Enter Into The Courts Of The King - 2

The Lord’s presence is a gift that he gives to his children, but it’s not without cost. The price is everything we own, all that we are, our dreams and all of the people we care about. How are we to pay such a price? We can’t, not on our own. Each time we worship God, we hand over a small part of ourselves to him and he in return replaces that part with his character. God’s gracious gift of himself is what allows us to walk deeper into his own presence. The more we give of ourselves to the Lord in worship, the more we are changed into his likeness. God’s presence inside of us is what gives us the ability to accomplish whatever he asks of us.

The Lord uses people that are willing to come before him. God never forces his will on anyone, but waits patiently until we are ready to give our all for him. I started thinking of different times in history when the Lord used people to help bring about his glory in their era. Each person was flawed, and with as much sin in their lives as anyone else. What made them different were the choices they made. All were worshipers and had a close relationship with God and Jesus. Each one made massive mistakes, but when they did they cried out to God, repented and went on with God’s original plans for them.

Here are a few examples of people that had an intimate relationship with God and because of it, changed history. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is Abraham. Abraham was used by God to help create the nation of Israel. Joseph , also in Genesis, saved his people, the Jews, from annihilation. King David’s story is in books of Chronicles and Kings in the Old Testament. David was known for his intimate worship and love of God. David sinned greatly, but when he was confronted he repented with his whole heart. David brought the nation of Israel into it’s glory days. Israel was the most powerful nation of its time.

The twelve disciples in the New Testament knew Jesus personally and spread the gospel to the Jews. Paul who wrote over 1/3 of the New Testament helped to spread the gospel to the gentiles. Martin Luther, the founder of the Lutheran Revival created a stir in the early 1500's. He stood against church heresy and helped to bring God’s saving grace to a whole continent. Charles Finney was a big evangelist in the 1800's. Finney always sent a man into the city Finney was getting ready to visit and the man prayed one week before his arrival. Revival broke out everywhere Finney went, and sometimes without his saying a word. Finney helped to bring the gospel to a whole nation. There are many more who have changed history with their love of God and their obedience.

We have always had worship and the presence of God, but why is it so intense right now. The answer lies in what’s going on around us. Whenever the Lord prepares to bring about a massive change for a nation and or the world, he pours out his presence on his people so that they can be empowered with grace, wisdom and authority. God’s empowerment allows us to see God’s vision of what he wants to accomplish and how are we are to help bring it into fruition.

We, as the church, have been enjoying God’s intimate presence for a while now. I believe he’s bringing us to a place where we are going to have to make a choice. Will we continue to play, or will we allow God to change and use us. This is the time for the church to shine when everything seems turned upside down and hopeless in the world. If we as God’s people can use God’s intimate presence as a stepping stone, we will radically change the world.

We must stop looking at ourselves and our own agendas. When we do we’ll see that the Lord has given us all of the tools we’ll ever need. Himself. If we come before and worship him, he will touch us with himself. His grace will give us the ability to get rid of the garbage in our lives and his mercy will show us the next step we need to take and to help produce his kingdom here on earth.

Enter Into The Courts Of The King

Several yeas ago, the Lord called me to go to our church building and pray. I thought I was starting a prayer ministry, but it turned out to be a season for me alone. The Lord touched me in the most intimate way, and at the same time I started feeling the weight of sin on my back. I asked the Lord, why is it that the more I come before you, the more I see all of the things that needed to be changed within me? I realized that the Lord created our relationship to be this way.

Everyone needs to understand what sin is. In the first book in the Bible, is Genesis and it talks about how God created the first human man, Adam. Then God made the first woman Eve. They had perfect unity with God, their creator. Everything was in harmony and at peace. All was right before God, until one day both Adam and Eve ate of the apple of knowledge behind God’s back. They tried to hide what they did. When God confronted them they shifted blame on each other. God had to separate himself from Adam and Eve and kicked them out of garden. Their decision put a wall between them and God. Sin was born. Sin is turning our backs on God and doing our own thing. Sin separates us from God because God is sinless.

God can not tolerate sin, but he also wants a relationship with us so he created a unique way for allowing us to come before him. 1) God pours out his presence 2)which produces a hunger for repentance (repentance is turning and walking away from something that separates us from God’s presence ). 3) that helps us to accept God’s leading in our lives. It must be understood that this process can only work for a person after he or she acknowledges their separation for God. It must also be understood that God sent his son Jesus to live as a man and then die when he committed no crime. Jesus is without sin. Jesus died so that we can have access to God once again.

