Psalm 6:6 – “I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.”

This would be a great day to cast off all hindering shackles and walk into a state of total 100% surrender and expectation!   As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, several things gripped my heart.  In Ezekiel 9:4, we see how important it is to be grieved over sin (ours and others).   Sin should keep us awake at night, lamenting it!

In Ezekiel 8:12, God showed the prophet something relatable to our day. The elders (leaders, pastors, teachers, prophets) were hiding sin. Their public persona was not who they were in their hearts.  This refers to hidden idolatry!  What is an idol of the heart? It could include a divided heart, a passion for fame, fortune, or pleasure.  Any heart, especially if an elder’s is not 100% submitted, is a breeding ground for idolatry.

That even includes the need to be up front and be “the man.”  I’ve seen people launch ministries not because of need or the directive of God, but because they could find no other way to be the focal point.  Some did not even realize that was their motive. Why we do something is always the key!

Remember the account of the two groups standing in judgment.  One group was blessed and commended because of their heart, serving with no thought of self and serving others, not even realizing that their efforts were serving Jesus. The other group did exploits, but for the wrong reason, and failed.  God’s works done in God’s way will receive God’s provision.

Mark 4:36 (NASB) makes a strange statement.  Jesus instructed the disciples to go to the other side.  It says, “And leaving the multitude, they took Him (Jesus) along with them, JUST AS HE WAS, in the boat…”  Just as He was?

That stirred two thoughts in my heart.  Do we see and receive Him “just as He is” or as we want Him to be?  Do we make Jesus fit our religious, traditional, or ideological picture, or do we receive Him “just as He is?”

Remember His question, “Whom do you say that I AM?”   Who is He, and how is He to us?   He is loving but also just.   He is tender but also firm.  He is merciful but also holy. He is not our buddy; He is our God!

Think about the multitude of sick people in Mark 6:56. They wanted to touch His garments, and as they did, Healing came! Touching Jesus brings the touch of Jesus. We want Him to touch us, but are we pressing in to touch Him?

The world needs the purging fire of God to cleanse, heal, and restore it. That won’t happen until the church has been cleansed. That won’t happen until the leaders are restored to righteousness. A cleansed church will challenge an unrighteous world and reap a harvest! But we all have to die to ourselves and make it all about Him! Any smidgen of self-serving is leaven and will be purged. Otherwise, we may find ourselves standing before Him, hearing depart!  Let’s give our all to Jesus! Let’s be the glorious church! Let’s be His representatives on the Earth.

This would be a great day to become who He says we are supposed to be!

LORD, help us to become so troubled by sin that it keeps us awake and out of the clutches of sin.   Help us to see You as You are!