Part III continued: Jesus IS our Home!
The most intimate revelation that is found in the scriptures about how Jesus is our Home, is found in His own words in John chapters 14, through 17: “In My Father’s House are many dwelling places....I am going to prepare a place for you” (Jn 14:2) The word “place,” that He uses here, is the Greek word; “topos”, which translates as a “place, location or home.” Later in John chapter 14 in verse 23, He uses a different word that intimates His coming to us and making His abode in us: “...If anyone loves Me, He will keep My Word, and My Father shall love him. And We will make a dwelling place with Him.” (GLT) The New King James more intimately says, “...and We will come to him and make OUR HOME with him!” The word for dwelling place here in the Greek is “Mone.” It means residence, abode or mansion. The Apostle Paul says; “but Christ as a Son over His own House, whose House we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:6) We are indeed His residence and He is our Mansion! His glorious intention is to transform us into His earthly temples through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit- the Kingdom of God within us! Jesus is replicating Himself in us, thereby proving His love and destiny for us.
In John Chapters 14 through 17, Jesus has thoroughly revealed to us that we MUST ABIDE IN HIM so that He can make His home in us, through His Helper, the Holy Spirit of truth (Jn. 14:17). Jesus promises us intimate union with Himself and the Father: “At that day (His resurrection) you will know that I am in My Father, and you are IN ME, and I IN YOU... and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and MANIFEST MYSELF TO HIM!” This is when JESUS- the glory of God, comes to take up residence within us. Please note that His promise is to reveal and MANIFEST Himself to us and IN us! We can know and expect His blessed Presence within us, it is all a matter of ABIDING IN CHRIST! “Abide IN ME and I in you, as the branch CANNOT bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you ABIDE IN ME!” (John 15:4)
We are now the earthly temples that He inhabits and desires to fill with His presence and glory, especially when we praise and worship Him! True worship and praise always brings His anointing. It is His anointing, His presence, that truly changes and empowers us for His service, without His anointing we can do nothing for Him. His anointing leads us and teaches us:
“But you have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and you know all things... the anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you and you need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.” (1John 2:20&27)
His anointing is the river of living water; the Holy Spirit, that bubbles up from within and makes serving Him an extremely joyous and supernatural experience. The priests were all allowed to enter the tabernacle that day and were all sanctified- wearing their holy white robes. We must also be clothed in our robe of righteousness, our garment of praise, that the Lord provides us, Jesus Himself is our covering- He is our robe of righteousness; He is all my righteousness, I stand complete in Him and worship Him, as the song proclaims! We must be as one in our worship to experience His glory as a congregation. Paul says that we must be in one accord.
God Fills His Temples With His Glory
The day of Pentecost was the unparalleled display of God’s awesome power. There are several similarities between what happened at the dedication of Solomon’s temple and at Pentecost that proves that we are now the mighty earthly temple in which He dwells. There were 120 priests all worshiping God as one, at the consecration of Solomon’s temple. On Pentecost, there were also 120 priests (believers) that were in one accord in one place (Acts 2:1). The power of God’s presence was so strong in the temple that the priests could not even continue to stand. When Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit on and in the disciples in the upper room, there was the “sound as of a mighty rushing wind”, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” God mightily filled His new temple; His church, with His power and glory, much in the same way He filled Solomon’s Temple!
“.... when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” (2Chr. 7:1-3)
The priests could not enter into the temple while the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house but years later, on the day of Pentecost, His new temples (believers) were deluged in God’s glory and filled with His power and literally on fire and “yet not consumed,” just like the burning bush! The priests in Solomon’s Temple, could not stand God’s power but on Pentecost, God intimately imparted His awesome glory, power and presence into the very heart of His children. The dispensation of His law, had been fulfilled in Jesus, when the Holy Spirit came to write it upon the flesh of men’s hearts. The dispensation of His grace came into full bloom on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophetic worship that was initiated in Solomon’s temple on the day of it’s consecration. It was also the prophetic answer and fulfillment to the baptism of death that was in force when Moses delivered the law in Sinai on the first Pentecost. The New Testament Pentecost, was the consecration of His most glorious, earthly temple; the church. We see in the Old Testament, this prophetic foreshadowing and later fulfillment, the Lord’s attribute of Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End!
