Give Me More of God

Psalms 24: 3 - 5, Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. NKJV

The purpose of today's word is to call attention to our privilege of having the presence of God in and on our lives. In Acts 17, Paul tells us that "in Christ," we live, and move, and have our being. There are many daily blessings from God that are wonderful, and they enable us to live and to prosper; even so, there is no greater blessing than being able to experience the very presence of God.

When I was praying about the subject of God's presence, a question came to me: Which is worse, being born under the time of the law and not being allowed to enter into the holiest of Holies as a worshipper, or being born under the time of grace where we have full access to God's presence, but we have no desire to enter? All believers have been granted a priceless treasure. We have the ability to come into the presence of God, who created us and has redeemed us from the curse of the law of sin and death.

Therefore, since we see the favor and the love of God, and that He grants us passage into His holy presence to commune with Him, what kind of life should we live? We must choose to honor the gift of God's presence in such a fashion that we conduct ourselves the same way in the world (everyday life) that we would when we're in the secret place of God. There's one thing about entering into the presence of a holy and all-knowing God; if our conscience hasn't been purged through the blood of Jesus, then guilt will manifest in the Lord's presence. 

The psalmist wrote: "Only those who have clean hands and a pure heart will be able to ascend the holy hill of God and be able to stand in His holy presence." Therefore, it is through our faith in the work of Christ on the cross that we are made righteous in God's sight and have been granted the grace to enter into the holiest of Holies. Even though we have right standing in God's sight through our faith in Christ, we still must choose to live righteously, so that we might have the boldness to approach God's throne in prayer or worship. 

The Lord is drawing His people back to Himself. What does that mean? He's calling us (His children) back to living a life that is dedicated and consecrated to the principles of Christ. Consecration simply means that we have devoted our lives to the sole purpose of pleasing God, both in His pavilion and in the world. 

As we commit ourselves to living holy before the Lord, His presence will go with us into the world. As a result, instead of ascending the holy hill of God, we will become carriers of God's holy presence, just as Jesus did while He walked on earth. Jesus has commanded us to be salt and light to the world. Therefore, even if we are currently living a life that is devoted to Christ, we can still allow the Holy Spirit to use this devotion to challenge us to pursue the Lord at a greater level. Remember, we are being changed from faith to faith and from glory to glory. Just because we are passionate for Christ today doesn't mean that God wants us to settle at that place and become stagnate. We must follow Him continually and passionately until we cross the finish line. 

If you have a deep desire to be filled with more of God, and you want more of His presence, then I invite you to join me and many others, who are participating in Passion 30...a thirty-day challenge for believers to draw near to God, so that He may draw closer to us. For details about the challenge, email me at passion30@whcnorth.org.

Not Looking Back but Moving Ahead,
Pastor Asa Dockery