Send to Kindleby Jim Hughes
Is. 6:5 Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”
The proper response to being near to God is repentance. The closer we get to God, the more we should recognize our sinfulness and need for Christ. We should approach God with fear and trembling because we know we are not worthy. We are not able to withstand His holiness. We can only approach Him in Christ. Only the righteous and holy heart of Christ is acceptable to God. Only Christ is good enough. We are made right with God only when we are touched by the Master’s hand. Only Jesus can take away our sin, our guilt, and our shame.
We are invited to come boldly before the throne of God, but we dare not accept the invitation without Christ as our Savior, mediator, advocate, and Lord. We must stay connected with Christ in order for us to have an audience with God. He who is guilty of sin will never be allowed to approach the throne of God. We must come before Him with broken hearts because of our sins and confess them to our Lord. There is no other way to be made holy enough to approach God. Without holiness, no one will see God.
How connected are you with Christ today? Are you staying in the Word like you ought? Are you meditating on it first and foremost for your soul’s sake? Are you taking the time to pray like you ought for your soul’s sake? Are you feeding your mind on those things that build up your soul instead of tearing it down? Are you striving to avoid all that is damaging to your soul?
You will never have a proper understanding of God in His holiness until you have a proper understanding of what it means for you to live in Christ and for Christ to live in you. He is our holiness before God.
About the Author:
Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.
C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.
I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.