You're Holiness

You’re Holiness

3/9/19

In an age where the humanistic self-worth is solely directed on the selfish level, it sometimes is difficult to understand why suicide rates are at an all-time high and the content of our lives produce nothing but confusion at best.  When people try to reclaim the holy issues of our existence they are immediately criticized for getting out of the same muck as everyone else, so they jump right back in and sink even deeper.  Our lives were not created to live in such a manner and while we see our misery index on a continual climb we fail to do anything to alleviate the situation.  Instead, we rely heavily on the same ones who are in the same muck as we are to help us get out of our inadequate personal conditions.  What does this lead to, more infighting and bitter rivalries that have no idea of why they are joined together in such trash?  It is simple, God created us and through His personal development plan for our lives does not recognize such a condition of living and as long as we choose to live in such conditions our lives shall continue to sink into the eternal quicksand without end.  All we need to do is to turn back to God and one of the ways to do this is to recognize how God views our holiness and how eternally structured we are to fulfill such greatness.

As each day passes our eyes and hearts witness crushing stories of how humanity deems death as the answer to our problems and how new ways of arriving at this destination and how to achieve such goals can be reached without any alternative considerations as options.  With this bombardment across our hearts every day it is easy to sell because the story of death is easily recognized by a blackened heart whose influence has been razed by the familiar patterns of the world.  We have bought into the lies that there is no hope, joy, or peace in life and that all we are supposed to do is hang on to the false dreams that come along our way and when they do just let go and grab hold of them before they pass.  The only problem with that idea is that as soon as we let go of our single true hope we immediately fall and hit rock bottom with no direction to grow or to advance any further.  The title of this article is not referring to a position or a name but a reminding us of how our existence was established and what our purpose was and still is through our Creator God.  In NO way am I referring to the Catholic Pope or any other title that he might believe he has, for it says in God’s Word that we are created in this manner and it is this manner and Truth that God wants His children to understand.

There will be four parts to this article and with this knowledge, I have no idea how long the things that God wants us to know will take to write, so sit back and read intently and listen to what God has for us today.  The first section will be directed in Genesis 2:7, 15, 23, 3:6 and Genesis 3:12.  The second part of the article we will be in Exodus 25:10-16, the third part we will be diving into 2 Samuel 6: 6-7 and the last part we will be talking about marriage vows.  We must remember that God is our eternal Father and the One who Created us as He desired and even though this creation was a single event He has provided us with many examples of this purpose He has in doing so and how we should view ourselves as we wake up each day.  As stated above it is easy for us to lose grasp of this eternal Truth because of what we subject ourselves to each day on top of what the world tells us is correct.  God did not create us to live in defeated conditions or too bogged down by any force around us, but because we choose to obey the world and not God our lives are daily reminders that our enemy is winning the battle for our eternity simply because he has convinced us that his ways are better and easier.  Haven’t we been in this muck long enough to know that God and His Way is the eternal sound answer to our problems?

In Genesis 2:7 we find that God is in the process of creating man and He does so in such a manner that is unique for he creates the shell first and then breathes into the man His Spirit and the Bible says that man became a living soul.  In past articles, we have talked about the reasons why God made man in this manner and when you have this Holy order in your heart and comprehend its magnitude it becomes overwhelming for it establishes a pattern that one cannot deny.  The process of breathing into man the breath of life represents the testimony that God has placed in every one of us and one that cannot be taken away for it not only lives inside us as our spirit but it is the definition of God and thus the sole reason He gave it to us in the first place. 

These reasons also serve as a pattern of entrustment that God does not follow just once but continue this manner of creation in many examples throughout the Bible, yes all four sections represent such a manner and pattern and when finished here we will have a bit better understanding as to why God deems us so holy.  Even though mankind has sinned by our own elections, it does not mean that our value to God and His Kingdom has changed any bit for if it did then there would not have been any reason that God would have sent His Son to die and rise again for our sins.  So through this single event alone, it means that God has not lost any hope or holiness in our lives but as we are going to find out there are other examples here that prove our holiness to be intact.

