"He was crushed for the

evil we did. The punishment,

which made us well, was given to him."

Isaiah 53:5

"He accepted the shame."

Hebrews 12:2

Jesus leads us into the presence of God.

The Face of God

Bayless Conley

The psalmist says in Psalm 30:7,

You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

One thing we should never want to experience is for God to hide His face, because the face of God represents His favor, friendship, and fellowship.

Now there is only one thing that causes God to hide His face from us. It is found in Isaiah 59:1-2,

Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

Sin is the one thing that causes God's face to be hidden. The Bible says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, which means the sin of mankind had hidden God's face.

But that is not the end of the story, thank goodness! In Isaiah 50:6 we are told,

"I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting."

Because Jesus did not hide His face from shame and spitting, because He took your place and died for your sins, God's face can shine upon you.

He could have hidden His face; He could have avoided the whole crucifixion, but He didn't. He bore a shame that was not His as God the Father laid the sin of the world on Him.

Because Jesus did not hide His face, the face of God need not be hidden from any of us. The light of God's countenance can shine upon every one of us, and we can indeed be the friends of God.

Thank you, Jesus, for what you did!

Visit the Answers with Bayless Conley website for more ways to Connect with God.

Simple Devotion - Misty Edwards

Beanscot writes:

This song is from Misty Edwards' "Eternity" album. I had a dear friend in mind when I put together this slide show. It's an encouragement for her and any others who are experiencing their own "dark night of faith" to continue looking to Jesus. He sees your devotion.

The Scripture is Ruth 1: 16-18:

16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

The lyrics: