Psalm 47:8 God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

Again we are reminded that God rules in holiness, God is holy and He rules even the heathen that does not acknowledge Him.
We must not fear the things that are happening in these last days for in spite of all the hurricanes, wars and crimes, God is in control and He does know what is going on. God has provided a way for us to live in holiness so that we do not have to be overwhelmed by the things we see around us. We can be different and we can be happy in the midst of trouble. Living in holiness (true holiness) brings a peace and joy that living in the world, or living a lukewarm Christian's life does not bring. Holiness is walking in our first love with the Lord. As we study holy living we will see it as something desired, not something to avoid.

Remember the words in Hebrews:

Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Psalm 48:1 <A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.> Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

God is surrounded by holiness. He is holy. He is worthy to be praised and we should praise Him in the beauty of holiness. Holiness is beautiful. Holiness cannot be achieved by simply dressing the part or trying to be holy by what we wear or by outward religious acts or rituals. Holiness is a beauty that comes from the Holy Spirit. If we live in holiness though, it no doubt will affect how we dress but dressing holy will not make us holy in any way. We must be careful not to allow ourselves to just have an outward religion and not have an inward change by the Holy Spirit.

Being born again by the Spirit of God and then living in obedience to the Spirit of God is the beginning of holiness. This is why Jesus came. To bring free us from sin and give us the Holy Spirit. Without Jesus there is no way for any person to live holy.

Psalm 93:5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.
Holiness is:
The state of being holy; purity or integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity. Applied to the Supreme Being, holiness denotes perfect purity or integrity of moral character, one of his essential attributes.

God is perfect in every way and has commanded us to be perfect. He sent Jesus to us so that we can achieve this.

1Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Psalm 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

We must worship Him in holiness. This worship comes when we start with the fear of the Lord. We must have an awesome fear and respect for God and who He is. We must not take God lightly or think His word is to be ignored or something we can take or leave at our own will. We must also be very careful not to change the word, add to it or take from it. This is part of holiness, when we begin to realize how holy God is and how He has provided a way through His Son, Jesus Christ that we can also be holy and worship Him in the beauty of holiness.

Psa 97:12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Remembering God's holiness is a comfort to those who are faithful to Him. When we see wickedness prevail and our society lacking in holiness, we can remember the holiness of God and have hope that in the long run, holiness will prevail. Holiness is our future and holiness will be everlasting. What we see around us now, is temporary and all evil will be done away with. This is our hope. If we want to be part of this we must seek a life of holiness and not ignore it. We are not as some mistakenly teach, covered by grace so we are free to do as we please. If we search all the scriptures concerning Jesus Christ, we will see that this is not so. There are too many warnings about being lukewarm, leaving the first love, and the warning in Hebrews 12 to show us that we can't be careless in our walk with God. We will not be happy either if we try to walk half way in the world and half way in the Spirit. The two do not mix.

Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Isaiah 35:9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Here in the Old Testament and before the coming of Jesus Christ to be born into the world, it is foretold of what is to come. Here is our hope. A highway of holiness that no unclean thing can pass over. It is a place for only the redeemed. This is a hint of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Redeemed means to be delivered from bondage, distress, penalty or from the possession of another. We are all born into sin and in bondage to sin. There was no way out of this state unless one could be born and keep the law of God perfectly every day of our lives without fault. This of course is impossible so Jesus came to redeem us back to God and deliver us from the curse of sin. He makes us holy by the blood He shed to cleanse us from sin. How can we even think to play around with sin after receiving Jesus Christ and not seeking a life of holiness? After what He did to save us from sin and we turn around and return to the sin He saved us from thinking we are covered by His grace doesn't make sense. Why would Jesus save us from sin, only to have us return to it and become in bondage to it again? Sin is a bondage, a trap and it kills and destroys. We can't be free from sin without Jesus. We can pursue holiness and live in joy. This is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit after He returned to the Father. The Holy Spirit is here to as a helper. He puts the desire to live holy within us. Not only does the Holy Spirit empower us to spread the gospel to others so that they can be saved from sin but He helps us as individuals and as a body of believers. He comforts, He teaches, and keeps us from returning to sin. We still have our own will and can resist the Holy Spirit but He is there to lead us into a life of holiness. Remember the word holiness, not outward religion that produces a false holiness. A false holiness does not produce the fruits of the spirit. False religion will not produce the fruits of the spirit. Do not be discouraged if we see ourselves lacking these things. We should be in pursuit of these things and desire these things constantly and keep seeking the Lord in joy. I doubt if we will ever see ourselves as perfect. If we did it would lead to pride. This is something we seek that others will see in us. We may never see it in ourselves.

True holiness will result is the fruits of the Spirit within us. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...... Remember if we are lacking, just keep seeking the Lord who is our source of holiness.

Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

Israel was the apple of God's eye and holy at one time before they fell away and departed from God's commandments. They will return to this state in the future and that will be a day of rejoicing like we've never seen. We must heed the warning here that all who devour Israel shall be judged by God. We must also take heed by reading about God's dealings with Israel. If God spared not the natural branches, we must take heed that He does not spare us if we depart from His word as they did at one time.

We have not only had the knowledge of the Old Testament as Israel had but we have knowledge of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ. We have less of an excuse to depart from the faith than Israel had. We have seen the holiness of God that came to us through Jesus Christ. We have tasted the gift of the Holy Spirit. To cast this away and return to sin is to bring reproach upon the whole reason Christ came. Remember Jesus came to save us from sin not save us in our sin. Without holiness we will not see the Lord. I want to see Him, don't you?