Category Archives: love of God

Strong, Firm, and Steadfast — Devotion for WOW Ministry

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““And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 

1 Peter 5:10 NIV 

“You have an enemy, and he is real.” These are words I remember hearing when I first attended WOW three years ago. I arrived at WOW after years of not standing firm in the faith. In fact, half-hearted and wavering are the words that described me well at that time. As the teaching continued, I heard these words — “determined and steadfast.” As I thought about those words, I suddenly knew what I needed. I needed to trust in God, the God who by His grace had called me to “his eternal glory in Christ,” the God who loved me, the God who would “restore” me, and make me “strong, firm and steadfast.”

This month our verses at WOW have been focused on the word “steadfast.” To be steadfast is to have firmness of mind or purpose, to be constant in pursuing a purpose unwavering, fixed, and steady. Our verse this week is a very precious promise that follows a very serious warning. It is the same warning I received three years ago at WOW — “You have an enemy, and he is real.” 

In 1 Peter 5:8 Peter describes the enemy as a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  That enemy is real! That enemy is powerful, very cunning, and deceptive. He wants us to believe that we cannot be strong, firm, and steadfast. He wants to persuade us to be disengaged and unbelieving. If he can get us to give up or walk in fear when we undergo trials and suffering, he knows he will be able to keep us separated from our God and destroy our relationship of oneness with Him. ‬‬This is why believers are commanded to be steadfast and to “resist him (the enemy), standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9). ‬‬‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Our verse this week assures us that we do not have to stand against this devouring enemy in our own strength. Our “God of all grace” who has called us to live as one with Him assures us that after we “have suffered a little while,” He will “restore” us and make us “strong, firm, and steadfast.”  What is our role? Our role is to believe in Him and remain firmly attached to Him. We are to trust Him entirely, totally, and completely. As we do so, God’s power at work within us will enable us to remain “strong, firm and steadfast.”

I have experienced this truth. Three years ago, I came to God knowing that I needed Him to change my heart from fearful, anxious, and wavering to one that was “strong, firm and steadfast,” full of faith. As I have submitted to Him in the midst of suffering, trials, and temptations, He has been faithful to bring His precious promise to reality in my life.

Have you found yourself where I was three years ago, tormented, fearful, and anxious during the trials of life? God says come and believe in Me. As we submit our hearts to Him and believe in Him, He promises to “restore” us and make us “strong, firm, and steadfast.” Will you come? Will you trust in Him with all your heart? Our song this week is “Firm Foundation” by Cody Carnes. Our God desires to make you a woman who is strong, firm, and steadfast in faith.

Love, 

Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

Season of Singing

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It seems that the world becomes alive when Spring arrives. A few of days ago I watched the sunrise from my upper deck. As I was praying and awaiting the display of colors to come, the sound of birds singing and doves cooing filled the air. It was so beautiful. I took out my phone to record a small portion of the song. The words of this verse came to my heart:

”My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”“
‭‭Song of Songs‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬, ‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Life holds many seasons of winter, when all is cold, the days are short and the birds do not sing. If we are not careful we will forget to listen for the voice of our “Beloved”, Jesus. However, He is calling. His desire is for us to arise and “come.” When we come to Jesus we can leave the death and darkness of winter behind. He is life, light, and love. He wants us to come with Him to experience Him fully!

Creation is singing a chorus of praise to Him. As we embrace the relationship Jesus is calling us to, we will find that we were created to sing that song of praise as well.

”You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.“
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Our lives in Christ are a “season of singing!” The closer we are to Him the greater the song of worship becomes in our hearts. We cannot help but proclaim: Jesus is so good! Jesus is so wonderful! His power is beyond comparison! His love towards us is more than I could ever imagine!

His praises cannot be contained by the birds of spring or a heart made alive by His transforming touch!

