Listen with your spirit to God’s Word in Leviticus 20:8. “I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” And Isaiah 41:16 “You will rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel.” And Isaiah 12:6 “Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.“
God’s holiness is not what he does. Holy is who he is, the Holy One. He is without spot or blemish. His eyes are too pure to look on sin. Yet his plan of redemption called for Jesus to take our sins on himself and die to make us holy in him. We cannot make ourselves holy, no matter how hard we try or how perfectly we live. Our perfection is not holiness. Jesus was the only perfect one. The Hebrew word qadhash implies being pure, devoted to God, set apart for a special task or the worship of God.
Beloved one, I bless you with knowing your holy Father. I bless you with knowing how the holiness of Jesus is counted to your credit in his death on the cross. I bless you with knowing that nothing you ever do can make him love you less or love you more. I bless you with freedom from your perfectionism and the perfectionism of others, because through your Father’s eyes he sees you as perfect in his perfect and beloved Son. I bless you with joy in God’s holiness and your own. Our culture does not associate joy with holiness, but God says that joyful shouting and singing are part of celebration of who he is. I bless you with celebrating the beauty of his holiness and the glory of your Holy One who accepts you completely and calls forth the best in you.
Listen to Isaiah 43:1-3. “This is what the Lord says… ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’ ”
Beloved one, your Father treats you with special care because you are set apart to him for his purposes, for his pleasure, and to his glory. I bless you with knowing deeply in your spirit that you are clean, you are dedicated, you are consecrated to God. I bless you with freedom from anything that would make you unusable for your Father’s glory. I bless you with being reserved exclusively for heart’s devotion and life’s affection for your holy Father. I bless you with appreciation that your Father knows you by name and will change the course of rivers and the nature of flames, if necessary, to keep his holy promises to you to be with you. I bless you with freedom from fear because of his guarantee that nothing can destroy you. I bless you with the power and authority of his names by which he identifies himself as your God, your Holy One, and your Savior.
I bless you in the name of Jehovah-M’Kaddesh.
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