There is such a war going on in my spirit in recent days. I can sense Satan desperately trying to pull me away from that to which God has called me—speaking and teaching the Word of God. He WILL NOT win that battle!! At the same time I hear the Holy Spirit of God calling me to pursue a deeper personal holiness.
The Spirit is also at work in each of the other ladies who have been invited to be part of the speaker team for Speaking Thru Me Ministries with regard to consecrating ourselves to the work that God has for us. Each of us is pursuing holiness and consecration in a manner consistent with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 6 has been the passage that the Lord has used to focus my attention on the pursuit of holiness to which He has called me. In verses 1 through 8 we find these words:
Isa 6:1 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.
Isa 6:2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
Isa 6:3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isa 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 “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.”
Isa 6:6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Isa 6:7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Isa 6:8 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!”
A couple of things really penetrated my heart and soul from this passage. We see the seraphim, who are angelic creatures, with their faces and their feet covered in the presence of Jehovah. These seraphim are created, sinless creatures who live to serve and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Did you see that? They are without sin, yet they must cover their faces so they will not gaze directly at the glory of God and they must cover their feet, “acknowledging their lowliness even though engaged in divine service”. (quote from MacArthur Study Bible NKJV study notes on Isaiah 6: 2).
Good grief, if an angel must take precautions to reverence the holiness of God how much more humility and reverence should I, a sinful woman, practice as I serve our God! I am just blown away when I think about the fact that He, the Sovereign Creator of the Universe, would even allow me to live one moment past my first breath, let alone, show me the grace and favor of allowing me to serve Him and the body of Christ.
Look with me now at Isaiah’s words in verse 5. His glimpse into the throne room of God has given him a brand new perspective on his own sorry state of affairs. He has viewed Perfect Holiness and now he realizes that his heart is desperately sinful. He knows that whatever is in the heart spews forth from the lips.
The Holy Spirit gave me a very personal reminder of this passage last week and my heart was broken at my sin. There are few things that I hate on this earth more than a lie. I think I would rather someone steal from me than lie to me. I simply detest lying and make a conscious effort to always tell the truth. I went to my nephew, Parker’s, baseball game where he was pitching one evening. The game started late and if you know me at all, you know I am absolutely NOT a night person. I watched half the game and decided to go home because I still had much to do. I had to pass the dugout where Parker had just come in from pitching on my way out. He saw me leaving and asked, “Are you leaving?” Before I even knew what I had said, these words came out of my mouth, ”Yes, I have to go home and get Uncle Greg some supper.” He said, “OK” and I left. Problem was Greg was eating supper at a meeting he was attending and I knew that.
Before I got to my car the Holy Spirit brought conviction down on my head so hard that I felt like my spine would be crushed. I thought, “Where in the world did that come from?” I was brokenhearted that I had done the very thing that I despise. Immediately I wept before the Lord and begged Him to forgive me and He did. Praise Jesus, there is no sin that His blood will not cover if we only ask!! He also required that I go to my nephew, confess my sin and ask for his forgiveness. While I was grieved that I had sinned against my Lord, I was also horrified that I had blatantly compromised my witness to my nephew who knows Jesus as his Savior.
I understood this passage from Isaiah in a whole new light. I am a woman of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. The uncleanness of my heart had spewed forth from my lips. The Lord led me to this passage in Isaiah immediately after this incident to help me regain my perspective of His holiness, my sinfulness and my constant need of His cleansing.
The most beautiful part of this chapter is found in verses 7-8 where God not only cleanses Isaiah of his sin, but also sends Isaiah out to do kingdom work. He has done the same thing for you and for me. Despite our fallen human state, God offers us cleansing from our sin and then, turns around and uses us for His Glory!! When we see our sin against the backdrop of God’s holiness we can do little else but fall on our faces in repentance and then worship the One who offers us cleansing.
