In times past, when I thought about the Genesis account of creation my attention seemed to always gravitate towards the fall of man in the Garden. Questions would immediately flood my mind such as: “How could Adam fall like he did?” “Why didn’t Adam just run the devil out of the Garden?” All my attention seemed to be focused on man and what he did and didn’t do.
Something has begun to change in the way I am looking at that entire account of creation. My focus of attention has begun to shift from man and his failures to God and His Love. Now, instead of trying to see everything through man’s eyes, I am catching glimpses through God’s eyes. Believe me, when you can finally start appreciating the depth of God’s love for man and stop just focusing on man’s failure you are on your way to knowing your Father more intimately than ever before.
Man is always so “I” focused that when he looks at Adam he identifies with Adam’s failure. He loses sight of the fact that God’s greatness and His abounding love for man is on display as clearly in the Garden as ever. For a moment, take your eyes off man and look at God. See Him for who He is. Stop trying to measure God with terms that only exist in this world. See Him for who He is beyond the four walls of this creation.
God exists outside the limits of time and space. This means that if you had the ability to look in each direction, past and future, you would never arrive at a place where God has not already existed forever. God is omnipresent. You might ask yourself why it is that you can not see a God who exists everywhere and the answer would be that He exists in a realm that operates just beyond our ability to see with the naked eye. He lives just beyond the speed of light making it impossible for man to see Him. So, at some point man became subject to the speed of light barrier and his ability to see an omnipresent God stopped. We do see instances where for a brief moment man has been allowed to experience travel at God’s speed in the accounts of people like Philip who were translated. Philip moved from one place to another instantly because he was allowed to briefly experience moving above the speed of light.
Likewise, God has no need for a wristwatch. Time exists in our world because God created a planet that revolves around a sun. Prior to the fall when everything still existed in a state of perfection and there was no decay man would have lived indefinitely and not suffered the effects of the aging process. The introduction of sin changed all that. The instant Adam fell all of creation immediately began a count down process to total destruction. All the while as creation continues its steady decent to destruction, God remains unchanged, constant, as He has always been. That is, except for the fact that the second member of the Godhead stepped out of His realm and into ours. It wasn’t that God tried to coexist with man in His “original” form. That would have been like trying to mix oil and water. They just don’t mix. One member of the Godhead, Jesus, willingly stepped out of His realm never to return in the same way again. He stepped out of His realm that He always, always, always existed in to become one of His own creation living in a world set for destruction. Here is what you must see. You must see the reason God was willing to do what He did. What motivation could be so strong that God Himself willingly set this creation into motion knowing forever in both directions that the instant He did it He would eventually be required to pay the price Himself for the failure of His own creation? Only one motivation could be so strong. Love. God does not have love God is Love. Love spoke the creation into being. Love placed man in the Garden to fellowship with Him. Love even set into motion the plan of redemption way back in the Garden when God told satan that one would come who would “…bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) Man had just betrayed God and yet immediately Love provided man with the way back to Himself.
To think, all of this, all of what we know and see was done for the sake of Love. Love that goes far beyond what fallen man calls love. This Love willingly altered Himself in order that He could finally end up with someone who would freely love Him in return. Not manipulated or coerced in any way because love that is made to love is not love at all. This is love that is born out of a heart of gratitude for a Creator who willing died for His creation. Is this the love that you have inside you for your Father? It has cost God literally everything to finally have a person who will lift up his hands for no other reason but loves sake alone and tell Him how much he loves Him.
I believe all of heaven surges with excitement when one child of God looks to heaven and worships the Father and the Son because God finally has the unsolicited, free will offering of love for which He has longed.
~
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
No "Goose Bumps" Required
If you are someone who has struggled with the prospects of sitting and worshipping God for an extended period of time because of the total lack of emotions then this message is for you.
Our church society has cultivated this idea that we are only making spiritual progress when we have corresponding emotions to confirm what we are doing spiritually is actually working. In other words, if we don't feel something then we must not be getting through to God. My question to you is this, where did God ever say that we must feel something in order to know what we are doing spiritually is working?
