1/29/2023

Entering a sterile room

Seeking intimacy with our Father

May we experience the cleansing of his love and presence today.

Introduction

In this last devotional of our weeklong focus on seeking God’s face, we’re going to look at what it means to live righteously. The grace that God gives us not only brings forgiveness but also makes us completely clean. So as we respond to his invitation to receive his grace, may we experience the cleansing of his love and presence today.

Scripture

“The Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.”
Psalm 11:7 ESV

Devotional

I remember vividly the first time I visited a person in the hospital who had just undergone surgery. Signs were posted outside his room forbidding entry to anyone who was not fully prepared. Nurses helped me into surgical clothing; I had to put a cap on my head and a mask on my face. I had to wash my hands thoroughly with antiseptic foam. Only then could I step into the room.

The reason was simple: because of his condition, his body had not yet regained its natural immunities. A single germ introduced into this sterile environment could kill the person I came to encourage. Every precaution was essential to safeguarding his life.

In a similar fashion, our holy God lives in a perfect heaven. Even a single sin would corrupt his paradise. This is why Jesus had to die to pay the debt for our sins so they could be not only forgiven but also removed from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

What is true in heaven is also true on earth. Confessing our sins and being forgiven and cleansed from them is essential to intimacy with our Father. He promises us, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). But we must confess and forsake them to receive the grace he longs to give us.

This principle is central to our week’s emphasis on seeking God’s face. In Zephaniah 2:3, the prophet Zephaniah called God’s people to “seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility.” And in Psalm 11:7, David observed, “The Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.”

This is not legalism or works-based righteousness. It is not that we must earn God’s favor or presence. Rather, this is our response to God’s great grace: when we confess our sins to him, he cleanses us and calls us into his throne room in love.

Hosea 10:12 is God’s call to us today: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Hear that again: “It is time to seek the Lord.”

So let’s do that together as we enter a time of guided prayer.

today’s devotional is written by Jim Denison

Prayer

1. Reflect on your Father’s desire to share his presence with you.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

2. Ask the Spirit to show you anything that would hinder your worship, then confess what comes to your thoughts and claim your Father’s forgiveness.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

3. Pray for the strength to refuse temptation and to choose holiness that you can continue to walk in intimacy with your Lord.

“God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7).

Worship

Go

Living in holiness is both a vertical and horizontal practice. To experience the presence of our holy God, we must be holy with him and with each other. We cannot love our Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength unless we also love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30–31).

This is why Scripture urges us, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

Are you at peace with “everyone” today? If not, ask God to help you give freely the grace which you’ve received from him. And may our lives become a beautiful reflection of holiness as we seek God’s face.

Extended reading: 1 Peter 1

May our lives become a beautiful reflection of holiness as we seek God’s face.