Enjoying A Moment Of Heaven With Jesus

After a few weeks of "Blog Silence", the Holy Ghost has instructed me that it is time to share what I have been learning.

For everyone looking for some "secret formula" that magically opens the heavens and causes God to fill your presence with His Glory all I can say to you is, "there is no formula". 

I came into Private Worship initially looking at the results being produced and wanting those results.  I watched Pastor Dave Roberson growing in Private Worship and witnessed the fruit developing as a result of his time with Jesus and I am not ashamed to say that I liked what I saw and wanted it.  

Being the kind of person that I am, I went at Private Worship determined to get the same kind of results and willing to do whatever was necessary to get them.  For example, Pastor Dave would just walk into the sanctuary and the presence of God would be so strong that people would begin to cry and inner healing would take place.  Once I experienced some of that inner healing for myself I knew I would do whatever was necessary to walk in that kind of anointing.  

Pastor Dave described hours alone worshipping the Lord with no music.  He said the atmosphere was dry with seemingly nothing happening other than the words of worship falling to the ground. 

Determined as I was to have results like I witnessed in Pastor Dave, I stuck it out and gradually the richness and the presence began to manifest.  Early on as I ministered and shared about my times with Jesus I was often unable to contain the tears.  Uncontrollable crying would come over me.  I was beginning to see the very tip of what Private Worship could produce.

As time has passed, somewhere along the way it dawned on my lighting fast mind that the results I am enjoying today from Private Worship aren't necessarily exactly what I expected.  Remember, I was after "results", the thick presence of God filling an auditorium in which I was ministering.  Don't get me wrong, I still want to see those times where my relationship with Jesus results in Him being able to manifest Himself in such a way that others are forever changed.  But, now I realize that my real heart motivation early on was for the awesome presence of God to manifest in order to validate my ministry and my accomplishments.  In other words, the motivation of my heart was not so much about my love for others and a desire to see them blessed as it was to impress them with what I had accomplished in the "spirit" and for that to confirm in their minds that I was truly anointed of the Lord.  How's that for a bit of honesty?  You will find that if you are really serious about the things of God and fulfilling His plan for your life, there will be times like this where He will have you face your own shortcomings and let the world share in your learning experience.

I know He wants me to see just how shallow that thinking really was.  Jesus never wanted me to excel in Private Worship so that the end result would be that my flesh would be exalted.  You are going to find that the closer you get to Jesus the more the light that shines out of Him will expose all your wrong motives.  

So, how was He finally able to bring me to this place where I could finally see "me" where I really am?  It has been a gradual progression.  As I look back, I can see that what He did first was to show me what He is really interested in is me developing a loving fellowship with Him, how He did this was so interesting.  Somewhere along this path God began to, randomly, get my attention and for those moments it was like, "oh hey God, I do really love You."  These encounters were brief and then be over, but in that moment He had my undivided attention and I knew something was happening between us.  Over time these short little encounters have continued.  They weren't every day occurrences, but when they happened I realized just how special these occasions with Him are.  Now I know, these brief moments with Jesus are actually the long lasting fruit that Private Worship produces and this is really what you are after.  Why?  Because finally you have given Him enough of yourself to fellowship with that He can come and for however long you and He can enjoy a moment of "heaven" together.  Yes, you want this.  Not to impress others with how "spiritual" you are, but to breathe a breath of "Heaven"with Jesus, wherever He happens to choose, because you have provided Him what is needed for this to happen through your Private Worship.  

I thoroughly expect these encounters to not only continue, but to increase in frequency and length.  I believe as I provide Him with more of me to fellowship with the result will be more fellowship.  Obviously, more fellowship with Jesus will result in more of His presence in me around me upon me to the point that others will be blessed by His presence.  

I hope this encourages you to stay in there and keep worshipping Jesus and watch for Him to come and visit you.

