Summer Fare: God is love, but holy too.

At the throne of God, seraphs are flying around…

And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)

I am tired of hearing about God’s love….

without talking about His holiness too.

God is love, yes, but He is also holy. He is holy love.

The TWO are true of Him every second of eternity. I am mostly only hearing people teach about God’s love. If I hear holy discussed, it is usually after talking about His love first. We may have it backwards. If we first teach people that God is holy…we may see more people awed by the truth that such a holy God also loves us.

We may also become more aware of how impure our thoughts and behavior really are when juxtaposed against

• Perfect
• Immaculate
• Spotless
• Flawless
• Pure

We may be able to better understand our need for a Savior.

After that, we may then be able to love people better…with humility and without judgment.

I have concerns about our world. From my vantage point…

• People seem to be more easily offended than ever (about anything and everything it seems). Yet those same people seem to be okay if their own behavior is offensive. (Picture someone getting offended and then responding with profanity-laced spit-and-venom anger.)

• Our youth seem to be disrespecting authority more, so how will they ever embrace God as an authority?
• The latest study of our country’s religious landscapes indicates that the largest growing religious affiliation are the “nones,” people who have no particular religious affiliation or need to acknowledge an authority for their life.
• We are increasingly defining our own morals, determining our own ethics.

Meanwhile, a holy God looks on, watching us be our own gods.

Is it my imagination, or is the following also true?

• Profanity is on the rise, coming out of the mouths of young children, teens and adults alike…on screen and in real life. It’s not the words that are the bother as much as the heart attitudes and perspectives the words reflect.
• Horrid crimes committed every day are on the rise like sex trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, and brutal murders.
• Fractured families turned into blended families, and now the nuclear family is the minority family type. (I am in a blended family. No judgment here, just saying.)

Imagine all of this behavior against the backdrop of a holy, spotless God.

• Prayers can be casual. Worship can be routine. (I have been guilty of both.)
• We can be too busy to read the Bible or even attend a Bible study to investigate such critical matters.
• Religious freedom is threatened in increasing measures.

Holy…holy…holy…is the Lord God almighty. I cannot get Him out of my mind.

• Do we know who we are talking to?
• Do we understand what we are doing?
• Do we comprehend what is at stake?

Yes, God loves us, but He is also holy.

I have been sad for a long season now.

My sadness runs deeper than the hard circumstances of life that burden each of us.

I am sad because so many of us (me included) do not seem to be considering the holiness of God as we live our lives, make decisions, and speak words.

I watch our society,

Society focusing on God’s love in the absence of His holiness.

God’s love being used as an excuse to behave any way we want.

I imagine the mind-boggling REALITY that a holy God is watching.

I had another post written to publish this week, but last night woke up feeling ill and watched a video sermon by Francis Chan, The Holiness of God. (Francis starts speaking at 10:05, so you can fast forward.)

Francis Chan is now on Twitter with a sermon of the day. Recently, my fascination with TED talks (also on Twitter) has been interrupted.

Folks, this sermon is all about the holiness of God. I regret that I can’t say things as simply and clearly…perhaps even as heartfelt…as God enables Francis to do. But my heart resonated with every word.

Can you find an hour to watch this video? Can you invest some time in evaluating your perspective of God?

It is summer, after all.

Warning: At the end of the video I was on my knees by my bed with wet eyes, confessing the casualness with which I treat God.

I pray you are blessed with a miracle-filled, God-graced summer and an increased awareness of what kind of God loves you…

a holy God.

Question for blog readers: What did you think about the message? Please share.

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