Get ready for what? His coming Glory. The weighty presence of God that causes the people around us to fear Him and us. Fear as in walk with reverent awe around those who are called Believers in Jesus Christ. The Name above all Names will be restored to its rightful place of honor.The Terrifying Goodness of God is seen clearly again and again in His Word, the Bible. When Jesus died and the earth shook, sky grew dark, veil was torn and the dead resurrected...the captain of the guard who put Jesus to death, exclaimed in terror, Surely this was the Son of God! When the seven sons of Sceva were beaten bloody and naked by a demon who had no knowledge of them as having been with Jesus( cause they werent) the result was that people poured out of their homes to have a giant bonfire of magical scrolls and paraphernalia. Money was no object. The people were afraid because their eyes were opened to the truth of their devil worshiping ways. Many were saved from miles around and the fellowship and authority of the believers grew. We just talked about Ananias and Sapphira; the result of their deaths was that the fear of God swept through the community and many were saved. A reverent awe of the Name of Jesus Christ and His followers.(Acts 5) There are many accounts like this. Heres an example, free of my paraphrase, of what it looks like when one is walking in the Glory: Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him. When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. ( Acts 13) Here is another example, just a few verses after Ananias and Sapphira fell dead, lest any reading this become dismayed: The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed. ( Acts 5:12-16) Finney, Wesley, Wigglesworth and others like them, shut down whole towns with their preaching. Why? The Glory of the Lord was upon them. The fear of God emptied jails, shut down bars, closed businesss and packed churches and outdoor meeting areas until they were overflowing. No more room. People were begging to be saved. The conviction of sin was upon them with such power that they could do nothing else but make it right with God. The priority of their whole lives became getting into right relationship with God. This is what the Glory does. People come trembling to the Glory. Those who are proud in their hearts, deceived because of willful rebellion to the word of God, will stumble into the Glory, lying, manipulating, schmoozing...and die. Just like they did then. The Glory of Our King is not just for the warm fuzzy kissy fests so many of us have tried to make it. This trivialization of Gods Holiness is an attempt to justify sin filled lives of rebellion against Kingdom Authority. He IS LOVE of a kind and caliber that so far exceeds our ability to comprehend it, describe it, box it in and control it...that we are left with two options. Receive Him and His Word at face value, or reject the love of the truth and be swept away by the strong delusion being poured out even now. Where is that strong delusion coming from? The devil....right? WRONG. God Himself is sending a strong delusion to those who reject the love of the truth and justify their enjoyment of unrighteousness. Lying signs and wonders will accompany the coming of the lawless one. That spirit is active in the church right now. A false gospel of grace which endorses the sinful life of the believer, is being mixed with a very old demonic doctrine that ALL men are saved. Not just those who willingly submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, but ALL of humanity is saved. (2 Thessalonians 2) In the Glory is ALL the Goodness of God, ALL His Holiness, ALL His Beauty, ALL His Majesty...everything that God is...we find in the presence of His Glory. The golden honey glow of love soaked, tear streaked, ecstasy flooded, explosive shouts of joyous laughter tumbling into reverent adoration and sweetly whispered pledges of undying devotion...eventually...if coupled with radical obedience, lead one into a place of such weighty Glory that to breath becomes an offense against ones own senses. Absolute silence becomes the impossible mandate, for one cannot still the traitorous heart thundering wildly between them and the floor. Holy Terror. Breathe. The air is Holy. Swallow. The spit is Holy. The Voice that rushes through every fiber of your being, electrifying cells and transforming things along the way. No more awareness of the flesh at all. Just being with Him. Breathing Him in. Tasting the Life of the place where He is. Hearing sounds of such impossible beauty, angels and others ecstatic in adoration, sweeping fire through every part of everything you are intended to be. A Touch that awakens, resurrects and kills...forever and all at once. GLORY. BEAUTY. JOY. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. SO MUCH LOVE... Rick Cruz Torres
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:42:51 +0000
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