Now, this brings us to Genesis 2:15 and the fact that we have been given life, a place to live, and a purpose.  In this case, God commands Adam to dress and keep the Garden of Eden for it is the place that God dwells as well as is the home of Adam.  God created the Garden and everything in and around it in six days which means that everything up to this point is perfect and holy for it has not been witness to any type of sin as of yet.  So, we have a specific manner in which God created man and then a specific manner in which man was supposed to keep the created Garden as well.  Genesis 2:23 rolls around and Adam has himself the perfect companion one that is created from his side to be made equal with and one to help out in all manner of things to come.  Adam is obviously proud of her and acknowledges her existence and where she has been created.  This scene projects a very grateful man and one who is eager to keep all intact and flowing according to the settings God has established for them.  Somewhere from this point until Genesis Chapter 3 begins a breakdown between Adam and Eve which culminates in this same chapter.

This state of living would continue until man and woman decided to take it upon themselves to disobey the command of God, an established entrustment that was put in place for a reason and to never be breached for any reason or excuse.  Up until this moment we find that reproductive issues and the Created status of all things around Adam and Eve and including themselves had not changed, but now things were different after Genesis 3:6 came to pass.  God did not miss this item about Adam and Eve, He saw this coming long before they were even created and is why His example of holy purpose did not change even when things went wrong.  Something to ponder upon for a moment and that is this: the woman ate from the tree first and then gave it to the man and one can almost imagine how God felt when this occurred, maybe like when Lucifer fell?  This statement is to be kept in our minds while continuing for it does come up again in the pattern that God wants us to see in this article.  Coming to Genesis 3:12 we find a totally different attitude from Adam concerning Eve for the spoken words from him in Genesis 2:23 are not what is stated here in this verse so there is further evidence that someone or something has turned this relationship into the southward direction so to speak, a process that fits into the patterns of this article that God wants us to understand and at all possible avoid.

In the next portion of this article we are going to talk about the Ark of the Covenant and how it was built or told how to be built and then followed exactly as God commanded.  Verse 10 begins with the general construction of what type of wood the Ark shall be made including the entire dimensional pattern.  God is specific here in the exact size and shape of how the Ark should be made for we must remember that God is a complete God and His standard can never change no matter what mankind tries to believe otherwise.  Verse 11 gives us a detailed account of how the Ark was to be covered and with what element to do such covering, a pure substance that is of pure gold.  Verse 12 gives us how the Ark was going to be carried with the construction of four rings of gold attached to the corners and in verse 13 the “poles” of shittim wood covered in gold were to be used as to carry the Ark by those who would be chosen to do so.  Verses 14-15 tell of how the poles should be placed into the rings and that they should never be taken from those rings for any purpose, they are not to be removed by human hands.  As we can see, God has constructed a place in a specific pattern, His pattern and one that cannot be broken for any reason for it will be His residence to be with His people.

Verse 16 poses a very interesting statement from God for it concerns the created structure that something important will be coming, one that has not been established yet.  Verse 16 states: “And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.”  It is this particular verse that we see the same pattern of creation and establishment that we saw back in Genesis.  The ark itself is created from elements of the earth with a void inside but it is God who provides or in this case, will provide the testimony that will define their ways and separated living conditions.  What God does here is to place into the Ark of the Covenant His Ways or His definition so that all know where God lives and that God is always with them no matter what comes their way.  When God sends a specific item into your life it is meant to stay within your inner contents and live in such a manner at all times never to be disturbed by any other force.  It is also meant for us to defend its status, presence, and content at all times and to ensure that nothing comes close enough to it to wish it any deviations or harm.  We were created in such a manner so is this wonderful and holy Creation of God that will contain the definition of God and His Ways just as we see that the Ark of the Covenant has been created.

