Walking in the Light

We are so blind to what actually lives inside of us. We focus on the meaningless little things and forget that the actual sustainer of life is inside our bellies right next to that yogurt, half an orange and 11 pieces of M&M carrot cake flavored candy some of us had for lunch. Many of us are naive to the powerful truth that our bodies were actually built for more than toning for a six pack and dressing up like dolls. We are machines that hold God and have the extraordinary gift of finding the true Word within. In Corey Russels book “The Glory Within,” he compares this obliviousness to having a “billion dollars in our bellies, yet most of us live on 20 cents a day” (Russell, 40). We often wonder why we don’t experience the power of God though He is living inside of us and the answer is because we aren’t actively responding and pursuing the call God has set out for us.

When one doesn’t know the love of the Lord and power of the Holy Sprit our inner beings are dead. Without the love of God we are just walking around and making noise. There is truly nothing to live for. But when we confess the truth of Christ Jesus everything changes. Corey Russell mentions that, “when Adam and Eve fell, the Life that dwelt deep within them suddenly left, and they were alone” (37). This is what it is like to deny God, to not know His love—we are alone. But God has brought Holy Spirit, who Jesus himself also calls the Helper, to spiritually guide us through this natural realm thus living in supernatural ways. Through our inner being we bring together the spiritual and natural realm—a small foreshadow of the days to come in the New Jerusalem. “[Holy Spirit] tears down, uproots and destroys everything in us that is not conducive to the life of God and everything that is not aligned with His holiness;” (110) He is the sweeper to the cobwebbed and blackened places of our heart. Praying in tongues first strips us to then strengthen us with a shield of holiness. God gives us 24/7 access into wearing the breastplate of God’s protection. When we pray in the Spirit it strengthens our souls and we are not the same; “we are building within our Spirits a house where we can experience communion with God” (105). How cool is it to be anywhere and have access into feeling the tangible presence of God? Prayer is dialogue, the more we pray to the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, the more “we will end up looking like the Holy Spirit” (47). The Spirit makes us walking vessels of light. We can put on that shield, walk into the darkest places, and not be affected by it. It gives us peace, yet makes us vicious warriors. It calms us, yet violently awakes us to the full power of God.

It is vital that we get a correct view of Holy Spirit so that we may actively pursue relationship with Him just as God intended it. Praying in the Spirit can be one of the most powerful tools into living a radical lifestyle of seeking after God wholeheartedly. When spending devoted time in praying in tongues it opens a gateway at which God uses to show us the deep things of His heart and the details of His kingdom that we could never imagine with our finite minds. We were made to actually hold the living God. The same God that made the pillars shake is living inside and says to us, “let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” and we get to come!  

A Battle Between Oil or Dry Bones

At IHOP people have multiple positions, titles and jobs. It's not shocking to hear that your favorite worship leader might also serve you your coffee every Monday morning. Even those that seem like they do nothing or just one thing have a plethora of hidden talents and one day you'll see the section prayer and usher leader center stage with an acoustic guitar worshipping the God who made him. Singers and musicians make their way around the merry-go-round of instruments and some even finish the day off with a sermon to a 1000 thirsty souls. Misty Edwards is one of these singer-musician-preacher-everything-ers and she does it well. Today she tackled the speaking portion and did…well how Misty always does—phenomenal. I have heard her live a few times, in fact my favorite word ever heard was spoken from her lips as she broke down in detail the sustaining beauty of God described in Isaiah 40. But this afternoon, when taking us through the Parable of the Ten Virgins as she paced back and forth with her Misty Edwards one-of-a-kind strut I realized why I love her so much. Why every time she speaks my heart breaks and I find myself re-committing my passion for Jesus. Why that same Isaiah 40 message gives me new bullet wounds when I hear it. It's not because of her mad piano skills, perfect pitch, or even perfect dreads (although every time I see them I want them on my own head). But as she talked, and sometimes yelled, the truth and my heart beat faster with adrenaline it became clear that she is truly madly in love with Jesus. She knows Him as a friend, as a soon to be Bridegroom, as a Jewish man that is also fully God who died for her and so in return she will give her everything to be where He is. When she speaks the name Jesus it is not just a person she reads about or hears from a story like a game of telephone. To her, Jesus is someone she actually knows and enjoys. You can tell that she has spent time with Him—sitting at His feet, dining with Him, feasting on His glory.

This behavior Misty exudes mirrors the exact point she was trying to make with the parable. In Matthew 25 Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to the likeness of 10 virgins preparing to meet the bridegroom. Most likely "virgin" is in reference to the redeemed and the "lamps" their ministries, so they were 10 believers who not only loved Jesus, but also had ministries about and for Him. The only difference between them is that five virgins brought oil and the other five did not.  The oil is the sustainer of the lamp; in this case it represents intimacy and relationship with Jesus. Jesus is explaining that we need a deep connection to Him in order for anything we do to be effective. We can accomplish things on a mass level for the body of Christ and make it look pretty from the outside, but underneath it can still be a valley of dry bones. The five virgins that brought oil practiced the First and Great commandment and put intimacy above all else. The other five were like the church of Ephesus who forgot their first love. They became lost in ministry and ignored the importance of getting to know their bridegroom on a personal level. He gives us the invitation to the wedding feast, but in order to go we must know Him. “Knowing Jesus” is having a conversation with Him. Asking Him questions and listening for the response—taking time to hang out with Him. It is vital that we learn from the five virgins that wasted their life and emptied their oil. Misty Edwards can speak a good word, sing a beautiful song, but if she herself does not have a living, breathing relationship with God it means nothing in the end except foolishness. She knows this reality. She knows it is a fight against complacency; a battle between oil or dry bones, foolishness or the wise, Because everything in life is unto death, unto persecution, unto that one day when Jesus comes back and I do not want to be a foolish virgin with an empty lamp. I want the oil before the lamp, the intimacy before the multitude. I want ministry as a secondary—an after thought in comparison to personal relationship with Him. I want to sit before Him on that Day of Judgment, look into His eyes that burn with flames of fire and have Him say, “Holly I know you and you know me." 

