KING OF THE WORLD

Psalms 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

“How could I forget that you’ve always been the King of the World.”  The refrain from this song by Natalie Grant ran through my mind in the predawn hours.

We worry; we fret; we try to figure things out because WE ARE IN CONTROL…but mostly its all a façade as things slowly crumble in our small kingdom.

When we are born, God bestows on each of us a kingdom to rule.  We are given control and the power to make each and every decision in this little kingdom that we rule…AND if the king/queen doesn’t get his/her way, the surrounding kingdoms can hear the stomping foot of protest vibrating throughout their small world.

Of course the prosperous, happier kingdoms understand that they only rule a “sub-kingdom” and they receive daily instructions and direction from the KING OF THE WORLD.

What about your kingdom?  Has it become like the child’s game?  You claim the hill and stand precariously at the top, knowing that one strong push will knock you down. OR…do you rule a beautiful kingdom that looks so good to those in surrounding kingdoms but in your heart you know you are sitting on the throne of a crumbling infrastructure…you’ve forgotten that  “HE’S ALWAYS BEEN THE KING OF THE WORLD.”

This morning take some time to put God in His rightful place and you in yours.  He belongs ON THE THRONE and you belong kneeling in submission to THE KING OF THE WORLD.  Allow Him to put your kingdom back on the solid foundation of His Kingdom. 

It’s your kingdom and you have the POWER to put Him in CONTROL!

SETTLING FOR BRACHS

2 CHRONICLES 7:1-2 WHEN SOLOMON HAD FINISHED PRAYING, FIRE CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND CONSUMED THE BURNT OFFERING AND THE SACRIFICES; AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD FILLED THE TEMPLE 2 AND THE PRIESTS COULD NOT ENTER THE HOUSE OF THE LORD BECAUSE THE GLORY OF THE LORD HAD FILLED THE LORD’S HOUSE.

Several years ago, I befriended a woman from Belgium.  Returning from a trip home, she brought me a small box of authentic Belgian Chocolates.  They were indescribably delicious; the type of chocolate that you eat in small bites, allowing the chocolate to melt in your mouth and excite your taste buds with its sweet smoothness.  In the years since the last bite was consumed, I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate, from Brach’s to Godiva, but I’ve never found anything to compare to the chocolate from Belgium and I still dream of some day experiencing that chocolatey goodness again.  I probably never will because I AM NOT WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE to have a box shipped to the middle of Michigan.

Have you ever been in a gathering of the People of God when the heaviness of God’s Spirit actually descended and filled the room?  A Holy hush stills voices and even the cries of babies.  Knees are bent, tears flow and hands are raised as worship begins to ascend heavenward.  Music is set aside, sermons are forgotten, dinner plans are set aside because you are “tasting” the authentic Presence of God.

Psalms 42:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God.

Oh you will attend other worship services; there will be beautiful music that will draw you Heavenward; you will hear inspiring sermons that challenge and inspire you to change but you will NEVER FORGET that indescribably awesome encounter with the Shekinah Presence of God.  You will talk about it, dream about it and always long to experience it, at least once again in this life.

God desires to come down rest in the midst of His people; we desire to experience His awesome Presence, but TOO OFTEN WE ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE that His Presence requires.

We have settled for the “chocolate” left in our box because we are hungry for a taste of chocolate and the leftovers don’t require a whole lot of effort.  We have plans, there are schedules to be met, the pastor has a sermon prepared, and the roast is timed to be done at Noon.  What about the Sunday School teachers and kids?  What if there are visitors?  What if they get bored and never come back?  What if an encounter with God convicts me, changes me and I have to turn away from my personal desires?  Oh, you can count on that happening!

BUT, WHAT IF… you could once more “taste” the genuine Presence of the Lord?   WHAT IF….you could have your first encounter with heaviness of the Holy Spirit?  Are you willing to pay the price?  Are you willing to forget about YOUR plans, set YOUR sermon aside, turn the clock to the wall and linger in worship until He fills your heart and His Presence fills the room?

Don’t settle for Brach’s when you can savor Callebaut.

OTHERS CAN BUT YOU CAN'T

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

To my Fellow Ministers and Servants, it is easy to get our eyes off Jesus and onto the success of others.  And sometimes we marvel at the actions they, seemingly, “get by with.”  Maybe it is time to consider that your situation is the gateway to the GREATER BLESSING because God has reserved you to accomplish something special and dear to His heart.

In his writing, entitled OTHERS CAN…BUT YOU CAN’T, G. D. Watson says it all and says it best….

OTHERS CAN… BUT YOU CAN’T

G. D. Watson, in Living Words

If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people or measure yourself by other Christians.  In many ways, He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers, who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it.  And, if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing.  And, if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you from wealth because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury,

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants you to produce some choice fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.  He may let others be great but keep you small.

He may let others do a work for Him and get credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing.  And then, to make your work still more precious, He may let others get credit for the work you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or wasting your time, which other Christians never seem to get distressed over.  So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own.

He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you in a jealous love and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways that He does not seem to use with others.  Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the Vestibule of Heaven.

WAITING FOR THE AMEN

Time for morning devotion.  In my usual position…check; Bible handy…check; music playing softly…check; comfy pillow…check; everything in place; everything normal…ready to begin.

As I began my prayer routine, the praise then the petitions, my voice was suddenly stilled and this dropped into my spirit, “I am waiting for the Amen!”

SAY WHAT?????  Are you saying I can get up now?  That I’ve prayed long enough?  That I’ve satisfied all the requirements and you are about to answer all my prayers?

AND GOD SAID…. “I am waiting for the Amen!”

According to the Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, AMEN means to take care, to be faithful, reliable or believable.  It is also used in the Bible to confirm a statement or as the popular, accepted definition, “SO BE IT!”

Most of us end our prayers of petition, praise, thanksgiving and repentance with the word, “AMEN,” without a thought to its meaning.  It has become more of a “sign-off” word…see you later; till next time; have a nice day; same time tomorrow.  And God who knows the very intent of our heart sees right through to the very intent of our usage of the AMEN….and He continues to wait for the AMEN spoken in sincerity and humbleness of heart.

What has God spoken to you lately?  What promises are you still waiting to see come to pass? What “Frustration of Hope” are you experiencing as your patience wears thin?  Perhaps God has just been WAITING FOR THE AMEN!

AMEN…I will “take care” of all the preparation necessary to receive Your Promise into my life.

AMEN…I will be faithful to You and trust in Your Faithfulness to me even when My Promise comes in ways I never imagined.

AMEN…You can rely on me to be available for You to work through and accomplish this part of Your plan.

AMEN…I will accept my assignment with humbleness as a servant because You have believed in me and entrusted me with this piece of Your heart.

AMEN…Not my will but Your will be done…SO BE IT!

AMEN!

A PURE HEART

Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

During Ladies Prayer, I meditated on the fact that it was the Day of Atonement in the Jewish Religion and began to thank God for His atoning blood that covers our sin.  I am so thankful that we no longer are required to offer the blood of a spotless lamb because Jesus became the perfect Lamb of God.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

As I continued to worship and praise God for this great sacrifice I felt that God whispered in my ear, “All I wanted then and all I want now is a PURE HEART!”

Let us take a mind trip back…It is the morning of the big day.  The Day of Atonement begins at sundown, the scurry of preparation is over, the final requirement now rests on the shoulders of the High Priest.  He is well aware of the requirements of the Law that passed down through Moses.  They ring through his head as he goes step by step…the purification, the special garments, the linen turban, the specially prepared incense to burn and finally, the bowl that would hold the blood for the atonement.  Yes, they were all there; all ready and waiting.

Then the moment came…the High Priest slipped behind the veil into the Holy of Holies to deliver the blood of atonement to the altar.  He had followed every step perfectly, the blood had been delivered and he comes back from behind the curtain….all the boxes were checked and he was unchanged…this glorious day; the one chance to come into the Shekinah Presence of God had become just A RITUAL….the right garments, the right words, the right instruments of praise, the right offering, BUT….the heart had been forgotten.

