Attributes of God- Holiness

 Holy    Holy    Holy    Holy    Holy    Holy    Holy    Holy     Holy   Holy    Holy    Holy    Holy   

What a word.  What awe and reverence it holds.  The Lord is Holy.  The Bible is called The Holy Bible.  We have the Holy Spirit.  It's an amazing word.

Thinking about the Holiness of the Lord.  He Is Holy!!!!  He can not sin.  He can not be in the presence of sin. He is pure and holy.  I always go back to the Israelites in the Old Testament and think of Moses and the Lord speaking at the burning bush.  Moses taking off his sandles because of the Lords presence and even the ground he was standing on was holy.  WOW!  Thinking of the priest being able to go in and have that face to face meeting with the Lord ONCE A YEAR (I can't imagine) and going throught he purification process all the way down to the clothing.  I think of all those things and so glad that I live on this side of the cross at the same time, I take this so for granted and can be so lazy when it comes to His Holiness.  He is perfect.  He is sinless.  He is Holy!  He is set apart.  We are to be set apart.  We are to be holy because he is holy.  What thoughts! 
Let's take a peak at Websters for a minute. 
The state or quality of being holy; perfect moral integrity or purity; freedom from sin; sanctity; innocence.
The state of being hallowed, or consecrated to God or to his worship; sacredness.

We realize that He is holy!  He ask that of us, for us to be holy.  Set apart is one of my favorite definitions for Holiness.  Christ was set apart for us.  We are to be set apart, consecrated to Him and to his worship.  Are you set apart? Are you behaving like you are holy, set apart?  Let's see some scripture! 

Exodus 3:5-6 — Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

1 Samuel 2:2 — "No one is holy like the Lord."

Psalm 99:2-3 — The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name-He is holy.

Isaiah 6:3 — "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!"

Revelation 4:8 — "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"

 I am sure you already know that I just LOVE these verses.  Such power in them.  There is nothing more that I want to be at the throne and singing "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!

 

Atributes of God- Grace!

GRACE- Oh my goodness what a precious word.  One that I am sure that we use more than any other.  Sometimes we use it and we don't really think about it.  So, as we usually do, lets look at a definition. 

Most popular one.--  a blessing asked, or thanks rendered, before or after a meal.
Another- The divine favor toward man; the mercy of God, as distinguished from His justice; also, any benefits His mercy imparts; divine love or pardon; a state of acceptance with God; enjoyment of the divine favor.

Grace being an attribute of God.  Looking at the definition, let's see if we can wrap our human brains around this. 

We can experience God's grace in so many ways.  Thinking in line with the definition, we, who are believers live in a state of acceptance with God.  What an incredible thought.  We can live and experience the mercy of God.  Just those two speak so much volume to me!  Looking into scriptures we see this beautiful word of GRACE used.  Such an incredible word.  Lets look and see what we can find.

Psalm 145:17 — The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.

Romans 1:5 — Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.

Romans 3:24 — [We] being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:15,20 — But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.

Ephesians 4:7 — But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I know I have probably said it a million times but these are some of my favorite verses.  Reading through them again, I can't help but to think about how the Lord loves and shows grace so much to us.  At the same time thinking that we are to be made in the likeness of Christ, do we treat others with the same grace.  Something to be chewing on today! 

Attributes of God- Justice!

Justice.  This word has become something that we hear a lot on TV and in the media.  Especially now that we televise trials for major cases (they are all major if they involve you or a family member).  Will he/she be served justice?  Will the justice system fail?  Do you agree with the justice system?  Do you work for the justice system? 

Do we often use the word Just or Justice for the attributes of God.  God Is Just!  ABSOLUTELY!  Do we understand it all the time?  Do we agree with Him?  This can be a tricky and somewhat hard to understand at times.  So let's take a look at it and see if we can see His attribute.  First, definition. 

The quality of being just; conformity to the principles of righteousness and rectitude in all things; strict performance of moral obligations; practical conformity to human or divine law; integrity in the dealings of men with each other; rectitude; equity; uprightness.

The rendering to every one his due or right; just treatment; requital of desert; merited reward or punishment; that which is due to one's conduct or motives.


The Lord is just.  He has set up the laws that we are to live by.  There is a reason for those laws.  He set them in place for our good.  They are there that we may live with one another and be in relationship with Him.  Are we perfect and live by each law and never break them or sin?  I don't think so!  Here is where things can be different for the Believer.  Yes, we break the "rules".  Yes we can be forgiven by asking for forgiveness from Him and repent by going in a different direction.  Yes, there still maybe consequences for those laws/rules that were broken.  Lets look at children.  If you are parent, this may make more sense.  Your child disobeys you by doing something you specifically told them not to do.  You find out about it.  He asks for your forgiveness.  You forgive him for what he did but the consequences of a grounding still come into play.  Maybe that makes a little more sense.  We are His children.  We are forgiven!  We serve a just God!!!!

Scripture Back Up......

Genesis 18:25 — Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Exodus 34:6-7 — The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

Nehemiah 9:32-33 — However You are just in all that has befallen us.

Romans 9:14-33 — What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?

Psalm 99:4 — The King's strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

Romans 1:32 — Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

1 Peter 1:17 — The Father... without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.

God is just.  He loves you.  He is our Heavenly Father!!!!!  Would love to hear from you.....

