Be Holy

Holy is a word that carries a lot of weight behind it. The word itself means to be set apart, or dedicated to God, or pure. We often describe God as Holy. He is set apart, and pure altogether. His very nature is holy. One writer said "holiness describes the object of awe." But what if I told you that you, a Christian, are also holy. We don't like to think of ourselves as being holy, and of the same nature as God, but when a person is saved by the blood of Jesus, they have been set apart and made pure and holy by God himself. You are holy as a person who bears the image of God, and is washed in the blood of Jesus. That doesn't make you perfect, but it makes you purified and set apart by God himself. But being holy isnt merely a passive thing that takes place when a person becomes a Christian. While part of being holy is done by God, there is another part of it that is done us. 1 Peter 1:15 says, "like the holy one who called, be holy yourselves in all your behavior." God calls those who have been made holy to live holy lives. Living a holy life means to be a walking representation of God's holiness. Intimidating... right? We don't have to be perfect, but we do need strive to be holy and trust Jesus' blood to forgive us when we aren't.

When you step back and look at your lifestyle, your daily actions, your speech, your conduct among the world around you, would you describe it as "holy" ? God calls us to be holy in our behavior. It's not that we walk around with our nose in the air with a "holier than thou" mentality. No, thats not what God wants at all. But rather it's that the life that we manifest, and the actions of our daily lives should look like the holy God that has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

The life of a Christian should be holy. Yes, we have been made holy by the Holy God who has saved us, but we also have to live as if we've been made holy. This week, take a look at the life you live on a daily basis and ask yourself "Is this what it looks like to be holy?"

- Kolton Ballance

How God Measures Us

In the last few chapters of the book of Ezekiel, God takes Ezekiel up in a vision. He is led by a man with a measuring through a city to measure the temple of that city. All through chapter's 40-42 of Ezekiel it says "He measured...He measured...He measured...He measured" and it feels like it's never going to end. But at the very end of this long list of measurements, there is a statement that tells us what it's really all about. Ezekiel 42:20 says that these measurements were to "...divide between the Holy and the profane." The message that God was sending to His people was that he was going to measure them to be sure they were properly separating the Holy things from the profane things. You know, God still measures His people today. The question I want to look at is how does does He measure us today?

God Measures Us by His Word.

Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). John wrote, "If anyone says 'I know Him' but doesn't keep His commandments, he is a liar" (1 John 2:4). The final vision of the book of Revelation shows us a judgement day scene. On that day, it says that God will open the scripture books and judge us according to our deeds (Revelation 20:12). God measures us today by the scriptures. We ought to be people who strive to keep follow Jesus' teachings. it doesn't mean we have to be perfect, we have grace for that. But we will be measured by the scriptures. If God measured you today, would he find you faithful to His word?

God Measures us Through Trials.

Another interesting way that God measures us is through trials. Peter said that Christians face various trials as a "testing of their faith" (1 Peter 1:6-7). When we face trials it is a way of God measuring us to ensure that our faith is where it needs to be. Some people grow stronger through trials because their faith is where it ought to be. However, some walk away from the Lord in trials because their faith was in the wrong thing. God uses these things to measure us and ensure that we are where we need to be. How will you stand in the face of trials? When God measures you will he find you faithful to his teachings?

- Kolton Ballance