“Let us go into His tabernacle; Let us worship at His footstool. Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy.” Ps. 132:7-9
We all need the fire of His Holy Spirit within us to be able to serve and follow Him. We all need to be in one accord as a body of believers, for His glory to fall and fill us corporately. At the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the powerful but unified worship, brought down the glory cloud of God’s presence. The priests could not even stand in His presence. Could it be said that they were slain in His presence? Praise God that we are priests that can enter into His Holy presence because of what our High Priest has done for us!
“....we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See”, He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (Heb. 8:1-6) The pattern of the old, reveals to us the power and fulfillment of the new.
Under the old covenant, the Lord would appear in the cloud. His glory cloud would hover over the Ark between the Cherubim. Anyone entering without God’s command, would be struck dead. The High Priest was instructed to burn the incense on the altar. That quantity of incense mixed with hot coals created a perfumed cloud of fumigation that covered the stench of the sacrifice; the burning flesh that represented their sin and became their sin. It became a soothing fragrance unto the Lord. The burning of the incense would create a cloud that covered the mercy seat and filled the tabernacle. The burning of the incense on the altar within the Holies, is symbolic of our prayers and the sacrifice of praise, the worship and intercession that rises up to Jesus like a sweet aroma. David shows us the meaning of the burning incense: “Let my prayer be set before Thee AS AN INCENSE, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” (Ps 141: 2) That incense permeated the whole temple and perhaps all of Jerusalem, just as He permeates us as our praise rises up before Him. The burnt offering, is also symbolic of the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns out the flesh in our temples, which we must offer as a sacrifice to God. The glory cloud and the pillar of fire by night would rest over the Mercy Seat regardless of where it was. But it was in the Holy of Holies that the Most Holy, Highest God, would pardon the sin of Israel by the “sprinkling of blood” once a year, right on the Mercy Seat. If anyone were to touch the Ark, except for the finger of the High Priest, with blood, on the Day of Atonement, they would be struck dead. An unsanctified High Priest could also be struck dead, and so a rope was tied around the ankle of the High Priest before he entered so that his carcass could be removed if he were struck dead. Wherever the Ark rested, was Holy Ground. (Qodesh) Ground that had been sanctified by the presence of God. This is why they were instructed to carry the Ark around their encampments before they rested. Sanctification, is also why they encircled Jerhico 7 times. Seven is the number of perfection and sanctification. God sanctified Jerhico right to the ground! It also required God’s chosen, to be obedient to God’s commands by faith. Jerhico is an object lesson of what happens to a structure or city that is not Holy. When God comes to call on us, only what He has built will stand. God often allows us to be leveled before He can build us up again. No flesh can remain in His presence or be of any use to God. “Unless the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.” Once He has laid the foundation, a great temple can be built of which He is the cornerstone and the head.
1Peter 2:4 ; “And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, For this is contained in Scripture: " Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed." This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone," and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
Eph.2:18-22: “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
In the Old Testament and under the old Covenant, no unsanctified “flesh” could stay alive in His presence, you had to be Holy! Holiness is still the prerequisite to enter into His presence but under the New Covenant, righteousness is freely imparted as we obey Him and abide in Him... in the Tabernacle of God. We must still repent, trust, obey and follow but Jesus is the one who does the vital work inside us! Extensive requirements of sanctification were made before the High Priest could enter before His presence. We don’t just enter in before Him, we enter into Him! We are told to “abide in Him!” Praise God that;
“...by His doing we are IN Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” ( 1Cor 1:30 ).
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found IN Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,” (Phil 3:8,9)
Everything that Jesus offers us is all a free gift, we could never make ourselves worthy enough by earning redemption through our own works! He is our righteousness! Christlike character, is the fruit that manifests in us, as a result of consuming and applying His word, abiding in Jesus and allowing Him to abide in us! (spending lots of time with Him). True Christlike character (holiness) is not learned or developed, it is imparted to us as He indwells in us and as we abide in Him! Christlike character is the emanation from within us of the impartation of His Holy Presence, the result of being filled with Jesus and conformed into His image. It is only because of His Holy Presence within us that we can become a new creature in Christ! Jesus does this work by the impartation of His grace and presence but He can’t do this in people that don’t need Him, nor that fail to pursue Him with all their hearts (desperate and abandoned), in Spirit and in truth.