On the contrary, the Gospel is not about believing only in what you can feel. For example, if you are waiting to feel something before you believe you are saved, then you are in trouble. Salvation is strictly based on believing in someone you can't see or feel. Salvation is about accepting the word of this unseen person with no physical proof of His existence but rather believing and receiving by faith. There are no feelings required.
For those of us who have successfully crossed that hurdle of salvation, we have discovered that not just salvation, but everything in the kingdom of God is received by this force called faith. Healing, material needs, everything in God's Kingdom is available to those who believe. It is not based on if we need something or how long we beg God for it. No, it is based on our ability to stand on the Word of our God, whom we can not see, releasing the unseen force of faith, believing that at the moment we pray that we receive the answer to our prayers. After that, we stand and thank God for the answer until it manifests in the natural. No feelings required at all. NO, there is no need for little "goose bumps" in order to know that He heard us or that we have what we are believing for. In fact, until we stop relying on having to feel something we aren't really going to make much progress at all in the Kingdom of God.
Please understand, I am not opposed to feeling God's presence. I love it when I am in a service and all of a sudden His glory roles in like a wave and it is actually possible to feel something. Those times are great. But, I don't measure my relationship with God based on those few short moments. My relationship with God goes far beyond a few "goose bumps" every once in a while. I have a daily communion with God based on His Word which assures me that He will never ever leave me nor will He ever, for any reason, forsake me.
You see, I am head over heels in love with my Heavenly Father, my Lord and Saviour Jesus and the sweet Holy Spirit. When I approach the God head I don't do it with the attitude, "Make me feel something so I will know you are real". No, I approach the God Head knowing with every fiber of my being that He is real. I am not about to embarrass myself by asking God to let me feel something so I can know that He is real.
Let's bring this all into the arena of private worship. Do you think that God responds any differently when we worship Him? Do you think that all of a sudden now feelings are some how a prerequisite for knowing that God is receiving your worship? Do yourself a favor and settle this one issue once and for all. Determine in your heart that regardless of whether or not you ever feel anything at all, you are a worshipper of God. This could very easily be one of the best decisions you will ever make.
Look at what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman He met at Jacob's well. (John 4:23) "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." Think about this, God, who has no need for anything is actually seeking something that He can not create for Himself. How can this be? The simple fact that He is God means that He is the sum total of everything. What could someone with an endless supply of everything seek after? He seeks after what only you and I as His born again kids can give Him, worship out of our reborn human spirit. When Jesus said "in spirit" He was speaking directly to the time we now live in when we who have received the Lordship of Jesus are born again in spirit. No old testament believer could ever worship God the way you can because they were dead in spirit.
God has waited out the centuries looking for someone with a reborn human spirit to give to Him the most unique, priceless offering available, worship out of a reborn human spirit. You see, this cost Jesus His life.
Yes, you can give to God something that no one else on the face of the earth can give Him, your worship.
So, at what moment do you think He receives your worship? Do you think He starts receiving it after an hour, or maybe 2 hours of you sitting and worshipping Him? Do you think He only receives it once you finally feel something? What about the rest of the time? Is that all wasted? No No No. Settle this once and for all, there is no wasted moment of worship. Feel something, don't feel anything, either way makes no difference at all. The very moment you decide to speak out the least little bit of worship to God all of heaven is at attention. Why? Because, with all of hell stacked up against you, symptoms screaming in your body, problems at every turn, you decide to stop and look to heaven and begin to pour out of your spirit the very thing that God seeks for, your unsolicited worship.
I thank God that His receiving my worship is not based on me feeling anything. If that were the case, so much of my time would be wasted because generally I don't feel anything. But, I know that He has waited out the generations for me to give to Him what only I can give Him, my worship.
I hope that this inspires you to once and for all decide that you are a worshipper and that nothing is ever going to stop you.
~
Our church society has cultivated this idea that we are only making spiritual progress when we have corresponding emotions to confirm what we are doing spiritually is actually working. In other words, if we don't feel something then we must not be getting through to God. My question to you is this, where did God ever say that we must feel something in order to know what we are doing spiritually is working?
