Who is God?

The Holy One

Why does it matter to learn God’s name and character?

Verse of the Day

‘Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”’

Revelation 4:8

Today’s Devotional

Have you ever had an experience with someone you love where you see them display a quality you admire about them and it just makes your heart swell with love? I recently had this experience with one of my daughters.  She was in her element, conversing with people and making them feel seen and heard.  She is really good with people.  I was privileged to see it in action and simply be grateful for who she is and who God made her to be.

Many years ago, I had a very wise woman tell me something from her imagination that ties today’s verse together with the kind of scenario I just described.  She told me that she pictures the heavenly beings in this verse circling around the throne of heaven. Every move they make gives them a different view of God, a different perspective.  And every single thing they see about who God is and what His character is like takes their breath away.  Their only response is to declare His holiness.  They move one direction and see His love.  Then they see His kindness.  Next maybe they see His justice. Another move and they see his mercy.  There is never a place they move where they don’t see something glorious about God.  Isn’t that a beautiful thought?

When I am thinking about who God is, and how I can learn more about Him, it can be overwhelming. But breaking it down into smaller “pieces” might make it easier.  When I think about my identity, it is multi-faceted.  I am a woman, but that doesn’t completely encompass all that I am.  I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am an aunt. I am a friend. I am a learner. I am a teacher. I am a disciple of Jesus.  If you take any one piece of the puzzle that is me, you have an incomplete picture.  The only way you will ever really KNOW me is to see me and experience me in every one of those roles, and within each role displaying every single characteristic that I possess.  Do you see how complex that would be?

How much more complex, then, is beholding our God and learning the mystery and majesty of who He is? The one aspect of God that is simpler is that He never changes.  But since we are always growing and changing, our experience of the never-changing God is always changing.

If we believe in God and are trying to orient our lives around Him, it is vital that we spend time getting to know Him. Not what our parents tell us about Him. Not what the church says. Certainly not what the world says. We need to read for ourselves from His Word and look for who He is.  We need to be spending time in prayer asking Him to reveal Himself to us. And if that sounds scary or hard, then I encourage you to tell Him that and ask for His help. He wants us to know Him.

The beings of heaven are telling us that God is holy. And not only in today’s verse in Revelation.  In Isaiah 6:3, we see heavenly beings again. ‘They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”’

The simplest definition of holy is “set apart”. God is holy, He is set apart from us and for us.  He is higher and sacred and divine. And we can’t fully comprehend it. It appears that the heavenly beings can’t fully comprehend it either, yet they still declare this truth.  

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”’

Journal Prompts

Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.

How do you describe the holiness of God?

In your journal, write this question: God, what do you want me to know about your holiness today?  Then write anything that you sense Him telling you.

Write out a prayer of worship and adoration.

Comments

Jay
February 7, 2024 at 6:46 am

Good stuff thanks



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