 

Attributes of God- Love!

LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE

We love the word LOVE!  We use it ALL the time. 
We love Jesus.
We love our spouses.
We love our children.
We love our friends.
We love our family members.
We love our jobs.
We love our cars.
We love our homes.
We love our church.
Do you see?  Do realize that Jesus loves you more than you love any of these things or these people?  Do you understand that He loved you so much that He died for you?  He died a cruel, criminal, horrible death just for you?  Can you wrap your brain around that?  There are days and times I stand in church and it really hits me upside the head how much He loves me and there is nothing but tears that start rolling down my cheeks because of it.  It is overwhelming. It's unconditional.  I can totally mess up.  I mean REALLY mess up.  I can be angry. I can be questioning.  IT DOESN"T MATTER.  IT DOESN"T CHANGE HIS LOVE FOR ME!!!!!! 

Websters-  A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love of brothers and sisters
Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or desire; fondness; good will; - opposed to hate; often with of and an object.

So we look at these simple definitions and really consider. 
He has feelings of strong attachement induced by that which delights Him about me.
He is devoted to me.  (Am I devoted to Him?)
He as affection, tenderness towards me. (Do I have that toward Him?)
Powerful thoughts. Powerful questions to consider.  Do we love others like this?  So much could be and has been written on such a powerful word as LOVE.  Let's take a look at a few scriptures.....

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 — "The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a might hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

John 14:31 — "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do."

Romans 5:5,8 — Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 8:35,39 — Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [Neither] height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 4:8,16 — He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God abides in him, and who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

How is your love?  What do you love?  Who do you love? 

 

Attributes of God- Good

So today we have a new word.  A VERY familiar word.  A word that was probably on your list of sight words as a child when you were learning to read.  A word that we use on a regular basis and even more so if you have children in your home.  The word is GOOD.  So my question for you is do you see God as GOOD?  That can be a very loaded question depending on what circumstance you maybe facing at present or looking back if you think of God as being good.  Let's take a look at this word from Webster's like we did yesterday and then we can dig in a little further. 

Webster's Dictionary says....
Good- Possessing desirable qualities; adapted to answer the end designed; promoting success, welfare, or happiness; serviceable; useful; fit; excellent; admirable; commendable, Kind; benevolent; humane; merciful; gracious; polite; propitious; friendly

What words to explain the word good.  I know with a 6 year old in the house, good is what he wants to hear.  He wants to know that what he did was good.  He doesn't want to hear the opposite.  So let's look at the definitions that we have and put them in a sentence like yesterday. 

God has desirable qualities (That is for sure!).
God is promoting success (not necessarily how we see success at times).
God is welfare.
God is happiness.
God is excellent.
God is admirable.
God is kind.
God is merciful.
God is gracious.
God is friendly.

Of course I didn't use ALL the words but you get the idea.  God is good.  He knows what we need and when we need it.  We are His children.  He doesn't always give us what we "want" and that can be difficult at times.  Just like your children, you don't give them EVERYTHING they want because they may not really need it, or you may have another "thing" for them or it may not be something that would be beneficial at that time.  We may not always understand when His "No" comes but that doesn't change the fact that He Is Still Good!!!

Exodus 34:6-7 — The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

Psalm 25:8 — Good and upright is the Lord.

James 1:17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

I love the descriptive words that James uses in James 1:17.  "...with whom there is no variation".  He never changes.  He's always the same!  He is always good!  I am so grateful for His goodness!!  I know you have heard it before and I even read it today on a friends post on Facebook.  "God is good all the time.  All the time God is good!!!!!" 

I hope you are enjoying this like I am.  I would love to hear from you!!!!

 

Attributes of God- Eternality

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Let's get going......
Eternality!!  What a word!  So if we look at the word and really start thinking it through.  Let's start with something simple like a definition. 

According to Webster's Dictionary...
Eternality- Without beginning or end of existence; always existing,
                  Without end of existence or duration; everlasting; endless; immortal.
                  Continued without intermission; perpetual; ceaseless; constant.
                  Existing at all times without change; immutable.

Just putting those words together on paper and thinking and really letting them sit in your mind.  Every single word is such a description of God Himself.  It is almost overwhelming.  Let's make this simple.  Consider the following....
God is without beginning or end of existence.
God is always existing.
God is everlasting.
God is endless.
God is immortal.
God is continued without intermission
God is ceaseless.
God is constant.
God is existing at all times without change.
God is immutable.

We could take each one of those sentences could be memorized and recalled at those difficult times in our lives.  To think and understand that the Creator, The Almighty has always been here. He will always be here.  He doesn't take a break.  He never stops.  He never changes.  He is constant! 
Oh my goodness!  So this is a great explanation of the word but let's dig in and find some scripture.  Always back up your learning and study with scripture.  So let's dig a little more and find out what His word has to say about His Eternality. 

Exodus 3:14 — And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."
Psalm 102:12 — But You, O Lord, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
Hebrews 13:8 — Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I love digging in His Word!  It is so very rich!  These are just a few of the scriptures that you can find!  I loved doing this and so thankful for Amanda suggesting it.  If you have more that you would like to share on this topic, please feel free to share in the comment section.  You are also more than welcome to reach me by e-mail at joyinthejourney2012@gmail.com