Through the Word and by His Spirit, we have access to the very throne of Christ, but in reality few really know or experience this, nor do they know the way to enter in. I knew this in “theory” for a long time and although I struggled with many deep issues and my sin, I sensed His calling and His voice to come before Him. My sin and my self condemnation kept me from entering in to the Holy of Holies. My doubts and my fears overwhelmed me and I literally kept myself from God and His presence. You see, His presence brings great conviction and immature Christians don’t understand how quickly they can receive forgiveness and restoration, so they flee from Him. Dwelling on our past sins or current lack, only makes it impossible to completely trust God for all things. It is only when we trust completely in Christ to cleanse, restore and empower us that we can be made whole. We serve a supernatural God who can change even the worst of sinners! Those that are fearful of the supernatural part of God, listen: there is nothing more supernatural than having your sins forgiven and your very nature changed! A relationship with Jesus, is completely supernatural! If you truly feel that entering into the presence of Jesus is strange or something to be feared, you had better examine yourself and repent of whatever is holding you back! Even the thought of such a spiritual experience is feared by some believers who believe in the “word” and “Jesus” in theory but not in practice... on “paper” but not with vital faith. This is what I call a “theory / paper” Christian or “head vs. heart” Christian. For this person, maintaining control, is a priority because the “paper” Christian strives to keep it and needs to be able to explain and rationalize everything. The need to control our own lives and destinies, must be offered as a sacrifice to Jesus. We must be led and controlled by His Holy Spirit, Who enables us to enter into His presence and truly worship and know His life changing power. Jesus is not a “self-help success course,” where you simply apply rules and knowledge and thus change yourself. The life changing power of Christianity lies in the impartation of the very Person of Jesus Christ to the spirit and soul of the believer. That’s why there are many who “believe” but few who have truly received Him.. “But as many as received Him- to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12)
It is usually much easier for me to enter into His presence in private than with others. However, there is something very special about entering into corporate worship because it is there that the edification of the body accelerates. As we praise and worship together, God builds us up and cements us together. My private worship time begins with the acknowledgement of how desperately I need Him. Then I experience the conviction of His presence and have deep need to get clean before entering His awesome presence. (Sounds a little like what the Priests did at the altars) From that point, my love and adoration begins to pour out from within me as I continue to press into Him. Jesus does the cleansing as I do the repenting. If I have done something that has grieved Him, I tend to go into deep grief myself when He convicts me. In fact, if I keep myself from Him and don’t repent, I tend to go into depression. But I know His grace. I don’t just know of His grace, I have personally tasted His grace, mercy and His love and He always lifts the heaviness of my burdens from me.
I also have learned that we must not measure the effect of our worship by how it made us “feel.” There will be many times when I don’t have the same “feeling” from the previous worship time. Faith is much more desirable than feeling. It is by faith that I enter in, not by my feelings. Our faith, is based on facts, especially the fact that His word is true. I am not condemning an emotional response to His presence at all but one must not accentuate it or measure their experience by what has happened in their emotions. If one experiences a real flatness in worship or “dry spell,” where you know that you are not connecting with God, then you need to ask the Lord what’s wrong and press into Him. He may be telling you to spend more time with Him or to read the word or to repent of something. Examine yourself! There may be some sin that is preventing you from entering in and receiving what the Lord longs to give you. Ask God to reveal it to you! There are also times when He withdraws a little from us, to get us to pursue Him more! Pursue the Lord, He will always show you what He wants you to do, but you must wait on Him! Never, ever give up!!!
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 3:17,18)
We are made in the image of God, we are tripartite beings comprised of body, soul and spirit. The teachings of Watchman Nee, explain this deep truth very well. The soul, is comprised of our intellect, emotions and our wills. Our spirit is the eternal part of us that becomes one with Jesus and allows us to commune with Him. When we are born again, His Spirit first regenerates our spirit man and then as we respond in faith to Jesus, the ongoing redemption of our souls and bodies proceeds as well. Unsaved man is driven entirely by his soul and body- mainly by his intellect, emotions or lusts. The unsaved man neglects, enslaves and punishes his spirit man- that part of man that longs for God and can receive from God, for God is Spirit. The spirit man within us is that part that is made in the shape of Jesus and that cries out for Him! Not until our spirit man is reborn- covered and permeated by the Holy Spirit- is God able to heal and change the whole being of a person through the power of the Holy Ghost. Paul says that the “spirit is willing” and says in Romans 7 that “the flesh is weak.” The flesh is the part of our body and soul that must be constantly crucified and put in it’s place. Our spirit hungers and thirsts for Jesus but the flesh is at war with the Spirit of God over who will rule our spirit man. Our spirit is the gate of entry for the work of the Holy Spirit in our vessels. Our unsanctified flesh constantly tries to enslave (overwhelming it with lusts, emotions, soulish control) our spirit to do it’s bidding instead of seeking the things of God.
