holiness, day 4

Come to Stillness:
Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Gracious and loving God, you know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours. You know the misformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life. You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas. Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to open to your transforming presence in this time. Lord, have mercy. (Invitation to a Journey by Robert Mulholland Jr.)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 99

Scripture for the Day: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Reading for Reflection:

So when God says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:16) he is not giving us an imperative.  He is making us a promise.  In Jesus Christ, we shall be holy.  We do not become holy by trying to obey Jesus’ teachings.  Instead, we are made holy by allowing the Holy Spirit to draw us so close to Jesus that his love begins to flow through our veins, changing our hearts, renewing our minds, and making us holy in every aspect of life. (Sacred Thirst by Craig Barnes)


Holiness has been defined, at times, as meaning “set apart.”  No!  Holiness means wholeness.  Holy persons have achieved (through Christ) a certain integrity.  In them there is consonance between who they are, as images of God, and the way they hold themselves.  Always true to their inner reality, they need not be apart.  They can be in the midst without fear.  Where there is not love, they bring love.  Where there is not innocence, they bring innocence.  They are instruments of peace. (Breaking Bread by Basil Pennington)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord, that you see me as holy because of the gift of your Son. Help me to celebrate the holiness you have given me by being wholly yours this day. Amen. (JLB)