The testimony of God is not just the fact of how we and the Ark were created but what is inside us.  In both instances, God created a shell and then placed Himself inside the shell to give us life and when He placed His presence in our lives it automatically put us into a holy state for God is always holy and has been holy and shall evermore be holy.  It is this standard that God operates through us and lives in us and it is this standard that cannot be changed and if we ignore this standard our lives will come under a judgment that cannot be physically explained but can be demonstrated by actions of others around us when potential disturbances and interferences occur.  The Hebrew word for testimony is “haedut” and it literally means “a testimony”.  What is a testimony?  It is something that a person or group experiences, an event that occurs in your life or something or someone who makes you see things in a different manner usually in a memorable way.  It is alive in your spirit, mind, and body and it means a great deal to you.  Are we following the pattern here now?  God gave Adam a testimony when He Created him from the dirt and now God is going to give the people a testimony as well inside the holy place of the Ark.

The other word that sticks out here in verse 16 is "give".  E all know that this is a verb in the English language and it means to actually hand over something by a certain formality an item to someone else.  In Hebrew, the word give is “etten” which means to give or to entrust.  God did not have any intentions of leaving the Ark of the Covenant barren or empty inside and as discussed above had in mind to give or to entrust His testimony to His people.  Now, God just did not hand this testimony over for it to sit inside the Ark and do nothing, He gave it as an entrustment that its presence would voluntarily inspire His people to joyfully understand the difference that they represented to the world and to live by this testimony as a continual symbol of God’s approval of their lifestyles.  We see this type of belief from God in Adam and Eve as well and the pattern is the same for when God gave them His Spirit He wanted it to be used in such a manner to glorify His testimony as the perfect method of living, but we know how Adam and Eve’s intentions turned out.  Another note to think about here and it deals with the Ark and how empty and clean it was before God had the testimony put into the confines of the Ark of the Covenant and that is what Jesus said about having a clean and empty house in Matthew 12:44-45 and how dangerous it is not to fill the clean house with God before the enemy figures this emptiness out.

The third portion of this article contains a passage that many are familiar with and including me really does not understand all of the details surrounding this event.  However, with what God is going to share with us today He will shed some light on this important subject, a subject that we really need to take into consideration because just as the two previous examples above have shown us it has become a festive game that we play with our holiness and through these games we have forgotten how important it is for us to know about how holy we are in the eyes of God and what it means when we proceed with these games through this ignorance about what holiness actually represents.  2 Samuel 6: 6-7 gives the account of when David was transferring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and at some point, the cattle shook themselves and the Ark looked like it was going to fall over.  A fellow by the name of Uzzah reached toward the Ark and did his best to keep the Ark from touching the ground, a noble gesture indeed but one that God did not see as such and immediately struck Uzzah dead where he stood.

This passage is one of complete disobedience but it has a storyline of a person trying to do something right, for Uzzah understood that it would not be a good thing for the Ark to touch the ground for it was commanded that the Ark continually stays in a certain position at all times.  To be honest, I believe that most people would be inclined to do exactly what Uzzah did but would have faced the same consequences as he because even though it looked like a good thing to do the truth reverts back to the fact that disobedience ruled; we all know that to obey is better than sacrifice.  So, what kind of principle do we have here that fits in with the message that God is trying to convey to His people in this article?  It is all about obedience and that when most of have good intentions it may not be a good idea to rock the obedience chart with kindness.  This passage also reiterates the important Truth about how different the Ways of God are compared to ours for obedience is essential for our lives and when we do things incorrectly things could go wrong very quickly.

It is no coincidence that both our lives and the construction of the Ark of the Covenant were completed in the same manner, also it is no coincidence that both entities were designed in a certain manner and told how to be presented on a continual basis.  Both serve as a determined and specifically designed container that housed God and the testimony that He gives for everyone to witness.  So, when outside people begin to interfere in the established process of Divine Creation it becomes a tricky situation because unholy hands are reaching to change the pattern of constructed conditions.  Adam and Eve did not have the complete faith that they once had in God for if they did then Eve would not have even entertained the Serpent nor would Adam have just sat there watching Eve conversing with the Serpent about what God had said nor would he have just freely and without argument taken the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and quietly ate it.  Outside forces were then methodically and freely allowed to gain access to those perfect construction pieces and thoroughly influence humans’ lives from that point onward. 

