The Romance of Holiness

There stands a couple, face to face, in the fading light of sunset. Neither one is speaking. They only stare into each other’s eyes. A soft breeze plays with the hair that has escaped from her loosely made ponytail, blowing it across her face. The man slowly reaches up and tucks it gently behind her ear... A typical, romantic scene from any black and white movie.

What is so romantic about somebody fixing your hair? “But it isn’t the hair fixing that made it romantic!” you argue. “It is the setting, the face to face...”

Just ask any girl who has had a guy tuck loose hairs behind their ear; it feels romantic! It doesn’t matter if the setting is a busy workday; and the interaction is two seconds long; and the man is your boss; and his only motive is to try to make you more presentable for your next appointment. It still makes a person feel loved.

Perhaps, for the men, it is having someone fix your collar, or tuck the washing instructions tag back inside your shirt, or flatten the “cowlick” of hair that is standing straight up, unbeknownst to you. We all have a desire to be made right. We all appreciate someone who sees us as we cannot see ourselves, and who loves us enough to “fix” us.

I’ve been studying the word “holy” in the Bible. The word is so common that we feel comfortable using it; but I imagine that I am not the only one who couldn’t define it.

The Greek word for “holy” could also be translated “clean” or “right.” Revelation 22:11 fairly gives us the definition in one verse, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Holy and right are on one side of the equation, and their opposites are filthy and unjust (not right).

When I read “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 20:7) I thought that God was saying, “You need to be holy because I want my people to be perfect ‘pin-up’ people for me to show off. You need to be right for me. You need to be clean - no mussed up hair, no smudges, no sins - don’t embarrass Me like that.”

I couldn’t see any love in that. All I could see was someone wanting to protect their name. Be ye holy, for I am holy; and I don’t want you running around with my name, making people think I am dirty like you!

But the following verses gave me a different perspective on the one in Leviticus. God’s desire for us to be holy is not for selfish reasons.

“Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.” Deuteronomy 26:17-19

This is relationship language. They vowed to follow the Lord... and the Lord vowed to take them as His people, to make them honored, praised, and lifted up. God was going to make them a holy people (clean) so that they would be honored.

“According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:” Ephesians 1:4

There is some romantic language for sure! He chose us. He had His eye on us for a long time, even before we were created! And He desired for us to be “before Him,” standing in front of Him, face to face - “in love.” Having your hair tucked behind your ears, or any other sort of “fixing,” fits right into this picture.

And notice in this last verse: God’s desire for our holiness is as UNselfish as it can be!

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27

God “gave Himself for us” that we might be made holy. Jesus died that He might make His church holy. He died to make you and I holy. He died because He loved.

Isn’t it true that when we love someone we want to fix them? We wouldn’t let a loved one go around with spinach in their teeth, or with their skirt tucked into the back of their pantyhose, or with a sock stuck to the back of their shirt, or with a smudge of dirt on their forehead, or with a drug addiction, or with a gossip problem, or with a bragging pride, or with anything else that makes them ugly. We put value on our loved ones, and we want others to honor them as well. We don’t want to see them ashamed or judged or disrespected or hurting themselves.

God wants to make us holy because He loves us. If we could see ourselves as we really are, we also would want to be fixed! He loves us enough to want to save us from embarrassment, from the unknown-to-us dirt that Satan throws on us to shame us before the universe.

I think I have been pushing away His hand, not letting Him tuck those loose hairs away, because I wasn’t sure what He was up to. God, please forgive me. I should have known that Your motive for “fixing” me was love! You’ve always been so good to me...

On Forgiveness

The small group of people in my training class at the Topeka, Kansas church are learning how to write a five verse Bible study. Last week I gave them the topic of "Forgiveness," and asked them to choose five verses on the subject and put them in an order that would be most helpful. They did such a good job I decided to share it with you all! (I "fleshed out" the study, as follows, for an example to the class on how to finish writing their study.) May you all be blessed!

No doubt, we have all seen a small child brought before a white wall that has hieroglyphic looking scribbles on it, and heard them insist, “I didn’t do it!” The look of guilt on their face is even more obvious than the crayon sticking out of their pocket!

Before such children can be forgiven, they have to admit that they did something wrong. How can you say “It’s okay, honey.” when there is no “it” to be okay or not? We have to admit that we have done something wrong before we can receive forgiveness.

