then, we can use our brain cells for more productive things, like thinking about or dwelling on honest, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and praiseworthy things that will lift our spirits and give us a better outlook on life.
HOLY GOD By Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD Isaiah 6:1-8, NKJV 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two...
We are called to be holy, and that holiness is the result of our covenant relationship with God through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This relationship with God calls us to be a holy nation in a sinful society; to be lights in the darkness; to speak truth to deception; to live right and do right in a do-wrong world. Jesus said believers are in the world, but we are not of the world (Jn 17:15-16). Instead, our citizenship is in heaven, our identity is Jesus Christ. He set the standard and now by faith, we press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Ph 3:14).