The same principle comes into play here with this passage in 2 Samuel, because once again we were a holy constructed shell that will house the testimony that God has for His people, a setting in which cannot be altered or changed in any way after the instructions of the building process had been completed.  God intended that only a few select people could even carry this magnificent container and thus not many people were allowed to be around it.  Uzzah fell into this category but was not allowed to influence its contents by touching the Ark so when the cattle did their natural movements people should have stood back and allowed God to intervene in that setting without the human initiate of help.  Even though Uzzah’s intentions might have been a good thing with pure thoughts, his action was still lower than the designer of the Ark had placed as its standard; therefore, even though the Ark looked like it was about to fall it was still not to be touched by human hands.  It was God’s place to deal with the situation and mankind in other words.

This truth may be a tad bit harsh or hard to accept but it relies upon the eternal law of obedience at all cost and at all times.  What God creates as holy, stays holy no matter if it becomes dusty, worn, tired, stolen, or even beaten up.  It is this Truth that God wants us to hear and to live by because we now come to the point where outside forces may have good intentions in the beginning but many times they lead to painful settings when all is said and done.  There is nothing more holy than your life and even though our bodies are plagued and riddled with the consequences of sin God does not want us to have another Adam and Eve ceremony, He wants us to live and to work according to His eternal Freedom and the only way to obtain such a grand realization is to remember who we are to God and how we are created.  Which brings us to the fourth portion of this article and the one that is most directed at us today.

The last portion of this article is the one that may have you suspect in how the marriage vows can be associated with the three previous parts of what God has shared with us so far.  I thank God every day that He is a complete God on all levels of my existence and through His definition I can find my definition and purpose for living and as I have stated this truth about God many times before I trust that you never tire of hearing its words for its concept is eternal and the only hope we have for fulfilling our lives while on earth.  When studying on these portions of this article it became apparent to me that God could have chosen any part of our lives to dwell upon for this portion of the article but He chose marriage because it represents the exact example of holiness that needs to be reiterated so that we remember how holy this institution is and how God deems it necessary in our lives.

The biblical principle of marriage is presented and established in the beginning chapters of Genesis and is continued all throughout the Bible.  Even God’s Covenant that He establishes with Abram demonstrates the separation from the world and its ways and when one studies the acts that deem the Covenant to be intact versus violated we can see that God continues His standard on this level as well.  Adam and Eve give us the first example of marriage and to whom this standard applies and even the order in which the people involved should be.  In the passages of Genesis, we see a pattern that occurs from the time that Adam and Eve were created to the time that sin had entered into their lives.   A change had occurred within the two people for Adam changes his tone and tune about how Eve was created in Genesis chapter 3, a definite sign that some type of different relationship had taken place between the two.  When anyone asks a long time married couple of how they survived all of those years all of them will say it took sacrifice and total sharing of all things that were the keys to their marriage success.

When other people or issues are allowed to infiltrate the intimate and personal bonds between couples a breach occurs and gives rise for offenders to penetrate such adhesiveness that was created never to be broken.  Yet, as we see in Genesis there has been such a breach for Adam sat and did nothing while eve had the conversation with the Serpent nor did he resist when she turned and gave him the fruit to eat.  The consequences of such acts were horrendous and with these consequences, we continue to suffer today but the order in which the standards of how we are supposed to act have not changed yet we continue to allow such cracks in our lives to occur and are then forced to relive these dire consequences to be relived again.  Even with the introduction and replication of sin in the lives of humans, it is necessary that we ward off such results for if we do not the holy and pure Creations that God made so long ago will be tarnished beyond belief.  God continues to see us as holy and pure people for that is His standard and once something is created in such a manner His perception and Truth cannot be changed.  This means that only humans can change the status of our holiness and dim the Truth that lives within our lives.