The 25th Elder

Every minute Jesus is interceding. Every moment those surrounding the throne are worshipping the living God. The throne room never stops. It never silences. It never gets distracted or loses focus. In Revelation 4 we get a small glimpse of what is happening in Heaven. We learn about weird creatures that have eyes all around, elders who can't stay on their feet, a sea of glass in front of a giant throne, a glorious rainbow and melodies directed at the Creator of all and it never stops. When we sleep, when we eat, when we are busy worrying about the weariness in our hearts, Jesus is still there at the right hand of the Ancient of Days interceding on behalf of His inheritance, His people--speaking my name. Those creatures eyes never turn from gazing upon the One with eyes of fire and the elders never cease to fall down over the revelation of His beauty. They are constantly preparing for the time when the spiritual realm and and natural meet to overcome darkness for forever and yet in this world so many hours are spent wasting life away. How much of our lives are wasted on meaningless things. How many conversations with Jesus do we miss out on because we are too busy stressing at work, fighting in relationships, standing in another freakin line in the supposed Happiest place on earth; we never realize how much the little things add up. 

For two months I have not been able to get the 24 elders out of my mind. They fall over and over again and never get tired. Every time they fall, they worship Jesus, get back up, then something else about Him amazes them, so they fall again. I know I've probably used this same idea in posts before, but I offer no apologies to my repetition. In fact what I am learning is that God’s Kingdom is repetitive. It is all about love. All questions and statements about God traces back to one truth: everything that He has done, is doing, and will do is for the sake of love. That little beast of a four letter word is in every part of His plan and God uses it to captivate the hearts of His elect. This is why as believers we do what we do. We enter into day and night prayer because He loves us. We love others because He loves us. We lay down our fleshy desires because He loves us and we want to love Him back. He created us for relationship, for communication with His heart, for us to sing a song to Heaven. 
The elders teach us something about prayer and worship. It's interesting that those currently closest to the throne room are ones that are in day and night prayer and worship. I 100% believe that we are called to pursue a sermon on the mount lifestyle striving to be like Jesus, but in that we can also learn something from these elders. The throne room is not a futuristic idea; it is not a room that will be made one day, but one with current movement that has been from the beginning of creation. We are not given Revelation 4 as just a "heads up" for what will soon happen, but as an example of what prayer and worship should look like in the eyes of the Lord. Of course we are still living in bodies that require food and sleep hindering us from accomplishing literal 24/7, day and night worship, but we are called to a daily prayer life. Luke 18:7-8 says that "God will bring about justice for His elect who cry it to Him day and night..." He built His kingdom atop communion with His creation. He values the daily process of seeking after Him. His heart is moved when we respond back to His voice. When we give up everything, no matter the price, and join the chase to His heart. He enjoys when we listen to Jesus' cry for us to deny ourselves, to daily take up our cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). The more we engage with Him the more intimate of a relationship we have with Him.
In Revelation 2 Jesus proclaims to the Church of Ephesus that He has seen “[their] works…and patience endurance and how [they] cannot bear with those that are evil” but He has one thing against them that they "have abandoned [their] first love" (Revelation 2:2-4). Good works, ministry, even corporate worship means nothing if we do not love Jesus with all of us (or at least attempt to). Without practicing the first commandment our prayers and worship become noise; a friend of mine calls it “lip service.” At the end of the age when Jesus returns I do not want to stand before Him and Him tell me He does not know me. I do not want a life wasted, a life of meaningless lip-service. We are all given different ministry callings and people to love on each other, but His first hope is that we will love Him even when no one else is around. To God, love is sacrifice. He sent His son to die for our sins so that we are able to dwell with Him forever. He wants us to die to ourselves and put on the breastplate of Christ. This life is about community, yes, but the root is a deep, personal relationship with the Maker. He is jealous for our voluntary love—choosing Him even when the world presents alternative plans.
Those surrounding Jesus in Heaven break by just looking at Him. They fall because they can't get enough of who He is. They are in so much awe over His beauty they can't stay on their feet. I want to be this moved by Him. When His presence touches me, even the slightest bit I want to be forever changed by it—a new creation He continues to make new again through His love. I want to literally fall down like the 24 elders--become number 25. It may sound crazy, but knowing that my body literally loses all strength and control when experiencing revelation of His glory is beautiful and it is what I am after. Imagine the testimony that comes from randomly falling down at work or when in line at the grocery store--people will ask what happened and the answer can be, " it was the presence of the Lord." I am after a lifestyle of forever saying yes to Jesus and His kingdom—laying down everything in order to follow His plans. I want an intimate and constant conversation with Jesus—a personal phone line connected to His heart.  If other Jesus seekers and worship music, even the prayer room was taken away, I want to be a child still seeking after my Father. When no one sees me, I want to dwell in His presence and spend time with Him. I desire a relationship that makes me unshakeable amongst the flesh. Forever I wish to sit and commune with the Man that plucked me out of darkness and gave me a spot in His inheritance. I want to be wrecked by the sight of His glory because His presence sustains me, His voice is my heart beat, and by His desire I will live forever, joining in with the song in Heaven that has never stopped.