On the contrary, the Gospel is not about believing only in what you can feel. For example, if you are waiting to feel something before you believe you are saved, then you are in trouble. Salvation is strictly based on believing in someone you can't see or feel. Salvation is about accepting the word of this unseen person with no physical proof of His existence but rather believing and receiving by faith. There are no feelings required.
For those of us who have successfully crossed that hurdle of salvation, we have discovered that not just salvation, but everything in the kingdom of God is received by this force called faith. Healing, material needs, everything in God's Kingdom is available to those who believe. It is not based on if we need something or how long we beg God for it. No, it is based on our ability to stand on the Word of our God, whom we can not see, releasing the unseen force of faith, believing that at the moment we pray that we receive the answer to our prayers. After that, we stand and thank God for the answer until it manifests in the natural. No feelings required at all. NO, there is no need for little "goose bumps" in order to know that He heard us or that we have what we are believing for. In fact, until we stop relying on having to feel something we aren't really going to make much progress at all in the Kingdom of God.
Please understand, I am not opposed to feeling God's presence. I love it when I am in a service and all of a sudden His glory roles in like a wave and it is actually possible to feel something. Those times are great. But, I don't measure my relationship with God based on those few short moments. My relationship with God goes far beyond a few "goose bumps" every once in a while. I have a daily communion with God based on His Word which assures me that He will never ever leave me nor will He ever, for any reason, forsake me.
You see, I am head over heels in love with my Heavenly Father, my Lord and Saviour Jesus and the sweet Holy Spirit. When I approach the God head I don't do it with the attitude, "Make me feel something so I will know you are real". No, I approach the God Head knowing with every fiber of my being that He is real. I am not about to embarrass myself by asking God to let me feel something so I can know that He is real.
Let's bring this all into the arena of private worship. Do you think that God responds any differently when we worship Him? Do you think that all of a sudden now feelings are some how a prerequisite for knowing that God is receiving your worship? Do yourself a favor and settle this one issue once and for all. Determine in your heart that regardless of whether or not you ever feel anything at all, you are a worshipper of God. This could very easily be one of the best decisions you will ever make.
Look at what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman He met at Jacob's well. (John 4:23) "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." Think about this, God, who has no need for anything is actually seeking something that He can not create for Himself. How can this be? The simple fact that He is God means that He is the sum total of everything. What could someone with an endless supply of everything seek after? He seeks after what only you and I as His born again kids can give Him, worship out of our reborn human spirit. When Jesus said "in spirit" He was speaking directly to the time we now live in when we who have received the Lordship of Jesus are born again in spirit. No old testament believer could ever worship God the way you can because they were dead in spirit.
God has waited out the centuries looking for someone with a reborn human spirit to give to Him the most unique, priceless offering available, worship out of a reborn human spirit. You see, this cost Jesus His life.
Yes, you can give to God something that no one else on the face of the earth can give Him, your worship.
So, at what moment do you think He receives your worship? Do you think He starts receiving it after an hour, or maybe 2 hours of you sitting and worshipping Him? Do you think He only receives it once you finally feel something? What about the rest of the time? Is that all wasted? No No No. Settle this once and for all, there is no wasted moment of worship. Feel something, don't feel anything, either way makes no difference at all. The very moment you decide to speak out the least little bit of worship to God all of heaven is at attention. Why? Because, with all of hell stacked up against you, symptoms screaming in your body, problems at every turn, you decide to stop and look to heaven and begin to pour out of your spirit the very thing that God seeks for, your unsolicited worship.
I thank God that His receiving my worship is not based on me feeling anything. If that were the case, so much of my time would be wasted because generally I don't feel anything. But, I know that He has waited out the generations for me to give to Him what only I can give Him, my worship.
I hope that this inspires you to once and for all decide that you are a worshipper and that nothing is ever going to stop you.
~
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
The Anointing of the Believer
For many people, I believe the idea of getting alone with the Lord is a foreign idea. Then, to instruct someone to go beyond that and spend any length of time telling the Lord how much they love Him is far beyond what most Christians consider normal.
