You know, tomorrow is Pentecost (I wrote this a few weeks ago) And like many sacred things in the church, we have made a symbol of it. We have reduced it to a ritual, a religious observance marked by a date on the calendar. Pentecost, like Christmas or Easter, has become a ceremony. But, brothers and sisters, let me tell you plainly, that is not what it was meant to be.
Pentecost was not a celebration of a day. It was the arrival of a Person. The Holy Spirit descended like fire from heaven. As the Word declares, “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:3–4, NKJV).
That moment was not meant to be memorialized once a year, it was meant to revolutionize every day. One encounter with the baptism of the Holy Spirit transforms a life utterly. It sets the heart ablaze and loosens the tongue with boldness. It becomes the source of power that causes the devil to flee. It strengthens our feet for the narrow way, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14, NKJV).
The Spirit enables us to pass through valleys, to climb spiritual mountains, to face the enemy of our souls. Not with trembling but with power. For “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4, NKJV). Pentecost is not a date, it is a way of living, it is heaven’s breath within us, propelling us forward in divine strength.
Jesus Himself declared, “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled” (Luke 12:49, NKJV). And John the Baptist testified of Christ, saying, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16, NKJV). This fire, I believe, was taken from the coals of the heavenly altar, the very presence of God, and placed upon frail men.
And what happened? Those few, filled with that fire, “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6, NKJV). They did not wait for a Sunday. They did not look to feast days. They carried Pentecost in their bones, in their breath, and in their speech. They were pierced by power and spoke so that “when they heard this, they were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37, NKJV).
You must be born again. You must be baptized in the Holy Spirit. You must have the fire of God within. Without Him, Christianity becomes religion, an empty shell. But with Him, it becomes life and that more abundantly (John 10:10, NKJV).
Our small house church, though modest in number, stands as a precious testimony to a deeper reality, a reality that transcends the glittering edifices and booming stages of modern Christendom.
Over a decade ago I made the conscious, Spirit-led shift, joining countless others across the globe who have heard the still small voice calling them out of spiritual Babylon. For in every generation, God reserves for Himself a remnant, a people who will not bow the knee to Baal, no matter how cunningly he reinvents himself through culture, compromise, or counterfeit religion.
Before our very eyes unfolds the tragic convergence of the harlot church, a synthesis of worldliness and religion, dressed in finery but inwardly defiled. Its heartbeat is not the cross, but the stage; not the Spirit, but spectacle. As it was in Rome, so it is today. The Coliseum, once the epicenter of Roman life, rose from the gold and silver plundered by Titus during the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. One temple fell, another was built. Worship of the Holy was replaced by worship of self, veiled in the opiate of entertainment. Bread and circuses—tools of distraction, tools of dominion.
Yet the martyr Stephen, in his final breath, echoed the words of our Lord: “The Most High does not dwell in temples made by human hands.” Jesus, speaking to the Samaritan woman, dismantled the geography of worship and pointed to its essence—Spirit and truth. When asked, “Where should we worship?” Christ responded not with a location, but with a mandate: how we are to worship.
It is vital—indeed, imperative—that the true saints gather not around programs, performances, or personalities, but around the presence of God. In Spirit. In truth. And as the great Day of the Lord draws ever nearer, this calling becomes all the more urgent. For history has shown: men gather to entertain themselves. But few gather to worship God as He has ordained.
Let us, then, be counted among the few—those walking the narrow path that leads to life. Let us not be swept away by the many, whose feet tread the broad road of destruction. Let our assemblies be small, but pure; hidden, but radiant. May our worship rise not from stages, but from sanctified hearts. For the time is short, and the Bride must make herself ready.
It is not that men are inherently weak, it’s that’s God is inherently all powerful. The strongest man that ever lived, whether in body or mind or spirit, finds his proper state before and all powerful God. He falls on his face as one who is dead. He would cry out with the prophet “I am undone. He would not have the capacity to stand in His presence. He would only see his unworthy state. It takes fire from the altar, to alter his state, to enable him to stand, to have the audacity to say “here I am, send me.”
