Do You Have to Get Cleaned Up to Take a Bath?

One of the first worship songs that I was introduced to is called "You Are Still Holy" and it is on Rita Springer's "Created to Worship" CD. 

The lyrics are:

"Holy, You are still holy,
Even when the darkness surrounds my life
Sovereign, You are still sovereign
Even when confusion has blinded my eyes
Lord I don't deserve Your kind affection
When my unbelief has kept me from Your touch
I want my life to be a pure reflection of Your love

CHORUS:
And so I come into Your chambers
And I dance at Your feet Lord
You are my saviour, and I'm at Your mercy
All that has been in my life up to now
It all belongs to You
You are still holy

Holy, You are still holy
Even though I don't understand Your ways
Sovereign You are still sovereign
Even when my circumstances don't change
Lord I don't deserve Your tender patience
When my unbelief has kept me from Your truth
I want my life to be a sweet devotion to You

CHORUS:
And so I come into Your chambers
And I dance at Your feet Lord
You are my saviour, and I'm at Your mercy.
All that has been in my life up to now
It all just belongs to You
We all just belong to You"

I first heard this song nearly 10 years ago....Ugh...Makes me feel so old!  But amazingly, the lyrics and what they mean to me have not changed.

It is amazing to me that we can enter in to His chambers at any time and share anything with Him.  What an amazing sacrifice that Jesus made!  

We can come before Him, no matter where life has tossed and turned us, and still cry out to Him and be restored in His presence.  There are no requirements...No prerequisites.  Just show up because He desires you and knows you.

During my time as an intern at the St. Louis Dream Center, I spent a lot of time doing street ministry.  It was probably the thing that scared me the most because I honestly did not know how to approach people and just talk to them.  But, as He often does, God provides the grace to walk into situations where you know you can't stand alone and He leads the way.

There was many a cold Friday night spent in the Dream Center van getting in and out to pass out food, bibles, warm drinks and sometimes even clothing. 

One particular night, we ended up at a old motor lodge like they had in the 50's.  There was a booth in the center where the clerk sat.  He was secluded by bulletproof glass and burglar bars....Tells ya where we were at!

We checked in with him, gave him some food and then proceeded to go and talk to people.  I don't remember how I came upon this young woman, but I still remember her and her husband very clearly.

The men on our team were praying for her husband to become stronger and healthier so that he could find work.  It seems they were living out of the motor lodge barely existing.

She was standing with the women in our team and I was asked to pray for her.  I don't remember what I said or how I prayed....Only God does.  What I do remember is this.....After the prayer, we all stood in a group waiting for her husband. 

The temperature that night was SO COLD!  It was the kind of chill that takes your breath away.  As I stood and waited, I continued to talk to her and realized that she had no gloves.   So, I offerred her my gloves.

Her first response....

"No, no...I can't take those.....They are yours!"

My response....

"No, please take them.  I would love for you to have them.  It's so cold!"

Her response.....

A sluggish "Okay"

When it was time to leave, she came over and handed me the gloves back.  I looked at her and told her they were hers to keep.  She said, "Oh...You don't want them back now because I am so dirty."

I reassured her that they were a gift and hugged her.  But I was so saddened by her words. Somewhere along the way, she bought into the belief that all her mistakes and/or poor choices had made her "dirty".  Too dirty to receive a gift.

In Psalm 139, God tells us that there is no where we can go and nothing we can do to leave his presence.  He is with us always and we were created by Him.  We are not a suprise to God. 

Moreover, we are never too dirty to enter into His presence.  Jesus paid the price for us.  By His blood we are cleansed and by His sacrifice we can know our Creator.

Father, I thank you for sending your only Son to save me and to bring me back to you.  I thank you that even in the times when I feel so destroyed by this world that I can always run into your chambers and seek your face.  

I thank you Father that I can once again do what I did as a small child....I can look up to my parent and say, "Hold you!  Hold you!!" 

Most of all, I thank you that you are always there to lift me up!