holy and righteous

In our virtual church gathering on Zoom a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about this passage in 1 Peter 1:

13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

Our conclusion was that our holiness is an artifact of our intimacy with God, not our mitigation of sin.

In my daily Bible reading plan, I have been recently reading some of the prophets in the Old Testament (e.g., Ezekiel) that were informing the Israelites that God was judging them because they were not faithful to Him.  There is quite a bit about them being unrighteous.  So, I have been wondering about the difference between holiness and righteousness.

A quick search of verses that include both words revealed a few interesting passages, especially John the Baptizer's dad's prophecy in Luke 1:

68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David

...

74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,

    and to enable us to serve him without fear

75     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

Here are a few other interesting combinations:

Acts 3:14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

Romans 6:19  ... Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

Ephesians 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Revelation 19:8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.)

Currently, I am thinking that holiness and righteousness are different in that holiness has more to do with us being set apart for God and righteousness has more to do about our behavior, perhapse related to Jesus's statement to the Samaritan woman at the well about how we worship God in Spirit and in truth.  And it seems to me that holiness promotes righteousness, but not necessarily the other way around.

Father, I love you.  Thank you for allowing me to approach you.  Thank you for making me your son and always welcoming me to come to you.  I want to be holier.  And I want to be more righteous.  I want my lifestyle to honor you.  Jesus, thank you for being our example of holiness and righteousness.  Holy Spirit, you are very good at being holy, so please help me be holier.  And I want to listen to you every moment so that I always do what honors you and never what dishonors you.  I love you.

First experience of operating in the courts of Heaven

(This was drafted Sep 10, but I forgot to post it.)

I finished reading Bill Dennington's book Breaking the Strongholds of Iniquity yesterday.  It has been one of the most helpful books that I have read.  (I recommend reading the last chapter first, because it provides a big picture overview.) It was illuminating to see the Biblical examples of how spiritual court issues were delaying progress on earth, but once the court decision was made, breakthroughs and victory were released.  It was also very helpful to understand how the enemy uses legal accusations of sin, transgression, and generational iniquity to stall us from stepping into what God has for us in Christ.  I was especially encouraged by the testimonies of breakthroughs that he and others have received through operating as priests in the courts of Heaven to receive the inheritance that Christ wants us to use to accomplish His good plans for us.  In several cases, these breakthroughs were so rapid, even in the context of years of spiritual warfare.

This morning, I listened to an audio recording of his testimony of his first experience of operating in the courts of Heaven, and I realized that I was ready to step into that for myself.

So, I got a tortilla and some grape juice, and I knelt in front of the dining room bay window with the morning light shining in. In faith, I knelt before Jesus as the Righteous Judge, and I confessed the iniquity of anger, repented of it, asked Jesus to remove it from my life and the lives of my family, asked Jesus to silence the voices of shame, guilt, condemnation, and accusation, and then thanked Him for the fruit of the Holy Spirit, especially those that are opposite of anger.  And then, one at a time, I repeated the process for lust and then pride/arrogance.  I truly felt release/relief from these issues.  

And then I took the communion elements and thanked Jesus for the healing that I receive from His broken body and the purification and life that I receive from His blood.  

Father, thank you for this revelation and experience in the courts of Heaven! Jesus, thank you for being the Righteous Judge who I can approach without fear.  Holy Spirit, thank you for being my legal advocate and for helping me resolve these cases.  I love you.

Worship Yahweh with gladness

(This was drafted Aug 17, but I forgot to post it.)

Shout for joy to Yahweh, all the earth.  Worship Yahweh with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that Yahweh is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalms 100:1‭-‬3 NIV

So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ... He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Galatians 3:5‭, ‬14 NIV

Certainly, there is a time and place for solemnity, but it seems to me that walking by faith in the presence and power of the Spirit is more correlated with gladness than solemnity.  And if we live each day actively worshipping God, then there should be much gladness.  

I resolve to teach my children to worship Yahweh with gladness and joyful songs.

Father, I love you! You are so good! I praise you! May my life communicate an overflow of joyful praise so that people around me will taste and see that you are good.  I love you.