Isaiah 29:13 ….these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips but have removed their hearts far from me.

Allow your mind to journey back to this moment…What about me???  Has entering into the Presence of the Lord become just a ritual?   We have perfected the look, the clothes are just right, the hair is arranged perfectly, our incense burner is filled with the latest Praise and Worship songs; we know when to stand, when to kneel, what words to repeat and when to raise our hands or say Amen.  We even have the facial expressions down pat…the look of “Godly” sorrow, awe, concern and concentration on the message being delivered or the Bible passage we are reading…BUT WHAT ABOUT MY HEART???

SERIOUSLY….God isn’t concerned about your dress, hair, worship rituals and even your facial expression; besides I can promise you when you really get into the Holy of Holies and God’s presence enters to commune with you, YOUR FACE WILL BE ALL UNDONE, and you won’t care or even notice.

God isn’t concerned with our rituals.  In fact, I believe they have become a stink in the nostrils of God blocking out the sweet smelling savor of our worship.

GOD IS CONCERNED ABOUT OUR PURE HEART

A pure heart doesn’t mean you have done everything in the right order or even that you haven’t stumbled, failed or fallen down.  A pure heart is honesty before God, sorrow as you crucify this flesh and allow the Holy Spirit to do its work in you.  It is handing over your will to Him and following wherever He leads…then it is time to bring out the “Censer of Praise.”  Let the sweet smelling savor waft into the Heavens as you worship with a pure heart because GOD CAN SMELL AGAIN!

A SETTLED ACCOUNT

Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past

Every day we are writing and producing the Legacy that will eternally bear our name.  When you are passed from this life, what will be the first thought, word or memory that will enter the mind of those to whom your name will be spoken?  What stories will be passed down to your great-grandchildren?  Will they be fraught with misdeeds and bad choices or full of faith, giving glory to God? 

YOUR CHOICES TODAY DETERMINE YOUR LEGACY TOMORROW!

This morning’s news announced the death of the famous playboy, Hugh Hefner.  In the reporter’s words, his legacy was framed with these words, “The man that turned many little boys and young men into temporary thieves.”  Would any of us want that epitaph on our tombstone?

Oh but it went so much further than thievery….This is a man that using one of the most powerful tools in Satan’s arsenal, provided an avenue to destruction for so many.  I have received many emails and letters documenting the destruction left behind as young men’s hearts and lives were forever changed by Mr. Hefner’s legacy.  

Women were objectified and the women themselves traded their self-respect and purity for momentary fame.  Homes and marriages have been and are in the process of being destroyed, children have been sentenced to single-parent homes and wives struggle with self-esteem and being good enough.  No, I would say that even today, as Mr. Hefner waits to face God, this is not the legacy he wanted to leave.

Before you accuse me of judging and remind me that only God has the right to judge, let me say, Mr. Hefner’s choice and actions have already judged him, just as our choices and actions judge us.  The only way we can get the sentence commuted is through the Blood of Jesus.

Every one of us will stand before God bearing an “Account of our Life.”  When it is opened, what will be found?  An Account full of emptiness….empty promises, empty achievements, empty accolades from this world, broken families, lonely children, destroyed lives OR…. An Account that was settled long ago!

An account wiped clean by the Blood of Jesus; an account full of the Holy Spirit; an account of leading and guiding our families in the ways of God; an account of lovingly pointing others to Jesus Christ; an account of daily glorifying God!

IT IS YOUR LEGACY AND YOU CHOOSE THE AUTHOR!

Place the pen of your life in the Hands of the One who created you.  Allow Jesus Christ to write the legacy you leave behind.  Allow Him to work through you to create the memories of your exploits…Your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and all those yet to be born are counting on you.

TRUE REVELATION REQUIRES A CHALLENGE

There is a period of “blind belief” in the life of every person.  It usually begins to slowly fade into self-discovery around the age of two.  Mom says, “HOT!” and the toddler reaches out to touch the pan only to discover that Mom was right.  The challenges to authority and knowledge continue throughout childhood, adolescence and into young adulthood.  At some point, a set of accepted values are established and the need to challenge all authority and societal norms is buried under more exciting pursuits…but what if societal norms are wrong; what if accepted facts are not facts at all, but merely someone’s opinion or interpretation?  What would we learn, how far would knowledge increase, what scientific advances would be gained if one person had the courage to challenge?