The first question most would have is obviously, "Why would I want to do that?" For the majority of Christians, the few minutes of worshipping the Lord during a church service is more than enough. The music is playing and people are singing so it is easy to join in and become one in a mass choir singing about the goodness of God. There is nothing wrong with that, but this is not the type of worship I'm speaking about when I say, "Private Worship". In a public assembly filled with fellow worshippers and beautiful music your soul is being energized by the beat of the music and instead of reaching out with your spirit and truly ministering to the Lord you are being emotionally moved and are able to coast into God's presence through the help of others. Yes, there are some who are able to offer up some level of worship out of their spirit, but the depths of true worship are never able to be explored in these brief church experiences. Until a person makes the decision to take a step beyond "normal" and begin their own personal Jouney into Private Worship they can never know the joy that awaits them for offering up their soul on the altar of private worship.
"Mark, what do you mean, 'offering up my soul on the altar of private worship?'"
Our spirit is encased by layers and layers of what I will refer to as the unrenewed parts of our soul. This is the residue from the fallen man that has yet to be transformed. All the while your spirit man is wanting so desperately to enter into communion with the Lord Jesus and offer up words of adoration, but your unrenewed soul resists. In the early stages of trying to enter into private worship your mind will do everything it can to convince you that this is a waste of time. It will tell you that you would be better off reading your Bible or passing out tracts rather than spending 30 minutes to an hour just telling Jesus and the Father and the Holy Ghost how much you love them. Finally, you decide that you are done letting your soul rule over you and you plant yourself in a solitary place for predetermined times of worship. Second by second your soul is being offered up to the Lord on this altar of private worship and layer by layer your soul is giving way to reveal your born again spirit. As your spirit tastes more and more of this freedom it becomes less difficult for you to return for more sessions of private worship.
Pastor Dave Roberson was given a vision one day of a rock falling into a pond of water. I'm sure you are familiar with what happens when a rock is dropped into a pond of calm water, ripples are formed. Pastor Dave watched as these little rings began to spread out all over the little pond. There were three rings. He knew that they represented our spirit, soul and body. What the Lord was showing Pastor Dave was that as he spent extended periods alone in worship this would begin the process of breaking down the walls erected by the soul that hold our spirit in check. Through worship these walls would begin to come down and little by little God's presence would begin to radiate outward beginning in the spirit, past the soul until finally the space that surrounds your body would be filled with the presence of God. Smith Wigglesworth walked with this kind of presence of God surrounding him. Pastor Dave calls this the "Anointing of the Believer".
Think of it, you too can reach a place where God's presence fills the air around you. How does this happen? It happens because you have spent the time to offer up your soul on the altar of Private Worship. Be warned, your soul will not give up easily. The longer you sit there trying to focus on the Lord, the more it tries to convince you that you are wasting your time. Your soul is like a spoiled little child. It wants to be entertained. It wants to feel something. Most importantly, it wants to be in charge. When it feels threatened your soul will fight back for its position of dominance. For most Christians their soul dictates to them every aspect of their life. It is time to dethrone the soul.
So, let me ask you, what would you be willing to do in order for the presence of God to fill the space around you? I'm sure most of you reading this are thinking, "Anything". Anything? "Oh, yes, anything!" Would you be willing to subject your soul to regular daily periods in which you sit and offer worship to the Lord and the Father? "Maybe, if it is not too hard." What if I told you that there is actually a secret weapon you could use to silence the flesh and help you break down those soulish walls like a bulldozer, would you be interested? How about if it involved going without food? "What???" How hungry are you to get past your mediocre Christian life and really begin to impact the kingdom of God? When a person finally becomes more hungry for the things of God than they are pacifying their unruly soul they become much more willing to do whatever it takes to experience His presence.
Be aware, this is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take time and dedication. But, if you will make this your lifestyle and not just a passing fad, I believe you will eventually walk in an anointing that will astound you.
I welcome your comments about this Blog. Let me know if this is blessing you and how you are doing in your own Journey into Private Worship.
