06/24/2022
Are we brazen enough to think that we can command regarding His promises, or to tell Him to do the things we want Him to do? Are we like insolent children who don’t ask but attempt to demand their fathers to do this, or to give them that? The God of all creation, and more, is not ours to order about, but to obey. His promises are just that… HIS promises. The love that God shows us is not an obligation but a gift, and more than that… it is to be returned in kind. We are meant to ask so that we should receive, and to love just as we are loved. Are we approaching God in this manner? Are we humble, and filled with awe in His presence? Or, are we insolent, and demanding like spoiled children? Do we approach him as the almighty I Am that He is, and do we acknowledge His Holiness?
“Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?”
Isaiah 45:11 ESV
One Sunday morning I stood at the front of the sanctuary and prayed for those who came forward for intercessory prayer. It was a beautiful morning, and the Holy Spirit was strong in that place. A few feet away stood a missionary who was also praying for those in need of prayer. I had just finished asking the Lord to help one of His hurting children who had come forward when I overheard the missionary loudly commanding God to do this, and do that, and telling Him that He MUST do these things! His tone was insolent, and there was no love in His voice. He spoke to God our Father like a tyrant might speak to a servant, and it hurt my heart to hear him speak in this way to our Heavenly Father who loved him so completely that He had sent His Son Jesus to die for him. Jesus, the lamb, told us that the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, but there was no love in this man’s voice.
“And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:35-38 ESV
We are meant to humble ourselves before God, and approach Him with all due regard, and esteem; not in physical fear, but with a righteous fear, love, awe, and the respect He is due. Is this how we enter into His presence? Is this the atmosphere that we find pervasive in our prayer closets, and surrounding us when we approach the throne?
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:6-8 ESV
We walk into churches, cathedrals, and other such places where we worship God and there is an aura of holiness about them. It is undeniable, and we are immediately filled with the Spirit. These are special places that are to be treated with reverence. They are like the ground that surrounded the burning bush, and just as Moses was told to remove his shoes there we are to remove the world from ourselves in these places.
“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
Exodus 3:4-6 ESV
Our bodies are the temples of God too, and we are meant to keep them equally holy. We are told to separate ourselves from the worldly, and in the same way that Moses was told to remove his sandals while on holy ground, we are to remove the earthly shoes in which we have been walking through the world. We are transformed in Christ, and by the mere presence of Jesus who abides in us, we are made holy…separated from the world, and given unto God to be used for His good purposes. Do we pray humbly as we should? Do we approach God with due respect? Do we leave the world behind when we walk onto holy ground… in church on Sunday, into our prayer closets, and in our body every day?
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””
1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for extending heaven, your holy abode, into the world in which we are living now, into our sanctuaries, churches, temples, and every place where we worship you, and come to be in your presence. Help us Lord to separate ourselves unto you, and to realize that there is no more holy place that we come to know you than within the temples of our own bodies. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who has created heaven and earth, and who makes us holy in it through Christ. Teach us how to love you completely, and to kneel before you as we should. Praised be your name for answering our prayers in love, kindness, goodness, and not out of obligation, or by our command. Remove the insolent tone of a disrespectful child, and replace it with one of honor, awe, and most of all… love. Wash us clean of sin in the blood of Jesus and make us worthy to come before you. Transform us into His image so that we too are made holy, and acceptable to you. Call us your children, heirs, and joint heirs with Jesus as you usher us into your presence for all eternity.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
Rich Forbes