Thursday, June 28, 2012

In His Presence

"Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly." Exodus 19:16-18 WHY did God manifest His presence in such a dramatic way to His people? Maybe to instill AWE and RESPECT for Who God is ~ God's presence then ascended like smoke in a furnace after descending down to show Himself like Fire. WHAT was God's PURPOSE for manifesting Himself to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai ? For certain, God showed them the LIGHT of TRUTH, and perhaps His purpose included shaking them loose from making Moses an idol to worship - God's chosen people have often been caught up by what is SEEN, and they sought visible manisfestations, or miracles to increase their faith. God is holy, and above all He is to be praised. We are to bow to God alone, not to a prophet, not a president, not a party of people, not a church, not to an angel ~ God manifested Himself to His people to increase their faith in Him, that He alone is worthy to be praised! WHAT is the response of the people to God's manifested Presence? The people feared the Lord, they respected His power, and trembled. The ground quaked, God shook the foundation of their FAITH in Moses, to get their eyes on Him. WHAT did GOD need to communicate to Moses and Aaron without the priests? ASK GOD, search the scriptures, seek Him with all your heart and the CONFIDENCE of Who God has always been will KEEP you in His presence, in His peace about each life situation. Then the Lord said to Moses: “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God ~" EXODUS 19:19-20 WERE the people of Israel making Moses an idol? Were not the people of Israel just released from the bondage of slavery in Egypt and entering into a relationship of misguided worship towards Moses? WHAT was God's message to His children? Does God warn us out of love? YES, our Lord disciplines us because He loves us. JESUS speaks strongly to us today by His Spirit in this: "Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet not one of you keeps the Law. If that is the truth why do you seek to kill Me for not keeping it? The crowd answered Him, You are possessed by a demon! You are raving! Who seeks to kill you? Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all are astounded. Now Moses established circumcision among you—though it did not originate with Moses but with the previous patriarchs—and you circumcise a person even on the Sabbath day. If, to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, a person undergoes circumcision on the Sabbath day, have you any cause to be angry with, indignant with, or bitter against Me for making a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? Be honest in your judgment and do NOT decide at a glance, superficially and by appearances; but judge fairly and righteously. " John 7 ~ AMP LESSON: Do not worship man, read the scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth, whom shall I judge? God is the judge, and we are to bow down to no man, no council member, no sports idol, no rock stars. By His command we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, for He has got the ball, the world in His hands. Listen for His voice and mingle in the world and feel His manifest Presence tingle. His greatest command is that we love ourself as we are loved by Him, without a condition, and full of compassion. We are to confess our sins, then forgive ourself as He remembers not, and He forgives all. All sickness, all disease, the entire curse has been forgiven and healed by the blood of Jesus. Our Father takes pleasure in us, it is His will (and we know His will, becuase we are people of the Word) that we enjoy life and judge not. Jesus came for the lost, the broken, and He challenges those who take pride in their knowledge of the scriptures, to be found faithful and remain surrendered to not fully comprehending all His ways. Our light, our laughter, our joy, our kind acts, our grace, our love will attract more to God than our rigourous attempt to keep the law of Moses. And God said through Paul, a man carried away by his lofty thoughts, a man blinded by the pride of his study of the old testament. The risen Lord Jesus revealed the truth to Paul. "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, in every way from anyone’s control, I have made myself a bond servant to everyone, so that I might gain the more for Christ. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to men under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though not myself being under the Law, that I might win those under the Law. To those without (outside) law I became as one without law, not that I am without the law of God and lawless toward Him, but that I am especially keeping within and committed to the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak (wanting in discernment) I have become weak (asking for discernment) that I might win the weak and over scrupulous. I have in short become all things to all men, that I might by all means, at all costs and in any and every way, save some by winning them to FAITH in Jesus Christ. 1 Corin 9:19 ~ As I was born on 9/19 this is my LIFE VERSE. Thank You Jesus for Your grace and Your MANIFEST presence. Halleluiah! Your living Word abides in me and it reminds me to hold each thought captive and measure it against the perfect Word and will of God. "I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving in an unspiritual way. For though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience has been confirmed. Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we. For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed. I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters. For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak, and his public speaking is despicable.” Such a person should consider this: What we are in the words of our letters when absent, we will be in actions when present." 2 Corin 10:2-11 HOLMAN ~ Jesus commanded "Do not be afraid" When I stand in Your glorious manifested Presence, I shall speak in FAITH, I am covered by the blood of Jesus, and I am healed from all insecurity as my confidence is in my Lord, it is His gift to me and I receive it. AMEN

3 comments:

  1. There’s a old song we use to sing years ago:

    I say YES Lord, Yes – to your Will and to Your Ways

    I say YES Lord, Yes – I will trust You and obey

    When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree

    And my answer will be YES Lord, Yes

    And my answer will be YES Lord, Yes

    How I love to sing praises to my Lord!
    My sister in the Lord, my very own
    Saint Nancy

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  2. Miss Barbara ( my girl friend in Christ) You are going to the Alan Jackson Concert, I have purchased the tickets. We will be in section 205 and row 1-28. I hope that our section will be good seats. I have a little gift for you, I hope you do not have this CD yet, Alan Jackson Greatest Hits Volume 2. See you on Saturday. Many blessings on you. Mike, a man of God, living in JOY and grace!

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  3. PSALM 16:11 NLT ~ "You will show me the way of life. Being with You is to be full of joy. In Your right hand there is happiness forever." TOUCH ME Lord, give me all that I need to know to sustain and increase the FIRE I have for You, that I may ignite those around me with a hunger for more of You. Enable us Lord to pass off the FIRE of Your love to the next generation. Longevity is an expression of momentum of a value, a wisdom, and the unforced rhythm of Your divine grace and love. Let us live well and end with a passion that makes our discipline to seek after You ~ that we become Your magnets for people seeking the ultimate pleasure in this world, a personal relationship with JESUS. let us be enraptured by what You reveal to us in the book of Revelation: That Your eyes are lit with fire. That our Lord Jesus Christ dances over us with a LET LOOSE LOVE for how He created us. Make us passionate followers that will pay the price of looking ridiculous, as we speak outrageious truths about His power to change and sustain His power and FIRE for Christ in us. Oh Lord, let us be CONTAGIOUS to all who come in contact, to all who we smile upon. When we speak the name of JESUS, may the people weep as they recognize the VALUE of His precious name.

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