Earlier this week, I shared about the joyful life God has promised us in my post, From Darkness to Light and how this fall, as we study Isaiah at our Teaching & Worship Experience, we will look at ways to access the freedom God offers. Today I want to share a little bit from my daily devotional, Drawing Near to God. In this entry, we see how Isaiah’s vision of God undid him as he saw His majesty and holiness. I invite you to join me this fall as we look at not only God’s majesty but the way He provides us access to Him and His comfort for us.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
You have set Your glory above the heavens.
Psalm 8:1
When the prophet Isaiah had a vision of God seated on His throne, he was undone. God’s majesty and His holiness
caused him to cry out, Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. (Isaiah 6:1-5) Isaiah recognized that he could not stand before the God of all Ages, before His majesty and holiness, and not have his sins exposed. As I read through this passage in Isaiah, I close my eyes and imagine the Lord, high and lifted up, and my standing before Him with my life exposed. I, too, cried out with Isaiah, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” Then I remember Immanuel, God with us, the One whom God sent to restore me and to enable me to be in His presence. With great relief and awe, I thank God for making a way for me to draw near to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. When we catch but a glimpse of God’s glory, His holiness, and His majesty, we are forever changed. Thank God for His transforming Presence in our lives!!
Jesus has made a way for us to approach God’s throne of grace boldly and with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16) Yet when we approach Him, though now accessible, we approach a holy God with reverent awe. His Presence is consuming; His Presence is transforming. Do you approach Him in reverence and fear? Yes, He is approachable through the work of the cross. But let us never forget His majesty and holiness.
Heavenly Father,
As I approach You in prayer, as I approach You in the Word, as I approach You in the circumstances of life, I pray that I never lose sight of Your majesty and awe. I pray for a reverential fear of the Lord to seek to honor You in my life. Lord, my Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
In Jesus’ name, Amen