~
The first question most would have is obviously, "Why would I want to do that?" For the majority of Christians, the few minutes of worshipping the Lord during a church service is more than enough. The music is playing and people are singing so it is easy to join in and become one in a mass choir singing about the goodness of God. There is nothing wrong with that, but this is not the type of worship I'm speaking about when I say, "Private Worship". In a public assembly filled with fellow worshippers and beautiful music your soul is being energized by the beat of the music and instead of reaching out with your spirit and truly ministering to the Lord you are being emotionally moved and are able to coast into God's presence through the help of others. Yes, there are some who are able to offer up some level of worship out of their spirit, but the depths of true worship are never able to be explored in these brief church experiences. Until a person makes the decision to take a step beyond "normal" and begin their own personal Jouney into Private Worship they can never know the joy that awaits them for offering up their soul on the altar of private worship.
"Mark, what do you mean, 'offering up my soul on the altar of private worship?'"
Our spirit is encased by layers and layers of what I will refer to as the unrenewed parts of our soul. This is the residue from the fallen man that has yet to be transformed. All the while your spirit man is wanting so desperately to enter into communion with the Lord Jesus and offer up words of adoration, but your unrenewed soul resists. In the early stages of trying to enter into private worship your mind will do everything it can to convince you that this is a waste of time. It will tell you that you would be better off reading your Bible or passing out tracts rather than spending 30 minutes to an hour just telling Jesus and the Father and the Holy Ghost how much you love them. Finally, you decide that you are done letting your soul rule over you and you plant yourself in a solitary place for predetermined times of worship. Second by second your soul is being offered up to the Lord on this altar of private worship and layer by layer your soul is giving way to reveal your born again spirit. As your spirit tastes more and more of this freedom it becomes less difficult for you to return for more sessions of private worship.
Pastor Dave Roberson was given a vision one day of a rock falling into a pond of water. I'm sure you are familiar with what happens when a rock is dropped into a pond of calm water, ripples are formed. Pastor Dave watched as these little rings began to spread out all over the little pond. There were three rings. He knew that they represented our spirit, soul and body. What the Lord was showing Pastor Dave was that as he spent extended periods alone in worship this would begin the process of breaking down the walls erected by the soul that hold our spirit in check. Through worship these walls would begin to come down and little by little God's presence would begin to radiate outward beginning in the spirit, past the soul until finally the space that surrounds your body would be filled with the presence of God. Smith Wigglesworth walked with this kind of presence of God surrounding him. Pastor Dave calls this the "Anointing of the Believer".
Think of it, you too can reach a place where God's presence fills the air around you. How does this happen? It happens because you have spent the time to offer up your soul on the altar of Private Worship. Be warned, your soul will not give up easily. The longer you sit there trying to focus on the Lord, the more it tries to convince you that you are wasting your time. Your soul is like a spoiled little child. It wants to be entertained. It wants to feel something. Most importantly, it wants to be in charge. When it feels threatened your soul will fight back for its position of dominance. For most Christians their soul dictates to them every aspect of their life. It is time to dethrone the soul.
So, let me ask you, what would you be willing to do in order for the presence of God to fill the space around you? I'm sure most of you reading this are thinking, "Anything". Anything? "Oh, yes, anything!" Would you be willing to subject your soul to regular daily periods in which you sit and offer worship to the Lord and the Father? "Maybe, if it is not too hard." What if I told you that there is actually a secret weapon you could use to silence the flesh and help you break down those soulish walls like a bulldozer, would you be interested? How about if it involved going without food? "What???" How hungry are you to get past your mediocre Christian life and really begin to impact the kingdom of God? When a person finally becomes more hungry for the things of God than they are pacifying their unruly soul they become much more willing to do whatever it takes to experience His presence.
Be aware, this is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take time and dedication. But, if you will make this your lifestyle and not just a passing fad, I believe you will eventually walk in an anointing that will astound you.
I welcome your comments about this Blog. Let me know if this is blessing you and how you are doing in your own Journey into Private Worship.
~
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