Our Daily Bread -- Approaching God

If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view.

Approaching God February 21, 2015

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! —Isaiah 6:3 Read: Isaiah 6:1-8 Bible in a Year: Numbers 1-3; Mark 3 It used to bother me that the closer I drew to God in my walk with Him, the more sinful I felt. Then a phenomenon I observed in my room enlightened me. A tiny gap in the curtain covering my window threw a ray of light into the room. As I looked, I saw particles of dirt drifting in the beam. Without the ray of light, the room seemed clean, but the light revealed the dirty particles. What I observed shed light on my spiritual life. The closer I approach the Lord of light, the clearer I see myself. When the light of Christ shines in the darkness of our lives, it exposes our sin—not to discourage us, but to humble us to trust in Him. We can’t depend on our own righteousness, since we are sinners and fall short of God’s standards (Rom. 3:23). When we are proud, the light reveals our heart and we cry as Isaiah did, “Woe to me! . . . For I am a man of unclean lips, . . . and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isa. 6:5 niv). God is absolutely perfect in every way. Approaching Him calls for humility and childlike trust, not self-importance and pride. For it is by grace that He draws us to Himself. It is good for us that we feel unworthy as we draw closer to God, for it humbles us to rely on Him alone.—Lawrence Darmani Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eyes of sinful man Thy glory may not see; Only Thou art holy—there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power, in love and purity. —Heber There is no room for pride when we walk with God. INSIGHT: This passage recounts the call of Isaiah to a long and difficult prophetic ministry spanning the reigns of four kings (740–681 bc). Isaiah was not the only one in Scripture who viewed himself as too sinful to be in God’s presence (6:5). Peter, when called to be an apostle, cried out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). The tax collector in Luke 18:13 demonstrated a similar humility and recognition of personal sin. Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

You can make a difference. Even the smallest donation helps reach people around the world with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. DONATE

Share With Your Friends	Featured Video

Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe