In His Presence There is Fullness of Joy….

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

While I was sitting at work the presence of God descended upon me filling me with joy and peace. As I’m basking in Him I don’t want it to stop, in fact I want it to intensify. It’s as if every trouble has vanished, every trial has ceased, and every issue has evaporated. Pure bliss. There is nowhere else I’d rather be than in His presence. A few weeks ago I heard a 10 minute portion of a message by Bill Johnson entitled “Healing Out Of Intimacy”



I don’t know much about Brother Johnson’s ministry, but this sermon snippet really impacted me. He likened the Holy Spirit to a dove. Doves are very sensitive birds. Imagine I have a dove on my shoulder and don’t want it to fly away, how am I going to walk around the room keeping it on my shoulder? Carefully. Every step that I take will have the dove in mind. Every movement, every action, every word, every step must have the dove (the Holy Spirit) in mind.

Do we truly live our lives directed by the Holy Spirit, having Him in mind? Do we acknowledge Him in ALL of our ways and allow Him to direct our path? Or do we do what we feel is right, what we want to do, what is leading us? I’ve had to examine myself this morning. How many decisions have I made without the leading of the Holy Ghost! And how many of my decisions have grieved the Holy Spirit? Too many…

In order to live a life pleasing to God, it must be one of complete trust and faith in God as our Pilot directing our every move. Our confidence must be in God, not in man and certainly not in ourselves.

“Cease to trust in [weak, frail, and dying] man, whose breath is in his nostrils [for so short a time]; in what sense can he be counted as having intrinsic worth?” – Isaiah 2:22 (AMP)

Having Joy is a choice. It’s available. It’s a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It’s our source of strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It is a command to rejoice, or in other words renew our joy through praise (Philippians 4:4). Joy is our sustainer through difficult times (2 Corinthians 8:2). Joy is a byproduct of having the Holy Ghost and dwelling in His presence (Romans 14:17). Joy is received through faith (2 Corinthians 1:24). The Joy of the LORD is our final destination if we are found faithful / full of faith (Matthew 25:21).

Experiencing the Joy of God is as experiencing a taste of heaven on earth. We all have the opportunity to experience unending joy, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in as we guard the presence of God, count it as precious, and endure this life in obedience to the leadings of the Spirit. There is no limit to the joy He will pour out on those He deems faithful. Choose to walk in Joy today, rejoice in the LORD and dwell in His presence, by any means necessary.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” – Romans 15:13 (KJV)

Amen.

Do You Have Access?

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” – Romans 5:1-2

Everything in God is established through faith. Salvation, deliverance, healings, prophecy and every blessing we shall receive is obtained through faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God, and with faith in God all things are possible. My question today is: do you have access? Access to what you might ask? Access to God.

Access is gained through relationship, and when it comes to God the only way we can receive access to Him is through Jesus Christ:

“For through him [Christ] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” - Ephesians 2:18-19

For those of us that are saved and have received that access, what are we doing with it? Imagine a family member passes away and has a bank account with $10 million dollars saved up. In his will, you are given free access to this account, to make withdrawals at your discretion. There is one catch, in order to make a withdrawal you have make a trip to the bank, which is on a remote mountain top and requires specific directions to get there. You have a choice. You can talk all day about the money you have access to, but never actually go to the bank and make a withdrawal because the journey is “too difficult”. You can forget about the money altogether because you’re not willing to sacrifice the time and energy to get to the bank. Or you can take your directions, press your way through the rough terrain, get to the mountaintop, make your withdrawal and come back down. Now say you do choose to make the journey, get your money, and make it back home. You now have the responsibility of stewardship over the money. You’ve been given access to the money. You took advantage of that access. Now that you’ve received the money, what are you going to do with it?

“As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God's many-sided grace [faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor].” – 1 Peter 4:10 (Amplified)

Now back to the question at hand: “For those of us that are saved and have received access to God, what are we doing with it?“ The family member is Jesus. The money is the anointing/power of God. The bank on the mountaintop is throne room of God. The directions are prayer, supplication, worship, praise, devotional time in the Bible, perseverance and obedience, all done by faith.