When we are born again, the Spirit is imparted in the most inner dwelling place, our spirit man, which is renewed and regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Our soul, which can be controlled by our flesh (emotions, will, intellect, personality, which many collectively call the heart) or by the Spirit of God, is sanctified at an individual pace, as is our bodies, according to the measure of our faith. Some new converts surrender totally to God and quickly display the fruit of walking with Jesus, while others struggle for long periods of time.
The ancient temple, like our human vessels, also embody a tripartite pattern, having 3 distinct dispositions like man. The Outer Court, is analogous to the outer man or flesh of our bodies. Our “souls,” (emotions, intellect, will) represent the “Hagios” or “Holy place.” Our human spirit, which lies deeply beyond the second veil, is patterned after the Holy of Holies and becomes a mini Holy of Holies when Jesus is enthroned there. The temple is analogous to man in that it’s three distinct parts are directly comparable to the image of man, who is made in God’s image, having 3 distinct Persons. If we did not have a spirit, we would be like the animals, that do not possess one. Without a spirit, we would not have been made in God’s image. The Holy Spirit of course is God’s Spirit- God the Father, is the Soul of the Trinity- His personality. Jesus is the embodiment of all three Persons of the Trinity. “In Him all fullness (of the Godhead) dwells” (Colossians 1:19) “Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.” (Hebrews 1:3) The word is clear, Jesus is the express image of God! “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father,” John 14: 9.
My observation, as well as my experience is that there are also 3 basic levels of Christians. There are the newborn- yet to mature ones (believers, 1st level), followers (2nd level) who are not yet fully empowered or victorious but desire more of Jesus, and then there are victorious, Spirit-filled Christians (3rd level), who are infectious disciplers. I clearly see the Old Testament Temple as being symbolic of these 3 levels or stages of Christians. You must be born again to enter God’s spiritual Temple but the first level believer can enter only the outer court of the Tabernacle, not yet having consistent, intimate fellowship with Jesus or His word. Many new and immature Christians have not crucified their flesh enough, and don’t know how to enter in farther by faith and perhaps are afraid or unwilling to do so, though they have been given the right to enter into His Presence, in accordance with their faith, they are stuck in the Outer Court. If you have the desire and will to enter into the depths of Jesus Christ, He will begin the (sometimes painful) crucifixion of the flesh and the impartation of His glory into you. The painful, spiritual conviction that all encounter who pursue Jesus, will turn many away. Everyone is invited into deep and intimate fellowship with Jesus but few accept. A true follower (2nd level) longs to know more and often finds access to the inner court or Holy Place but isn’t sanctified enough in their walk (unwilling to consistently take up their cross, deny the flesh and give up all idols) to enter into the Holy of Holies (JESUS).
The mature disciple of Christ (3rd level) crucifies the flesh daily and increasingly trusts God and grows in faith. They are empowered through the baptism of the Holy Spirit to serve Jesus and He is manifested in them and through them. They walk increasingly in the Spirit and in a loving humbleness that shows that they are abiding IN Jesus, who is our Dwelling Place. However, even 3rd level Christians have known and continue to experience a progression of worship and of continually coming into God’s presence, that begins in the “Outer Court” (our natural existence) of the Tabernacle and progresses into the “Holy of Holies,” (our supernatural existence). This Disciple, increasingly abandons him/herself to Jesus and displays abundant fruit of His abiding presence. Increasing peace and joy in most every circumstance is the proof that Jesus is truly living through that person! They consistently react peaceably in the Spirit when confronted with trials and troubles. They are truly resting in Christ and have become His Tabernacle.
In the Greek it is called the Hagios, or Holy Place. It must be cleansed and purified before true Spirit led worship can begin. Worship begins in the outer court where we lift up the name of Jesus and His attributes. In the outer court, we sing and praise His attributes. In the Holy of Holies [“Hagion” in Greek], we enter into His presence- we sing praises to Him- we worship Him directly and intimately and the glory of His countenance shines down into us! This is where our hearts cry out Abba Father, in deep groanings and in tenderness to Jesus. To enter into the Hagion, a believer must be sanctified as well as filled with His Spirit. This is why in Matthew 25, that the Bridegroom is coming only for His brides whose lamps are full of oil (the Holy Ghost) and are trimmed (burning brightly in response to the Bridegroom’s voice- again reminiscent of the burning bush!). There are many that do not enter into the Holy of Holies because they have not desired to be washed and sanctified, nor have they been filled and freshly anointed to go into His presence. This is not a ritual- this is the result of aa intimate relationship with God. God has shown us through the foreshadowing in the pattern of the old Temple’s construction, rites, and sacrifices, what happens in us through the Spirit under the New Covenant.
