You shall be holy to me.

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

Leviticus 20:26

God is holy. That fact is one of the most emphasized of His attributes in all of scripture. It is on display front and center in the book of Leviticus. God's holiness moved Him to set His people Israel apart to Him in holy living. And He expected His people to live differently than the pagan nations around them as a result. Personal holiness is all about that unique relationship with a holy God.

I want to live as God's set apart person in Christ. Jesus clothed me in His righteousness. I am set apart as His in the Church -- the people that are simultaneously the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ that He loves and possesses. We are to be holy... I am to be holy... because Jesus is holy. This Leviticus principle of "be holy because I am holy" is repeated in the New Testament for good reason. I also live in a pagan culture that needs to see the beauty of God's holy love and life in the Church. We are the people that will show Jesus to them. And He will be known as holy.

Risen Lord Jesus

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Luke 24:2-3

Now risen from the dead, Jesus is Lord. His work is complete. His death secured the sacrifice for sins that forgave us and His resurrection secured eternal life to all who believe. Just as He told His disciples, He died and in three days rose again. Everything that Jesus said and did led to this reality. Death could not keep Him. The grave was just a rental. There was no body to be found, for Jesus is alive and Lord of all!

Not just at Easter does this fact change me. How often have I felt like I am in a cold tomb, needing the stone rolled back to freedom? Jesus releases me from death's captivity and EVERY captivity that sin might try to enforce. He forgives my sin. He removes me from the hard stone bed chill and warms me with the loving fire of His truth and grace.

O Risen Lord,

Death is not Your defeater and it will not be mine! We cannot be beaten by the grave. You have prepared a place for me and will receive me to Yourself because You have risen from the dead. And I can be holy, clothed in Your righteous robes, because in Your death my sinful self died. And I am risen with my Lord to walk in new life!

Amen!

a death knell for porn

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Colossians 3:5-6

This passage is a death knell for pornographic lust. It calls us to put to death what is core to the porn experience

1) Sexual immorality (porneia): the generic New Testament word for anything that is sexually immoral. Porn does not celebrate Christian marital fidelity. It is thus sexually immoral.

2) Impurity. Sexual lust is impure. It is not celebrating holiness. It is looking at a person who is not your spouse for the purpose of sexual lust. This is not to be confused with sexual desire which is a God-given motivation meant to drive us toward His design of being "one flesh" with our spouse for life.

3) Passion. Sexual lust is driven by sinful passion. Porn feeds this with lying images meant to inflame passion for more which makes it horrifyingly addictive.

4) Evil desire. Sexual lust is all about a desire for something. Porn is designed to incite desire for someone else to whom you are not married and this desire cannot be fulfilled by any holy means once porn incites it.

5) Covetousness. You want the object of sexual lust even though morally, legally, and biblically you cannot have it. This is the root sin of porn.

6) Idolatry. Your heart misses out on worshiping God by worshiping the object of sexual lust. Jesus promised that the reward for the pure in heart is that they will see God. Porn steals this reward from you. You miss God and replace that with fleeting glimpses of human bodies... just like idolatry replaces God with an idol.

The result of all these is that God's wrath comes to the "earthly" person  in judgment. That is the outcome of sexual immorality. Brief pleasures of sin for a season are not worth the high price. Nobody considers this when "doing" porn.

forceful shepherds

The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.

Ezekiel 34:4

This was God's evaluation of the leaders of Israel. He had made them shepherds of His flock. But they did not serve as gentle, caring shepherds. They ran roughshod over the flock, concerned only with their own selfish gain, abusing those under their care with a harsh and forceful rule. They did not care for or lead God's people.

God's indictment of them gives insight into what He expects of those who lead His people. He expects shepherds to strengthen the weak. Leaders must care enough to help those under them gain skill and strength. Leaders must nourish people to healthiness. Shepherd leaders want to see those who need healing receive it. They care for those who aren't quite well yet, patiently tending to equipping them to health.

Shepherds tend the injured. They counsel and care for the wounded and hurting so that healing and strength might return to the entire flock. Leaders go after wanderers. They lovingly restore the lost sheep back to the fold. We don't let the flock just dwindle away one by one. It is, after all, the flock of God to Whom we must give account!

All these tender and intimate leadership practices go after the needs of individuals. And shepherds must know the flock well enough to spot the weak, sick, injured, and missing people. That requires time, diligence, high concern, and most importantly, cultivation of personal relationships. To replace that high standard with selfishness, harshness, or forcefulness is to invite God's judgment on the shepherd.

blessing bringer

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,

and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 11:25

The one who is known

as an encourager

whose smile has shown

blessing

will himself be blessed

The kind words said

to a stranger

or the good things he did

unasked

will return to him again

Those who bring blessing

will receive grace

The one who uplifts

a soul that is down

will know the benefit

of another's love

and will never be alone

The one who waters another garden

when his neighbor is gone

will find plenty of help when

he needs it as well

kindness grows to return

Those who help

will receive more

Gladden my soul

Gladden the soul of your servant,

for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Psalm 86:4-5

The way out of distress of soul is not self-made. It only comes when we look at the Maker of our souls. God can gladden the heart. David composed Psalm 86 out of his personal distress. He asked God to encourage, support, and deliver him. He wrote it feeling low, and in today's vernacular we might call him depressed.

The elements of his emotional state are expressed in his prayer to God. He is troubled (Psalm 86:7). Ungodly men are seeking David's death (Psalm 86:14), a situation David found himself confronting several times throughout his life. He saw no way to find strength, comfort, or relief except by trusting the faithful deliverance of God (Psalm 86:7, 10, 13, 15, 17).

How often is a Christian's soul troubled? Like David, we may find that such times are frequent. God does not promise us a perfect, trouble-free existence. Why would we need faith if that were the case? Jesus Himself was the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief. He struggled with the weight of our sin, praying for the Father's deliverance. He told His disciples to expect trouble in this world. Yet He is also our forgiveness, mercy, and strength. He is the Father's steadfast love for us Who saves our souls from death.

When my soul is troubled, I will turn to Jesus my Lord. I will lift up my soul to Him so that He may carry my burden and gladden my soul! And like king David of ancient faith, I will trust in His faithful, steadfast love, knowing He will help me, gladden me, and hear me when I call out to Him.

Lord, have mercy.

But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

2 Kings 13:23

God honored two covenants during the darkest years of Israel and Judah. With Judah he kept covenant with David to have a descendent on the throne. With Israel, He kept the Abrahamic Covenant. Here in 2 Kings the author reminds us that despite the wickedness in Israel, the Northern Ten Tribes were spared the worst of the Syrian threat because God wanted to honor His covenant with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is remarkably gracious and compassionate as His people repeatedly turn from Him despite prophetic warnings. The covenant is the grounds for the grace. The nation did not earn it. God chose to be gracious because He had chosen this people long ago in Abraham to display His grace to the world.

Reading the stories of God's compassion in the history of Israel and Judah is instructive. It helps me to understand just why God is so merciful to sinners today. Jesus is the mercy and grace of God for us. He died so that God's mercy might spare me from my guilt's punishment. He was raised from the dead so that God's grace might raise me up to abundant and eternal life.

Like Israel, I did not deserve this. I struggle with heart idolatries and unfaithfulness to my Lord. And yet He has compassion despite my many failings. And I must rejoice and receive His merciful forgiveness. The Orthodox tradition has an emphasis on God's mercy that I remember as I see this reminder from ancient Israel. My prayer today is "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy." Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.