Get On Your Face!

"And I fell on my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple..." (Eze 43:3,4)

Never in the Scriptures when people encounter the glory of the Lord do they remain standing...

Do I remain standing to often? Do I approach God with humility in light of who He is, bringing me flat on my face!? Or do I approach God casually with a sense of entitlement? 

Yes I do...

Sure we can approach God's throne with boldness and confidence (Heb 4:16), but that boldness and confidence is that we will not be struck dead because we have been made holy and pure by the blood of the Lamb, but God is still the LORD who when truly see His glory should cause is to fall on our faces!

Don't really "feel" like falling on your face? It's a little weird right? And plus haven't we been told so many time by worship leaders that we can worship God in whatever position we want, standing or sitting, raised hands or not...

OK but I don't see evidence of this "laissez faire" attitude towards worship in Scripture... in fact I see quite the opposite, in both Old and New Testament God repeatedly giving clear instructions for how to worship Him, and I see people FALLING on their faces all over the place!

Maybe our hearts have become so casual towards God that we are not responding to His glory by falling on our faces, so maybe we need to start by choosing to fall on our faces, and then in time as we chose to humble ourselves before the glory of the LORD our hearts will follow our bodies?

But maybe not.

Maybe we need to chose to ignore our finicky feelings and take a harder look at the reality... God is the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega, He is the Great I AM...

Maybe we need to chose to join in with the praises of the four living creatures who never cease to say

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

    who was and is and is to come!”

and as the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne who lives forever and ever the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev 4: 7-11).

Maybe?

Yes! We do, I do.

Perspective Changing Praise

OK first off GOOD MORNING! 

Secondly, I'm not looking trivialize anyone's very real pain and suffering. 

Now to the point do you ever feel overwhelmed, underwhelmed, or just whelmed? Are you ever angry, hurt, and frustrated? 

Confession: I am! like 90% of the time! This morning as I'm trying to "let go" of control through prayer and tears, I felt the promptings of the Holy Spirit to break open my bible and start PRAISING God with the words of the Psalms. So I did, and to be honest nothing about my circumstance has changed, but my PERSPECTIVE has! 

Now this can't be a one time thing, we need to be daily, consistently PRAISING God for who he is! And as we do our PERCPECTIVE will be transformed into one where God is King over all they earth! Amen!?

Why don't you give it a try? Now I warn you it takes time, as in reading the Psalm over and over again until the truth starts to sink into your mind and heart, transforming them! But if we are persistent and consistent I believe PRAISING God for who he is will transform our PERSPECTIVE!

Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted! (Psalm 47:1-9 ESV)

A Raging Fire

This morning as I was praying for my neighbourhood, I confessed to Jesus that it scares me to pray for revival in fear that he won't bring it, because I don't have the faith that he will. I prayed for the faith to pray for renewal, restoration, and revival. 

Jesus reminded me "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control". (2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV)

We have not been given the spirit of fear! But of power, love, and self-control!!! So brothers and sisters let's us fan into A RAGING FIRE the gifts he has given us, encouraging and challenging each other towards love and good works (Heb 10:4) so that we can see his might work of renewal, restoration, and revival in our world! 

Who's with me!?

It takes effort!

A real quick reflection...

This morning I was mediating in Psalm 3. I asked the question what do I fear? And what arose to the top first was rejection, being alone, and being left behind. 

The Holy Spirit impressed into my mind the truth "but I'm never alone with you Jesus" 

Me: "but you are not flesh and blood right now beside me Jesus" 

Jesus: "I know but I still can meet you where your at right now" 

Me: "really?" 

Jesus: "Oh yes!"

In reflection I wrote:

Yes here I AM

I AM here for you 

I love you with a love that never fails, it never ever ends ever.

I AM with you my dear one. I see you for all your beauty, I AM affirming you, I AM with you, I AM proud of you, I pick you, I have chosen you my dear girl, you are mine forever and ever.

I love you.

NOW this is where the quick reflection comes, after writing that I prayed

"please make this more than enough dear Jesus Amen" 

and His tender voice reassured me "I will, I will, with time, and confusing we meditation on my Truth to you." 

And that's when it clicked, something I have learns before but needed a reminder:

the Truth that will set us free will do so with continued, sustained reflection on His truth. 

We need to be reading our Bibles, but not just reading them taking the time to sit with them, to let the words of Truth sink into our minds and hearts, penetrating and transforming! 

But this does take time and consistency and effort on out part! In a "microwave" culture this can be very challenging for us! I should know! But I believe if we call out to The Holy Spirit He will help us!

So let us pray together "Jesus we need to be consistent in our prayers and reflections on your Truth, because Jesus we need you! Help us please Holy Spirit. Amen"

Oh I guess that was not so quick ;) haha 

God bless us all!

Amen

Holy Expectations

Yesterday evening my good friend asked me the question "who's excpectaions are you living under?"

This morning as I reflected on this, I felt The Lord saying to me "not Mine."

So I asked Jesus "what are your expectations of me?" 

And this what I heard, "to be holy as I AM holy. To love the LORD God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength."

I asked Jesus what does it mean to be "holy as you are holy?" And I felt the impression that it means to be set apart/different, living ourlives in light of who He is and who we He says we are!

Then to be holy as He is holy is know Him, and know ourselves in light of His grace and mercy. 

To know God is to be intimate with Him, to sit with Him, still and quietly listening to Him... 

"You are my beloved, I have chosen you, I am with you, I have made you clean, you are a new person in me, I have set you free from the clutches of sin and death!"

Now let us live in light of this Truth! We have been made new by the work Jesus Christ did on the cross, we have been set free from sinning and from the ways that bring death! 

We now get to live our lives in freedom, freedom to love, freedom to give, freedom to serve, freedom to share, freedom to dance and run with Jesus! 

Let us go out today and love as He has loved us, by the power of His Spirit that dwells within you and me, love genrously, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength...

Be holy as He has made you holy.