In Isa 40:28-31 God speaks. He announces Himself as . The everlasting God. 2. Lord. 3. Creator of the ends of the earth. He never faints. He is never weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He is not powerful, He is power itself and the very source of it.It is His to give and He gives it to the weak. He is not mighty, He is might itself and from the abundance of His eternal strength, He gives to those who have no strength. Who are these recipients? Who are these weak people? They are the ones who have come to understand that apart from the Spirit of God, they can do nothing, therefore they wait.
Our understanding of our own weakness kicks down the door of our ego’s and allows the light of God to penetrate the very depths of our beings. Death to “self,” is an emptying process. We must decrease so that there can be an increase. An increase of what? The Lord Himself, in us. By dying to ourselves and emptying our “self,” we are creating capacity. And into that capacity flows the fullness of God. ….That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with the saints, what is the width and the length and the depth and height -to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God (Eph 3:14-21)
For those who are filled with the fullness of God, having waited upon Him in our weakness and low opinion of our “self,” shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint. And so the “weak,’ and those who have no “might,” shall fly, shall run and shall walk. In the dying to their “self,” they have increased their capacity and are therefore filled from inexhaustible fountains.
This is the making of the mighty men and women of valor. Warriors for Christ in the battle of the ages. Those who have humbled themselves. The broken and the contrite. The weak and the meek. They all fellowship with God in high and lofty places. To get there they need the wings of eagles. To run the race we need the strength of God. And to walk this narrow walk of faith we must have the power of God
By embracing the possibility of death, this has released within me an abundance of life. Life and that more abundantly flows from the one who dies to himself. We know this. We learn this from the Scriptures. We are schooled by the Holy Spirit to take up our cross and die daily. In the midst of death to self, comes pouring forth life in Christ. There is an ocean that lies within us and in order for it to well up inside of us and come rushing forth like a mighty tsunami, there has to be an earthquake. There has to be a mighty shaking that sweeps away everything that is is not firmly rooted on the solid foundation of Christ my King.What an honor for me to be shaken in such a way that demonstrates to the world the immovable force that lies within me. Christ and Him crucified. The Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire. My Father in heaven who sits upon the throne.
Death may come barreling towards us like a freight train sometimes, but life in Christ falls upon us like a ateroid. Events of such magnitude threatens everything that we know and is the catalyst to change everything we have ever known. For out of death to this world springs forth life. Out of the gross darkness of our circumstances God commands light to shine forth in all its celestial glory. Not just any light, rather light that emenates from the fires of heaven. The same fires that a coal was taken from and touched the lips of Isaiah. In this light everything is on the line. Death where is your sting in the light of Christ my King? Oh grave where is your victory in the glory of His majesty? There is a love vast as the ocean and it dwells inside of me, there is victory over all my flesh for my Lord has set me free. There is a peace that surpasses understanding when to this world we surely die, one day at a time, anxious for nothing, tis our eternal hearts cry.
My hope is in the Lord my God, who dwells within my heart
The one who came and died for me, His glory to impart
The Christ who raised me from the dead
To live forevermore
The one whose broken ever chain and opened every door.
He's the Lord who whispers in my ear, He listens to my cries
The one who never ever sleeps, the one who surely died
He died for you and He died for me
He surely rose again
Removing every doubt and fear, removing every stain
He's my sunrise in the morning, the light for every day
To chase away the darkness and in my heart He stays
And there He always shall remain
Until my day is done
He gives me strength to carry on, the victory it is won.
He's the sunset of my life, He is with me to the end
He heals the very depths of me, the broken He shall mend
He lifts me with the rising tide
To stand on higher ground
He's with me through the waters, in Him I shall be found.
Mar 9:49 For every one shall be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
Every genuine saint shall be seasoned with fire. Now we know that we are called to be salt and light to the world and if the salt has lost its flavor, what is it good for? Its good for nothing. The fire for the saint is the seasoning of his or her life. Trials and tribulations and infirmities, this is promised to us all. How do we react under such circumstances? When the darkness comes to consume us, will it yet find the light? It is such an honor and a privilege to suffer well for the sake of Jesus. It speaks to the principalities and powers who watch your life. It testifies to the darkness. It proclaims to the spiritual wickedness in high places. The rulers of this world understand many things but they do not understand the man or the woman who has been so fully transformed that they praise God in the midst of suffering.
