Last night I came across a 30ish second clip of a prominent, hipster preacher's latest sermon. In this clip he says "holiness is consistency". He says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13: 8) and that is how He is holy.

Holiness is not consistency.

Looking at semantics only we can see that holiness is not consistency. The word 'is' in the phrase means the third person singular present indicative of be. Used in our English language 'is' is a linking verb. It joins the subject of a sentence to a complement. It shows relationship between the two words. 'Is' is often also used in math equations. Five plus two is seven. In this 'is' can also mean equal to or the same as.

When looking from a mathematical perspective, holiness is equal to or the same as consistency, as stated by this preacher. A look at a Thesaurus would show us that this is not true. Holiness is not found as a synonym of consistency and vice versa.

Semantics aside, proposing---and speaking with intense conviction---that holiness is consistency is not a Biblical concept. There is no scripture that gives any slight indication that holiness is the same as consistency or that consistency proves holiness.

Yes. God is Holy.
Yes. God is consistent.
Yes. God is consistently holy.

But His Holiness can not be substituted or confused with the word consistency.

From the initial statement, we could conclude that all mentions of the word holiness could be interchanged with the word consistency. How do these sound:

Be ye consistent, as I am consistent. -1 Peter 1:16
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in consistency, fearful in praises, doing wonders? - Exodus 15:11
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of consistency, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. -2 Chronicles 20:21

We could continue, but this is ridiculous. Stating that these two things can be mutually exclusive or the same thing is preposterous. There is no way to get around this.

I admit that lack of understanding of the Holiness of God, but when I think of it I am overcome with reverence. I am made aware of my unholiness and my sin that cannot remain the presence of a Holy God. I am sobered to His immense purity against my uncleanliness.

I think about Isaiah 6. Isaiah sees the Lord seated on the throne and the angels calling to one another saying "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah recognizes his uncleanliness when he says " I am a man of unclean lips".

The Holiness of God should move us to humbled, repentant responses. It cannot be flippantly passed off as just being consistent.

May we seek to have a true, reverent understanding of His Holiness and may we respond appropriately.

Search my heart, oh God, and remove any unclean thing from me.

Gifts

This morning I saw a post on Instagram by a man who was having a giveaway/contest for his followers. He told them that if they posted about his spoken word Instagram, had more than 1000 followers, he would choose someone to send a questionnaire in a DM and then give them a prophetic word.

Say what?!

After reading the post, I had an immediate sick feeling in my stomach. Right away, I checked myself. Am I judging? Am I being too critical? What does God think of this?

I believe that as we, unfortunately, see more of these things happen, we need to be able to walk in discernment and wisdom.

Our gifts are given to us freely. We did not earn them through works or money. We did not have to beg for them. James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is not variableness, neither shadow of turning." Any gift we have comes from our Father.

Jesus tells His disciples to freely give what they have received. (Matthew 10:8). Our gifts are for the edification of the body and the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

It is a scary thing to act as if our gifts, given by God, are for our own promotion. 

Proverbs 18:16 says, "A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men." We do not have to work to make room for ourselves with our gifts.

I have felt that I must use my gift to keep me ahead of others...knowing that at any point someone may come along and be better at my gift than I am. I have felt that I could lose my place at His table. The Lord gently stepped on my toes and pride and reminded me that He gave any gift that I have and that there is more than enough room at the table.

The ultimate goal is not that people know MY name but that they know the name of my Father....that they know my Father knows and loves them. It has never been or ever will be about me and what I can do. It is about becoming like my Father and bringing His kingdom to the earth. It is about the Glory of an Eternal King who chose to come dwell with us.

May we seek His face and not our own fame.

Remember.

A couple of months ago, we had our HVAC system moved from under our house to the ceiling. We've had multiple floods that have damaged the duct work. The repair every time was expensive only to be flooded again. As we prepared to have things moved, all things from the attic were moved out. There was a huge need for purging and organizing. I dug through multiple boxes of things long forgotten. 

There's often a need to hold on to these things that don't really serve a current purpose, but they are soaked in memories and feelings. Some things were easy to purge--the feelings and memories weren't kind. Some things were harder to purge--the feelings and memories brought warmth and longing for days gone by. 

I came across a box of papers/letters and books. I found a small piece of notebook paper dated July 21, 2001. This was a Saturday. The location was A Place for the Heart in Sophia, North Carolina. This was the ending to the very first ever worship camp held by Jonathan and Melissa Helser. My sister and I were so lucky to attend. I believe that Saturday was the last night of the camp. We had a dinner together--campers and staff. At the end, we presented each other with gifts/drawings/writings that we had asked the Lord for (like a secret Santa...only much better). The leaders of the camp prayed over all of us.

The paper I found has the words from the Lord written on them. 

I am always longing to hold on to the things the Lord has spoken. To remember the words that never die...always giving life.