We see this example take place in 2 Samuel 6 when Uzzah comes to the Ark when it is shaken.  Even though it would seem superficial that what Uzzah was doing was a good thing it should always be remembered that when something goes wrong on mankind’s level God’s Laws do not change and remain intact.  We should hide God’s Laws in our hearts deep enough that His Ways come naturally instead of the human ways and it is this point that God wants us to remember and then hide deep within our hearts because the only time we are vulnerable to other people is when we are shaken.  It does not matter how much we are shaken or cracked because it is at this time that the enemy will take advantage of such breaks and use them to infiltrate our lives.  When do people entertain the idea of cheating on their spouses or flat out leaving them, when things are unsettled or on shaky ground?  It is not in the good times when everything is in bliss and wonderful bouquets of roses.  Our lives were Created in the same manner in which the Ark of the Covenant was concerning what was placed inside the material container and since this process was completed on direct authority and plans from God we can relate to this instance because of the holy message that we have within us.

What if God allowed Uzzah to live when he deliberately disobeyed the law that God had put into place concerning the Ark and who could touch it, how it was carried, etc?   Could you imagine the circumstantial evidence today that people would use to justify their claims for doing what they believe is correct?  It would have given legal grounds for these types of excuses to be legitimate and force God to lose the title of God thus proving Satan correct and then God allowing him access to his position in heaven again.  God could not allow this to occur because of the holy and righteous manner in which the Ark of the Covenant was created and what possessed its insides, and so are our lives still represented today as well.  So through this example of Uzzah, we can have a definitive plan of exactly how God sees it when we entertain the idea of being unfaithful to our spouses or to any other thing for that matter.  Holiness does not stem from shaky ground nor does it come from an outsider’s point of view either.  Holiness comes from our eternal and Divine Creator who has placed such standard within our lives and it is THIS Truth that defines us and not mankind’s limited, finite, and shifty grounds.

It has been repeatedly taught and today demanded that we rely upon ourselves for everything and to believe that there is a God who loves us, protects us, and guides us is absolutely absurd, and to those who believe on such nonsense should be placed into a looney bin.  This type of teaching, of course, goes totally contrary to what the bible says and thus can be the only representative of the world’s point of view.  Many good people believe that the world has all the answers necessary to achieve enough stability to ensure that everyone gets along and dines with each other every evening.  But as each day arises, we see that this belief in the world fails us and that as soon as we read the first headline of the day more conflict and confusion graces our eyes and hearts in such a way that anger and division cannot help but be installed for that day. 

Magazines, journals, news bites, and of course social media blasts someone’s problems over the weekend or some type of divisional breakup has occurred and we cannot help but recognize all of the national and international crises that protrude.  Equality is being protested all over the world with a resounding flatness that causes more disdain not only with the people who find it difficult to promote but to those who reject it outright in the first place.  Hello!!  Our vain attempts to fix ideas and truths about our lives according to our own ways and means is exactly like what Uzzah did on that fateful day that occurred in 2 Samuel 6:6-7.  And guess what, you want to know why David was so confused and afraid because of that act?  Look around you and you will see his emotional response in live action today because the same aftereffects are being played out.

When God establishes something it needs to stay in the manner in which He designed it.  ANY attempt by mankind to “right” the situation based upon selfish means shall only destroy the situation and that person further, guaranteed.  We see this pattern occur in the Garden of Eden, we see it again in 2 Samuel 6, and we continually witness these acts today and just as these examples explain and like every other example in the Bible explains only destruction, devastation, and death will result when we try to do things on our own and what we deem as correct first.  Through examples of our selfishness, we proclaim that we care nothing about holiness or the state of holiness that we were created, in fact, we no longer even recognize that we are holy on any level, so why should we respect such a thought or truth?  I mean, seriously, why should we?  Humanity has followed its course of acceptance ever since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden so again, I ask the question why should we?