When we experience the intimacy of God we are changed forever. We no longer want our own desires to be fulfilled. We want what the Lord wants and we don’t care who gets the credit for it. Our focus changes form being on ourselves to being on Jesus. God’s presence creates a deep hunger within us, so that we want more and more. Entering God’s presence also creates a desire to get rid of any obstacle (sin) that can keep us from coming before him.

God has spoken to many people through out history. I believe the Lord is still speaking today and if we search for him and wait we can hear what God is telling us. It can be through the Bible, through a song, a person, a thought, or nature itself. If we believe that God is the creator of everything, then it’s logical to believe that he can use whatever he wants to communicate with us. We just have to be willing to believe and listen.

During my prayer time at the church I was seeking the Lord. I was praying for the church, our nation and direction for myself. I spent many hours on my face repenting of the things the Lord pointed out to me and then I walked into his throne room of Grace. Once you’ve entered the throne room of God, you’ll want to come back. The presence of God is addicting. The more you go, the more you want

Worship is adoring God and telling him all the things he is and the things he has done. I truly believe that you have to worship more than one day a week. God is the only one that can fill the empty holes in our lives. His door is always opened, we just have to walk through it. It’s scary standing at the door. Your sin is revealed when you stand at the door, but when you choose to walk in God’s love pours all over you. The more time you spend with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit the more you will change. Your relationship with the triune God is like any other relation. Your relationship will grow when you more spend with them,

Part 2 tomorrow

Forgiveness

Forgiveness


I have been thinking a lot about the Book of Job. It’s in the Old Testament in the Bible Most people focus on the beginning where Satan comes before God and asks to torment Job. Another aspect is when God talks to Job at the end of the book or how Job’s friends tormented him in his time of misery. I believe God gave me another aspect of Job. Right before God made everything right in Job’s world, the Lord God asked him to forgive and pray blessing on his three tormentors. God didn't give Job any promises of healing or restoration after he obeyed. God didn’t restore Job until he had forgiven and blessed his three friends. I don’t know about you but I’d have a hard time doing what God asked of Job.

We don’t know how long a period of time that Job was in pain. So we don’t know how long Job’s “friends” were telling him to repent of whatever sin that caused this calamitous affair. God called Job to forgive and to bless all three. I’m sure Job didn’t make a decision right away concerning forgiving and blessing his friends. Having been in Job’s place, the human side comes to the forefront and screams, “NO, NO, NO, NO!” God haven’t you seen what they put me through, “sick em God”.

The human side would want vengeance and justice. Most of us would ask God to take care of the wrongs done to us first. I doesn’t seem to work that way. I have been struggling with forgiveness towards three different people. I was the wronged party in all three cases.

I waited for four months for things to change. I prayed for God’s mercy, conviction and restoration. I received no answer. I was getting madder by the day. It seemed as if I was being ignored and I felt abandoned because the people wouldn’t reach out to me. God wanted something from me but I didn’t know what until I read and thought about Job.

Job never questioned God and he obeyed without expecting anything in return. I was and still am in the dark place of the soul. My prayer for hope turned into a prayer of selfishness. I wanted the people to know that they wronged me and they should be sorry for it. God wanted me to forgive and bless the people who wronged me. I fought with it for a week.

Then I realized I can’t out wait God. He waits very patiently until you do what he wants you to do. I went back to church after being gone for four months. I prayed God’s blessing on them and I forgave them. The others were taken care of before I dealt with my home church. I didn’t feel anything different. A few days later other things that were out of place started falling into place.

Forgiving someone is letting all of the resentment and bitterness go. Your unforgiveness doesn’t affect the other people at all. Most of the time the people involved are ignorant of what's taking place. When you release the bitterness and anger and grant forgiveness, you're putting the whole situation into God’s loving hands. Justice and vindication is the Lord’s job.

I’ve forgiven, but the situations haven’t really changed. I don’t expect anyone to try to make right what went wrong. All I know is that if I don’t forgive I’m the one who stays in jail. I’m asking for justice and vindication. All in all The Lord will do what’s best for all concerned

What I’m about to say is my belief and conviction. I truly believe that forgiveness is one of the most powerful words that we have in the English language.

If a person has hurt you, then I encourage you to ask God to give you the grace, mercy and strength to forgive. It’s not easy and it will take every ounce of will power that you have to do it. If you do forgive the other person, you will be the one let out of bondage. If the other person doesn’t respond, then it’s out of your hands and placed into God’s hands.