In Psalm 105 and 111 David tells us that the Lord remembers his covenant forever (v. 8 and v. 5, respectively). 

It's a funny thing to remind the Lord of something...as if He could actually forget. 

We remind the Lord of things because we are really reminding ourselves. We are building our faith and hope. We are reminding our souls that the Lord is faithful. That He is patient. That He is everlasting. That His words cannot return to Him void. 

These words I found on an almost 16 year old piece of paper remind me of the words He has spoken to me. These are words that have been confirmed many times in 16 years but not yet seen to full fruition. They are beautiful reminders that what He promised He will do. 

When I find myself in a dark season, a wilderness, a trying time, these words are life. They are water in a dry land. These words I hold in my heart and speak to the Lord. 

"Remember You said....."

These are words I thought were forgotten. But they have been found. I have been found. I stand in faith with renewed hope reminding myself of His promises and reminding Him of what He said.

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

11 

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11

There's a God who sees.

I am currently preparing for a couple of upcoming talks. One on being fearfully and wonderfully made. One on singleness. When both were presented to me, I laughed...out loud. I am the least qualified to speak on both of these topics. Even though I've been single my whole life, but that is another post.

I began typing my jumbled thoughts on Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and wanted some background music. I clicked on Youtube and saw a recommended video of a Jason Upton worship set. It starts, and I start typing.

Then about 25ish minutes in, Jason starts singing "There's a God who sees." He sings for a bit and then starts talking. He starts in Genesis 27..about Jacob and his father who is going blind. But Jesus has come and revealed a Father who sees. He isn't going blind. He says, "[For] a lot of us God is big enough to raise dead people, but He's not big enough to deal with our running or our failure." 

Often we so easily believe God for big things. Yes! Amen! He can raise the dead! He can calm the storm! But we don't believe He can handle the small things. Our frustrations. Our failures. Our sin. 

This last week was brutal. I have been battling a sinus thing. Constant sniffles and sinus pressure. I have been on the verge of tears multiple times just from pain. The work week was stressful. So many things happening at once. Things finally came to a head on Thursday night when I was so battered by anxiety, stress, disappointment and frustration. I battled thoughts all night about what I do, how I do it and how I need to do it better. I woke up Friday feeling like my head was in a vice and just emotionally beat. 

My MO is to run, to avoid and pull away. I figure that if I can't do anything well someone else should just do it. Maybe I am not cut out to do these things. I can easily allow myself to spiral out of control and hide. And then to seek false encouragement from others. 

As I listened to this part of the worship set (repeatedly), I was overcome by the truth that He is a God who sees. He is a God who sees me. He sees the hurt, the failure, the pain. And He isn't scared by it. 

When I want to run and hide, I know that He is the there with Love that is strong...that won't let go. 

May we remember that He is not blind. He is not losing His sight. He sees us. He knows us. He loves us. 

“There’s a God who sees.

There’s a God who sees.

There’s a God who sees right where we are.

His love is strong, He won’t let go.

He holds us with His sacred heart.

And even when we’re far from home,

There’s a God who sees right where we are.”

-Jason Upton

Fresh Start. New Season.

Hidden behind the face of this blog are posts fully and partially written from years and seasons long forgotten.  I quickly browsed the titles and laughed at the rawness of the seasons in which they were written. 

Seasons that were overcome with fear, bitterness and disillusionment. Seasons that were painful and broken.

It's funny to think of those moments and how immensely huge they were in those moments but how small they seem today. 

That's the beautiful thing about time and perspective. What was once all consuming is now just a fleeting moment that is barely remembered.

Yet, many of those seasons we travel through leave us battered and scarred. We are holding on for our dear lives and wishing, hoping, craving restoration and rest. We long to be gathered up and taken as far as possible from those seasons. 

But does that ever really happen? Is it supposed to?

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. We made a bad choice. We made a good choice. Someone else made a bad/good choice for us. Wrong place at the wrong time. Right place at the right time. Whatever it may be.

The seasons that we walk through are meant for our growth, just as the natural seasons are for the growth of creation. 

Here I find myself at the beginning of a new season. A stretching of my faith....that maybe I have been asking for but never thought would come. 

This morning at church our guest speaker talked briefly about stretching and expanding our faith. He shared from the perspective of us talking out-loud at a thing to build our faith. But I would like to submit that while we can build up and expand our faith ourselves, sometimes it is God who does the expanding...even if we don't think it is possible. 

I feel that I am in a season where God is beginning to stretch my faith and push me just a little more than normal. He's beginning to open doors that I would have never imagined I'd get to walk through. Things that maybe I hoped would happen but would never have the courage to seek them out on my own. 

It is an exciting time and a fearfully reverent time....a realizing that I could never do these things alone and will need to fully rely on the wonderful, powerful God who calls things as though they aren't into being. 

So, here's to a fresh start....a new season.