Psalm 15

Lord, who can dwell in Your tent?
Who can live on Your holy mountain?

This is a very good question.
People ask – How can I get to heaven?
You may even ask – what is heaven?
and I don’t think this is talking about heaven.

When Moses was tending the sheep of his father-in-law in Midian, he saw a strange bush burning yet not burning up. So, he went to check it out. From the bush, God called out to him – “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said “Here I am”

And

Exodus 3:5 “Do not come closer,” He said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then He continued, “I am the God of your father,[c] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

All through the story of the exodus, they mention the mountain of God, and the cloud of God coming down on the mountain, like fire, like smoke, just awesome. Only Moses was allowed to go up, until some elders were permitted. Joshua, Moses’s successor was permitted to go up eventually.

Exodus 19: 12 Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death.

During the journey, God decides to have them build a tabernacle, and His fire and smoke descend on it, and He dwells with His people.

Exodus 40: 34 The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Just prior to this, God gave instructions for Aaron and his sons to be cleansed to be priests. In Numbers it tells of detailed instructions for the cleansing and purification of the priests/Levites.

Habakkuk 1:13 a says “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.”

God is HOLY – and calls us to be holy.

Leviticus 20:26 You are to be holy to Me because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine.

But, we are not dealing with the Mount Sinai the Israelites journeyed to.
We are not talking about the tabernacle, or the temple.
Yet – we still can learn from this question.

Who can enter the Kingdom of God?
1 Corinthians 6: 9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.

So, that’s who can’t.
Psalm 15 goes on:

15:2 The one who lives honestly, practices righteousness,
and acknowledges the truth in his heart—
3 who does not slander with his tongue,
who does not harm his friend
or discredit his neighbor,
4 who despises the one rejected by the Lord[a]
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his word whatever the cost,
5 who does not lend his money at interest
or take a bribe against the innocent—
the one who does these things will never be moved.

It seems clear that God wants His children to be pure, holy, consecrated so that they will not be moved – drawn away from Him. The problem is that we cannot live perfectly – we sin.

Romans 3: 10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Psalm 14:1-3
Psalm 53:1-3
Isaiah 64:6

In Genesis 6 – God recognizes the wickedness of men/women on the earth, and decides to wipe them out.

5 When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”

In this case specifically,

Genesis 6: 8 Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord.

God provided a deliverer. Noah.
While the Israelites were enslaved to the evil, pantheistic Egyptians – God provided a deliverer. Moses.

Let’s see how this lines up with what Paul said in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 6:11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

What?

Isaiah 53:6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

This gave us the righteousness to be able to enter into the presence of God. This delivered us from our sins. God made a way. BUT…

Who is HIM?

Romans 3: 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 6 goes into more detail about how we sinners have been set free from our enslavement to sin. God sent a Redeemer – Jesus Christ.
It talks about baptism as our outward expression of embracing the death burial and resurrection that Christ gave for us. (Romans 6:1-7)
Romans 6: 8-14 talks about how, in Christ, sin is no longer our master – we’ve been set free.

Romans 6: 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 6: 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

And one of my favorite verses – such a great promise connected to a serious warning:

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.

So back to the original question – Who can enter God’s presence?

John 3: 16 “For God loved the world in this way:[j] He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

So, how? through Who?

Hebrews 4: 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

In the Old Testament – they needed a priest to go before the Lord for them.
We have Jesus – He takes us INTO the holy of holies with Him. He stands between us, and the judgement of our sin, so that we can come boldly into the House of God.

We cannot fulfill the requirements of being perfect, or holy, or righteous. The two lists above are just a few of the requirements to live a holy life!

Ephesians 2: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

What other god has given himself to make his followers his children? The bible says joint-heirs with Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus IS God. And, Yahweh, God, has made us joint-heirs with Him, by His crucifixion and resurrection. We can’t do it. BUT HE DID IT FOR US!

HOW?

Romans 10: 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Finally, let’s not be like the Israelites that tested God over and over in the wilderness after He delivered them.

Psalm 95: 6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,[a]
as you did that day at Massah[b] in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

I wrote a little bit about Psalm 15 in Widom and Praise day 15. It includes some songs for this Psalm.
~~~~~~~

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links:

• Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
• Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze

My heart has always gone out to the marginalized, underserved, broken, wounded and neglected.  Since Jim’s death, I have not been able to give to these ministries as we used to with his income.  So, my gift to them now is to speak their names to others that may be able to give, or pray for these ministries that I have seen with my own eyes grow, and grow others into their ministry and calling for the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

• A Mission that Jim and I have been supporting for many years in the Philippines, in General Santos City, on the island of Mindanao, in a poverty-stricken area is Naomi’s Heart Mission. I have known the founder, Kristi Ward,  since I was a little taller than knee high to a grasshopper. Consider sponsoring a child, a college student, a feeding – many ways to give.
• A mission that grew out of Naomi’s Heart is Obed’s House Ministries. The daughter of one of my high school friends visited the Phillipines and fell in love with the street children. Meredith (Wood) Docena not only built a home for these neglected children, she found her love, Avery, and they have two biological children. Mia and Tegan, that are growing up in this wonderful environment.
• Another mission that grew out of Naomi’s Heart is Living Stone Ambassadors of Hope, founded by Becky and Marty Mingus. They teach and preach the gospel, but also give pratical help to teach families build sustainable income.
• The son of a high school friend ministers with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. Matt Plant and his wife Alexi, as well as their two children, are posted at Bowling Green State University to minister to the students.   If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.