“Be Alert and of Sober Mind” — Prayer (Devotion Written for WOW Ministry)

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“The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” 1 Peter 4:7 NIV

When I was little, I was a daddy’s girl. There was nothing that I loved more than spending time with my dad. I have fond memories of sitting out in his garage watching him work on our family’s car while I would sit there and talk away to him telling him all about my 6-year-old life. I LOVED being with my dad. However, time went on and life changes happened. I still loved him, but I became busy with my friends, my activities, and my life. After high school, I moved to a different town. My time with my dad became less and less as well as our conversations. Truth be told I forgot what a joy it was to be with him. The past year things have been different in our relationship. Dad is now 86 and I am 53, our relationship has matured and deepened. Lately, we have engaged in the most wonderful conversations. I’ve asked him questions about his younger years and discovered things about him that I never knew. We’ve talked about memories, both good and bad. We’ve made plans for the future as well. Once again, this daddy’s girl has found what she needed, time with her dad in a close relationship.

This month the verses at WOW are about prayer. Prayer is our connection to God through faith. Prayer is our invitation from God into a deep love relationship of oneness closely attached, connected, inseparable, and indivisible with Him. Prayer develops our relationship with God demonstrating our trust and utter dependence upon Him. You and I are our heavenly Father’s “Daddy’s girl”. God longs for us to spend time with Him, lots of it. Prayer is us spending time with Him engaging in conversation not just occasionally, but throughout our entire day, month, year, and life.

Our WOW verse for this week speaks of the need to “be alert and of sober mind so that you can pray.” Our world around us holds so many distractions that pull us away from relating to God in a life of prayer. Our enemy would like nothing better for us than to focus on all these distractions so that we would not live in a close and intimate relationship with God. His desire is for us to be disconnected from our heavenly Father. He wants to render us useless and to keep us from living fully in that relationship for which we were created. This is why we must be spiritually alert and watchful as we live our daily lives. It is easy to drift away from a close and vibrant relationship with God, as I drifted from the close relationship I had with my earthly dad as a little girl. It is easy to lose focus of why God has invited us to be closely connected with Him in prayer. Especially if we come to God with our thoughts, our wants, our desires, and our ways in mind. If our lives are filled with the self-centeredness of an uncircumcised heart, we will not experience the close relationship of oneness that God desires us to have through prayer. This is why we must “be alert and of sober mind so that ‘we’ may pray.”

As you are reading these words, do you feel the pushing and pulling of the world’s influences trying to keep you from that intimate time of relationship with your heavenly Father as His “Daddy’s girl”? God’s desire is for us to focus attentively on Him and Him alone moment by moment throughout our day. He wants us to experience Him more fully in a living relationship of prayer. May we fix our hearts and our minds on Him so that we can truly be “alert and of sober mind.” May we guard our hearts from anything that would try to influence us and draw us away from God’s life-giving connection to Him, our relationship of oneness with Him through prayer.

This week’s song speaks of a deep and intimate relationship with God that is developed in a lifestyle of prayer. It is “Heart of the Father” by Ryan Ellis. May we know His closeness and love as we experience more and more of Him!

Click here for this week’s song “Heart of the Father” by Ryan Ellis.

Love,

Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

https://mailchi.mp/wowjcmo/wow-devotion-john-6223293?e=6c56f70e45

We Stand Between Two Offers

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Make no mistake about it, we were made to receive. We will accept what is offered to us by one of two choices what God gives freely to us or what the world gives with a price we cannot afford to pay. To not choose God will by default be a choice to receive from the world. We will either know God in intimate relationship, or we will know the world and its ways in a destructive relationship with it, being shaped by its influence and receiving only what it gives.

Jesus spoke of the choice that we all must make and the fruits of that choice:

”“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”“ John 16:33 NIV
”The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.“ John 10:10 ESV

Jesus offers us a life filled with peace and life. The world offers us a life of trouble far from the relationship with our Creator, God, for which we are designed. What the world offers us will steal from us and destroy us. Ultimately it will kill us. Anything short of a living in a vibrant relationship with God is a life filled with death, darkness, and destruction.

It is important to take a look at what you are experiencing in your life. We can see that God created us for experience. He gave us our senses to hear, see, touch, taste and smell. He also has given us our spiritual senses to understand and know the things we cannot with our five outward senses. What are you experiencing within yourself? What you are experiencing reflects who you are receiving from.

If your life is a life of turmoil within— anger, anxiety, bitterness, fear, etc. You are being robbed from. You are being destroyed. Your connection with God is at the very least clogged, if not non existent making it impossible to receive from your loving Creator, God.

