The Beauty of Holiness - Part 6

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Continuing on with exploring "the Beauty of Holiness"...
looking at the second part of Psalm 29:2:

In (or with) the beauty of holiness: בהדרת קדש behadrath kodesh, "the beautiful garments of holiness."

Beauty:  this word means "adornment, ornament, glory, holy ornaments, garments worn at solemn
              festivals (but not priestly garments).


Holiness:  "to be set apart as sacred and unique"


In its fullness, the verse could read:

"Bow before Him, let your very breath, your every breath, testify of Him in total acceptance and awareness of the adornment, ornamentation, the holy weightiness (glory), holy accessories, and festal garments - all that is ours because of being set apart as sacred and unique"


Matthew Henry's Commentery explains it this way:

"Give him your crowns; let them be laid at his feet; give him your sceptres, your swords, your keys, put all into his hand, that you, in the use of them, may be to him for a name and a praise."

And here, is it possible to list your crowns, your sceptres, your swords, your keys?  Just so we can give them back to Him, and also use them to be for His a name and a praise?  I know I must go and research - I know my swords, my key(s), where to find out about my crowns, but I had never considered sceptres before!  (This perhaps could be another post!) But this I can do:

bow            in worship
breathe      uttering the unutterable Holy Name
be               beautiful in what He has bestowed

            and in so doing we

bless           Him, ourselves, and those around us

And I followed a link to this song just yesterday...a beautiful leading into a quiet time 

of bowing, breathing, being and blessing...

The Song of the Beautiful - by Christy Nockels
(You-tube removed the video however)

Joining with Tiffini at Word Women Wednesdays

and

Emily at Imperfect Prose

The Beauty of Holiness....part 5

Beginning with Selah time (part 4 here), the exploration of this theme - The Beauty of Holiness - has entered its midpoint.  We have looked at scriptures describing the beauty of the heavenly realm, we have seen the beauty evident in a fallen creation, we have documented the beauty within ourselves, we have looked at the hope for resurrection beauty coming from seeds of dark, hard places...and we paused to let it all sink in.

Now, we will look at the actual definitions of the words in this phrase from Psalm 29:2:

Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness. 

Worship:  The word translated "worship" here is the Hebrew word "shachah " which literally means
                 to "bow down"  (There are actually at least 7 different words translated as "worship", each

                 indicates a different posture or action.)

To bow our head to worship is the exact opposite of having "a stiff neck" which is always a figure of speech for having the kind of pride that says "I don't need the Lord or His help".  Bowing shows submission to the one bowed to...how are you bowing in your heart, with your head, or with your entire being today?

the Lord:  The unutterable Name of God is translated "the Lord"...I love this thought by Rabbi 

                 Lawrence Kushner and retold on this blog in detail (and it was also referenced in Ann
                 Voskamp's site)...but below I have summarized the main point in the article:

The letters of the Name of God in Hebrew are YOD, HAY, VAV, and HAY. They are frequently mispronounced as “Yahveh.” But in truth they are unutterable. Not because of the holiness they evoke, but because they are all vowels and you cannot pronounce all the vowels at once without risking respiratory injury...This word is the sound of breathing. The holiest Name in the world, the Name of the Creator, is the sound of your own breathing.

Breathing while bowing...remembering He is the source of all life, of this life that I am now living...even if I don't understand or don't like aspects of it.  Ask: "Are my breaths deep and rhythmic, indicating peace and an attitude of patient waiting or calm receiving?" or "Are my breaths shallow and rapid, indicating anxiety or fear or worry or an uncertainty of this relationship between Creator and the created?"

Today I am checking myself...and you? 

(More definitions next week!)









Joining with Tiffini at Word Women Wednesdays
and
Emily at Imperfect Prose

The Beauty of Holiness....part 4

Isn't it interesting that when you are being led of the Lord, He puts the same topic before you often and in many sweet ways?  This past week was like that...and this week's post is a collection of what has come across my path as I visit friends on the internet!  And as I was preparing this, the Spirit whispered "I just want people to take a Selah moment; to pause and think about this; to soak in My ideas of beauty"...

If you are short on time, I highly recommend to read number 1 and number 3!

1.  First up, from Jen Price of I Believe In Love...her words, under her photo, in four lines say the Beauty post of last week...(she gave me permission to re-post this - so full of grace)...

dream a little dream

cast aside fear

plant a seed

watch it grow

2.  Next up:
Cloverton's "Take Me Into Beautiful" song...found through my friend Paulette Insall's sharing it on her blog...she has just launched a new creative class titled "Divine Romance" - teaching how to recognize the connection to the Creator when creating!

3.  If you read anything this week...read Joybird's post about her post-Lenten thoughts and God's ways being wrought in her heart...someone in the midst of His hand molding the Beauty of Holiness....

4.  And finally a great video whose title captured me:

The Beauty of Different: Is Everyone REALLY Beautiful?

Linking with Tiffini at the House of Belonging

and

Linking with Emily and other imperfects at Imperfect Prose

The Beauty of Holiness - Part 3

Continuing the series...