It is otherworldly. The Kingdom walk is no where better expressed than when we rejoice in our eternal life and the Kingdom to which we now belong. It is no better illustrated when we love our enemies and forgive those who hate us and despise us and would use us and destroy us. To count the fire as a flavoring rather than a destroyer is supernatural. It cannot be counterfeited. Many may rejoice when the “blessings,” abound. Many may give glory to God when all is going well. Yet it is the “few,” who fall to their knees amidst great loss, yet raise their hands towards heaven and cry out “blessed is the name of the Lord.” He who gives and He who takes away and He who flavors us with fire is to be praised. In the fire only the flesh is burned. In the fire only our worldly ambitions disappear. The wood and the hay and the stubble burn, but the treasures of darkness are purified and refined.
Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you,
Are we modern day Christians really any different from our Galatians brothers and sisters of old? Paul says to the Galatians that they have fallen from Grace, those who desire to be under anything other than the Gospel that he himself had presented to them, but now he was an enemy to them for telling them the truth. This word “bewitched,” means to be “fascinated by a false presentation.” In the Galatians case it was the law they were fascinated with and men, who should have known better, who seem to be something in Christian circles from Jerusalem, had enticed them away from the truth, away from the Spirit and away from freedom. A fall from grace is a tragedy for it is by grace through faith that we are saved and not of works, including the works of the law, less we should boast and then the free gift is not free indeed but rather debt.
We have so many in our day who are “fascinated by a false presentation.” Consider the Charismatics and their prosperity gospel? How about men like Benny Hinn with a singular obsession with healings? MacArthur and his denial of the sign gifts of the Spirit? Catholics and every other denomination who are fascinated by their own dogmas and decrees which are quite apart from Scriptures. One man rodeo shows in the non denominational systems who promote themselves. What is the one thing they all have in common with each other and the Galatians? “They zealously court you, but not for good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.”(Gal 4:17) Think about the horror of that statement. Men and systems of men set up to promote themselves and in doing so, exclude those who follow them from entering into the freedom that Christ brought for them. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. It is for bondage that men would have you zealous for them and their systems that elevate them. Jesus has been usurped.
Who is hindering you from following the Word? This is not from God. Who elevates themselves rather than the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. In the third epistle of John he writes to “the church,” in Asia Minor. He runs headlong into a man called Diotrephes. A man who had zeaously courted the church in that region to elevate himself. A man who loved the preeminence and just like Paul, John had become their enemy because he spoke the truth. Yet there were still men like Gaius and Demetrius. Good men. Men who followed after Jesus and who “walked in the truth.” There are good men and women today who still walk in the truth. God has His remnant. They are few and far between. And there are is a scourge of men like Diotrephes who would hinder you from walking according to the truth because when we do that, Jesus, and only Jesus is elevated.
There is an inevitable clash between God’s people and men who promote themselves. John would clash with Diotrephes if he traveled there. Paul clashed with the Christian religious men of his day, and even with Paul and Barnabas over what was right and what would cause men to fall from grace. If one were in MacArthur’s church and criticized him openly, the same fate would befall them as those who criticized Diotrephes. They would be removed from the church, with violence if need be. To criticize the Catholic church over 1500 years would cause one to be excommunicated and most likely burned at the stake. To criticize the reformers would have resulted in certain banishment and oftentimes imprisonment and burnings too. It is the mark of insecure men who have set up their own systems in direct violation of God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
And then of course there is the genuine Body of Christ to be found everywhere. Oftentimes isolated perhaps. Lonely and without a church home to call their own, but always part of the Body of Christ and the family of God. Sons and daughters scattered to the four winds but not abandoned. Faithful to the Word of God and the leading of the Spirit. Illuminated by the light of Christ and the freedom that dwells within them. At liberty to speak the truth in love despite the consequences. Seeking no office and seeking no titles. Only willing to wash the feet of their brothers and sisters and feed them spiritually. Discipling everywhere they go whether to the one or the two or the two hundred. The number is not important. I encourage you this day my brothers and sisters. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made you free and do not be entangled by the religious systems of men which causes you to become entangled by a yoke of bondage.