“In Whom [Christ], because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness(courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).” – Ephesians 3:12 (Amplified)

Jesus has given us access to the throne room of the Father so that we can obtain the power of God and use it to bless others. But not everyone is willing to pay the price to get to the mountaintop. There will be stumbling blocks, hurdles, you may get hurt along the way, but when you get there the journey will be well worth it.

“Look to yourselves (take care) that you may not lose (throw away or destroy) all that we and you have labored for, but that you may [persevere until you] win and receive back a perfect reward [in full].” – 2 John 1:8 (Amplified)

Are You Being Persecuted?

2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

I've been reading a lot about the persecuted church. Testimonies, books, websites, all indicating the often severe circumstances my brothers and sisters around the world face just for following Christ.

I was doing a study on my computer using Logos and came across a sermon by Pastor John Piper on the persecuted church. One of his points was "A Life Devoted to Righteousness Will Be Persecuted". What followed was a list showing why a life devoted to righteousness will be persecuted:

• If you cherish chastity, your life will be an attack on people’s love for free sex.

• If you embrace temperance, your life will be a statement against the love of alcohol.

• If you pursue self-control, your life will indict excess eating.

• If you live simply and happily, you will show the folly of luxury.

• If you walk humbly with your God, you will expose the evil of pride.

• If you are punctual and thorough in your dealings, you will lay open the inferiority of laziness and negligence.

• If you speak with compassion, you will throw callousness into sharp relief.

• If you are earnest, you will make the flippant look flippant instead of clever.

• And if you are spiritually minded, you will expose the worldly-mindedness of those around you.

After reading this, I began to examine my lifestyle to see if I fit the characteristics listed by Pastor Piper.



When I think of persecution, I often turn to Paul as he illustrates his experiences of suffering in 2 Corinthians 11:

21 But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

Amazing. He experienced all this due to his obedience to his Apostleship. Reflecting on this makes me often ponder, "LORD, with the vision and calling that You have given me, what will I have to endure?" Knowing full well that my life is not my own and understanding that persecution is eminent, I simply ask God to prepare me so that I will not fold under the pressure of real persecution and instead persevere to the glory of Christ.

After reading this scripture, I also remember when the LORD told Ananias to find Saul, lay hands on him and restore his sight. Ananias questioned the LORD saying that he has heard of the evil Saul has done to Christians, which the LORD answered saying Saul was His chosen vessel and will suffer great for His name's sake. Two things I get from this passage, which can be found in Acts 9. #1 - Because Saul's sins were great before he was saved, his suffering was likewise great after God saved him. #2 - Saul's suffering was great because he was a chosen vessel and had a great call on his life as an Apostle to the gentiles.

1 Peter 4:15-16 just came to mind : "Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name."

Are you suffering? Is your suffering in the form of persecution as a Christian? Or are you suffering as an evildoer?

What's On Your Mind?

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. -

The mind is a very complex part of our being. It is the control center of our decision making, plays a part in the functioning of our body, and is more powerful than most of us realize. Most of our minds are cluttered with useless information. This information causes us to stress, brings deterioration to our bodies, and we end up losing sight of our visions, dreams, and waste precious time on things of no value.

I was posed with a question today as I was thinking to myself in the car, "How much time do you spend focusing on things that are unfruitful?"

To be honest with myself, I had to admit that I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm not doing right and where I think I should be, rather than thinking about what I can do to get to where I want to be and then allowing my actions to follow suit.

I think about how I wish I was a more effective minister of the gospel, rather than pray more, meditate on the Word more, and spend more time in worship doing things that will make me more effective. I spend time thinking about being single, how I'd like to be married and have children and sometimes wonder who my wife might be, rather than take advantage of the freedom I have being a single man and preparing my mind to be a Godly husband. Finances, work, the cares of this world, are all fighting for my attention. But how do I get things right?

Some people say you need to clear your mind and free it from those things that bring stress. That might work temporarily, but that doesn't make these issues disappear. The Bible says that we are to meditate on the Word day and night and we will have good success. Paul wrote that we should take no thought for anything, don't worry or be anxious, but instead make our requests known to God with prayer, supplication and thanksgiving and the peace of God will rest upon our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. In another passage he says to cast down every thought that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of God. So here I am, facing an answer I already know. Make my requests known, don't worry, focus on God's Word and not the issues, and I will have peace. But knowing and doing are two different things.

God once told me, "Stop thinking so much, and instead pray within your mind and talk to me about what your thinking about and I will take care of you." This was 3 years ago, and did I listen? Not as much as I should have. And right this moment God is bringing these things back to my remembrance so that I can begin to implement what He has instructed me to do.

Think about the Word, pray rather than worry, and focus on glorifying Christ.

This is my slogan for 2009.

A Sweet Smelling Fragrance

Philippians 4: Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

The Philippian church was Paul’s joy and his crown. I believe one of the reasons for this was their faithfulness in giving. They were the only church who communicated with Paul regarding giving and receiving while he was traveling and were very generous in taking care of Paul’s needs. (Verses 14-17) They bore fruits of generosity and compassion that the other churches which Paul established did not exhibit at that time. He took joy in their example and the love that they showed him. They were his crown, his prize, his ornament, his honor. He took pleasure in partaking of their love, and because of this, he released a supernatural blessing upon them: “my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Verse 19) Because of their unselfishness in meeting his needs, he proclaimed that all of their needs would be met by God Himself! There was a condition in this – because of their charity and the manner in which the Philippians gave, whatever need they had was now met by the God of the universe. Their giving was a sacrifice, which was accepted by God, releasing a sweet smelling odor and was pleasing to God – this was because they gave in love to His servant Paul who was in need. (Verse 18) God will supply all of our needs as well when we follow the example of the Philippian church and sacrifice for the needs of others. The riches of God are stored up in the glory of God and we are able to receive them through Jesus Christ, our mediator, high priest and redeemer.

Our needs are met when we glorify God in our mortal bodies. One way to do this is by displaying the fruits of the Spirit in our giving.

Experiencing the Glory of God

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Intellectualizing the Gospel

During a casual conversation with a prophet I met at a church I was visiting, he told me that in order for me to truly experience God the way I desire I would have to throw all logic out of the window and trust Him alone. This was in 2005 and 3 years later I still struggle in this area. The Bible says that knowledge puffs up, that Israel continues to fall short because they are ever learning but never coming into the knowledge of the Truth, but does this mean that knowledge is a bad thing? The LORD said through Hosea that His people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Solomon said that the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. In fact the Bible talks much about the importance of acquiring and maintaining knowledge. The first two scriptures are merely warnings that while obtaining knowledge is to be desired, there is a tendency to trust in the actual knowledge itself rather than the giver of knowledge. All true objective knowledge is designed to point to the cross of Jesus Christ and not to individual man.

One of the issues that Jesus had with the Pharisees of His day was not that they were ignorant of the law, but that they misused their knowledge of the law for deceitful gain and in doing so were unable to receive the very Giver of the law manifested in human flesh, Jesus Christ, the Messiah Himself.

Today the church is full of men and women possessing great knowledge, yet just as the Pharisees they are also full of pride. There are many great theologians who are able to intellectualize the gospel in laymens terms to the point that even a baby would be able to understand the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith. Yet despite the great head knowledge of scripture, some have no real relationship with God. Some of these people are actually holding on to a form of godliness yet deny the power of God therein. The fruits of the Spirit are often missing from their life, and the joy and liberty of the gospel are far from being experienced. How do I know this? Well there are times when I have fallen and sometimes still fall into the temptation of intellectualizing God out of the gospel. Caught up in revelation, I have oftentimes failed to walk in the very revelation I have been entrusted with. Humility is something I try to maintain, but in times past I have found myself constantly casting down prideful thoughts.

God has blessed us with an intellect and there is nothing wrong with using it! Just make sure that you stay humble and understand that you don’t know everything and always have the propensity of being wrong. A man always thinks he is right in his own eyes, and no matter what the issue, never lean on your own understanding. Instead trust in the LORD with all your heart and He will reveal the mysteries of the gospel to you, which in the end should humble you all the more.