Heart Choices: Bringing Holy Back Movement -->

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Bringing Holy Back Movement


Extravagant Grace

Bringing holy back to the holiday. What a concept!

Christmas is after all a celebration of the birth of Jesus; when God showed such amazing love to us. We don't deserve His love but He loves us despite ourselves and provided a way for us to be in relationship with Him ...through Jesus.

I don't know about you but when I really think of a perfect and holy God loving me that much ...it overwhelms me.

eLisa of Extravagant Grace began a movement called Bringing Holy Back to the Holiday. And it's not too late to join in. There's a place to link up or you can just follow along and add comments.

What does bringing back holy to the holiday mean? Well, eLisa describes it as "sharing His hope, joy, peace, love with others, instead of catering to the chaos we all know as Christmas."Now, that's a movement I want to be a part of. I don't know about you but I find so often the pressure of keeping up tiring. There's so much to do:

  • shopping
  • baking
  • card writing
  • parties
  • decorating

Don't get me wrong. I love to give gifts. I love to stay in touch with friends and family but the "doing" can take over the "being".

And with all of the uncertainty in my life right now, I need to focus on the true meaning of this special time of year.

I was reading this morning from Isaiah. BTW, did you know that Isaiah will be the new study next year at Bible Study Fellowship?

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory."
Isaiah 6:3

Holy is repeated three times. When a word is repeated like this in the Bible, it really means God is infinitely holy.

I think of: perfect, flawless, pure, white as snow.

We tend to think we are doing OK when we judge ourselves by others. Well, at least I don't do that ...

Or I've not committed the worst sins. After all, I don't cheat, steal, murder. You get the idea.

But consider this. When a person smokes cigarettes, they become so immune to the smell of the smoke. But if a nonsmoker walks into the room of a smoker, you can immediately smell that odor.

We can get so immune to the sin in our world unless it is so blatant.

But God cannot be in the presence of any sin. He is holy.

All I can say is thank you God for giving us Jesus. He paid the price for my sin. When I receive His free gift of salvation I can come into your presence. And that's worth celebrating.

I'm set free from sin and the power of sin. What a gift of love!

Will you consider joining the Bringing Holy back to the Holiday this year?

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Debbie Petras
16 Comments
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16 comments:

  1. I love grace. I love that Jesus loves me no matter what. That's what makes this season so special.

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  2. HOLY HOLY HOLY is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!

    WHO WAS and IS TO COME!

    LOVE IT!

    Bringing HOLY back with you!

    Love,
    Jill

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  3. HOLY HOLY HOLY IS THE LORD!!! HALLELUJAH!!

    So much in what you shared but this just sums it up so perfectly:

    "I'm set free from sin and the power of sin. What a gift of love!"

    Amen and Amen dear sister.

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  4. Debbie, your post today is wonderful, as it always is, but I really identify with all that you say. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...I love the sound. I'm SO grateful that my God is a HOLY God...one that I can depend on always to never change.

    Daily living can be enough in itself, with responsibilities and worries, but to add to that the demands of this season, along with decision making, it can be a very difficult time for many, including me. I so want to simplify the shopping and all that goes with it, yet what I keep coming back to is "balance". I tend to be an "all or nothing" person, jumping in with both feet til I sink underwater, or totally remove myself from all the pressure. Neither works for long. Even our Lord had time for fellowship and laughter in the midst of His calling, and I need to find that place so I don't feel so divided. I'm praying for you, my sister...I don't know what you're going through...perhaps you shared on another post and I missed it, but whatever it is, we both know He has you in the palm of His hands, and you are His special little girl. Enjoy the season with all your heart, and don't let the enemy steal your joy...this is a celebration of our most wonderful Savior, and I pray we are all at our very merriest...it will be pleasing to Him!

    Love and hugs,
    Mary

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  5. Count me in. I want to Bring Holy Back To Christmas. It deserves to be a movement as Christmas has become so commercialized and is not politically correct. Our nation needs to know about how a Holy God sent his Son to save us from our unholy condition.

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  6. It is so right on to focus on God's holiness instead of only "holidays". Good thoughts.

    How are you doing? I think of you often...and pray, too!

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  7. Yes, yes, yes......."Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." I so agree that we must never forget the Holiness of God. Although He has given us access to His throne (we did nothing, He "gave"), we still need to remember that He is a Holy God, He alone has saved us, He alone has given us His grace to come to Him.
    Alleluah, what a Savior!

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  8. I just love this post Debbie. Really, there is nothing more we need than to know that He, Holy God, loves us and that we belong to Him. You always have a special way of sharing that and I love coming to your page!

    Hugs and love...

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  9. Such a beautiful post my friend, love you.

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  10. I Love this: "sharing His hope, joy, peace, love with others, instead of catering to the chaos we all know as Christmas."

    This was a beautiful post! I'm trying hard to change some things this year so that we can live like the line above!

    Praying for you, Debbie!!!
    Jennifer

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  11. Hi Debbie,
    I am totally into "being" and not "doing". Simplicity is what I want during the Holy Days. I see people running and it makes me tired.
    I am not participating in the craziness.
    Thanks for the reminder of God's Holiness. I am so thankful for His Grace.

    Blessings,
    Tammy

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  12. Debbie, love this!

    I still have LOTS to do and as the day approaches, my HOLY goes right out the window.

    Susan over at Eternity Cafe is doing something like this too. I love it when the Holy Spirit breathes a message over his girls.

    Have I mentioned how much I enjoy your blog?!?


    It's so beautiful here!

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  13. Wonderful post, Debbie. I have not had an opportunity to check out the "Bringing Holy Back Movement" yet but believe it should be a daily part of our living. "For without holiness no man will see God."

    He is Holy. Yesterday, today, forver the same.

    You made a powerful statement when you said "We can get so immune to the sin in our world unless it is so blatant."

    I think that is true in our own lives personally first and foremost. Once we become immune to it and no longer grieved by it we are not grieved when we are around others who are sinning either. We really need to check ourselves thoroughly and completely according to God's standard--the Word.

    How sobering to be reminded of this powerful statement which you also made: "But God cannot be in the presence of any sin. He is holy."

    Along with you I am thankful for my Savior. He paid a debt He did not owe so that I could be free from the curse of sin & death.

    I can't imagine life outside of the Presence of God. I am so grateful that Jesus made a way for me to once again enter in. His presence is the best present I could ever receive. I pray that I will revel in it every day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I completely agree! Holy back in the holidays and Christ back in Christmas! Thank you for this post! I'm right there with you!

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  15. I wonder whether the celebration of the birth of Christ (and his life) should be moved to Spring (when he was actually born) instead of keeping it on one of the darkest nights of the year. The only reason we celebrate it in December is because the Medieval Church wanted to replace pagan practises of Odin and yuletid beliefs - specially the thirteen evil spirits whose powers would get stronger the darker the days got.

    But I guess changing it would make people annoyed because they don't get a holiday at the end of the year. And that's the problem - people want the holiday but they don't realise that the reason they have it is because of the holyday.

    ;)

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  16. Debbie, thanks so much for posting and sharing your thoughts. Again, I am encouraged and challenged!

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I love to read your comments! I know you have something to share so join in the conversation. And thank you for taking the time.

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