Walk in and according to the Spirit and men shall know you by the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, gentlesness, and self control. They shall also know you by your fierce loyalty to the Lord and to the Gospel of the Kingdom and to the Word of God. Live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit and you shall avoid jealousies pride and envy. Those who sow these things shall reap everlasting life. We shall run and not grow weary, we shall walk and not faint. We shall not lose heart when we pay due attention to the condition of our heart and walk in the aforementioned fruit of the Spirit. Love the Body of Christ with a lavish and reckless love. Let us boast in nothing other than the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and the cross upon our own backs. Let us rejoice in infirmities that God may be glorified by the excess grace He pours upon us. The world has been crucified to us, it no longer courts us. We have been crucified to the world and we no longer have any taste for its pleasures. Let the peace and the mercy and grace of God fall apon the genuine saints today and let all who read this be encouraged.
2Co 2:14 Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
Can you say, with all honesty brothers and sisters, that through you, the fragrance of Jesus is made known every where you go? By His presence in you and your presence in, say, your marriage, you “diffuse the fragrance,” of Christ? That phrase means to make manifest. Is it manifestly evident that you carry the presence of Jesus? How about at work? When you are driving? Interacting with your family? Interacting with people who do not like you? Is there still a fragrance that emanates from you? Are you like a flower? Beautiful to behold, something that others want to draw near to them and just breath you in?
Atmosphere, it is something we can control. We can control it because God has given us everything we need for He always leads us in conquest. He leads. He goes before. Shall we step back or shall we get out in front of Him? When we are wronged do we rush forward with our carnal weapons of warfare and then pat ourselves on the back because it was “self defense.” The clue is right in the words. We are defending “self,” therefore we add to the blackness of the atmosphere rather than allow the light to shine forth from our innermost being which causes the darkness to flee. The flesh demands to be defended and when it is the atmosphere grows darker. We must infuse into the situation the rarified air of heaven.
In one year, the average mature tree will absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide and in exchange release oxygen. We saints are the spiritual “trees,” in this world. We are uniquely designed to triumph over the toxic nature of humanity and the world in which we live. The one vital difference is this, what the trees do by nature and design, we must do by choice. We can exhale out both spiritual oxygen or more hellish carbon dioxide. In every single occasion it is a choice. The power resides within us. Shall we follow God? If we do then He always leads us to victory. If we follow the dictates of our own flesh then we shall find ourselves wallowing in the toxic nature of defeat.
I believe God will ignore most of the Evangelical churches standing today. They have what they want, they are satisfied with what they have, and there is no room in their program for the Holy Spirit to do His thing…………………to go forward requires that we go backward to rediscover and reclaim our spiritual roots. We have abandoned our roots and are wandering helplessly in a spiritual desert………what is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint, and the chances are pretty high that God may have to start all over again,my prayer is that it happens quickly…..I am not sure this can begin in todays church. I am absolutely sure it cannot begin in most denominations (Tozer- Alive in the Spirit)
Now can I suggest that since this was written over fifty years ago, brother Tozer could be even more emphatic than his above statements. In Psalm 11 David asks “What can the righteous do in the foundations are destroyed?” What will happen when the average Evangelical church has exactly what it wants but is given over to leanness? ( psalm 106 13-15) Can dimmed lights replace leanness? How about musical concerts? Smoke machines? What disaster has befallen us? We are exceedingly lean people wandering lost in a desert of our own request and all we have to encourage ourselves is crowds? Somehow, if we have many folks walking through the doors and three services on a Sunday then maybe no one will notice the leanness? If they do we just need to make it darker or increase the entertainment value. Lets start to teach them how to live and somehow ignore the fact that the Holy Scriptures first teach us how to die.
