The
8th Question is:
Based on the article, "The Beauty of
Holiness" (Articles
page), how is mediating on the beauty of holiness meaningful to you? How is it
motivating to make holy choices? How have you seen that choosing holiness brings
beauty into your life?
I Chronicles
16:29
Revised Standard & Modern Language says:
Give the Lord all the fame due His name and bring an offering and come before
Him. Serve the Lord in your holy
array...
Living Bible
says: Ascribe to the Lord the Glory due His name! Bring offering and come before
Him .. Worship the Lord when clothed with Holiness.
Dictionary
says: Array "imposing/well ordered display...to deck or adorn...set in
order for battle.
Latin: be ready...
The chapter talks about Music, Dancing, Power, Worship and
Being full of Awe.
My mother always said, as I was growing up: "Beauty is
as Beauty does".
It is true. If you see someone acting in a negative
way...their face is not attractive. One morning on my way to work I stopped at a
friend’s home. She had on a pretty little bathrobe and her hair and face were
pretty. Then she opened her mouth and the ugliest stuff came pouring out. Her
face contorted and there was nothing of beauty to be seen anywhere.
I have made many poor choices in my life and the results
certainly are not beautiful.
God’s way of looking at things is very different than ours.
He thought burning sacrifices smelled good... Not because of the flesh and hair
and bone burning on a fire but because it represented the hearts of men...in
repentance. Beauty really has nothing to do with pretty. It is power in Jesus
Name, which we were given for the use of bringing others to Christ and walking
our path.
Like "Joy of the Lord is our Strength"...
"Holiness is the Beauty of the Lord". There was never a more beautiful
woman than one of Strength, Wisdom, Love, and Holy in the Lord. She doesn’t
have to be physically beautiful or soft in any way...but the glory of the Lord
shining on her makes her beautiful and powerful. In battle for her family and
the world. When we have been in the presence of the Lord...it is visible from
the outside. Like when Moses came down from the mountain after being with the
Lord. The average man could not look upon him.
Human nature responds to love, caring, beauty, in the same
manner most of the time. I want to always be where God wants me to be. I want to
attract others to Him. I think, living the holy life...letting others see what
God can do... how He takes me through the "stuff" of life is what
really speaks to the world...this is where power in His name comes in. It is a
beautiful thing to have a holy attitude. Attitude will make you or break you. It
is up to us. God is there for the putting on...we can have as much of Him as we
are will into give up of self.
Linda
If holiness is a beautiful aroma
lavished on a Holy God, then I should desire to do so regularly. I think of a
beautiful fragrant perfume and one that is cheap and sickening strong. I know
that I would never give such a cheap gift to a friend. I would desire to give
the most fragrant gift because I love them and because their friendship is worth
a lot to me. In the same way, God is worth more than anything to me. He is holy
and holiness cannot coexist with my sin. Giving of myself as I grow in holiness
is the most beautiful gift I can give my Savior. Meditating on His holiness, and
letting it seep into my soul, is the most beautiful gift I can receive from Him.
Heather
My daughter first called my attention to the
phenomenon–the beauty of holiness revealed on faces of aging saints. She is an
artist who loves to do pen and ink sketches of faces no longer young.
“Mother,” she told me, “You can actually see the beauty of holiness, the
radiance left by a lifetime of intercessory prayer, of walking with the Lord.”
I’ve confirmed that over and over in recent months while spending time
in a long term care facility with my husband who has dementia. There is a
startling difference between the patients who have lived lives of holiness and
prayer and those who have not. Some variations are obvious: laugh lines instead
of frown lines, upturned lips, a twinkle in the eyes–but there is also an
undefinable radiance on the faces of aging
saints. I’m reminded of
Moses when he came down from mount Sinai with his face reflecting the Shekinah
glory, of the martyred Stephen’s shining face. And I treasure the promise in 2
Corinthians 3:18: “Our faces are not covered with a veil. We all display the
Lord's glory. We are being changed to become more like him so that we have more
and more glory. And the glory comes from the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit.”
(New International Reader’s Version)
Kathryn
The beauty of holiness is purity. Dross removed. Silver remains. The potter sees
his own reflection in His pure vessel.
June
What
shall I do? Although I want to be responsive to the intriguing idea your article
poses, I cannot. Your original research defining God's holiness as beauty is
accurate for me. But, we depart from the issue with the question, "Why
wouldn't I want to be holy..". Your inquiry and answer are couched in
rational thought; i.e. abundant life, wisdom, confidence and fruit as an
outcome. This is traditional Socratic logic; if I do this then that will happen
sort of thinking. It is reasonable and successful thinking for this world. The
problem is source- for we are no longer dealing in this world.
Greek thought puts me at the center
of the action; 'If I do this'. Hebrew thought puts God at the center; '"See
now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make
alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my
hand." Deut. 32:39. God is God- alone and absolute. Several libraries can
be filled with explanations for our inability to accept the absolute nature of
God but that's only part of the issue. God is also the source, "In the
beginning was the 'logos'" John 1:1. When we use Greek logic, we assume the
revealed nature of God to be something we manipulate ourselves to acquire rather
than empty ourselves to receive through proximity to the source.
It is a common malady of our times.
We can, after all, acquire anything we wish with the right approach or the right
amount of tact and persuasion; the right amount of power, money and prestige.
This leads us to believe we understand and command the very powers of heaven.
That is a lie.
I believe we are seeking nearness to
God when we contemplate holiness. Why not simply use the word? If the question
were phrased 'how is meditating on the beauty of God meaningful for you?', I
could respond. Or if it asked, 'How have you seen that choosing godliness brings
beauty into your life?’, I would have a valid answer. But to make a holy
choice? Goodness, only God can do that. I can merely make choices that reflect
what I know of God. The questions imply that holiness is something outside of
God, a thing to be grasped or achieved rather than something we mirror because
of our nearness to Him.
God’s revealed nature is not our
nature. And the definition never changes. In over a dozen places in the Old
Testament God states that his people are holy 'because' He is holy. The most
notable correlation is Lev.
11:45
"...you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy", which is repeated in
1 Peter
1:16
,
"You shall be holy, for I am holy." By drawing close to Him we may be
graced with some of His nature (put on holy garments) or reflect our nearness to
Him (...that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his
speaking with Him; Ex. 34:29) for His glory and purpose. But to assume to
acquire or have God’s nature is to be a partaker in the original sin...'and ye
shall be as gods'.
Shalom, Jonah
Ohhhhh, God must be a lover of beauty in
all its forms--remember the tabernacle, ark, garden of Eden? The colors of
everything in this world and in the skies shouts out to me. All so exciting, all
so beauteously described in His holy Word, and then, to think we are to be His
workmanship--He dwells in these earthly bodies that house our souls and His very
breath? Yow! We are to be holy, as He is holy, and He is so beautiful, I cannot
comprehend such beautiful holiness, but I will accept it, from Him. I
struggle that I may be the only bridge of the beauty of holiness that some folks
may see. Perhaps they have such hurting hearts, or fear, that they will not
seek God out in a church, but if I'm praying and meditating on the beauty of His
holiness I know It's gotta seep out somewhere, through me and into me, and
hopefully into them! It sure beats meditating on the yuk stuff of this whacko
world or what's for dinner!
Patti I.