If your life is a life of peace, joy, and love. You are connected and receiving from God. You are experiencing a close relationship with the giver of all good things.

We have been given a choice of whom we will receive from. May our hearts long for a pure and free flowing connection to the one who generously gives life to those who will receive it, Jesus!

Slave to Sin… Caught in Anxieties Grip — WOW Devotion February 29, 2024

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“I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. 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. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”  
Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

For several years, I lived my life subjected to the cruel taskmaster of anxiety. It ruled over my life. Anxiety dictated my daily routine: Get out of bed. Take your first anxiety pill of the day: Do your daily exercise of Eastern Meditation on Headspace. Now start your day. Throughout the day anxiety would exercise its control over my feelings and emotions. Time to do breathing techniques, practice mindfulness, engage in the 5,4,3,2,1 method, then repeat. Often, I could not shake the feelings of a tight throat and a tight chest. Then it was time for my evening anxiety pill. I crawled into bed. I hoped for a night free of an anxious awakening at 2 am, lying awake for hours, and experiencing what I did in the day. This scenario was repeated day after day, night after night. I was a slave to my sin of anxiety. I was subject to its control, and it was producing death, darkness, and destruction inside of me.

Our verses this week are once again about holiness. This holiness is a benefit as we live our lives as “slaves to righteousness.” It is a life of freedom from sin as we live our lives set apart for His sacred use – a life of love, faith, holiness, and prayer. In this life, we are “slaves to God,” under His control and His rule. This submission to Him is always for our benefit, because He is a good Lord and Master. Being His slave results in more than holiness. Through it we experience “eternal life.”

Three years ago, I learned that we were created to serve someone. The words of this verse were proved true in my life. I came to understand that I had a choice. I could continue to “offer the parts of my body in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness” that the sin of anxiety was producing, or I could become a “slave to God.” I would either serve an evil master of sin or our loving and Holy God. I could not serve them both. I had to choose. This is the truth for each and every one of us. To not choose God is to choose the enemy.

God is holy. He is perfectly and impeccably pure, completely immaculate, and uncompromisingly righteous and just. He desires for us to be in relationship with Him, but in order for us to be close to Him, we must be holy as He is holy. To do so, we must “offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.” The benefit we receive is a pure heart and freedom from sin and sinful affections, conformed to the image of God. We will be holy and the “result will be eternal life” with Him.

As you have read the words above, have you become aware that you are a “slave to impurity?”  Is there an addiction or a sin that keeps you from experiencing a close relationship with God and the freedom from sin that He alone gives? God desires for us to live our lives surrendered to Him as a “slave to righteousness” that will lead to holiness. He desires us to be close to Him in a relationship of intimacy filled with His goodness, joy, peace, and love. We can only experience this when we live our lives fully surrendered to Him!

Our song this week is once again by Charity Gayle, “Because of Jesus.” Because of what Jesus has done, we can know that we are finally free of the sin that destroys! He has redeemed us and made us holy as He is holy. May our hearts desire to serve Him in complete obedience to His Word. May we live as His “slaves to righteousness” which leads to holiness – holiness in heart and in everything we do!

Love,

Janet

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

https://mailchi.mp/wowjcmo/wow-devotion-john-6219253?e=6c56f70e45

His Beautiful Bride — Holy to the Lord (WOW Devotion February 15, 2024)

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“…be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart… to be my own.” 
Leviticus 20:26 NIV

On a cold and icy day thirty-one years ago, my husband and I were married. The ceremony for our wedding holds so many wonderful memories for me. Among them is our first kiss as husband and wife. Rich seemed to eagerly anticipate that moment. He was beaming from ear to ear when the pastor said, “Richard, you may now kiss your bride.” Moments later we stood facing our friends and family. We were introduced for the first time as, “Mr. and Mrs. Richard Nelson.” During those moments I gained a title and a position in our relationship, I was Rich’s bride. I did not fully understand at that moment what that would mean. I have grown in my appreciation of being his bride throughout the years of our exclusive relationship as husband and wife. Thirty-one years later my husband often calls me his “beautiful bride.” I alone hold this title because I belong to him.