Our spiritual roots which Tozer advises us to go back to can only be found in the Scriptures. If the programs have become the service then the service has to end until the only program available is the Holy Spirit’s program. What? If we shut down the programs who is going to pay the light bills and the staff’s salary. Someone might whisper “maybe we could just meet in our homes,” and upon overhearing this the professionals howled in protest. Now if we are to return to our spiritual roots where would a man give a word of wisdom? Where would a woman give a tongue? Where would one give a prophecy? Obviously not in the professional gatherings, only the ordained experts and trained worship leaders can be heard there. No scripture for that but lets not let that get in the way of the fact that this is how we have always done it for decades and centuries. Tozer goes on to say ” the next generation or two will face a challenge that cannot be overcome in the natural. Throughout history God has selected certain people to come out of the established church and start over again using biblical authority. What is happening across the board cannot be salvaged from a spiritual standpoint.”
Tozer gave a dire report on the state of the Evangelical church and its denominational counterparts fifty years ago, since then they have plunged down into the depths of leanness and depravity. One could only imagine the horror of men like Tozer and Ravenhill and even Wilkerson if they saw the depths to which the established church has fallen. Lean churches produce lean leaders who produce lean converts and that’s the best of them. The others will cross land and sea to make one convert and make them twice the child of hell than themselves. What can we do if the foundations are destroyed? We must discover anew the proper foundation that is laid down in Christ and the Apostles and the prophets. We must raise spiritual walls using only the Word of God. We must be found in these days of danger in our high towers. The righteous run into to it and they are safe. The high tower, the fortress, the deliverer, my shield in whom I trust. Upon Christ alone and upon His word we must go forward, baptized in the Holy Spirit that emboldens us to stand in such a day. This is our spiritual roots.
To be known by you sets my troubled heart at ease
It lifts me high above the waves, above the stormy seas
To be known by you fills me with such great desire
It overflows my flooded heart and puts out every fire
To be known by you means that I have been redeemed
Delivered from the guilt and shame and every voice that screamed
To be known by you puts a sword into my hand
To be lifted up from the battle-field that I once more might stand
To be known by you sets all my enemies to flight
And with the Word of God helps me navigate the night
To be known by you it is manna to my soul
For that which once was broken, you have now made whole
To be known by you will hold me in that hour
When all the world is crumbling, I'll be standing in your power
This I know in the depths of my heart to be true
That I am overwhelmed that I am known by you.
(Isa 43:18-19) Do not remember the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
The past flows away like a mighty river that rushes onto the sea. Yet the river keeps on flowing. No matter where we go the river keeps on flowing. Even in the wilderness the river flows. Even in the desert the river flows. In the midst of all of your trials and difficult circumstances, still the river flows. It flows in one direction, it flows out from and back to the Father’s hearts. Follow the river brothers and sisters. We can think back about all the mighty things the Lord has done for us. We can remember our salvation, our deliverance from this world with great joy. We can think about how He changed us, how He molded us, how He led us and guided us and how marvelous are these memories. Yet God Almighty is the God of now and what is to come.
He did not just promise to deliver you from your past, He promised to deliver you home. We cannot camp out or put down roots in the past, we are a traveling people. We are pilgrims and sojourners traveling through this world. The mercies of our past only points us to a God who delivers everyday. The cloud that goes before us is still there and it is leading us home. It keeps us from the noonday sun and leads us. The fire by night burns bright still, and still it burns, and will continue to burn with ever greater intensity the closer we get to home. Look up you saints who have been on the road awhile and see the greater glory of your God. You now know just how faithful He is even when you were not. You know that all of His promises have been yes and amen. And as we journey home our spirits begin to catch glimpses of a place that no eye has seen. An eternal home so otherworldly that our hearts have not even contemplated such a place. Our spirits quicken as we approach, the outer-man may be perishing, but the spirit swells in anticipation of the ultimate new thing. Glory to God, draw us home.
Isa 13:3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
There is a burden and it lies heavily upon the sanctified saints of the Lord. They see what is coming, as clearly as they see the sun setting, they know that the end is at hand. This burden of course causes the saint to finds rest in the Word. It may lay heavily upon them, but for those who ignore the burden of the Lord for what is to come it will crush them like a heavy load. The weapons God chooses to use are indignation. Much like David was indignant when he heard the giant mock the people of God, he chose a few smooth stones and ran towards the enemy. The saints of God are the smooth stones that bring down giants. Sanctified by the river, shaped only by the hand of God, they shall bring down all that exalts itself above God. The hearts of men shall fail them as they see the signs in the heavens of the Son of man approaching. The heavens shall be shaken and the earth will move out of her place as that terrible day approaches.
A banner is set up high on the mountain for all the world to see, it is the Lord’s standard. In the Old Testament God used the wicked as His “anointed ones.” This was a type. Now, when the Lord returns with His saints at His side and the dead in Christ shall rise and those who are still alive will join the heavenly hosts, the hearts of the whole world shall melt like wax in the presence of the Lord. God’s enemies shall be subdued and His peace shall break forth as the dawning of a brand new day. The lion shall lay down with the lamb. A child shall lead the lion and the leopard and the calf and the bear shall graze together. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And the saints shall dwell high on the mountain and exalt and praise the Lord and the whole earth will be filled with the praises of God.
Every now and then, in a glorious symphony of realization, my heart is overwhelmed by the music of my Saviour’s love for me. I am swept up in its majesty! It carries me with the substantial fullness of a raging river and yet with the gentle sound of a thousand doves wings flapping in the wind. I am undone by it all. Every doubt and all the rocks of my flesh are removed and suddenly the river is in full unabated flow and all I want is to be taken. Time loses its meaning as I am swept towards the vastness of my Jesus. An ocean so vast that I am swallowed whole. Everything returns to its simplicity. All the barriers are broken down and I glimpse and am engulfed, once again, by the glory of it all.
1Pe 4:12-14 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: …………….If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
The spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. We are told to rejoice in the midst of fiery trials and be happy if you are slandered for Christ’s sake. Rejoicing and happiness, not exactly a worldly response to trials and mockings. This is the paradoxical world of the Kingdom. This is why the world is turned upside down by the disciples of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in marked contrast to nature to rejoice in the midst of trials. Yet herein lies the power of God that rests upon the saints. It renews yours strength and revitalizes your spirit. Wait upon Him with patience and expectation of deliverance whether in this world or through the next. It is all the same to the saint who has already died to this world.
There is power in the glory of God. When it surrounds us and courses through us then men see the power of God in us. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. This is light shining out of darkness. And not just ordinary light but the light of the glory of God. This glory emanates power. Do you want to walk in the power of God brothers and sisters? Do you want to shake the foundations of hell? Do you want to run and not grow weary, walk and not faint? Do you want to rise up and soar where the eagles soar in the updrafts of His glory? Then you have to spread your wings and catch the rising glory. To “spread your wings,’ is to lift your hands heavenwards and glorify God in the very depths of your situation. It is akin to calling down the glory of God.
Can you remember as a child, when you first discovered the power of a magnifying glass? I remember the first time I was able to start a fire with it. Harnessing the power of the sun. The magnify glass does not change the power of the sun, it intensifies the light that shines from the sun. You can cause a dormant match to burst into flames. You can melt an ice cube with it. Scientists can harness the power of the sun and create lasers that can cut through almost anything. The Holy Spirit is our magnifying glass. For those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit He causes the love of Jesus to explode in our heart.
He magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ to us. He causes the light of His love to set our hearts on fire. That concentrated power is aimed directly at you. One is powerful, a whole gathering is incredible. His grace becomes magnified in us and we weep because of it. His mercy is intensified in our consciousness and we cry out to Him. His intensity causes our own sin to be magnified in our conscience and we cannot bare it, under the power of conviction. Upon the crumbs of our bravery and obedience He shines this light and we stand as David stood against Goliath. When we speak with the intensity of this power men are stabbed in the heart and His word does not return void. A mere thimble of compassion in us becomes a mighty raging river by the power of the Holy Spirit. What absolute madness to think we could do anything without being endued with the power of the Holy Spirit.
