Who May Enter God's Presence?
God does not allow just anyone to enter His presence. He is holy. Therefore, those who are living in open, unconfessed sin will not be able to approach the Lord, so that they experience a little of His glory here in this world. However, there are people who may enter His holy presence. David laid out the requirements for all of us. (Psalm 24:3,4) This truth is of utmost importance for all of us.
Only those who have clean hands and a pure heart may enter the presence of the Lord. Our hands represent what we do, our actions. If we have clean hands, we are living in righteousness toward the Lord and others. However, this is only possible, if we have pure hearts. We cannot make our hearts pure. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. Once His blood has been applied to us by our repentance from our sins and our placement of our faith in Him as Lord of all, He cleans our hearts. Then, we can live righteously with the motivation and direction that comes from our pure heart.
Also, we can't be promoting falsehood or speaking deceitfully. Jesus is the Truth. We can't live by telling lies or deceiving people in other ways and be righteous before the Lord. Those are sins, along with others, that must be confessed and cleansed before we may enter His presence. (I John 1:9) The good thing is that He is quick to cleanse us, if we sincerely confess those sins by saying what He would say about them, and thus showing we are turning from those practices. Then, we may approach Him, clean and pure. We may see His glory in times of prayer, worship, and service, when we meet these requirements.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 25-28.
Only those who have clean hands and a pure heart may enter the presence of the Lord. Our hands represent what we do, our actions. If we have clean hands, we are living in righteousness toward the Lord and others. However, this is only possible, if we have pure hearts. We cannot make our hearts pure. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. Once His blood has been applied to us by our repentance from our sins and our placement of our faith in Him as Lord of all, He cleans our hearts. Then, we can live righteously with the motivation and direction that comes from our pure heart.
Also, we can't be promoting falsehood or speaking deceitfully. Jesus is the Truth. We can't live by telling lies or deceiving people in other ways and be righteous before the Lord. Those are sins, along with others, that must be confessed and cleansed before we may enter His presence. (I John 1:9) The good thing is that He is quick to cleanse us, if we sincerely confess those sins by saying what He would say about them, and thus showing we are turning from those practices. Then, we may approach Him, clean and pure. We may see His glory in times of prayer, worship, and service, when we meet these requirements.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 25-28.