Look at what the Bible promises to those who admit their sins:

Prov. 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

We don’t have to cover up our sins or try to find some reason for why we have done certain things. Those who “lay it all out on the table” are promised mercy. Mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is in one’s power to punish or harm.

David put it this way in Psalm 130...

Psa. 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

Psa. 130:4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

David recognized that if God held our sins against us, there is not ONE person who would make it. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 And David gave that as one of the reasons we stand in reverent awe of God (fear Him) - He doesn’t treat us as we deserve; He will forgive!

And the news gets better yet in I John 1:9. Here we see that God doesn’t just listen to our confessions and say “Ah, don’t worry about it; I’m not going to hold it against you.” God’s forgiveness is deeper than just turning a blind eye and pretending it never happened. What else does His forgiveness include?

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Yes! Cleansing! When God forgives, He will also clean us from that sin. He is faithful, or trustworthy, to clean us from all un-right-ness. That’s what we really want isn’t it? We don’t want our sins to merely be ignored. We want to be rid of those things that cause us so much guilt and pain. We want to be innocent again. We want to be lovable, not ignored. God’s forgiveness doesn’t overlook our issues; it fixes them!

But how can this be? These sins I have cannot just “go away”? They have already been done. Their consequences are in motion. I’m trapped in them. I deserve every bit of what I get. I did this knowingly, on purpose!

Look at Ephesians 1:3 and 7...

Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Eph. 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

This is the very reason Jesus came to die for us. Because we have “blown it” and are trapped in the consequences of our sin, Jesus came to redeem us. Redeem means to exchange or buy back. Adam and Eve, and every human being since them, has listened to the Serpent, Satan, and found themselves hopelessly trapped in the consequences of their sins. This is exactly what salvation is all about! Jesus came to “save His people from their sins” Matthew 1:21

And notice that last word in verse 7. Grace is “undeserved favor.” Jesus didn’t come to save people who “deserve it.” In fact He didn’t even come to save people who only sinned by accident! He came to save people who sinned on purpose and knowingly rebelled against Him. Our salvation comes because of His grace - His love for those who don’t deserve it. Forgiveness is available to everyone because of His grace.

Have you ever heard of Mary Magdalene? She was a prostitute who lived at the same time Jesus was on earth. She had listened to Jesus’ teachings and admitted that she needed forgiveness. She had confessed her sins to Him and been forgiven. No one else understood the experience she had with forgiveness, but she understood it! She was so thankful that she wanted to honor Jesus as her Savior. In the verses we are going to read in Luke 7:44-50 we see her attempt to show her thankfulness for being made clean, forgiven, freed from her sins...

Luke 7:44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Luke 7:45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

Luke 7:46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Luke 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Luke 7:48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

Luke 7:49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Notice the crowd’s question: “Who is this that forgiveth sins also?” If they had believed that Jesus was their Savour, they wouldn’t have asked such a silly question. But it is a good question. When it really comes down to it, there is no one else in all of creation who has the power to erase our actions, change our hearts, and take away forever the condemnation and guilt that our sins cause. Only the God who creates something out of nothing, can make nothing out of something!

For the sake of the condemning crowd around them, Jesus once again told Mary that she was forgiven. Her faith, or trust, in Jesus’ power to forgive is what had freed her from her sins. She could go on now, in PEACE.

Would you like to experience that peace? The Bible tells us that we can confess our sins to God and He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all un-right-ness. Forgiveness is available to you and I right now! Let us go to Jesus in prayer and ask Him to forgive us.

Mourning into Joy

When I was in Marshall, Texas earlier this year, I befriended some cats in the neighborhood.  You can read the beginning of this story in the archives under May 17th “Missy and Mister.”

Shortly after I wrote that, Missy let me touch her!  Then a week or so before I was to leave, she rubbed up against my leg and let me pet her several times.  We were best friends now.  Mom and Dad knew my attachment and suggested I bring her home to Iowa to be a barn cat...

I was certain by now that she was a stray.  She lived in the junk behind the sign painting business next door.  But she wasn’t getting fed there.  Seemingly overnight she became really thin and pitiful looking.  And she begged for food every time I went outside.  I think she ate her weight in Vegannaise and beans every day!  Mister hadn’t shown up for about a week, so Missy ate her portion and his too.

