A Path to His Presence

A Path to His Presence | Devotional

Scripture Reading: John 1:1– 9
key Verse: Psalm 32:5

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Do you know people who attend church every Sunday and profess the love of Christ, yet do not express His love to others? Could one of those people be you?

It is easy to embrace the intellectual theology of Christ’s love, but quite another thing to let that love flow in and through your heart to a needy world.

One of the primary reasons people fail to experience God’s love flowing through them is that a barrier of bitterness and resentment obstructs it.

When you are bitter, you build a wall around your heart to protect yourself from pain. If you build it high enough, you may become entirely isolated from the world.

Safe, but isolated. Your protective mechanism eventually leads to loneliness and ineffectiveness.

The root of this condition sometimes can be traced to an unforgiving spirit.

When you enclose yourself in a cell of unforgiveness, you work, fellowship, and even worship behind bars. But this need not be the case.

We know from Scripture that Jesus came to set the captives free. He did so through a divine act of love and forgiveness.

The power of Christ’s strength to forgive even the most degenerate is available to you, if you are willing to accept it.

If you are captive to your own anger and hostility, allow the Lord to exchange those attitudes for the love you need in order to forgive.

In doing so, you yourself will experience the love of your heavenly Father and will, at the same time, become a vessel for sharing it with others—even those who hurt you.

Forgiveness is a pathway into the presence of God.