# Holiness Day 4 ### Opening Prayer: *Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours. You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life. You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas. Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to open to your transforming presence in this time. Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland Jr.)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 99 #### The Lord Our God Is Holy *99 The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!2 The Lord is great in Zion;he is exalted over all the peoples.3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!Holy is he!4 The King in his might loves justice.[a]You have established equity;you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.5 Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool!Holy is he!* *6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered them.7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them.8 O Lord our God, you answered them;you were a forgiving God to them,but an avenger of their wrongdoings.9 Exalt the Lord our God,and worship at his holy mountain;for the Lord our God is holy!* #### Scripture for the Day: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 #### A Life Pleasing to God *4 Finally, then, brothers,[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification:[b] that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body[c] in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.* #### Reading for Reflection: *So when God says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:16) he is not giving us an imperative. He is making us a promise. In Jesus Christ, we shall be holy. We do not become holy by trying to obey Jesus’ teachings. Instead, we are made holy by allowing the Holy Spirit to draw us so close to Jesus that his love begins to flow through our veins, changing our hearts, renewing our minds, and making us holy in every aspect of life. (Sacred Thirst by Craig Barnes)* *Holiness has been defined, at times, as meaning “set apart.” No! Holiness means wholeness. Holy persons have achieved (through Christ) a certain integrity. In them there is consonance between who they are, as images of God, and the way they hold themselves. Always true to their inner reality, they need not be apart. They can be in the midst without fear. Where there is not love, they bring love. Where there is not innocence, they bring innocence. They are instruments of peace. (Breaking Bread by Basil Pennington)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: Holy, Holy, Holy *Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!* *Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;* *Holy holy, holy, merciful and mighty!* *God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!* *Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,* *Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;* *Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,* *Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.* *Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,* *Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,* *Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,* *Perfect in power, in love, and purity.* *Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!* *All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.* *Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!* *God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!* ### Closing Prayer: *Thank you Lord, that you see me as holy because of the gift of your Son. Help me to celebrate the holiness you have given me by being wholly yours this day. Amen. (JLB)*