The Saturday afternoon before I was to leave, I was visiting with a lady outside of my trailer when she stopped talking and said “Isn’t that your cat you’ve been feeding?  It looks like she got hit by a car or something.”  I turned around to see Missy come hobbling down the driveway.  Her feet were curling up spasmodically making her stumble and fall over, and her eyes were rolling back in her head.  She had been poisoned (probably with antifreeze)...

I tried to throw a towel over her, to catch her, with hopes of taking her to the vet; or at least try to pour some activated charcoal down her throat to maybe absorb the poison.  But she was still a wild cat and out of her mind because of the poison.  She managed to get away from me every time and finally escaped into the 8 inch culvert that went under the driveway.

The next morning I expected to find her dead in there, and dreaded having to pull her out.  But she wasn’t there!  My hopes of recovery were dashed, though, when I spotted her near the edge of the woods.  She was much worse now... it was awful!  I will spare you the details.  How could anyone poison a cat that way, knowing the agony they go through?  I cried all morning as I prepared to go to work, but crying couldn’t get rid of the feelings I had.  I loved that cat.  And I couldn’t do anything to help her in her pain.

When I got home that evening, Missy had moved again.  I guessed she had drug herself into the woods.  And the next morning my suspicions were confirmed by five vultures who were sitting on the roof of the shed and in the trees, stubbornly refusing to leave even though I walked right up to them and shouted at them to get out of there.  Now I know why the Bible speaks of the birds in Revelation 19:17,18,21.  It is a fitting symbol for finality, a sure sign of death, the end of any possibility of recovery. 

Wednesday night we had a thunderstorm that knocked some limbs out of the trees.  I had to drag one out of the road so I could leave that morning.  As I drug it toward the cyclone fence holding in the neighbor’s junk, I heard a scrambling noise.  My heart mourned as I realized it couldn’t be Missy, but leaped for joy when I saw three pairs of eyes peek out of their hiding places in the junk.  Kittens!  Of course!  Missy was suddenly thin, she ate like a horse, as she was dying she was dragging herself back toward the junk pile.. because she had kittens!

That afternoon I took a lady with me to talk to the sign painting people who owned that junk behind the fence.  When I asked if he knew anything about the cats that were hanging around there he shamelessly said “Yeah, we’ve been trying to get rid of those cats!”  He must have seen the shock and anger in my face because he tried to cover for himself...  I interrupted to ask if he knew that there were three kittens in his stuff back there.  He said “Yeah, we were waiting until they were weaned before we got rid of the mother.  They are about 7 weeks old now.  Two orange ones and a black one.  You can have them if you can catch them.  Ha, ha, ha!”  That was all I wanted to know, so I left.

Mom and Dad were more than willing to have three barn cats - especially Missy’s kittens...  And my friends there, Melanie and Robert, just happened to have cat traps.  The poor things had been orphans for five days now.  The tuna in the traps was more than enough to lure them in.  Their first messes in the cat litter were only grass, bark, and june bugs!  It was Sabbath now and the tuna that Robert gave me for the traps was gone in the first 5 minutes; so the kittens had Vegannaise and spaghetti noodles for their Sabbath meals.  : )

They were VERY wild kittens.  And they were about to embark on a 13 hour drive to Iowa in a cat carrier given to me by other friends, Mr and Mrs McCommon.  I ate breakfast that last Sabbath morning while reading goodbye cards.  Mrs. Vivian Clark’s card had a verse in it about “Faith, Hope and Charity.”  I looked over at three pair of big eyes staring at me from the cat traps and laughed.  Perfect names!  That was the first time I had laughed since Missy was poisoned.  It made me think of the verse “I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” Jeremiah 31:13

Frank Faith, Harold Hope, and Charles Charity (wouldn’t you know it they are all boys!) are growing big like their daddy, Mister.  And they are tame now; they all come up to Mom and Dad for “lovin” whenever they see them outside.  They love their new home in Iowa where they have free run of a barn full of mice.  Mom and Dad said they have learned to climb the trees now, and they romp around like little kids out there.  I can’t wait to get home and play with them again.  I thank God for the three blessings that have comforted me and brought so much joy after such a sad situation.  Someday all our mourning will be turned to joy.  (Revelation 21:1-5)