Isaiah 6:1-8 – In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

THEME OF THE DAY: HOW WILL WE KNOW? The Bible talks a lot about being in the presence of the Lord both now spiritually and in the future literally. The presence of the Lord was dominant in the Old Testament history of God’s people leaving Egypt for the promised land. In the New Testament and under the New Covenant, we find numerous promises of our Lord of Him being present with us. The Christian life itself is defined as walking with the Lord which implies a sense of His presence. And when it comes to this sense of His presence that doesn’t mean a constant felt sense of His presence. That is called heaven and sight. We live in the earth and by faith. But it is important for us to recognize the presence of the Lord. Do you recall the story of Jacob in Genesis 28? He left Beersheba and went toward Haran. Night came and he laid down for some sleep. He had an encounter with God in a dream. When he woke-up, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16).

As we daily read our Bibles, weekly attend our church services, and seek the Lord in prayer, how will we know that we are truly encountering God? There is a danger of having an emotional experience and claim it is spiritual or of the Lord. It could be, but it must be tested by God’s Word. The encounter in today’s scripture of Isaiah with the Lord is a great place to know if we are meeting the Lord. There are four Biblical truths affirming we are indeed encountering the living God.

First, we will have an unmistakable awareness that we are in the Presence of Someone not at all like us and is holy, holy, holy. We will be in a state of awe which leads to the second truth if we are encountering the Lord; a real understanding of who we are – sinners who are so far removed from the One we are in the presence of. We will be humbled and undone, even crying as Isaiah, “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”.

The third truth in a true encounter with the Lord will be the experience of His love and grace. Notice what happened immediately after Isaiah acknowledges his true condition before the Lord. A seraphim comes as a messenger of love and grace sending forth the message of forgiveness. A true encounter with the Lord always takes us to being overwhelmed with humility and His love. And the final truth verifying we have really met the Lord is we surrender ourselves, all of ourselves, to Him to be used by Him in whatever and wherever He wants – “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” This will always be the response of the child of God who meets his or her God.

So how will we know if we are meeting the Lord in our quiet times and churches on the Lord’s Day? We will encounter a holy, holy, holy Being, not like us that produces within us awe and humility leading to the experience of His incredible love and moving us to total surrender to Him to be used by Him.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for Your willingness to reveal Yourself to me.”

QUOTE: “We will know the presence of the Lord by the awareness of being with Someone nothing like ourselves.”