A holy man is pure in heart and free from sin and sinful affections; he has a heart conformed to the image of God and is set apart for His sacred use or to the service or worship of God. Our verse this week speaks of this exclusive relationship. It is a relationship of belonging to God for His sacred use. To belong to God is to be strictly His, fully possessed by Him. In this relationship of belonging, God tells us that we must be holy to Him. Nothing else should compete for our affections. Our verse this week tells us it is God’s desire for us to “be holy to [him] because [He is] holy.”

As we come to Him, desiring to be His alone, set apart for His sacred and exclusive use, He will begin the process of purifying our hearts. If we totally submit our heart to Him, He will set us apart. He will declare and make us holy. He will separate us from sin, our flesh, the world, and the devil. We will be His alone. It is very much like the day that I became exclusively the bride of Rich Nelson. My affections, my desires, and my relationship were focused on him alone as my husband. I was no longer available to pursue others, only him.

The beauty of a relationship of holiness to God is a realization of closeness to God. As we allow the ways of the world and the sin in our hearts to be circumcised, we will be more and more conformed to His image. The more we are like Him, the closer we will come to God. We will know Him intimately. We will be one with Him.

As you read the words I have written, do you feel a longing in your heart to be close to God? Do you desire to leave behind the competing affections that you have held in your heart and to pursue God alone? Do you long to be holy to Him? This is God’s greatest desire for us. He longs for us much like my groom 31 years ago longed for me. He wanted me to belong to him as his beautiful bride for the rest of our lives. God longs for us to “be holy … because [He is] holy, and [He has] set us apart to be his own.”

The first steps in being holy is to be totally submitted to God and be purified through the circumcision of our hearts. Our song this week is “Purify My Heart” by Brian Doerksen. As you listen or even sing along, may you renew or start anew in submitting your heart to God’s circumcision so that you may be holy as He is holy.

Love,

Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?e=6c56f70e45&u=fdd901aba4864456762de5de3&id=5bf2ab286f

My Father’s Girl– Reflecting His Holiness (WOW Devotion February 22, 2024)

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As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;” 
1 Peter 1:14-15 NIV

Back in my college days a group of my friends and I went to Olive Garden for dinner. As we were waiting to be seated, we stood in a small circle laughing, joking, and enjoying each other’s company. A woman that I did not know walked up to our group and asked me a question: “Are you Jim’s daughter?” At first, I thought, “uh oh… what have I done wrong? My dad lives two hours away from Columbia. How does she know whose daughter I am?” I must have looked shocked. She continued, “You have to be! You look just like him. Your mannerisms are just like his. It is obvious that you are his.” Then she continued, “I am your dad’s first cousin. You probably don’t even know me, but I know your dad.”

Our verses this week for WOW are once again about holiness. To be holy is to be Godlike; it is to have a will and disposition of the heart that is like His. When we are holy, our character will be like God’s. God has called us to “be holy in all you do.” He desires us to be holy as He is holy. God gives us His holiness as a gift. It is His sanctifying work in us.

A holy man is pure in heart and free from sin and sinful affections; he has a heart conformed to the image of God and is set apart for His sacred use or to the service or worship of God. We learned last week that this is an exclusive relationship. It is a relationship of belonging to God. When we belong to God, we are strictly His, fully possessed by Him. We display our belonging to God as His holy, set apart, people by our obedience. Obedience is evidence of a heart that is holy. When we have a holy heart, we will not live like we used to, conforming to evil desires, or our fleshly self-life. Instead, we will obey God. We will display to all of those we are around everything that God is: His love, His joy, His peace, His holiness and more.

As I am writing these words, they challenge me. Perhaps they challenge you too? I wonder, am I displaying not only God’s love, joy, and peace in my life, but His holiness? Is His holiness evidenced within my life by my obedience to Him, or am I still living my life conformed to the evil desires I had when I lived in ignorance of God and His ways?

Jesus came as our invitation to be holy. He lived, died, was buried, and rose again so that we could know and experience Him fully in a relationship of oneness. He provides all that we need to live connected to God, united with Him. When we accept Him as the Lord of our lives and totally submit our heart to Him, He works in us to produce a loving obedience to God’s Word. As we allow God to circumcise our hearts, the holy heart God has given us will be revealed more and more.  

