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. 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. 3 And they were
calling to one another: "Holy, holy,
holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole
earth is full of his glory."
4
At the sound of their voices the
doorposts and thresholds shook and the
temple was filled with smoke.
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."
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. 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."
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!"
9 He said, "Go and tell this
people: " 'Be ever hearing, but never
understanding; be ever seeing, but never
perceiving.'
VERSE: Grow in
the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. --2 Peter 3:18
Thought:
(Sent in by Marvin Williams) As you
place your order at a popular fast-food
restaurant, the cashier asks that
familiar question: "Would you like to
Biggie Size it?" In essence, he is
asking, "Do you want more of what you're
getting?"
The cashiers at that
restaurant remind me of the way God
works. When we come into His presence,
He asks us: "Would you like to increase
your understanding of Me today?" Read
Isaiah 6:1-9 again and you will see
several areas God desires to enlarge in
us.
First, I believe God wants
to "Biggie Size" our understanding of
His holiness. Through a painful event in
his life, Isaiah saw the Lord high and
lifted up. During this encounter, God
enlarged Isaiah's understanding of His
moral excellence that unifies His
attributes and is expressed through His
actions, setting Him apart from all
others. Isaiah encountered the holiness
of God.
I also believe God wants
to expand our understanding of our
sinfulness. When Isaiah saw God's
holiness, he immediately understood the
reality of his own sin (v.5). After we
see God as He is--holy, perfect, and
righteous--we then see ourselves as we
really are: unholy, self-deceiving, and
sinful.
Then, God wants to
enlarge our understanding of His
complete forgiveness and cleansing
(vv.6-7). Only when we understand the
depth of our sin can we appreciate and
accept forgiveness and cleansing from
God. God's forgiveness is so complete
that He removes our sins from us "as far
as the east is from the west" (Psalm
103:12).
Finally, God wants to
increase our understanding of our
personal mission (Isaiah 6:8-9). God
loves His people and wants them to know
Him. Isaiah's encounter with God led him
to make a declaration of availability
and commitment to reach out to others
and to see to it that they experienced
God as well.
We all have the
choice of whether we want to Biggie Size
our understanding of God. Let's choose
to draw closer and go deeper than we
ever have before.
Questions to consider:
***What does God want to Biggie Size
in my spiritual walk?
***What
keeps me from deepening my commitment to
the Lord?
Encounters with God
enlarge understanding of Him.
Links: (When avail. copy & paste into
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