Soulish worship, that which emanates from our minds or emotions, is to no avail in the Holy of Holies. It is not by intellect or emotion that we enter into Jesus. We lay down the soulish worship in the outer court (not meant to infer that spiritual worship will not pour over into our emotions and into our heart- it will). Spiritual worship is always from the heart (real and true) as well. This is God’s commandment, that we worship Him in Spirit and in truth! It is only through His marvelous provision, that we have been given the greatest privilege of entering into God’s very Presence. Spiritual worship (led by the Spirit and from the heart, pure and childlike) will draw men and women to God. The result may spill over into our emotions... sometimes an indicator of God doing a deeper work. Many will not understand our worship but many will be touched by the overflow of God’s anointing.
I have been asked after singing an anointed song; “what happened to me while you were singing”? Praise God that He is so generous and gracious, that even the doubters will know that something beyond the natural is happening. God will even give the skeptics a little drink, to draw their spirit man into the deep end. This is why the charismatic style of worship and music can be so profound because it is more apt to be led by the Spirit and from the heart, honest and powerful. People long to enter in like this but many don’t know how. Everything that we do in the Spirit is worship... it is all done to glorify and magnify Jesus! Spirit-filled preaching is worship! Taking care of the sick must be done as worship as well! Visiting the poor and those in jail is also an act of worship. All that is truly done through His anointing, blesses the Lord and is true worship!
God anoints leaders for this very purpose. A worship leader must lovingly invite and exhort the people to enter into the presence of God. Worship must be Spirit led and not forced, overly structured or formulated. It gets real easy to get too slick and sophisticated in our worship styles and we must be guarded as to how complicated, pre-planned and performance oriented it becomes. There is a place for musical excellence but only when God has brought it forth. True worship starts by extolling His attributes, especially through His word. His word sanctifies. Music is simply the medium, not the focus. We must come before Him as little children who are desperately abandoned to our Heavenly Father. The people will begin to forget about themselves and pour their hearts out to God. When people are broken and open they may then be spilled out before the Lord. Anointed praise and worship breaks bondages and transcends the flesh of our minds and souls. The Lord is touched by our heartfelt praise and adoration and as we reach out to Him, the touch becomes mutual as the Lord blesses His children, for In His presence there is fullness of joy. The Lord then builds up His holy temple (us) as God literally inhabits the praises of His people!
The most important role for pastors after soul winning and encouraging spiritual growth, is to groom and disciple the sheep that God has added to the flock and are spiritually mature, into ministering and flowing in their gifts. By looking at most churches today, you would think that only the “professional clergy” has gifts, that only they are called to ministry. I have an important message for you church: WE ARE ALL CALLED TO MINISTRY... WE ALL HAVE SPIRITUAL GIFTS THAT ARE TO BE DEVELOPED AND USED FOR HIS GLORY! That doesn’t mean that we are all called to preach, teach and lead, however. Most pastors fall into a trap of not properly grooming (discipling) the sheep in their walk and in their ministries. You would think that some pastors are insecure in their own giftings or perhaps not even called to their current positions and are afraid to release the sheep into proper body ministry. I am not saying that the pastor needs to personally disciple everyone in His church but He is to disciple others (elders, deacons) whose major calling is to do most of the discipling. Grooming people for ministry is for those who are mature in Christ and His word and whose lives have shown the fruit of Christlike character. The pastor must have discernment and must be able to exhort and encourage the sheep. Grooming the sheep, doesn’t consist of stroking or placating the sheep and keeping them “quiet.” Grooming means checking the source of their nourishment and how often they are getting fed and watered! Grooming means imparting the very heart of the Shepherd to the sheep! Sheep all need direction and correction and sometimes sheep need lots of love and understanding. Jesus’ instruction to His undershepherds is to “feed His sheep.” The pastor MUST remember that those sheep are NOT his sheep but that they belong to the Head Shepherd. A good spiritual shepherd does much more than a general inspection of the sheep. He cares for the sheep and lovingly grooms them and binds up the wounds of the ones that fall. A gentle shepherd NEVER beats or berates his sheep!