~Blessings     

Knowing God Leads You Into Worship

I believe that most Christians lack a true understanding of who God really is. Instead of God being a Father who loves them with a love that knows no end, most see God as someone who isn't really interested in them personally, but rather only cares about them more like His subjects. They view God as a dictator not a loving, caring Father whose deepest, heartfelt desire is to bless them. Consequently, with such a misunderstanding of God, it is easy to see why the idea of sitting and worshipping Him is not very appealing to many believers.

No matter how hard "religion" tries to paint a picture of God as being a self-absorbed, untouchable, uncaring God who watches from afar waiting for us to slip up just one time and then WHAM! The truth is, that picture is just not correct.

"Religion" is man's attempt to understand an infinite God by using a finite mind, which is impossible and any attempt to do so produces horrible misconceived ideas. It results in organizations which put their leaders in long robes placing them in a category above normal people, as a go between to God. "Religion" builds huge castle-like buildings which produce feelings of inferiority in the hearts of the people and instead of God being someone who hungers to fellowship with His children, He is viewed as "unreachable" and "distant". This results in feelings of unworthiness and insignificance in the presence of a huge God. It also causes a wrong kind of fear of God in people which magnifies their sin in their own eyes becoming the central focus of their attention. Yes, we should reverentially fear God and try to abstain from sin, but not because we think that He is about to squish us like a bug. That kind of fear will always keep a person from ever truly knowing God.

When you think about God; who is He to you? Is He your Father who is close to you and cares about the smallest details of your life? How about Jesus, when you look at Him are you looking into the most loving eyes you have ever seen, or are you unable to even think about looking into His eyes? Instead of some unapproachable being off in the distance, is God your Father eager to spend time with you and love on you? Until your image of God changes from the false picture painted by "religion" to the picture of who He really is, you will never be able to worship Him with true worship. Worship is not supposed to be your efforts to appease an "Angry" God nor are you are worshipping God because He needs His ego fed. Worship is born out of an understanding of who God is as your Father and what God has done by sending His Son to the cross in your place to suffer and die in order to pay the price for your sin. He did all this because He wants to fellowship with us as His child. It is essential that believers realize He did all of this to give us the opportunity, if we choose, to accept His gift of salvation and be engrafted into His Family as His children.

Instead of seeing God as the "Ogre" who is poised and ready to jump on us at the least mistake, see Him as the one who pulled out all the stops by going beyond what any other person would ever consider doing when He sacrificed the life of His Son Jesus for each one of us individually. He did this with no guarantee that anyone would ever accept what He did. Unfortunately, for most believers, they will never know in this lifetime the real person of God. They will accept the lies of "religion" and consequently they will live and die and miss out on the joy and fulfillment God meant for them to experience in their life on earth. For those unfortunate people, assuming they can manage to hang on to their salvation in the light of their misconceptions of God, they are going to arrive in heaven one day and discover someone who is quite different than they were told. They will discover the most loving and kind person they have ever met. They will finally see God for who He really is instead of the lies of "Religion".

I quickly run out of words when I try to describe God's loving kindness or just how wonderful He is to me and instead of saying these things because I feel I have to, I say them because I want to. I have fallen so in love with Jesus and my Father God and the Holy Spirit that all I can do is try to find more ways to lay my life down for Him. Am I perfect? No, not by a long shot. But, I have discovered the secret of quickly repenting when I sin and (Hebrews 4:16) "Come boldly unto the throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." I learned a long time ago that when I sin not to run from God but to run to God and confess my sin according to I John 1:9. He is not looking for reasons to keep you out of His presence. He has done everything possible to make a way for you back into His presence.

In conclusion, worship is born out of knowing your Heavenly Father and what He has really done for you and not the picture "religion" tries to paint of Him. The truth is, that false picture painted by "religion" is done with the goal of keeping you in bondage to fear and never knowing the liberty Jesus purchased for you with His own life. The devil is the author of "religion". Always remember, God did not send Jesus to the cross to start a "religion", He did it to start a family. That is the message the devil doesn't want you to hear. The devil doesn't want you to know that God made a way through Jesus for you to become a member of His family, something satan will never ever know. This infuriates the devil and consequently he came up with a plan to convince man that God was mad at them and the whole idea of "religion" began. Do yourself a favor and take God out of the stained glass cathedral, out from behind the closed doors of the monasteries, and see Him for who He really is, your Father and your Lord and Saviour who loves you more than you could ever imagine. Worship Him out of a heart of gratitude, love and appreciation for all He has done. When you really begin to Know God and what He has done for you, you will begin to see worship in an entirely new way.

~Blessings

A Lifetime Pursuit

If you have been following this Blog for any length of time you have noticed that I am not like most Bloggers. You won't see a daily or even weekly post, especially those done mostly to boost readership. I am not interested in numbers for the sake of numbers. Nor is it my intention to try and convince those who are satisfied with their relationship with Jesus that they need to spend time in private worship. I am more interested in providing the hungry with a road map for entering into a long term pursuit of worshipping The Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. So, if you are hungry for God's manifested presence and refuse to stop until you see it then you're the person I am writing for.

It has been a little over a year since beginning my pursuit of His presence in private worship. At first, I think I had the idea that one day I would be in worship and God would suddenly show up and totally engulf me with Himself resulting in a life altering change. Don't get me wrong, I would still love for that to happen, but after a year of pursuing His presence I am coming to the realization that a one time encounter with God is not what this is about. He is more interested in a lifetime pursuit of Him rather than a one time spectacular encounter.

So, if this is not about a one time event in which God touches your lips with a coal from His altar, what can you expect?

Consider this, instead of looking for God to swoop in one day and sweep you off your feet, what if each moment you spend investing in the development of a love relationship with God the dividend is that a small fraction of His presence becomes a little more real to you? In other words, rather than God suddenly flooding you with Himself in a one time experience, His presence in you gradually becomes more apparent as His nature in you flourishes. That's right God's nature; His character, who He is, will begin to manifest more in you and through you each hour you spend in worship.

Here is an example of what I am referring to. Just this week I was having dinner with some fellow ministers in whom I have a great deal of respect. One of them made a comment that they could see a noticeable change in me and the peace that I am now walking in. When he said it, I noticed it for myself, and yes I am walking in much more peace than I have ever had before. I attribute this peace to the time I have spent in private worship and how this has allowed more of God's nature to manifest in and through me. You have to understand, to step into full time ministry as I and my wife have with no direct support from anyone but God, can be a little unsettling. But, instead of biting my nails and wondering where the money would come from, I have regularly spent time in private worship getting to know Jesus like never before. Consequently He has slowly been able to manifest Himself in me and His character is showing up to the point that others are able to see the change in me.

Another recent development is worth mentioning. The other day, following some time spent in private worship, the realization came to me that I was beginning to sense His presence a little more than before. I am not talking about in some dramatic way, but rather in a subtle way. Then, this example came to mind. Before I share it with you understand this is just an analogy to help get the idea across to you. I know that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, as well as, God is omnipresent so there is no place that God is not. With that being said here is the analogy. Have you ever walked into a room that was dark and you have had a knowing that there was someone else in that room with you. It was not like you could see the person, but you could feel that someone was there and the closer you got to them the stronger that feeling became. That is what I was sensing. A year ago I knew by faith that God would never leave me nor forsake me. Now, there seems to be a knowing in me that, although I can not see Him, I recognize His person much more now. With this knowing has come great peace and assurance like I have never had before.

I have had the opportunity to discuss this with Pastor Dave Roberson and he confirmed this to be true with him as well. He said that it is this presence that I have begun to experience that will continue to grow and develop until it will actually move to the atmosphere that surrounds me. When that happens, others will be able to experience His presence as they did when Peter's shadow fell on those who were instantly healed.

I can tell you now by experience that private worship has certainly changed me. Maybe not in the way that I had expected, but in a way that is none the less dramatic. To walk in this level of peace while faced with the challenges of life and ministry is priceless.

I want to encourage you to continue in the lifelong pursuit of His presence in private worship and allow Him to forever change you.

~