God doesn't tolerate sin in His presence because He is Holy. He functions and rules with righteousness, and as a result, He acts with justice and fairness. In our God, there is no favoritism. He treats everybody the same. We all have different functions and responsibilities, but God deals with us the same. The criteria that He judges us with is our obedience to Him, and our obedience to Him relates to the motive of our hearts. Consequently, God always examines our hearts in everything that we do, whether good or bad. The reason He disciplines us when we sin is because sin is a direct disobedience against His holy commandments. However, we need to understand that His discipline is not to destroy us but to restore us to the right standing before Him. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command in the Garden of Eden, God disciplined them by taking them out of the Garden of Eden and bringing death to them and the world. However, when God disciplined them, He immediately worked a plan to restore humans from sin and death through our Lord Jesus.
Psalm 99:3-5 says, "Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy! Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel. Exalt the Lord our God! Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!" Since God is holy, He expects us to live righteously by obeying Him, and when we disobey Him, He disciplines us and offers forgiveness for our sins when we confess our sins to Him. Psalm 99:8 says, "O Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong." We need to live righteously because our God is Holy. We need to watch the motives of our hearts because God always examines our hearts.
Let us praise and worship God because He is holy, just, and fair. He disciplines and forgives our sins because He loves us. We can trust our God because He is always truthful, and there are no lies in Him, for He is a holy God.
Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) What does it mean that God is holy? Why does God discipline me when I disobey Him? How should I live my life since God is holy?
Take a moment to write down all your worries today. Then, lift them to God in prayer, surrendering them to His will and trusting in His guidance.
Prayer:
Dear Father in Heaven, I praise and worship you because you are a holy God. Please help me honor you in everything that I do. Please cleanse my heart so that I may have godly motives and glorify your name. Thank you for your discipline and forgiveness every time I disobey you. It is through your discipline and forgiveness that you restore my relationship with you and lead me to the right path. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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