There are many “pastors” who have chosen ministry as a “career,” that have little or no calling or gifting to be in the positions that they now have as pastors. Formal education DOES NOT replace or suffice for callings, giftings and spiritual maturity! Perhaps that is one reason why the body is suffering and not being properly edified. But God exposes the error and the lack of anointing, through His prophets and discerners. A major gift that is good for pastors to have is the gift of administration and I’m not defining that as someone who is good with “numbers”! I’m talking about the spiritual administration of the people and nurturing the body to minister to itself. Too many pastors think that it all revolves around them! That’s called idolatry. Some “pastors” encourage this notion by forcing their flocks to be totally dependent on them for ministry, instead of grooming others to minister to the flock. We see what happens when flocks who are following a certain preacher or pastor, suddenly lose him to another flock. Many times the flock scatters or is in disarray for years. That wouldn’t happen if that pastor had been doing God’s body building program and not his own private ego/empire building, that is intended to make the sheep dependent only on him.
I am desperate for Jesus because I have experienced His resurrection power and tasted of His sweetness. He has made me just fragile enough that I must stay in constant fellowship with Him. I don’t have the ability to coast through life. Every day is a real chore and pain if I don’t stay grounded in Jesus and His word and dependent only on HIM. I praise Him that He has made it so! My intimate time with Him starts after He has drawn me and made me aware of my need for Him (every morning!). My first words for Him are inspired by what my children say everyday to me: “DADDY I WANT YOU... DADDY I NEED YOU.” This is simply His Holy Spirit within me crying out “ABBA FATHER,” just as Paul wrote in Romans 8:15,16. His precious Holy Spirit cries out from within us; DADDY I NEED YOU! “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.” (v.16) After repenting of any sin and receiving His forgiveness, I just want to praise Him for His loving kindness and for lifting my burdens. Somewhere along the way in my prayers, I find myself in the sweetest, most wonderful place that I’ve ever known. All I want to do at that point is give Him all my love. In the Holy of Holies, I become a little child... there can be no pretense there (“for such is the kingdom of heaven” ). When I am in this special place, the deepest, most wonderful sensation often floods my being. It is much deeper than my emotions but it flows over into my emotions and overwhelms me! Tears of joy often flow! I call Him Daddy when I’m inside and I know that He is with me and that I have entered into His very heart. I simply melt in His presence! He floods my being with warmth and electricity that often sparks a deep release and in filling. There is a deep sense within me that a part of me never leaves this place... never leaves His heart. When I am able to enter in, I get up a different person. My burdens are gone and I long to stay with Him. My love for Him is greater and my fears and doubts are gone. For me, a day without entering into His presence is like a day fighting for oxygen. I am extremely dependent on Jesus and can’t afford to go a day without entering into Him. Jesus is not my “crutch,” He’s my life support!
A deep and spiritual lesson that the Lord continually blesses me through, is the way in which my children often come to me-- when they come to tank up on daddy’s love. During my quiet time early in the morning, one or both of my children will usually make their early morning pilgrimage to the room where I have enclosed myself. I pause what I’m doing and let them melt into Daddy’s arms. During my morning devotion, they offer me the sweetest, most desperate love of the day. This is especially true if they have not slept well or if they’ve had a bad dream! (they need daddy to make it alright!) The other intense Daddy time for them is when I come home from work and they both crave attention and private Daddy time. My Elisabeth just wants to sit and cuddle and my Jessica wants me to play games and watch her perform her creative songs and dances. The 3rd time of the day that they usually want Daddy’s attention is bed time. Sometimes they absolutely demand that I lay down with them for a while and soothe them with my touch before they can go to sleep. God has shown me that this is deeply spiritual imprinting that He has put in everyone of His children. Recently, as my 6 year old lay in my arms, she lovingly told me that I was her “home.” She went on to describe me as a “hotel” where she lived! This is a type of spiritual intimacy that children need with their parents. We need to have this same type of closeness with our Heavenly Father! I found my daughter’s heartfelt proclaimation,to be another confirmation of the thesis of this book. We need intimacy with our perfect Heavenly Father, even more than our children require intimacy and relationship with us imperfect, earthly parents. Jesus blesses me through my children constantly and has shown me many deep things through them! It is also amazing how sensitive and ministering they are to me at times. My children’s love and the love that God has put in me for them, has completely changed my life! There is a deep spiritual parallel in the cleaving love that our children have for us and the kind of love that the Lord longs to receive from us. It is that child-like, abandoned love, that He longs to receive from us!
