4.6.2026 - Anneke de Jong

Monday, April 6, 2026

This week’s devotionals were written by Anneke de Jong, a member of Visalia CRC. A lifetime of studying the Bible has given me a deep love for God’s Word and a heart for helping others grow in biblical literacy. My husband and I raised four sons, and we now enjoy watching their families grow. When I’m not with our grandkids, you can find me at our goat dairy in Hanford, CA.

As you come to your time with God today, I encourage you to pause for a moment of silence before you begin with this prayer:

Holy, Holy, Holy are you, Lord God Almighty.

Open my eyes, that I may see you. Open my ears, that I may hear you.

Open my heart, that I may know you and love you more and more each day.

Amen

Yesterday, Christians around the world celebrated Easter. Easter marks the climax of our salvation story - a joyful day acknowledging the ultimate demonstration of God’s holy power as He raised Jesus from death into life, defeating sin once and for all. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have been released from our slavery to sin and have been set free to live as God’s children.

On this Monday after Easter, how do we respond to such a magnificent truth? What words can even begin to describe a God who could - and who would - do such a thing?

Moses asked much the same question after God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Once they were safely through the Red Sea, Moses led the people in this song of response:

Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? Exodus 15:11

Who is like God? Is there anyone or anything else in all of creation as majestic? As awesome? As holy?

For the next 6 weeks, various devotion writers will be considering who God is. We’ll explore some of the attributes of God, and we’ll come to see why He is the only one worthy of our worship, devotion and praise. Not just for what He has done, but for who He is.

This week, we will begin with the holiness of God.

The dictionary defines holy as "exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.” The Hebrew word for holy means to be “set apart for a sacred, special purpose, distinct from the common or profane.” These definitions highlight the two intertwined aspects of God’s holiness: God is transcendent (distinct from creation) and morally flawless (totally pure and separate from evil).

God’s holiness permeates the pages of Scripture.

In the opening verses of Genesis, we see that God “created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). God is the Creator, set apart and distinct from the creation that He made. He is a God who is completely ‘other’ from anything else there is.

In Exodus 3, God reveals his holy name and nature to Moses. He is the I AM. And the ground where he presents himself to Moses is holy ground, consecrated and set apart by his presence.

In Leviticus 19:2, God tells Moses, “I, the Lord your God, am holy.”

Hannah declares in 1 Samuel 2:2: “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”

The psalmist says, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.” (Psalm 99:9)

The seraphim in Isaiah 6:3 proclaim that God is “Holy, Holy, Holy, and the whole earth is filled with his glory.” They continue their song in Revelation 4:8: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come.”

The absolute holiness of God - his moral purity, total righteousness, perfect goodness and separateness from anything and everything else - sets the foundation for who God is.

Holy is who God is, and everything He does is holy. It is his very essence - God cannot NOT be holy.

And so we return to Moses’ question.

Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

No one.

There is no one like our Lord. No one who works wonders like God. No one as set apart and distinct in glory. No one as majestic in moral purity and perfect righteousness.

There is nothing and no one more holy than He is.

God’s holiness penetrates all of creation and all our lives. There is no escaping the holiness of God. And so there can be no worship, no spiritual growth, no true obedience without understanding it, or at least without acknowledging and contending with the implications of a holy, holy, holy God.

When was the last time you considered the holiness of God? What thoughts and feelings does it bring to mind? Pray now that you may never lose the wonder of God’s holiness.

I invite you to use the song Only A Holy God by CityAlight to reflect on the holiness of God.

Who else commands all the hosts of heaven?

Who else could make every king bow down?

Who else can whisper and darkness trembles?

Only a Holy God

What other beauty demands such praises?

What other splendor outshines the sun?

What other majesty rules with justice?

Only a Holy God

What other glory consumes like fire?

What other power can raise the dead?

And what other name remains undefeated?