In April of 1995 reading the bulletin at church there’s an ad for Operation Israel. Global Missions was going to take a team of ordinary people to Israel in November and those people would be paired with a national person share their testimony and hopeful win people to Christ. It seemed like a light shone down on me that day and I knew that I was to go on this trip. I submitted my testimony based on Psalm 103: 1-6.
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Psalm 103: 1-6
As a little girl, I felt the call to be a missionary. Growing up though I became a wife, mother and a nurse so the call to be a missionary went on the back burner until I was in Nazareth, I was in the Baptist Quarter sharing my testimony thus, I feel like the call to be a missionary was redeemed. Two people accepted the Lord and one rededicated her life based on my testimony. The second part of the trip was a tour of the Holy Land. Beloved, it’s difficult to transition from sharing your testimony daily to being a tourist. However, we are a holy people who belong to the Lord in the Holy Land.
Beloved, the tenth characteristic of a born-again believer is one that is holy. Holy is defined as dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred. The synonyms: sacred, consecrated, hallowed, sanctified, venerated, revered, divine, religious, blessed, or dedicated. Moses knows about the holy ground. He had been in the desert for forty years. We pick up the story in Exodus 3:1, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” He had exiled himself there after killing the Egyptian. Can you imagine, what his days were like? long and hot. He is fortunate to have this gig. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice so one day blends in with the next except on this day when an angel appears in a burning bush.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” Exodus 3:2 NIV
When God saw that he had Moses’ attention, he calls out to him.
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father,a the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. Exodus 3: 3-6
God had a big job for Moses to do. He was standing on holy ground, Moses believed in God and the promise of Jesus. Leviticus 11:44a says, “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. and it is repeated in verse 45, “For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’
The tour continued and we went to the Dead Sea, the Masada, the Garden Tomb, the Sea of Galilee, I walked where Jesus walked. Some of my best memories are on the hills of Nazareth where God redeemed little girls’ promise and let me be a missionary.
Beloved the tenth characteristic of a born-again believer is one is holy.
Father God, wherever we walk is holy ground be we are holy because you are holy. Moses answered you by saying, Here am I. Let me be willing to answer you whenever you call. Being holy involves me being brave. I pray for the woman that has never grasp her worth. I pray for the woman that needs to feel your love. Lord draw close to us, help us to be holy. In Jesus’ name Amen.
What do you need to do add holiness in your life?
