Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule:
Numbers 4-6
Philadelphia pastor James Montgomery Boice once spoke to a discipleship group on the attributes of God. He began by asking them to list God’s qualities in order of importance. They put love first, followed by wisdom, power, mercy, omniscience, and truth. At the end of the list they put holiness. “That surprised me,” Boice later wrote in an article in a magazine, “because the Bible refers to God’s holiness more than any other attribute. The Bible doesn’t generally refer to God as Loving, Loving, Loving or Wise, Wise, Wise or Omniscient, Omniscient, Omniscient! But over and over we read the cry of the angels, Holy, Holy, Holy!”
We serve a holy God, a God who cannot tolerate the presence of sin. This is why heaven will be a perfect place. But most believers spend little time contemplating and appreciating the holiness of God. In his Systematic Theology, Louis Berkhof wrote, “It does not seem proper to speak of one attribute of God as being more central and fundamental than another; but if this were permissible, the scriptural emphasis on the holiness of God would seem to justify its selection.” The people of Israel were now in a position of preparation. Their focus must change to cleanse the camp and make it holy for both the journey and respect for God’s presence.
Prayer Requests:
Personal
- Lord, please help me to live my life in respect to your holiness.
- Lord, please help me to remember that your governing attribute is holiness and I am to be holy as you are holy.
- Lord, please help me to express my gratitude for your attributes.
Political
- Representative Lynn Afendoulis – District 73 – Grand Rapids
- Representative Thomas Albert – District 86 – Lowell
- Senator Betty Alexander – District 5 – Detroit