May our hearts long for His holiness, and may we pursue His holiness by submitting our hearts to be transformed into His likeness. As we live our lives for God, we will maintain our holiness moment by moment through active love for, faith in, and obedience to Him. We will fully realize how wonderful it is to be His “obedient children.” We will be in a close and intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, and we will display Him to everyone we encounter. They will find themselves asking us, “Are you God’s daughter? You have to be! Your mannerisms are just like His. It is obvious that you belong to Him.”

Our song this week is by Charity Gayle, “Because of Jesus.” Because He came, because we believe in Him as the Son of God, our Redeemer, we have been redeemed and made holy, as God is holy. Because of Jesus, and His work in us, we may be holy in all we do.

Love,

Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

https://www.wowjcmo.com

https://mailchi.mp/wowjcmo/wow-devotion-john-6218677?e=6c56f70e45

Everything We Need to Know Him Part 2 — Jesus

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Have you ever thought about how much easier it would be to trust God and to live for Him if you could just see Him, listen to Him talk, touch His hand, and experience His embrace?

God desires for us to experience Him this way. This is why Jesus came. He came to us 2000 years ago as a baby born in humble circumstances. This baby grew to a man, who walked where we walk, experienced what we experience, and yet He displayed God, the Father everywhere He went. Colossians puts it this way:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God…” Colossians 1:15

Jesus came to show us exactly what the Father is like.

Philip, one of Jesus’s disciples told Jesus that it would be enough for them if He would show them the Father. Philip wanted to know what His Heavenly Father was like. Jesus told Him:

”… “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.“
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Simply put, when we see Jesus, we see exactly what our Heavenly Father is like. The accounts, in the Bible, of Jesus loving the unloveable, touching the untouchable, and healing the broken are an exact representation of our Heavenly Father. He loves us, touches us, and heals the brokenness of our past.

Every action of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, ever word He spoke, are an exact image of the God. When we look at Jesus, we are looking at God.

God deeply desires for us to know Him not just know about Him. Jesus, our Emmanuel — God with us, is evidence of this fact. Jesus is the same today as He was in Bible times. He is approachable. Even the little children were invited to come and sit on His lap. He is speaking. His words are alive and powerful. He is touchable. He still offers the skeptic and the doubting the opportunity to reach out their hand and touch and examine His nail pierced hands so they can believe.

He longs for us to experience Him! The reason for that longing is when we experience and come to know Him, we experience and come to know the Heavenly Father that He came to make known.

Do you desire to KNOW God in an intimate way? Come to Jesus! He will show you exactly what His Father is like.

Everything We Need to Know Him Part 1 — Creation is Speaking

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God wants us to know Him. He wants to be close to us. He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. These statements may seem incredible or maybe even impossible when we look around us. How can this God who is so infinitely big desire to know me, one of eight billion people who occupy the planet we live upon? The truth is this God who desires a one on one personal relationship with us has given us everything we could possibly need to know Him, His character, and His love.

Have you taken a few moments to consider creation? King David did thousands of years ago. 

”The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun,” Psalms‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Creation is speaking.

Long ago, God desired to have the perfect home for the people He created. With the most intricate of handiwork He made it for them.

Have you stood in the country and looked high at the black night sky, staring at the stars, considering its vastness? Have you watched the sunrise and been amazed at the explosion of colors as the sky changes from darkness to the clear blue color of the light of day? That is what David did, and he concluded that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” God did not create all the wonders of our world on a whim. He created them to “proclaim”. He made them to “reveal knowledge”. But what knowledge do they reveal? Himself.

Go to a mirror and look deeply at the intricacy of your eye. The colors, the function, the different parts. If we could explore it more deeply the cells of your eyes are amazing and they function individually as well as together to make up you! The God of details created you and your eye. He also created the skies we look at using this very eye, and we should stand in wonder. All these tell a story to us.

They tell of a God who is so powerful. We could not stand before Him on our own. The words of His mouth create and have power to destroy as well. They tell of a God so personal that He created, with detail, the tiniest parts of us and knows them well.

