Follow Jesus, He Will Make You Clean – Andrea Cocker

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to believe God's grace for other people but completely struggle to receive it for yourself? Many of us carry a quiet, ungodly belief that tells us we need to clean ourselves up before we can approach God. We try to distract Jesus by bringing Him all the shiny things in our lives. We show Him the parts we have put together while hiding our deepest, most shameful struggles over in the dark. We sit in isolation, punishing ourselves a little bit, believing that if we wait long enough and try harder, He might eventually calm down and accept us back into His presence.We have been taught a very dangerous half truth that a holy God will not tolerate sin in His presence. But the reality we see all through scripture teaches us a much faster way back into a right relationship with our Father. From Isaiah standing terrified in the temple with unclean lips to the isolated leper begging to be made clean, we see a Saviour who is not threatened or contaminated by our mess. Jesus passionately moves toward the exact places we want to hide. His holiness is contagious. When we step out from under the old covenant mindset of striving and waiting, we discover that coming to Him with our unedited reality is actually the very place we get burned pure.Come out of hiding, posture your heart to receive His spirit, and step fully into the freedom of being held by a Saviour who is entirely willing to make you clean.