Entering the Holy of Holies - Part 2

"Entering the "Holy of Holies" - the "Most Holy Place"' - Part 2 When Christ declared from the cross, "It is finished" (Matthew 27:51) the veil (or curtain) of the temple that divided the "Holy Place" and the "Holy of Holies" was torn or "rend" from top to bottom opening the way for all to come into God's "Holy of Holies", His presence through Jesus Christ. God desires a personal relationship and intimate fellowship with each one of us.
Read Hebrews 10: 19 - 22 - The shedding of Christ's blood brought "the Way" for that relationship - the tearing of His flesh provided the tearing of the veil (curtain) which kept us from the opportunity to actually come into God's presence with boldness (v. 19) and have the intimacy with God that He desires. What is this saying to us? To you personally today?
So with nothing preventing our entering into to this personal relationship - - -Why do we stay in the outer courts and not enter into the "Holy of Holies", "the Most Holy Place" of God's Presence in our relationship with Him? What makes us unwilling to enter into His presence to live in victory, but instead just remain right where we are, just in the Holy Place, but not entering into the holiness of seeking His face - never experiencing the awesomeness of His presence daily - moment by moment - in our lives? We have trusted in Christ as Savior, but still are missing the peace of His Presence and Sovereignty.
In reading ThePursuit of God by A.W. Tozer, I see there are three things needed to begin and pursue this journey of entering and experiencing the awesomeness of God's Presence...
First, I need to have the desire to enter into His Presence. Tozer writes, "Ransomed men (women) need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies. God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there." This is a conscious experience, a spiritual experience to enter the Presence of God. The greatest fact about the tabernacle or temple was that Jehovah was there. "Jehovah-shammah" means the God who is here.
To go beyond the veil "can never come from mere doctrinal knowledge of God" Tozer says, but "to penetrate, to push in sensitive living experience into the holy Presence, is a privilege open to the child of God." So why do we hold back and not enter into this intimacy with God? What hinders us?
Tozer calls it, "the veil in our hearts". This has not been taken away as the veil of the temple was, but remains "hiding the face of God from us".


djm