Experiencing GOD's Greater Glory - Part Two | 04.28.12

Being an obedient citizen is an extremely critical aspect of Kingdom life.  It's directly linked to loving GOD, believing His Word and having faith in His promises, all of which are believed by some to be ABOVE obedience.  Scripture says that if we love GOD, then we'll keep His commandments (John 14:15).  Since the Book of James admonishes us to not only be hearers of the Word but doers also (James 1:22), believing GOD's Word implies we're doing something with the Word we've heard.  Otherwise, it's rather hard for us to validate our beliefs.  That which we believe must motivate us to take corresponding action.  And, of course, we're all familiar with the scripture that faith without works is dead (James 2:20).  Something must be done on our part in order to activate the power of our faith in GOD's promises.  One of our best examples is Abraham, whose faith pleased GOD simply because He obeyed GOD.  Abraham took Isaac, the promised son of his old age, up Mt. Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice, just as GOD instructed.  As we can see, obedience is prominent in every aspect of worship.

So please hear my heart, friends and readers...  It is not my mission to judge or condemn ANYONE should their beliefs and/or choices be different.  In fact, I've been commissioned to help those--including myself--who are open to receiving the help GOD provides and doing better.  I beseech--I beg--of us all to evaluate our own lives.  Let's honestly consider how much of ourselves does GOD really have influence over?  Instead of examining the lives of others, how about we pray concerning those areas in our own lives that we've made off limits to GOD?  We're so fearful of what people would think, if they would ever know about our inner secret places, that even the illuminating power of GOD's Word can't even get past the barriers we've erected to provoke us towards personal improvement.

Father, make clear the instances in which our own rebellion against Your way of doing things have blocked our access to manifestations of Heaven's power here in the Earth.  We're all tired of church as usual, and it's the desire of our hearts to experience miraculous moves of Your power in our midst.  Help us to obey You, O GOD: we understand now that this how the glass ceiling over our worship will get shattered.  Through obedience, we can expect to experience Your greater glory WHENEVER and WHEREVER we worship You.  AMEN!

Feel free to check out Part 1 of Experiencing GOD's Greater Glory...

Experiencing GOD's Greater Glory - Part One | 04.27.12

Something very interesting recently occurred to me.  Well, first of all, I'm always listening, especially when people may be thinking that I'm not; and as I mentally replay dialogue that I've heard, certain statements and phrases usually stand out and catch my attention.  In this particular instance, I was thinking about how we have a tendency to say we want "more of GOD," or that we want "a greater experience with GOD."  While I do believe there are realms of glory we've yet to tap as worshippers, I don't believe that it's necessarily due to any "withholding" of glory on GOD's part.  Although this may be a tough pill to swallow, the GOD-presence we desire to experience, in most cases, far exceeds the depth in which we actually worship the Almighty.  We are the ones who limit GOD's ability to manifest Himself in greater ways because our worship, which we believe to be so deep, is in fact quite shallow.  The worship we offer fails to bring us into the place of intimacy with the Father that we desire because our disobedience nonverbally communicates a lack of trust in GOD.  And despite our best attempts at experiencing intimacy with GOD, who in their right mind feels comfortable letting their guard down around anyone they really don't trust?

I know this may offend some readers, but it's a truth of which we need to be made aware.  We can love GOD, believe His Word, have faith in His promises AND STILL find ourselves desiring more from our worship experiences.  Yes, I know that this sounds puzzling; however, what we neglect to consider a vital part of our worship is the powerful role obedience plays in the releasing of GOD's glory.  Isaiah 64:6 has been quoted by many to affirm that "our righteousness is as filthy rags" to GOD; and unfortunately, when taken out of context, this verse of scripture can mislead many well-intended believers to minimize the vital importance of obedience by downplaying its effect on our ability to experience GOD like never before.  The "righteousness" spoken of in Isaiah 64:6 refers to man not being able to achieve right standing with GOD on his own.  However, once we've been declared righteous by GOD, then we are to live righteously in obedience to GOD.  So let's be honest with ourselves, okay?  We can only sing so many songs, say so many prayers and shed so many tears before we hit a plateau in the realm of the Spirit.  Herein is the reason why our worship runs "smack dab" into spiritual glass ceilings: the places in GOD we desire to be require a greater degree of access than we've allowed ourselves to be granted... Reaching those untapped places in GOD we so desperately desire does not require better material to sing, more skilled musicians and vocalists, or higher quality instruments and audio equipment... The powerful moves of GOD we hunger for require lives of obedience, which in turn receive clearance from the heavenly government to function as portals (or conduits) for GOD's glory to enter the Earth realm.

Be sure to check out Part 2 of Experiencing GOD's Greater Glory

Pursue Peace | 04.24.12

In Psalm 34, there's a verse of scripture that admonishes us to pursue peace (Psalms 34:14).  It was during a recent Bible study session at church that the Holy Spirit imparted some valuable insight to me regarding this Kingdom concept.  Initially, when I heard the word "pursue," my thoughts went straight to "a chase."  However, the Holy Spirit guided my thoughts in a different direction to better grasp what the scripture was trying to say.  To pursue peace is to intently follow peace WHEREVER it goes.

During that night's session, we focused on "Excellence In Speech" as part of the teaching series "Pursuing the Spirit of Excellence."  As Pastor Erick pointed out, "Our words are simply thoughts released in audible form."  Whenever a thought is released in audible form, there is an intention for which it was released.  Therefore, the heart--and not just the mind--come under the scrutiny of the hearers  (as well as those who hear of our words secondhand).  When we release our thoughts and expose our hearts to human scrutiny, we are no longer at peace as the intentions of our words are analyzed because our concern then becomes:

• Was that THE BEST WAY to communicate my thoughts? 
• Will my intentions be misunderstood?
• Did I EVEN have to say that?
• What do they think about me NOW?
• Etc, etc, etc...

But it's not just what comes out of our mouths that rob us of our peace.  The words which we allow others to release into our hearing have the potential to create chaos, as well.  People can only say around us what we allow them to say, so we must be proactive.  We can not give people permission to turn us into a landfill for their evil thoughts.  When in a conversation with someone that turns into a backbiting session about another person who is absent from the conversation, something just happened: PEACE LEFT AND YOU NEED TO FOLLOW AFTER IT.  If you stay and allow that toxic conversation to enter your hearing, it's guaranteed to rob you of your inner peace because your mind has been poisoned to perceive the absentee person differently than before those evil thoughts were released as words into your hearing.  Therefore, it's time we grow up.  Be watchful.  Not so much of the enemy and his devices, but be watchful of peace.  Keep your eyes on peace because wherever peace goes, make it your intention to be right behind it.