A Rope Around My Ankle December 24, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Encouragement, Knowledge of God, Prayer Room.Tags: Bride, Bridegroom, Church, Gift, God, Heart, Holy, Jesus, John 17, Judgment, King, Knowledge of God, Lord, Love, Old, Prayer, Prayer Room, Problem, Revelation, Testament, Worship
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I Love the Church
Allow me to preface this post by saying that I’ve written it out of a passion to see God’s people walking in the fullness of the knowledge of God. There is no motive of judgment or condemnation in my heart whatsoever. Jesus loves His Bride with an everlasting and unconditional love, and I want to love what He loves. That being said, this post is a heart-felt cry to the church that needs the knowledge of God — myself included.
A King vs. a Grave?
In the Old Testament the high priest tied a rope around his ankle before going into the Holy of Holies so that if God struck him dead for coming before The Lord with uncleansed sin, he could be pulled back out. I feel that we have lost so much of that reverence when coming before The Lord. I’m not saying we should be afraid of an angry God. He is gracious and compassionate, and our sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. But where is the honor due His name? Most of us come before the throne of God as if we were visiting a grave. We are quiet, respectful, thoughtful, and a little distant. This must grieve the Bridegroom so much. In John 17, Jesus said He desired that we could be together with Him where He is. There is nothing distant about “together with me where I am”.
If someone told you that an earthly king wanted an audience with you so that he could give you a priceless gift, you would not say, “Maybe, it depends on if I’m in a good mood on that day.” And when you got there you wouldn’t come before him in sweat-pants and a t-shirt and slump down next to him and wait for him to hand over the gift.
No, you would rearrange your schedule so that you could be there, and when you got there you would look as nice as possible and show him the respect due to somebody wearing a crown.
Kinda sounds like we come before earthly leaders as if they were God, and come before God as if He was a tombstone.
We Have a Knowledge of God Problem
God takes us as we are. We come to Him miserable, poor, blind, and naked and He accepts us without hesitation. There is no need to conjure up a facade of being better or more pure than we actually are. But we are foolish and immature to the point of retardation if we say, “He loves me as I am, so why change?” Everything we do for the Lord should be done with a passion and excellence far beyond what we strive to achieve for man. That means when we pray, we speak like we mean it to someone who hears our every word; and when we worship we do so wanting to give glory and honor and love to a God worthy of more than we could ever give.
If we had a revelation of who He is we would be so overwhelmed by His glory and how holy and lovely and beautiful He is, there would be no half-hearted worship or empty prayers.
-J
A Good Set December 12, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Life, Music, Prayer Room, The Night Watch.Tags: Encouragement, God, House, Leader, Music, Musicians, Nightwatch, Prayer, Prayer Room, Skill, Worship
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I just wanted to share: I just finished leading a very encouraging set at the HOP. There were things that could have gone better (there always are), but in the end I felt that the good far out-weighed the bad.
I can get discouraged sometimes at the skill level of the musicians on various teams, but sets like this one help to remind me that God wants a house of prayer even more than I do and He’s working on making it happen. It takes faith to believe that God can take weak and immature people like us and make them into a ‘house of prayer for all nations’. But tonight anyway, I’m encouraged by what He is doing here.
-J
All Things December 1, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Knowledge of God, Life, Prayer Room, The Night Watch.Tags: Church, Finances, Foreclosure, God, Greek, House, Job, Live, Money, Pas, Pray, Prayer Room, Rent, Romans, Support, Thankful, Thanks, Tight
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A week ago I had a meeting with the Nightwatch leader here at the House of Prayer. Things have been rough for everybody financially, and he wanted to make sure I was doing OK. The only area that I said I was concerned about was where I was living; my rent was due in a few days and I didn’t have it. He asked me what it would take for me to say I was done living on support, and go get a job. Not leaving the prayer room, just pulling back enough to work. I said that if the rent money didn’t come in, and I had no other place to stay except my parents’ house, I would take that as a sign that I should get a job that payed enough for rent.
I decided weeks ago that even if it meant living with my parents, I would not ask to live with anyone. I would pray, and wait for God’s place for me to be offered.
Here’s what God did. A good friend of mine (I’ve lived with him before, actually) came over to hang out for a little bit today. He has been renting a room in a house that’s being foreclosed on, so he just got his own apartment. During the course of the conversation it came up that I had to be out of my current house by the end of the week. His immediate response was, “Dude, I have my own place now. Just come live with me.” I explained that I didn’t just need a floor to crash on for a few nights, I needed a place to live for a time. He said, “Cool. Just buy your own food, and help out with utilities when you can.”
Yay! Not only do I have a place to stay, but it’s with someone that I already know and love, and it’s closer to the prayer room. I am so thankful to God right now.
Paul wrote to the Roman church, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” The words ‘all’ and ‘things’ are the same Greek word: pas. It’s the same word twice. “Pas pas” in Greek culture would mean ‘all of everything’, or simply ‘everything that exists’. Christians usually take a selfish view of that verse. Something along the lines of, “Everything that happens to me will turn out OK in the end.” But it’s bigger than that. It’s more like, “Everything in the entire universe is being orchestrated by God for my benefit.”
Yay!
-J
