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Watching and Waiting

The Glory Of God

There is a truth revealed throughout the word of God that explains why Christians suffer, why God seems to wait until our situation seems impossible before he moves to deliver, why Jesus said “take up your cross and follow me”, why God chooses the weak and foolish things of the earth to confound the wise, why God chose Abraham and his children after him when they were the smallest family not the greatest, and just about every other question we have about the trials and the weaknesses Christians face. 

It has to do with his glory being revealed in the earth according to his many promises.

As background to what I want to share, there is a series of three David Wilkerson messages explaining what the glory of God is. But I can only find Youtube links for messages two and three.

The Effects of Seeing the Glory of God

Walking in the Glory of God

It doesn’t matter if you read my message below or listen to David Wilkerson first. I listened to the Wilkerson messages several times before absorbing them completely.

August 8th 2019.

Two nights in a row the Holy Spirit gave me a prayer and the prayer was, “Lord, for the church to affect the world, the world needs to see you miraculously preserving and delivering your people.”

I was under the night sky where I had already learned months before that the stars cannot be seen in the day when the light is bright, they can only be seen at night when it is dark.

This is also true of the light in the lives of Christians. The bible reveals that the light of God is seen when it is dark, and more and more light is evident as the darkness increases.

And recently, David Wilkerson’s messages on the glory of God reminded me that the glory of God is not merely the manifestation of his power and kingdom, it is his nature as he revealed it to Moses on Mount Sinai, and reminded me that specifically, God’s glory is seen in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). As Jesus walked the earth, the glory (nature) of God was revealed in him.

And then, last night, I remembered Isaiah 60 which says that “darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the glory of the Lord shall arise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee”. And I understood, with a true shout of joy, that God’s purpose for the darkness in the world, and God’s purpose for the persecution and suffering we all face, is to reveal his mercy and grace, which is his glory, in a dark world. GOD’S TRUE NATURE CANNOT BE FULLY REVEALED IN ANY OTHER WAY. This has been his plan all along and is what is described by Paul as God’s perfect will.

As we rest in his perfect will, we are totally (TOTALLY) secure in the love of God as we pass through the fire, the storm, and the shadow of death… in the process God is revealed in all of his glory… and, this has been his plan from the beginning.

This truth explains why Jesus was a Man of Sorrows, why Paul (as soon as he was saved) was told of all he would suffer for Jesus’ sake, and why true disciples of Jesus throughout the world all partake of the same sufferings to this day.

The glory of God is revealed as we rest secure in his will for our lives. He asks us to trust him, and when we do, a river of life springs up within, and we never again have to ask why, because we know that we are in the perfect will of God.

That is the revelation that made me shout, and that I am convinced will be a huge blessing to all who embrace it.

Watching and Waiting

Simplifying the Gospel

The single greatest need in the church today is to simplify the gospel. We’re born again, filled (baptized) with the Holy Spirit, and all have our own fiery trial to go through. But at the core of our struggle, learning how to consistently walk with the Lord and understand his will on a daily basis is very often the question we wrestle most. The desire can be there, and the need is obvious, but although the Bible simply calls it walking in the Spirit the way forward can be illusive.

That’s because the first obstacle to overcome is the complexity Satan has injected into the gospel. There are so many voices, conflicting voices, lying voices, sent by the devil, complicating the gospel to the point where many Christians despair of ever successfully understanding how to please God.

So we’re going to spend the next weeks and months simplifying the gospel and removing the conflicting doctrines and lies that cloud our understanding of a walk that should be plain and accessible to every Christian.

The early church had the advantage of only ever hearing One Voice, the voice of our Savior Jesus Christ. And it took generations for Satan to inject the complexity that we’re left with. But there is a singular, rock solid voice today and if you are willing to get alone with him and become his disciple, the Holy Spirit will teach you as plainly as Jesus taught the apostles.

The end result will be the Rest that is promised to every child of God. (Thank you Jesus)

Tell me if this applies to you. You are born again, filled (baptized) with the Spirit, and knowing God has brought joy and peace to your heart. But eventually, finding yourself in the battle of your life, bitterness or anger, confusion, depression, restlessness or doubt have crept in. Or in some other way your countenance has changed from what it should be as a child of the King. Perhaps a sin or passtime is controlling you, you’re in conflict or unforgiveness with someone, or your body is ill.

The first step towards deliverance in your battle (and it is really not a battle with others, it is an inner battle, a battle with yourself) is setting your heart to seek God no matter what it costs. Making this one decision will start all of the other (heavenly) kingdom building events in motion.

Have you been counting the cost? I know you have because everyone does. You count the cost and then entertain yourself with other things to avoid the cost (of following Jesus with your whole heart and life).

But I’m here to tell you we no longer have that luxury. Even if the Holy Spirit has not already arranged a sudden personal trial, world events are about to unfold that will knock every Christian off the fence.

And the word of God promises that if you cross this one hurdle, all of the devilish lies and confusion afflicting you (and so many other Christians) will be banished from your heart.

Stay tuned for more.