Good morning beloved. God’s glory is ever-present. If you close your eyes you can still see it just as if your eyes were open. Some have said that God isn’t real or He doesn’t exist because of the detrimental things that also exist in the world. But, no matter what you believe or chose not to accept the creation of the world was not done by a man! Recognize the Glory of God!
I have listened to, read, and watched how people refuse to acknowledge that God is real. It truly amazes me because of the sure signs that He has given us and the magnificent things that He continues to do for us. Case and point, there is not a man alive that can take credit for the changing of the seasons or the wind that you feel caressing your face on a warm sunny day. And yet, there are those that truly believe that they are the ones that give themselves the next breath that they take or that wake themselves up in the morning. Hunti, it sure ain’t your alarm clock that gave you the breath that woke you up this morning! (Oh, and yes I said honey this way intentionally.)
I truly believe that people desire to see God’s glory. But, for some strange reason, they feel that it would make them weak or insecure if they acknowledge that this is what they want. God allows each of us a revelation of who He is, but within that, there is a mystery, a seeing through the glass dimly that will one day be revealed when we meet Him in eternity. Through Jesus Christ, we have gained a clearer picture of the Father. But I believe in our own lives, we have yet to scratch the surface of who God is and with that, the knowledge of what He is capable of doing in and through our lives.
This morning I was reading Isaiah 6:1-13. I love when God allows you to truly see and visualize His Word as you read it. Sometimes as I read, I close my eyes and the vision is even clearer. The chapter starts out by stating, “In the year King Uzziah died.” There are several ways you can look at this inclusion into the text. Uzziah’s death in 740 B.C. could just be a road sign in history for dating the text, a landmark for us to come across, yet I believe the prophet Isaiah is really telling those who are seeking to enter into the presence of God something deeper than a date.
The first thing you are going to have to do to enter into the presence of God is to let your own King Uzziah die. Uzziah represented peace and security for Isaiah. He was someone everyone trusted in, who would take care of them, protect them and satisfy their hunger in life. A good person who blocked the need for drawing close to God. Some of us need to let our Uzziah’s die so we can learn to worship God’s majesty, to give Him the honor He alone deserves, to lift up and exalt His name for He alone is worthy of our praise and adoration, He alone is worthy to be Lord. And this will not happen when we have competing interests. What are the Uzziah’s of your life? Is it a boyfriend or girlfriend who pulls you away from your relationship with God? Young people especially, I want you to hear this. Missionary dating rarely works. That is where you date a non-Christian with the intent of bringing them to Christ.
Your Uzziah could be a number of things, but it is “ANYTHING,” that interferes with your relationship with God and your desire to know Him. In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. So the first thing that happens when we truly see the Lord is our Uzziah’s have died. The second thing that happens is we see ourselves for who we truly are. When you see God face to face, He will affect your self-esteem. What happens is you might have thought you were cool, you might have thought you were somebody, but in the presence of God you will discover you are not anything like you thought you were. This effect on your self-esteem is not an immoral one at all. We need this revelation.
Can I be honest with you, we don’t take the Christian life serious enough because we don’t know who God is. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. I know some of you have children, either grown or not? How many of you have ever noticed with your kids there are times when they forget who the parent is and who the child is? Okay! We have experienced these occurrences of childhood. I think you would agree, that when a child forgets who the parent is, that child will try anything during that time of confusion. Is that right? What happens is this, every now and then, the parents need to remind their child who’s who.
Well, we are like children at times. We have a tendency to forget who God is and we too, will try anything, and God has to bring us back to the understanding that we are not God. And if we are going to stand in His holiness, I guarantee you, this revelation is going to happen. The third thing that happens when you see God is repentance and forgiveness. We struggle so much with our purpose and reason for being because we have neglected to get into the presence of God in the terms God has set. We have to stop having Christianity that looks good on the outside, but Christ has been excluded, it runs well without Him, after all, when God comes, He messes up our plans. This happens especially when our plans were made without including Him. But let God come and see what happens, He will refine His plans for our life. What kind of trade off do you want?
God said, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I hope you understand He did not say this before Isaiah had worked through the process. Oh, He did use the prophet before this experience, but in a much-limited way. When you have stood in the presence of God there becomes no hesitation, no worry of inconvenience, no lack of desire to move out. Remember we have a room of angels that are shouting so loud the building is shaking, we have a room filled with smoke. We have Isaiah who has heard the voice of God lay out a challenge. I can hear Isaiah, not in a small voice, but one that wants to be heard above the sounds in the room, “Here am I, send me!” Why? Because he has witnessed and experienced the Shekinah Glory of God!!!
“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. 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. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 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.” 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. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” 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.” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” and He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it, and will return and be for consuming, as a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.” Isaiah 6:1-13
Live life, give people hope. Share your heart, wisdom and resources. Never place a period where God says there should be a comma.
As always peace and blessings, be safe. Remember God loves you and so do I. ©krw 3.2.16
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