When King Uzziah died, Isaiah went into the temple and God gave Him a life-changing vision. He saw the seraphims, who declared the holiness of God. Then "the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke (God's glory)." Isaiah's moment of truth began at this point. It was a moment of realization and confession: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Because of this vision of the holiness of God, Isaiah realized that he was not what he should be, and that others were in the same boat. He then confessed his sin of "unclean lips." People will never come to that moment of realization of their imperfections, or to confession, until they have an encounter with God. That encounter will probably not be as profound as Isaiah's, but it needs to happen. This is what we hope for in our church services. We pray that people will have an encounter with God as we pray, sing, give and preach. It is wonderful when that happens. We also pray for this when we visit people in their homes and witness to them, or wherever we encounter them.
The encounter next moved to forgiveness and cleansing. One of the seraphims flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand and laid it on his lips and said, "Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." This is what such an encounter is all about. It needs to take place in people who are not believers and it also needs to take place with people who are believers. We always stand in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The encounter next moved to Isaiah's positive response: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." The encounter turned into a challenge to serve God, as it always will. Maybe more people will go out and witness and minister when more people have a dynamic encounter with God. Let's pray for that to happen in our lives and in the lives of others. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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