As Kevin the angel said in Hobbs, New Mexico “God needs to pull down our pants and spank us” for the Church has not done its eternal missionary job on any level.  Yes, at one time the Church was responsive to the call of God but even within the Early Church, there were cracks and breeches that Satan used in order to infiltrate the purity and holiness that God wanted us to teach, to know, and to live through.  But our eyes and hearts have become so darkened that we would never recognize the punishment of God even if it was small and local.  Church, we have taken up the roles of the Serpent and of Uzzah and have done our best to penetrate the inside holiness of God to contaminate its presence.  God wants to be very clear about this point in that our holiness shall never be compromised no matter how much we try to euthanize its presence.  It was God who placed this presence into our lives thus God is the only one that can take it away; however, if we choose to ignore it and deem it unworthy enough to not use its wisdom in our lives, then that is our own election and will then face the consequences of such divisional opponents.

God is the ONLY source that has perfect answers for every mess human’s dive themselves into and until we figure out this Truth we will continue to sink into oblivion.  Jesus commanded His Church to speak life and Light into the world but we have taken the light bulb out of our hearts and started reading from the Bible according to what words we think we see, a grave error that Adam and Eve went through and the same with Uzzah.  But God says we do not have to go through such turmoil, so why is the Church not teaching and living this Truth?  It is because we have indoctrinated ourselves into the world instead of the Ways of God.  Time is waning, Church.  We see the shaking of the ground around us and instead of teaching that God has all of the answers and is our perfect provider and protector we stand and watch Uzzah react.  We watch the procession take place and fancy its appearance but know nothing about how and what is inside the lives that define us.  We defy its eternal Truth in our lives and fail to acknowledge its presenter so what else can we expect to see?

With all four sections of this article giving us the direction in which God Created us and just how pure and holy our creation is, why would we want to differ or vary ourselves from this type of established condition?  If we desire to be on our own then it becomes clear that we have no ambition whatsoever to live for God nor do we have any belief in the sanctity of God or our lives.  If this is the case, it does not matter what we believe about God for it is a false belief and one that shall only produce added lies to our everyday existence.  God Created us with a specific standard and through this standard, we have the ability to fulfill the Divine purpose that He has for our lives.  We are not created to sit in one area and grow wider but to be active and to proceed and grow forward.  The world promises this so-called growth as well but only provides a hapless societal presence that sees growth sideways and not forward.  Why do we continue to live in such muck and why do we continue to flash our wishes across to the ruler of the world instead of bringing our burdens to our Creator?  There is an absolute joy in them prayers, folks all we need to do is turn our hearts back to God and allow Him to restore our holiness according to His Ways.

Do we even want a healthy and stable marriage or eternal relationship with anyone anymore, or how about true and pure holiness?  The Bible, God’s definition, states that man should not be alone which means that we need each other in order to survive.  This is actually a statement by God which means it is a living command to all with a holy standard in place that complements our origins with God and intimacy with God, not either or.  Unless we recognize our importance to God our lives shall never be able to fulfill the purpose He placed into our hearts even before we were conceived by our parents.  Our value as an eternal and live being shall amount to anything more than a group of clustered cells unless we understand the holiness that we were created.  We are worth so much more than what the world gives us credit for and once we figure out the purpose of our holiness and just how much it means to our lives we can defeat any obstacle that Satan throws at us, for then we shall know the truth about God and His Ways.  It is obvious as to why the Church has stopped teaching holiness because she has stopped being holy to herself and to her Groom.  This is NOT a matter to be taken lightly, for the Groom cannot come for an unprepared bride and if we are not living in the manner in which He expects then we shall be busy doing otherworldly things when He arrives.  Repent, Church!  Turn from our wicked ways and once again boldly and loudly proclaim the eternal Truth about the Word of God.

DLB