NEAR TO THE HEART OF GOD

Is. 6:3-4  In a great chorus they sang, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty!  The whole earth is filled with his glory!”  The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.  NLT

      One of the songs of heaven that the angels and heaven’s choir continuously sings is holiness unto to the Lord.  Scripture doesn’t tell us about any other songs being sung before God, but we are told that holiness is declared in choruses of praise.  It is such a glorious song that it shook the very foundation of the Temple.  Have you ever been in a worship service that was so overwhelmed by the presence of God that it shook to the core the place of worship?

      Maybe a better question would be, “Have you ever been so overwhelmed by the presence of God that all you could do was declare His holiness in praise?  Branded deep in my soul is an experience I had as a little boy.  I grew up in a conservative Wesleyan church where there was an elderly saint, Brother Shafer.  I can still see him today as if had happened yesterday.  Brother Shafer would so feel the presence of God in worship that he would stand up and start walking down the aisles of the church with his hands raised to heaven and say over and over again, “Glory, Glory, Glory!”  He would walk around the church and then sit back down and I would know even as a young lad that I was in the presence of God.

       Rarely have I had such an experience since.  I have been where God has moved in our midst in a very precious and special way, but it is not the norm.  Now, I am not talking about those times in which we generate excitement within ourselves.  We can easily become excited without it being because God is in our midst.  When the Lord is in our midst, we know it deep within our souls.

       I wonder if we were to live closer to the heart of God if maybe the Lord would visit us more often in worship.  Can we really say that we are living close to God?  We cannot be close to God without being holy in heart. We must be students of the Word and have regular visits with God in our prayer closets.  We must be actively taking our faith out into the world and doing what we can do for the glory of Christ. 

      When we draw near to God, we become captivated by the presence and holiness of God.  We see ourselves as we are, in great need of Him in our lives.  When we become holy in heart as He is holy, great things will happen in our lives and through our lives.  Holiness is the greatest need of the church today.