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Friday, August 12, 2005
The barren woman who prepared the prophet's room for Elijah in 2 Kings 4 was rewarded with a son. When satan took him away in premature death, God sent the prophet to raise him back to life. satan cannot steal what God has birthed, but God will only birth things to people who make room for the miraculous by faith. When God visits someone, He causes new and precious things to be born. And even if satan tries to kill them, God will move Heaven and earth to breathe life into what He has birthed.
Saul was a king after the flesh; David was a king after the Spirit. Saul was king chosen because he stood head and shoulders above everybody else(according to outward appearance and qualifications), and he "appeared" to be the right one. He was named king only because the people pressed God for "second best". Saul quickly lost his God-given mandate to rule by choosing to please men by his actions instead of God. There is no room for politician in the stewardship of God. David, on the other hand, was God's chosen king, a man who had been groomed all his life through intimate relationship. When God ripped the kingdom out of Saul's hand to put it into David's hand, David said in essence through his actions, "We are not going to pursue God in the fleshly ways any longer".
I have preached too many sermons that may have been anointed but didn't usher in the very presence of the One we all long for. Maybe I was doing the best I knew how to do, but all I could do was muster up a faint scent of Him, the merest hint of something immeasurably better and powerful. I'm thankful for the anointing, but now I know that God has even more for us--Himself. I struggled and worked at the ministry for decades, but now I've discovered that when the weighty presence of God comes in, everything I can do pales in comparison.
When God comes on the scene in His manifested presence, everything--sinners and saints, rich and poor, wise and foolish, young and old alike-- everything falls down in awe of His glory. We must move from asking for anointing to pursuing His manifest presence, the glory. Anointing empowers the flesh--you preach or sing better. Glory flattens flesh. Go for the glory.
"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD." 1 Kings 8:10-11
If we really want the holiness of God and the fullness of His glory to dwell in our midst, then we need to find out how to properly handle the holy, God's glory. We know that this is where the flesh has to fall off, but what is God's way to do it? Are we willing to pay the price and obey God's voice at all costs? Are we willing to learn anew how to handle the holy things of God? Our hunger is too deep for one meal to satisfy us. We are after more than His visitation. We want God's visitation to become a habitation.
Never take God's holy presence for granted, and never assume that if no one is crying, shaking, prophesying away, then God isn't at work. Be careful when you stifle a yawn of boredom and complacency. God doesn't always have to manifest Himself in things seen by the eye of the flesh.
We need to live with a new awareness of His constant presence. I want to be careful so it won't become so common to me that I begin to think I can casually reach out and touch His holiness with my flesh at any point. I want Him at any cost, and I will not let the sacred things become common to me.
David and the Israelites learned how to honor and "handle" or steward God's glory manifested in the ark of the covenant. In fact, they even took the ark into battle with them later on. God is calling you and me to carry His presence into battle with us every day as living arks or tabernacles of the Most High God. He wants us to dwell with Him in intimate communion--but first, the flesh must die.
If we allow God to take us through the complete process of repentance and brokenness without hindering or quenching His Spirit, then when the weighty presence of God, comes among us and upon us, then we will be able to carry it without fear because we will be walking in the purity of Jesus and our flesh will be dead, covered by the blood of the Lamb.
I have an aunt who "gave up drinking Coke" when she was seeking the presence of God in her life. She really enjoyed drinking Coca-Cola, but she prayde, "God, if You will visit me, I'll never drink another one." God took her at her word.
I used to laugh about it as a kid and tease her as I waved a Coke in front of her. "Here, want a Coke?" She would just laugh and say, "No, I don't want a Coke." Even then, that laugh of hers always left me feeling like she knew something I didn't. Now, I understand. Nothing is worth holding on to so hard that you can't hold Him.
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Eveline pops at |12:02 PM|
Captivate my heart, dear Jesus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The barren woman who prepared the prophet's room for Elijah in 2 Kings 4 was rewarded with a son. When satan took him away in premature death, God sent the prophet to raise him back to life. satan cannot steal what God has birthed, but God will only birth things to people who make room for the miraculous by faith. When God visits someone, He causes new and precious things to be born. And even if satan tries to kill them, God will move Heaven and earth to breathe life into what He has birthed.
Saul was a king after the flesh; David was a king after the Spirit. Saul was king chosen because he stood head and shoulders above everybody else(according to outward appearance and qualifications), and he "appeared" to be the right one. He was named king only because the people pressed God for "second best". Saul quickly lost his God-given mandate to rule by choosing to please men by his actions instead of God. There is no room for politician in the stewardship of God. David, on the other hand, was God's chosen king, a man who had been groomed all his life through intimate relationship. When God ripped the kingdom out of Saul's hand to put it into David's hand, David said in essence through his actions, "We are not going to pursue God in the fleshly ways any longer".
I have preached too many sermons that may have been anointed but didn't usher in the very presence of the One we all long for. Maybe I was doing the best I knew how to do, but all I could do was muster up a faint scent of Him, the merest hint of something immeasurably better and powerful. I'm thankful for the anointing, but now I know that God has even more for us--Himself. I struggled and worked at the ministry for decades, but now I've discovered that when the weighty presence of God comes in, everything I can do pales in comparison.
When God comes on the scene in His manifested presence, everything--sinners and saints, rich and poor, wise and foolish, young and old alike-- everything falls down in awe of His glory. We must move from asking for anointing to pursuing His manifest presence, the glory. Anointing empowers the flesh--you preach or sing better. Glory flattens flesh. Go for the glory.
"And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD." 1 Kings 8:10-11
If we really want the holiness of God and the fullness of His glory to dwell in our midst, then we need to find out how to properly handle the holy, God's glory. We know that this is where the flesh has to fall off, but what is God's way to do it? Are we willing to pay the price and obey God's voice at all costs? Are we willing to learn anew how to handle the holy things of God? Our hunger is too deep for one meal to satisfy us. We are after more than His visitation. We want God's visitation to become a habitation.
Never take God's holy presence for granted, and never assume that if no one is crying, shaking, prophesying away, then God isn't at work. Be careful when you stifle a yawn of boredom and complacency. God doesn't always have to manifest Himself in things seen by the eye of the flesh.
We need to live with a new awareness of His constant presence. I want to be careful so it won't become so common to me that I begin to think I can casually reach out and touch His holiness with my flesh at any point. I want Him at any cost, and I will not let the sacred things become common to me.
David and the Israelites learned how to honor and "handle" or steward God's glory manifested in the ark of the covenant. In fact, they even took the ark into battle with them later on. God is calling you and me to carry His presence into battle with us every day as living arks or tabernacles of the Most High God. He wants us to dwell with Him in intimate communion--but first, the flesh must die.
If we allow God to take us through the complete process of repentance and brokenness without hindering or quenching His Spirit, then when the weighty presence of God, comes among us and upon us, then we will be able to carry it without fear because we will be walking in the purity of Jesus and our flesh will be dead, covered by the blood of the Lamb.
I have an aunt who "gave up drinking Coke" when she was seeking the presence of God in her life. She really enjoyed drinking Coca-Cola, but she prayde, "God, if You will visit me, I'll never drink another one." God took her at her word.
I used to laugh about it as a kid and tease her as I waved a Coke in front of her. "Here, want a Coke?" She would just laugh and say, "No, I don't want a Coke." Even then, that laugh of hers always left me feeling like she knew something I didn't. Now, I understand. Nothing is worth holding on to so hard that you can't hold Him.
The God Chasers
Eveline pops at |12:02 PM|