This is what it means to be a tree

How beautiful are the trees... in the summer as they are full and and green and lush, in the fall as they begin to lose their leaves and turn into the most incredible colors, in the winter as they bare the weight of the snow and cold, and in the spring as they come alive as the sun comes and warms them back into life. All this time, they stand strong. If you asked a tree, "Tree, why do you stand so strong and why do you continue to grow as you go through all of these seasons and storms that cause you to bend and carry heavy burdens?" it would answer, "Because I am a tree, and that is what God has called me to do." There is nothing more beautiful that God's creations doing exactly what He has called them to do. What does He call us to do? One thing He asks of us is to be HOLY.

ho·ly (hl)adj. ho·li·er, ho·li·est

1. Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.

2. Regarded with or worthy of worship or veneration; revered: a holy book.

3. Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly: a holy person.

4. Specified or set apart for a religious purpose: a holy place.

5. Solemnly undertaken; sacrosanct: a holy pledge.

6. Regarded as deserving special respect or reverence: The pursuit of peace is our holiest quest.
I

I Peter 1:13-25

Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy because I (am) holy.” Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each ones works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a (pure) heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God, for: “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the field; the grass withers, and the flower wilts; but the word of the Lord remains forever.” This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

We short change ourselves, others, and our faith when we consider ourselves anything less and live anything different than holy lives. There are times that I stumble... that we all stumble... and allow our human nature to get the best of us because we believe that because we are human... because we are flawed... that it's just not our fault if our human nature causes us to do or allow things that aren't holy. God calls us to be holy. Not just to be holy and SET APART... but to be holy in the way it is defined... to BELONG to Him. To be OF Him and IN Him. It is a continuum. We aren't just being set apart from the things and the way of this world to live a lonely and exclusive life. We are to live this life TOGETHER and IN CHRIST. It is such an INCLUSIVE thing if enough people are willing to live this way.

He is so HOLY
He is so WORTHY
He is so PRECIOUS
He is so GRACIOUS

And He love us... and He is jealous for our attention and affection.


HOW HE LOVES
john mark mcmillan

Verse 1:
He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Pre-Chorus:
And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so
Chorus 1:
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

Verse 2:
We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And the heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about, the way… He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We aren't just sitting here on earth waiting to go home. We are to BRING HEAVEN HERE! We can experience His love, grace, mercy, power right HERE. He meets us where we are. HE WANTS to let you experience His love. And when you experience it... it IS heaven. Here... right here in the midst of this mess... he meets with me... and loves me... and lets me feel the weight of His wing and mercy. I don't have time to maintain regrets when I think about how he loves us.

Incredible.

Incredible.

Indescribable.

Unfathomable.

Love. Let Him love you.

Expect more from yourself... He will bless you. YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE TO YOUR SIN ANY LONGER! He has set you free.

YOU ARE FREE INDEED!

Please. Believe this and live like it is true... and let Him love you. You will learn more in a quiet moment, soaked in the grace and forgiveness and love of the living God, than in all the studying in the world. You will learn how to love and forgive and bless and encourage in ways that will blow your mind.

He is so GOOD!

Be Here Now.

KC