I was thinking one day and the Lord gave me this little ditty:

F Forgetting the situation sets your spirit and soul free

O Overcoming and handing over the hurt, anger and revenge that dwells in your
heart, over to God, will set you free

R Restoration can come when the first person forgives and let’s go

G God gives grace to walk away, even though you are the hurt party

I Initiation gives you the tools to talk to the other person

V Vulnerability is going to the other person when you don’t know how they will
respond

E Extending grace with no strings attached heals personal wounds

I normally don’t pray on my blog, but I am this time. Lord Jesus touch every wounded spirit and heart that is out there. Help people to come to you. Let them be restored by your grace and favor. Help each person to forgive the people that have hurt them and let them place themselves in the palm of your hand. For you are a God of justice and mercy. Thank you and God bless you all.

Nothing New Under the Sun

I have been pondering the beginning of life. Sounds deep and profound. Actually I’m thinking about how nothing has changed since the beginning of time. Well, let me amend that. I really mean since the fall. Adam and Eve were living a great life until Eve blew it. Eve had to be eying that apple for some time. She didn’t automatically come up with the idea to become equal with God in one second.

A psychiatrist that I have contact with pointed out something about creation that I’ve never considered before. Eve wanted her ego tickled. She wanted equality with God. She already had equality with Adam. She didn’t fool with Adam until she had already done the deed. She wasn’t worried about Adam, only God

Eve bites the apple, low and behold differences of station in life are born. Eve is still equal with Adam, but changes come into the relationship between them, also between her and God. Did Eve loose her equality with Adam. Some believe so, but I don’t think so.

I’ve watched the feminist movement since it’s inception and I’ve watched women trying to be equal with men. Equality is something given by God, it's not something to be strived for or demanded. I’ve seen many woman scream that they want the same rights as a man. Eve bit the apple first, not the other way around . To this day I believe Eve is trying to put the blame on Adam. Eve still wants her ego tickled.

I don’t believe Eve wants equality, she wants superiority. That’s why she bit the apple in the first place. She didn’t persuade Adam to do it with her, but after her. Eve does not want to stay in the role that God has given her and she wants to change God’s design and his manual for creation. She is screaming unfairness and is whining to a large degree.

Woman are clambering once again to be equal with God. Consider the Egalitarian vs. Complimetarian issue within the church. I don’t see any evidence that God is changing the rules so that Eve can be in the top position within the church. There was no church before and after the fall. There were only people. Church structure came much later. Many women and men argue that we have to have what we had before the fall. That one’s easy. God was in control and there was no man or woman dominance conflict happening at the time.

God didn’t put man in the top position within the church until Abraham's time. Matter of fact, there was not church structure before Abraham. How many years from Adam and Eve until Abraham. A lot. Either way you look at it God put Eve in a specific role and Adam as well. Neither one is better than the other. Women are weaker in strength, but not the weaker vessel. I’d like to see a man bear a child. Personally I think they would be screaming drugs after the first contraction. Women have top billing when it comes to having kids. Men are physically stronger than us. That is a medical fact. We can’t change that either. So why would we want to change the dynamics on God’s ultimate roles for us?


Women in the military is another example of woman wanting control. I don’t have a problem with women in the military to a certain extent. I believe we can accomplish anything we want except to conquer man’s strength. I remember the battle when women fought to join the VMA military academy. The military finally caved and when the first girl entered she started screaming that the men were being mean to her and treating her like a guy. Mixed signals! She joined so that she could be like a guy. That’s what the young woman wanted from the beginning. Everyone brings up women fighting on the front lines in the Israeli military. The only problem is that woman are not required to fight on the front lines any more. Israel is a tiny little speck of a country in an area of hostile nations surrounding her. When Israel became strong enough she took women out of the front line fighting. To many of Israel’s women were getting raped and being used to make the other Israeli men surrender. That’s what’s happening in our military today. It’s just not reported. There is a study that shows that men will not cave under torture if a woman is not involved, but as soon as you add a woman into the equation, men crack in a short period of time.

Remember Eve didn’t give the apple to Adam until she had already done it. She separated herself and made herself different from Adam by choice. I think it’s time to take the blinders of and look at all of the facts. Eve made her decision long before conferring with her husband and has been paying the price for it ever since.

Even with all of our flaws we are beautifully and wonderfully made. God created perfection with a flaw and Eve acted on it first. God knew the flaw would win out. I don’t even pretend to understand the mystery of God’s perfectness verses creation and our weaknesses. I’m beginning to think that he created the fall, so that God could show his infinite love and mercy in sending his son to us. That’s a different perspective on creation.

Women, if you have to fight men so hard for something, maybe it’s not meant to ours. Could it be that women want the ultimate apple. Complete control over men. It’s something to think about isn’t it.