OUR DAILY BREAD : APPROACHING GOD

[cimi]

February 21
Saturday


APPROACHING
GOD

READ:
Isaiah 6:1-8
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Holy, holy, holy is
the LORD of hosts; the
whole earth is full of
His glory! __Isaiah 6:3
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It used to bother me that the closer I drew to God in my walk with Him, the more sinful I felt. Then a phenomenon I observed in my room enlightened me. A tiny gap in the curtain covering my window threw a ray of light into the room. As I looked, I saw particles of dirt drifting in the beam. Without the ray of light, the room seemed clean, but the light revealed the dirty particles.

What I observed shed light on my spiritual life. The closer I approach the Lord of light, the clearer I see myself. When the light of Christ shines in the darkness of our lives, it exposes our sin__not to discourage us, but to humble us to trust in Him. We can't depend on our own righteousness, since we are sinners and fall short of God's standards (Rom. 3:23). When we are proud, the light reveals our heart and we cry as Isaiah said, "Woe to me!...for I am a man of unclean lips,...and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty" (Isa. 6:5). NIV).

God is absolutely perfect in every way. Approaching Him calls for humility and childlike trust, not self-importance and pride. For it is by grace that He draws us to Himself. It is good for us that we feel unworthy as we draw closer to God, for it humbles us to rely on Him alone. __Lawrence Darmani

`````````````````Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,``````````````````
````````````````Though the eyes of sinful man Thy glory may not see;````````````````
``````````````````Only Thou art holy__there is none beside Thee,``````````````````
````````````````````Perfect in power, in love and purity. __Heber``````````````
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There is no room for pride when we walk with God.

*******************************Today's Bible Reading __ Isaiah 6:1-8*******************************
1 In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord
sitting on a throne, high and
lifted up, and the train of
His robe filled the temple.

2 Above it stood seraphim;
each one had six wings:
with two he covered his
face, with two he covered
his feet, and with two he
flew. 3 and one cried to
another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the
LORD of hosts; the whole
earth is full of His glory!"

4 And the posts of the door
were shaken by the voice of
him who cried out, and the
house was filled with
smoke.

5 So I said: "Woe is me,
for I am undone! Because I
am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of
a people of unclean lips; for
my eyes have seen the
King, the LORD of hosts."

6 Then one of the seraphim
flew to me, having in his
hand a live coal which he
had taken with the tongs
from the altar. 7 And he
touched my mouth with it,
and said:

"Behold, this has touched
your lips; your iniquity is
taken away, and your sin
purged."

8 Also I heard the voice of
the Lord, saying:

"Whom shall I send, and
who will go for Us?" Then
I said, "Here am I! Send
me."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
This passage recounts the call of Isaiah to a long and difficult
prophetic ministry spanning the reigns of four kings (740-681 BC).
Isaiah was not the only one in Scripture who viewed himself as
too sinful to be in God's presence (6:5). Peter, when called to be
an apostle, cried out, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord!" (Luke 5:8). The tax collector in Luke 18:13 demonstrated a
similar humility and recognition of personal sin.