3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol.
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
This is from Psalms 24. Who gets to stand in the Lord’s presence? It is he who has clean hands and a pure heart. We see that repeated in James. He urges that we draw near to God that He may draw near to us. But it comes with an order!
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:8 ESV
We can be in God’s presence if we are washed clean of our sins and our hearts are fully devoted to God, single minded.
If we have sin, we come before the throne bowed down. We come before Him knowing our need for mercy, forgiveness, cleansing.
When the Lord has lifted our heads, we come before Him knowing we’ve received mercy, forgiveness, and cleansing. We are blameless before Him. Our heads are lifted high. We are robed in righteousness and crowned with loving devotion and seated in the heavenly places.
There can be no continuing in sin and maintaining our position in the heavenlies. But, when we repent and reject all sin and allow Him to cleanse us, we can live in a continual state of blamelessness. When He shows us something in us that is not of Him, we don’t hide, but we thank Him! We confess and repent and receive that enduring mercy and cleansing and remain in His presence, today and always.
The Tribulation 