Living Confessed Lives

by:toni smothers


Isaiah 6: 1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were angels, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD ALMIGHTY: the whole earth is full of his glory”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD ALMIGHTY.” Then one of the angels flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

In God’s Presence, sin is revealed and sin is healed.

Isaiah knew immediately that he was unclean and unfit before God. He also knew that he lived among a people that were unclean as well. Isaiah’s sin was atoned for by a touch from the coals of the altar. God has atoned for our sin also by sending Jesus to take our guilt upon himself.

Only after the revealing and healing of sin, did Isaiah hear God speak. We cannot expect to hear from the Lord if we are not living confessed lives.

How often do we feel convicted when we come before God? We need to praise God for Jesus’ sacrifice for us and continually confess our sinfulness, asking the Lord to give us new hearts. Then, as cleansed children of God, we can claim the atonement given us by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our loving Father waits for our true confession and repentance.

Take a moment now to speak to God and ask him to show you anything in your life that is separating you from His love and guidance.



Prayer:
Father, I thank you so much for Jesus and all that He has done to make it possible for us to come to you in full confidence that when we pray you will hear us and forgive us. We confess that we sometimes rationalize our sinfulness and disobedience to your laws and try to pretend that our sin is not so bad, or that You don't notice them, compared to others whose sin is more open and obvious. Please forgive us now, Lord, as we truly repent from all our pretense and rationalization about our sin. Please keep our spirits sensitive to your truth, keep us daily seeking to learn from your Word and help us learn to live more and more like Jesus everyday. Amen.

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