I believe that what I’ve just described is also the rest that Paul refers to in Hebrews Ch. 4. There “remains a rest to the people of God.. for he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works... let us labor to enter into that rest...” For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit...and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart...we have not a great High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.... Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:10-16 KJV)
I am in desperate need for Jesus everyday. I have to enter into His rest and come boldly before His throne every morning. Everyone has this same desperate need but as I stated earlier-- some realize that they are desperate for Jesus, and some don’t! There is also a great analogy for us in the story of the Israelites finally entering in to the ‘promised Land’ after forty years of wandering. Jesus is our promised land. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is not only the Way to get there, He is also our destination! “Fixing our eyes upon Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 11). He is our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our destination!
It is our adoration, praise and worship that causes the Lord to daily anoint us with His precious Holy Ghost and take us up and over into the Holy of Holies, for “He is enthroned upon the praises of Israel” (Ps.22:3).
“O Lord, I love the habitation of Thy House, and the place where glory dwells” (Ps.26:8)
Jesus is our House and we are His House, we do not have to physically go any where to enter into His presence, for He is our Holy of Holies, our dwelling place and He dwells right within us.
“But as for me, by thine abundant loving kindness I will enter thy House at Thy Holy Temple, I will bow in reverence to Thee” (Ps.5:7). “Incline Thine ear to me, rescue me quickly; Be Thou to me a rock of strength, A Stronghold to save me” (Ps. 31:2). “One thing I have asked from Jehovah, it I will seek: my dwelling in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the delight of the Lord, and to enquire in His Temple. For in the day of evil He shall hide me in His shelter; in the secrecy of His tabernacle, He shall hide me; He shall set me up on a rock” (Ps 27:4,5)
“..Thou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord, forever” (Ps 23:5,6) We are part of the spiritual House of Jesus Christ!
Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. (1Cor3:16)
Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (2Cor. 6:16)
“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” (Heb. 3:6)
“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Pet 2:5)
“FOR we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3. If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit...
17 Therefore, if anyone BE IN CHRIST, he is a new creation... 21 that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM.” 2Cor.5:1 -5,17,21
The charisms (gifts) that adorn and edify His temples are supernatural, but must not receive more attention than Christ Himself or His word, or the Body will become unbalanced and not develop Christlike character and holiness. The gifts are balanced in the Body by the teaching and application of the word. Where there is no balance and alignment with the word, the gifts can become overemphasized and even idolized. Charisms in a person without Christ-like character, are just a “noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1Cor. 13) I believe that this is what Paul had in mind in 1Cor. 13. We must labor to have Jesus at home and growing within us. I believe in the gifts according to His word, and not the prohibition of the gifts. Without the prophesying and preaching of the truth of God’s word, most of us would never have known about Jesus. God’s greatest desire is that we reflect Him- that we reflect His very presence in all that we do. As Jesus is more at home in us, His character is made manifest through us. I mean the attributes (fruits) of Jesus and His Holy Spirit; Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, patience, kindness, self control, meekness, wisdom and temperance. These are the attributes that identify us as being His and walking with Him. You can talk a blue streak in tongues and spout the scriptures but if you don’t truly love everyone, you have failed and need to get realigned with the word.
I have learned this truth through observation, personal failure, and by subsequent growth in the Word. I have observed several ministries that are unbalanced and tend to push for the extremes and others that have abandoned the true power of the Gospel all together. There is an extreme polarization that is happening in the Body, causing some to go overboard with the gifts and others to despise them. The Lord is allowing this to worsen, to show us the obvious error of our ways and cause us to repent and focus only on Jesus. Some err on the side of flexing extreme control while some deny the word and are out of control. We can make anything an idol, even God’s good gifts. Some who operate in what seems like all the gifts, have become like Simon the magician, who just wanted to feel powerful and be recognized by others. Having any kind of God given gift (spiritual or natural) does not make us more special than other brothers and sisters. Having a gift, must not cause us to act superior nor wield it like a scepter. We should not long for our gifts to be recognized but rather that they are used to edify others. We need to remember that in God’s kingdom; “the first shall be last.”
| Site Tools |
|
|
|
|
|
Verse of the Day |
|
|