Part 1 here
Part 2 here

I highly encourage you to read Part 1 before continuing through - Part 2 was just a response of mine during a time of stress, not necessary for the thread to be continuous in your heart and mind!

I have been reading a book about making crosses (click here to go to the title on Amazon.)  I love the idea of the empty cross - did you know Christianity is the only religion on earth where our Founder is still alive?!?!?!  I have made crosses, bought crosses, I have a collection of crosses...I love this blog post about crosses in her home.  Click on this post to find an amazing (and alarming!) post about the changing definition of what the cross means "a-cross" the globe...

It has been a month since I posted on "The Beauty of Holiness"...and it was as I was contemplating the cross I had made during Holy Week - in response to the book and my own liturgical roots...that I heard the familiar voice of the Holy Spirit telling me the significance of the piece...this cross is fashioned from a plant's flower stalk and seed pods that grow wild on our land...the common name is a "Century Plant"...it is a succulent that does well in our area of Texas - the border of prairie and desert... I found the pods appealing,

I could see how to remove some of the small branches that once held blossoms and now spent pods to form the cross with little to no manipulation.

Have you ever felt that you have blossomed and now the beauty is all spent?  

The Spirit began parading the images of all the seeds I had ever seen before "the eyes of my spirit".
All smaller than the blossom...dark...hard...
Do you feel "smaller" than before?  Has what you held dear been removed from you?  Are there dark and hard constraints around what you once believed?  Or perhaps you have only known darkness and hardness around the real you? Have dreams fallen to the ground?  Is the life you thought Jesus promised only a shadow now? 

Only hope can see the life waiting to emerge inside a small seed. 
Is there a shred of hope that the promise of God can still come to pass in your life?  Or is even that gone?

For newness to emerge, the dark shell must split apart.
A breaking, more pain in the midst of darkness and hardness?

Sometimes a soaking in water is used to soften the outer shell first, helping the growing life within to push through that which constrains...
Has the water of the Word been soaking around you?  
Is there a whisper of life unfolding deep within?

But still, for this life to emerge healthy, the seed always must be planted - into a dark womb of soil and moisture...where the outer shell dissolves and the plant pushes towards the light...how does this young life always know which way is up and out?
Is this new life, your new dream growing, pushing against the constraints encompassing it?  Is there discomfort, confusion, desire to be out of the seed stage and emerging with leaves and stems...but don't be in a hurry, the continued womb of development is an important part of a strong plant...

And such is the path of life lived in Resurrection power!

Now, if there are ideas that were given as you read, make sure you take a moment to write them, record what the dark outer shell is for you, the constraints that the new life is pushing against, what is the name of this new life for you, etc...reflect on them, and let the Lord show His purpose if you are in a "seed-time"... 


Linking up with Emily and other imperfects at Imperfect Prose 
and Tiffini at Word Women Wednesday
and linking up with Ann at walk with him wednesdays

The days of Lent...

The days of Lent...

days of examining our hearts...

days of sacrificing some small, ordinary part of our lives,

so that we can more fully participate in His sacrifice,

so that we can die to self and be raised up to live for Him...

the days of Lent remind us that it isn't just for 40 days that we are to live this way...

He meant it to be a way of life every day...

And isn't this the message of Lent? 

Living in reality, in the reality of our failures, our fears, our frailty?  

And using these to come again and again to Him to cry "I need You, please forgive me!"  

I have loved reading other's Lenten journals, tho'

I have not been walking any particular Lenten journey myself this year...

just simply trying to live in  the path He has put before me...

a place at His side...

to learn to "celebrate" the way He defines it... 

 

This morning, I found His surprise for me,

His gift assuring me that I am still journeying by His side...

His sign...the sign of the cross...and this one is crowned...

"And where did you find such a treasure," you may ask?

In the brown and dirt and grime and filth of life in this world...

Isn't this where we can always find Him?

The water reservoir of our coffee maker!

Linking up with Tiffini at Word Women Wednesday 

and Emily at Imperfect Prose on Thursday

Japan - Before and After

 I remember 9/11...my mind unable to truly comprehend what I was seeing - belief that I was actually watching a plane crash into a tower live, on TV, suspended...emotional numbness continuing as the fullness of the disaster unfolded before our eyes in this technological environment that allows us to witness tragedy first hand. without warning. becoming sojourners with those directly affected, yet far enough removed to pray, to donate, to lend uplifting hands.

I haven't written about what happened in Japan...Like 9/11, my mind cannot comprehend the reality; it is still too large to put words to...to even define the "it" that is too large; that too is emotionally numbing - 

it:  an entire country, one that can trace its ancestry for hundreds to thousands of years, changed forever in a moment;

it: tainted natural resources

it: death and devastation

it: production of parts and technology brought to an abrupt halt by God-directed nature

it: water: too much of its force, its life-sustaining ability only available in limited quantities

it: shock

it: horror

it: suffering humanity
it: moments of miracles
it: people finding their loved ones - alive!
it: d.e.a.t.h
it: not knowing how this will affect world economics, or weather, or other patterns of nature

it: .....

I was given this link - satellite photos of before and after.  Don't click if you might still be too tender to view (I could only look at two); but the concept is a good one...a memorial of sorts...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42064847/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/

The story isn't top news anymore...but the people are no less in our hearts...

