ENTERING INTO GOD'S PRESENCE

                                 ENTERING INTO GOD'S PRESENCE

Ps. 15:1, 2 Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. NLT

Wanting to know who may approach the Lord in worship and be found acceptable to Him is perhaps the most important issue known to man. Not all who approach God have an audience with Him. Only the righteous in heart can linger in God’s presence. The Psalmist in this psalm gives us some guidelines to go by if we want to know that we are in the presence of God.

Only those who lead blameless lives and do what is right can enter into God’s presence. Who amongst us can say that we are blameless before God? When we see ourselves as we are without Christ, none of us can make the claim we are blameless and do what is right before God. When we see ourselves as we are in Christ, we find then we can be found to be blameless before God. In Christ, our sins are washed away and we take on His righteousness and holiness. When we do what is right by the standards of Christ, we are acceptable to God. There is no condemnation for those who are striving to live lives that are reflective of Christ in them.

Doing what is right entails not only how we live, but also how we deal with sin. Are we aware of our sins when we sin and deal with them before Christ? Do we strive to resist sin when we are confronted with temptations? Do we consider what Jesus would do if He were in our shoes? Do we have a sensitivity to the blatant sins of this world? In other words, do we take sin seriously and consider it an enemy of our souls?

Also, those who speak the truth from sincere hearts can approach God. Many who speak the truth do not do so from sincere hearts. It is one thing to tell the truth; it’s another thing to mean what you say because you know it is true. We must take ownership of what we proclaim to believe. It must be evidenced in the way we live and present ourselves to others. No phonies will ever make it into the presence of God.

Not all who go through the motions of worship are accepted by God. Just because you are surrounded by other worshipers doesn’t qualify you as a worshiper of God. Only those who are found to be blameless before God are true worshipers of Him. Only those rooted in Christ can enter into God’s presence and worship Him.