With a magnifying glass, you need three things to make it burn, You need the glass itself, the person and the sun. If the sun is not shining then the glass is not working, it has nothing to intensify. Yet, with the Holy Spirit, the whole earth could be covered with clouds and darkness and gross darkness.We could find ourselves in the depths of the deepest dungeon or walking through the darkest valley, yet the Holy Spirit can magnify the light of Christ into our hearts under any conditions. Where could we flee from His Spirit and His magnified presence? If we ascended up to heaven, He is there. If we make our beds in hell, behold He is there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall His hand lead me, and His right hand shall hold me. Brothers and sisters, even the darkness is light to God. His glory, magnified by the Holy Spirit is all powerful.(Psalm 39)
There is a scripture that alludes to one who would hide Himself in hell to avoid God but that the hand of God would reach right into hell and pull that one out (Amos 9:2) If indeed the hand of God would reach into hell itself for judgment, what circumstances could you face where the light of the glory of God, magnified by the Holy Spirit, could not reach you? Could not penetrate the darkness of your situation? There are no such set of circumstances, glory to God. Far too often, the flesh is being controlled by it own magnifying glass and not the Holy Spirit. It magnifies our fears. It magnifies our insecurities. It magnifies the darkness that would come against us. The Holy Spirit intensifies the light, the enemy intensifies the darkness. What will be magnified in your life this day brothers and sisters?
Many years ago my son Daniel, who has down syndrome, was attending a summer day camp. This particular morning they were going on a trip to play Frisbee golf. Needless to say he was very excited. When we got up that morning it was apparent the weather was not good. As we left at 9am for camp the skies grew really dark in a way that you would have to live in the Mid-West to appreciate. As we drove down the highway it was as dark as midnight and then the torrential rain came. There was thunder and lightening, it was a full on classic Mid-West storm, the kinda storm your eyes are pealed for clouds coming down in the beginnings of a tornado. It was clear there would be no Frisbee golf this day.
On our way to camp Daniel and I would always have a worship service and that morning was no exception. Daniels hands raised in worship, tears flowing down his face. About half way there he reached over and tugged my shirt. I turned the music down. Daniel says, with his broken language skills “I’m gonna sing to the storm.” It penetrated deep into my spirit. I knew what he was saying. He was telling me he was not afraid of the storm and that he was gonna sing it away. I turned the music back up and we continued to worship. Suddenly tears began to roll down my face. I thought about the very simple yet profound faith of my son. There was only five minutes until we got to the camp but in my spirit I asked “Lord is it possible you are about to suddenly calm this storm.’
Brothers and sisters, before we got to that camp, the light broke through the darkness and the rain suddenly stopped. I was quietly shedding a few tears at the Lord’s dramatic response to Daniels prayer , not Daniel. He gets out of the car and he is muttering and he is speaking for God to the storm and he says “see storm, you’re not the boss of me.” And as soon as he said it I thought of the Scripture, Mark 4:39– And He awakened and rebuked the wind and said to the sea “Peace be still!” And the wind ceased and there was great calm. I had such a time with the Lord on the way home as I considered who He was. When was the last time that you “sung to your storm,” brothers and sisters?
Maybe you are in the midst of a storm right now. Maybe it’s as dark as it ever has been in your life. Saint, this storm does not have mastery over your life. We serve a God that in the midst of the most violent storms can say “Peace be still.” And suddenly there is peace. Can you sing to your storm today? Can you praise God even in the midst of your greatest trials? When the enemy of your soul says “let’s hear you sing now,’ can you confound him and sing out? When your back is to the sea and there seems to be no way of escape, can you, in faith, begin to praise Him because you know that all power belongs to Him?
Our God has commanded that light would shine forth from darkness. This storm that you are in the midst of has a Master and it is not the enemy of your soul, it is the Liberator of your soul. Invite the Holy Spirit to speak through you by faith to the storm. Remind yourself that you will not be identified by this storm that you are in. Your identity is in Christ alone. Declare that to the storm. These momentary light afflictions works in us an eternal depth of glory, a holy heaviness if you like where the head is bowed in the glory and trembling hands reach up and touch the light that shines in the darkness. “You are not the boss of me.” Christ shall shine into that storm and the darkness will flee as peace floods your soul rather than darkened trouble waters.
Mar 4:39-40 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
A Call To The Remnant 