THE MOVEMENT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

Matthew 27:50-54

“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the grave after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”

The vail has been ripped from top to bottom. Close our eyes and sense the movement. Father God sent us Jesus and Jesus brings the Father to us. Home is here in the movement. Lost, has no place here; this is where we are found and where we find home. Empirical evidence comes with embracing this movement. Yes, it happened many years ago. On the other hand, it happened many light years before it took place in the physical. So, no matter what direction we stand in, this place is home to the spirit.

God instructed Moses to construct the curtain (the vail) eighteen inches thick of embroidered fabric, Seraphim’s embroidered into the fabrics pattern. This was a physical expression of spiritual reality. History tells us it would have taken two teams of oxen pulling in opposite directions to rip this fabric. When the vail in the temple ripped from top to bottom, Home spilled out; the place where we are found and where we find home. This is why the Holy Spirit is our earnest gift of the empirical evidence we have of living in this place.

We want His Kingdom to come and to be as free in “this earth” as it is in “heaven” (home). We desire the appearance of King Jesus. Get inside this movement, it can take us there, it will take us there; it will even bring there to here. It brings the two together. This movement is the revival we long for; it starts at the top of who we are and goes all the way to the bottom of who we are. Home spills out and we are no longer lost.  

COMPENSATION/SPIRIT OF HOSPITALITY

God saw our condition before we had it; made a commitment to handle it, decided to send us Jesus before we arrived. When we arrived and we made our choices creating our conditions, He remained faithful to His choice, Jesus came and lived, lived among our condition; side by side He lived. His living was as much a sacrifice as His dying.

Inconvenient? He had no snarly puke face reaction; well, only to the prideful religious folk. In fact, it was their snarly puke face reaction to Him sealing the decision to put Him on the cross. Still yet, He found it in His heart to pray, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Jesus came in a spirit of compensation (hospitality). Compensation (hospitality) is something that counterbalances or makes up for and undesirable or unwelcome state of affairs. This is the anointing that breaks the yoke. This is Jesus. "Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite' (Psalm 147:5).

Where is the power that breaks the yoke? Understanding working alongside the miserable conditions of humanity. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old" (Micah 7:18-20). God takes into account our humanity more than us; His understanding is a power that breaks the bars of iron and sets us free. An understanding working alongside our conditions as to bring about transformation. When the Holy Ghost comes upon us, this is the power imparted to us; we become witnesses "unto Him." Once Jesus has tied us into a knot and pulled us through the hole backwards, then we too can possess the spirit of compensation for others.

PRESENCE CARRIERS

Not sure what is happening to me. Been preaching since I was nine years old. Preaching has become complicated for me. Does not mean as much for me to bring out deep truths or ignite the depths of revelation. I have witnessed preachers telling people off more than telling them something that speaks understanding and empathy as to where they are. After I am done preaching anymore and I catch myself being more about something to say than something that heals, delivers, and draws the heart to finding peace; it leaves me not wanting to enter the pulpit anymore. Change is okay and good where it is needed; transformation is more favorable. Changes folks are making leading them to transformation is where my heart is going. Paul said, “I travail in birth until Christ be formed in you.” As I see it, offending people does not bring this forming about. Let’s set and have coffee or a soothing hot drink of sort; let our thoughts be free to find where the pain is, where the emptiness is, where the struggle is. Let us get to where the heart is. Are we doing church, or, are we being the church? People are not as deliberate as some make them out to be. There is a good person deep inside most waiting to be drawn out. Jesus help us find you in what we say and what we do, help us to be an extension of Your presence; help me to be an extension of Your presence. I cannot get away from Gabriel telling Mary that He had come from standing in Your presence. The way I see it, if I am not coming from this place, I cannot take no one there. The WORD before it ever became spoken is the Word I long to hear; the Word in the beginning, the Word with God, the Word that is God.

GOD'S WILL

2 Peter 3:1-18

When it comes to the will of God, most want to know, “How do we know God’s will?” The older I get the more I understand, our answers are not as important as the questions we are asking. Framing our questions correctly gives us more correct answers. From where we stand in the moment, give or take, eternity is already here. We cannot measure eternity looking forward alone. Eternity is just as far behind us as it is before us. The creatures cry the declaration continually in the presence of God; “holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” He is the God of “our was,” “our is,” and “our is to come.” This specifically declares God as eternal in the moment and from where we stand, eternal in both directions. The will of God for us has never changed, His will is the same as it was in His heart before our conception, before the worlds were formed. God’s will in the moment for us will be the same a million years from now.

            Verse eight and nine sets in the center of this context. The apostle Peter is addressing how we should be living towards Jesus return. Some in his day was living as though His return is a myth. The question was posed in our Son-day School Class this last week, “Does the return of Jesus effect how we are living in the present?” We as Spirit filled believers have what we call a “five-fold gospel;” in other words, we encounter Jesus in five different major encounters; we encounter Jesus as our savior, sanctifier, baptizer, healer, and our soon coming King. He is working His will in us in these five major ways. It is not His will that any of us should perish, His will is that we should come to learn repentance (change); repentance is our lifestyle as believers in Christ.