God gave us creation so we could know Him. He wants us to stand in awe of how great and wonderful He is. Yet He longs for us to know He has thought of every minute detail of our lives and we are not just one in eight billion, we are His delight.

Creation is proof that He wants us to know Him. In a very small way, creation is like a billboard on a highway declaring a fact about an upcoming attraction. It speaks of what we can encounter if we decide to pursue that course. Creation tells us that God is there, and perhaps if we turn our thoughts toward Him and speak to Him, He will indeed speak back to us!

God wants us to know Him. He’s given us all we need to experience Him. Creation is just one thing that “pours forth speech.” Stop for a moment and listen. He is calling out to you!

You Alone are Holy — Devotion Written for Women on Wednesday’s Ministry (WOW)

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This is the Latest devotion that God has blessed me with. This is truthfully one of my favorite ones. Have you ever stood before God and been amazed of who He really is? Writing this and contemplating this section of scripture has been one of those times for me. ❤️

“…the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: 

‘Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty. 
Just and true are your ways, 
King of the nations. 
Who will not fear you, Lord, 
and bring glory to your name? 
For you alone are holy. 
All nations will come 
and worship before you, 
for your righteous acts have been revealed.’”

Revelations 15:3-4 NIV

A little over a year ago my husband and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. While we were there, we took a scenic drive to a lookout over the Na Pali Coast. As I approached the lookout, I stood in complete awe. This Missouri girl had never seen or experienced anything like it. The ocean view was breathtaking. The sounds of waves crashing and the sea birds squawking, the smell of the ocean, and the wind blowing against us as we stood perched high upon a cliff overlook, left me speechless. All I could say over and over was, “WOW! WOW! WOW!” I wanted to stand there for as long as I could and take it all in. The vast ocean was intricate and grand at the same time. It was beauty and power combined. It demanded the utmost respect, because if I were to be dropped into the middle of it, I would not survive. Yet, I had the feeling that it was inviting me to come and explore. That moment is marked in my memories for a lifetime.

This month our verses at WOW will be focusing on the word, holy. To be holy is to be perfectly and impeccably pure, immaculate, complete in moral character, sinless, uncompromisingly righteous, and just. Our verses this week tell us that God “alone is holy.”As I have contemplated what this means, I have been left with the same awe that I felt the day I stood on that lookout. God’s holiness is beyond my human ability to comprehend, yet God is inviting me to come and know Him as holy. God’s holiness is intricate, and it is grand. It is beauty and power combined. I am filled with reverential awe of God as I think about it. God cannot be separated from His holiness just as He cannot be separated from His love. It is who He is. God alone is holy. He is absolute perfection. His holiness pervades His entire being and shapes all His attributes. His love is holy love, His goodness is holy goodness, His life is holy life. The more I gaze at His holiness, the more I see Him rightly. The more I see Him rightly, the more I love Him, trust Him, and desire to obey Him.

The verses this week are a “song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb.”They are a song of worship and relationship that expresses the worthiness of our God. Those who sing this song see God rightly, they have experienced the fear of the Lord — a reverential awe of Him. They see God’s “great and marvelous… deeds.” They know God as “just and true” in His ways. They know God alone is holy so the only response to such an awesome God is to simply say “WOW! WOW! WOW!” or as they proclaim in heaven, “HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! is the Lord God Almighty!” over and over again (Revelation 4:8).  

As you read these words, do you feel this sense of amazement and awe as you stand looking at the characteristics of a Holy God? Does it fill your heart with worship as the song in our verses proclaim? God desires for us to experience this very thing. This is where a true relationship with God is formed. When we see Him for who He is, holy, and we understand He has invited us to come and experience His holiness, we will see the only appropriate response to God is: “Yes, Lord! Anything for my Holy God, ‘for you alone are holy.’”May our hearts be marked by the beauty and power of His holiness for the entirety of our lifetime!

Our song this week is “What Do I Know of Holy?” sung by Addison Road. My prayer is that as you meditate on the verses of Scripture above and listen to the song below that you will hunger and thirst to know Him rightly and experience the genuine and reverential awe of our Holy God. To know God is to love God, is to trust God, is to obey God. Amen

Love, Janet Nelson, Devoted and Determined

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