In the 21^st Century, we have the benefit of sophisticated instrumentation, powerful satellites, and pictures from space to prove that the EARTH IS ROUND!  Although a few “FLAT EARTHERS” still exist, intelligent people all accept that we live on a big round ball. By the way, we only have to read the Word of God to find out that there were ancients, such as Job, who speak of a CIRCULAR HORIZON and Isaiah, who declares that God sits on the CIRCLE OF THE EARTH to understand that the earth is round.  Yet it became an accepted “societal norm” that the earth was flat until around 500BC.  Pythagoras, a Philosopher and Mathematician  challenged conventional knowledge, declaring that since his observations showed the moon was round, it only made sense that the earth must be round also…BUT what if no one had ever challenged this “fact?”

We will never receive further revelation without allowing the things we have always believed to be challenged!

We all can name several religions that are stuck in the century in which their particular sect was formed and a doctrine was established and codified. Dissent is squashed and those who would question are shun and ostracized, so that the religious tenets are kept pure.  They have received no fresh revelation for 1,000, 500, 75 or 40 years but “Praise God, they hold to the old paths” and no one dares to challenge.

This isn’t a Middle Ages or modern day phenomenon, some of the great leaders of the Bible were happily walking in their established tenets until they were CHALLENGED and received GREAT REVELATION!

In the Book of Acts we read of Saul’s miraculous conversion, how he became the great Apostle Paul and then, follow his ministry through the Epistles, yet Paul did not receive his GREAT REVELATION until his closely held beliefs were CHALLENGED!!!

We find in Acts 9, that Saul was on his way to kill those who dared to challenge the established religion of Israel.  He even had the blessing of the Religious leaders, but God had other plans and CHALLENGED Paul’s mission by shining a supernatural light on the situation.  A large portion of our New Testament Bible would be missing, if Paul had not been CHALLENGED!

The great Apostle Peter had been given the Keys to the Kingdom, was filled with the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room and preached the first sermon after the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost, yet God had to CHALLENGE HIS ADHERENCE TO THE LAW before He could impart further revelation and use Peter in a powerful mission.

Peter was raised a Jew, embraced the Jewish law and believed it was sin to break any part of the law as it had been handed down…then God CHALLENGED him in a vision.  In his vision, Peter was told to slay and eat animal flesh that would violate the dietary laws of his established beliefs.  At first, he resisted, but God had a plan for GREAT REVELATION and it lead to Cornelius, a Gentile, finding the same salvation that Peter had received….But what if Peter had never been CHALLENGED?

Acts 19:2 And he said unto them, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” And they said unto him, “We have not so much as heard that there be any Holy Ghost.”

After receiving supernatural revelation, Paul journeys to Ephesus and meets up with a group of John’s disciples.  They were Believers because they followed the teaching of John, which said they should believe on Jesus and they had been baptized by John unto repentance.  There is nothing to suggest that they were unhappy with their religious experience or even felt a hunger for “something more.”  Paul, however, CHALLENGED them with one question, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?”  They had come to the crossroad of “STATUS QUO and REVELATION!”

The account continues; the Disciples of John took the “Road of Revelation,” were baptized in the Name of Jesus and received the Holy Ghost; speaking in other tongues and prophesying…BUT WHAT IF THEY HAD NEVER BEEN CHALLENGED?

REVELATION IS NOT a greater understanding, supported by our preconceived point of view or interpretation of Scripture.  Revelation will NEVER contradict Scripture but it MAY contradict YOUR INTERPRETATION of Scripture!

If only we could get past what WE THINK WE KNOW! What great REVELATIONS of TRUTH, contained in His Word, is God waiting to impart to you, if you would only open yourself up to being CHALLENGED? 

TRUE REVELATION WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD!