Sometimes, at first glance, it may appear that Scriptures contradict themselves. This daily devotional looks at how God will never leave us yet be separated from us.
Nuggets
- God hasn’t left us, but we become separated from God’s spiritual graces when we sin.
- A consequence of iniquity is God not accepting our prayers.
We have been told that God never leaves us.
God Never Leaves Us
But Isaiah 59: 2 says we can be separated from God. What gives?
Separated from Grace
“But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen” (Isa. 59: 2 CSB)
Oh, yes. God is going to be perturbed at us when we are focusing on the world rather than Him. The scary thing is that Moore said that the iniquities can just be our want-to’s rather than our did’s.
Resource
Look at how many times the word you or your appears. Five times.
God/He/His is only used three times.
Our separation from God is caused by our doings, not God’s.
No, God doesn’t have to let us do whatever we want. It is more than acceptable for Him to have laws and commandments by which we should live.
We caused the separation when we chose not to obey God. It is our choice — our free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
It isn’t an internal separation. Boston noted that it is a denial of “… the influences of His grace, countenance and fellowship.” It tarnishes our sense of nearness to God.
Resource
God hasn’t left us, but we become separated from God’s spiritual graces when we sin.
God isn’t going to love us less or forego His interest in caring for us when we are separated from Him. He shows that to us when we are still non-believers.
As disciples, it is our iniquities that are separating us from God. Iniquities are sins of wanting to be like everyone else instead of God.
In other words, we want to be like the world.
Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
The world is used to identify any who has not been regenerated — in other words, has not ABCDed.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Think about Who we are dealing with here. Think of all God’s attributes.
- Eternal and Infinite
- Unchangeable and Immutable
- Self-Sufficient/Self-Existent
- Mysterious and Incomprehensible
- Unified and One
- Sovereign
- Omnipotent and Powerful
- Omniscient and All-Knowing
- Omnipresent
- A Spirit
- Transcendent
- Pure
- Three in One
- Jealous and Wrathful
- Glorious
- Beautiful
- Holy
- Perfect
- Just
- Righteousness
- Faithfulness
- True
- Love
- Gracious and Compassionate
- Merciful and Forgiving
- Providential and Caring
- Goodness
- Everything
To read a devotion in the Finding Our Center series, click on the button below.
Iniquities tarnish our character. It separates us from God’s Will.
It should break our hearts when we are separated from God. Our hearts should feel guilty because we have broken God’s laws and commandments.
Separated from Communion
“… so that he does not listen” (Isa. 59: 2 CSB)
A consequence of iniquity is God not accepting our prayers.
Oh, disciples can pray to God when they have iniquity in our hearts. If we couldn’t, how would we be able to approach God to ask for forgiveness?
But what about when we are approaching God with iniquity in our hearts without repentance?
Forgiveness is, when we ask, the act of God pardoning us because we have shown repentance for breaking His laws and commandments, which allows us to become holy as He is.
- Repentance is acknowledging our separation from God and expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to changing ourselves through obedience so that we no longer do the wrong things.
God won’t accept our prayers when we are allowing iniquities to have free rein in our lives.
Sherwood described what he saw to be God’s actions when we pray in our iniquities. He wrote, “I must lift up ‘clean’ hands, or He will turn away in righteous anger.”
Resource
South had a good explanation of why the iniquity in our hearts stops our prayers. It stops us from praying in the Spirit. When we can’t pray in the Spirit in faith, our prayers are not sincere because we are willfully disobeying God.
Resource
We are not sincere in our faith if we are being disobedient to God. We haven’t submitted our lives to Him.
If we don’t have faith, we are still living in our sins.
In reality, we are just going through the motions.
God won’t hear our prayers if we are not sincere.
Making the Connections
We know that God is a vengeful God. He will not forgive slights directed to Him — unless we ask for forgiveness.
That should have us shaking in our boots when we are knee deep in iniquities. It should bring absolute terror to our hearts.
God does not want us to follow the world. He wants us to follow Him.
How Do We Apply This?
- Be very concerned when we are living with iniquity in our hearts.
- Evaluate the status of our hearts to determine where we need to repent.
- Confess our iniquities and repent of them.
- Seek God with our whole heart.
- Rid our hearts of the sin within. Sherwood described these as sins “… of unbelief, of cherished sin, of impure desire, of malice, envy, worldliness …”
- Make sure before we start to ensure the ministries we undertake are what God wants us to do.
Resources
Father God. We acknowledge You as Sovereign Lord. We see all of Your attributes and honor You for Your perfect character. Lord, forgive us when we long for this world instead of You. Clean our hearts so that Your goodness can fill them. Help us to be sincere in our faith. Amen.
What do you think?
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