Clean Hands

This morning, I was looking up a song for a dear friend, and as I let the rest of the album play, this song came on.

And as the song played, I grabbed Evelyn and we danced across the living room.

Because the truth is...

No matter how hard I try, I cannot get the dirt off of me to be worthy enough to stand

 in the presence of the Lord. 

Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord?

Or who may stand in His holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart.

Psalm 24:1-4

But through Jesus, through His atoning sacrifice, 

my hands become clean, and my heart pure. 

That He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:27

And it's really awesome, because just last night, with a group of believers, we washed our hands together in anointing oil before we entered into prayer and worship and communion, as a symbol to remind ourselves that we have been declared clean! and worthy! by the blood of the Lamb to approach His throne and stand in His presence.

I love these lyrics from our dear friend - 

You have ripped down the veil

and ushered us in,

into Your presence!

So I CAN stand in the presence of the Lord every single day!

Yes, I screw up. I sin. We all do. 

We ask God to search our hearts and reveal the sin to us, so we can deal with them properly.
Search me and know my heart O God. See if there is any wrong thing in me.

And Christ, at the cross, paid for it ALL - past, present, and future - so we can have
clean hands and a pure heart to stand in His presence.

So yes, we danced. Danced because I don't have to try my hardest to scrub the dirt off -
Christ did it for me!
Danced, because in the presence of the Lord, there is joy! 

His Promises and Faithfulness

We spent a beautiful, glorious weekend at a condo on the beach. Even though it is only a short drive from our home, spending the weekend felt like a mini-vacation. We relaxed, enjoyed the 5th floor view,  swam, ate, laughed, and soaked up family time.

Sunday morning, I had a few moments alone on the balcony. Evelyn was still sleeping, and Michael went to play guitar at a church service on the beach. I sat, listened to the waves, breathed in the ocean air, and soaked in the presence of The Almighty. I found myself in the Psalms, and let His promises remind my heart of His faithfulness. And oh, how my heart needed the reminder. Thing after thing builds, and soon my heart and flesh grow weak.
I feel like I can't breathe. 

But then His voice, through the Scripture, through the sound of the waves, through the sweet conversation with a friend, through family time, through intercession, through grateful worship, 

cuts through and reminds me that 

I am His. 

Later that day, as we were on the bridge headed home, I was thinking about the immensity of the ocean. The strength of the waves, the vastness of it all, and I realized that at any moment, the strength of the water could overcome the shore and flood the land. But, God has everything so intricately put together, that we are confident, assured, and trusting that will not happen. He promised us in the Bible that He would never again flood the earth. He has remained faithful to that promise, and to all of the promises in the Bible, and all of the promises that He sings over His children. He even gave us a reminder of His promise - the rainbow.

He's a good daddy. 

I was deep in my thoughts about the ocean, rainbows, His promises, and I happened to glance up, and there it was - a beautiful rainbow. 

It's like God placed it there just for me - I literally had just been thinking about His promise through the rainbow! He put it there to remind me of and confirm His faithfulness in my life 

and in my little family's life. 

The truth of the rainbow is this - He is faithful. He will not go back on His word. His promises are good and true and beautiful in His time, in His will. And His will, the good and pleasing will, will be accomplished! 

It's like He said "Yes, Rachel. The world can seem weighty and immense with the pummeling waves, but look to the sky. See the rainbow? I AM here. My promises are here. Breathe Me in."

So as I breathe deep - I breathe YHWH. 

And I look to the rainbow.