Linking up with Tiffini at Word Women Wednesday and
Emily at imperfect prose 

My Response to Him - The Beauty of Holiness 1

Fitful sleep,
Coughing,
Fever,
I want to write "part 2" of "The Beauty of Holiness" series, but my mind is easily distracted, well because the family needs me, too...

Coughing wakes me up again...I check my emails while I sip some water
I received an email from Voice of the Lord talking about the word "worship" and that it means to kiss towards...I've learned that before; noted it in my Bible at Psalm 2:12...

back to bed with the thoughts of worship being beautiful and the description of Jesus from Psalm 45 being so beautiful and kisses given and received - what we call worship - and the intimacy of that meandering around in my brain...

I lay down murmuring to Him that I want to write what He wants to say...and there are words in my mind...I try to catch them...

Write...response...to Me...share...your response...

And I am asleep...coughing wakes me in an hour, but there is a worship song already playing within me...the Holy Spirit is so faithful to be the vehicle of spirit communication...and I know this song is really my response to Him, to the Beauty of Holiness part 1...someone else wrote the words, but it is my song too, and I share it with you...

Lyrics to "You are so good to me" by Third Day
You are so good to me
You heal my broken heart
You are my Father in heaven [2x]
You ride upon the clouds
You lead me to the truth
You are the Spirit inside me [2x]
You poured out all your blood
You died upon the cross
You are my Jesus who loves me [2x]
[Chorus:]
You are beautiful my sweet, sweet, song [3x]
I will sing again

[Bridge:]
You are my strong melody
You are my dancing rhythm
You are my perfect rhyme
And I want to sing forever

Linking up with Tiffani at the House of Belonging and snuggling with a throw on the couch...

The Beauty of Holiness...

Linking up with Tiffini at the House of Belonging and Emily at Imperfect Prose...

This week's prompt (at the House of Belonging) was something to encourage or inspire women on their daily journeys...maybe go on a "beauty hunt"...and immediately there it was - that whispering voice ticker taping another verse in my head.   The verse was this: Psalm 29:2b - and He quoted it in King James English (yes He did!)

...worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

The beauty of holiness!  Beauty, holiness, worship...the three are enter-twined intimately and incredibly and imaginatively(?).  What images are sparked in the mind by this phrase!  Holiness speaks of God's very nature and here the Word of Truth declares holiness to be beautiful!  Just a glance out of any window gives a hint of this nature of God, where beauty and holiness first are revealed...an expanse of creation that our mind can hardly comprehend, full of incredible color and texture - elements that artists throughout time have tried to re-express!  Each color has endless variety and nuance of hue and tone and transparency - depending on if it is expressed through water, earth, air or fire.  And to think, that this is a fallen world!  What were the textures and colors like before the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden? I wonder!  

We may never know, but we do get a glimpse of God's heavenly dwelling place (and ours!) through several places in Scripture.  There is a "pavement" like sapphire under His feet, and His throne is made all of sapphire like brilliance, a rainbow in shades of green is over His throne, His city is made up of streets of transparent gold, and walls encrusted with precious gems as jasper, chalcedony, sapphire, emerald, topaz, and more.  Mighty pearls are the gates and a river "clear as crystal" flows through His "city".

 (References - in order:  Exodus 24:10; Ezekiel 10:11; Revelation 4:3 Revelation 21:21; Revelation 21:19-20; Revelation 21:21; Revelation 22:1)

 This revelation of pure beauty may have been well known to our first mother and father.  I can only contemplate it, based on the description in Holy writ, and as I do, I realize that I place this beautiful  vision far away from me and at some distant time from now.  Could this be the reason I can struggle seeing myself the way He does in the "right now", the way my life is today?  Yes, much of the description is from the book that reveals the end of time...but isn't that scene the way heaven looks now?  Is it somehow easier to perceive the color and texture of the fallen world, because it is easier to see?  Is that why it is easier to believe the world's messages that are all around me? Those messages that tell me that I need to be "more than" I am right now, in this moment, that I am somehow "less than" if I choose a more narrow path? And yet His handiwork is still visible in this physical realm that is groaning for its redemption (Romans 8:22-23).  I am His handiwork, too, and His imprint is still visible in me!

To continue this "beauty hunt", take five minutes to write down as much texture and color you can actually see from right where you are sitting.  Then take five minutes to write out as much of the Lord's handiwork in YOU that you can "see".  In this portion of the exercise, use what you know by faith (even if you do not yet embrace it), positive comments that others say they notice about you, as well as Godly attributes that you DO know you have - use the "strengths" word cloud above to get ideas...and finally, take five minutes to enjoy this video and write out the beauty of the Lord Himself that is inspired by the worship. 



There are other verses that contain the phrase "the beauty of holiness", and we will look at them later in the series, because this is, as I discovered in my own journey this week, a series and that there is something mighty that the Lord wants to say (and I will share this learning walk with you) that is best said in several smaller bites that will be easier to chew through...and we will look at an incredible beautification process that the Lord has embedded in the Scripture, one that I am sure you will recognize has already begun in you!