Category Archives: Intimacy with God
The Priesthood
Rev.5:10 “And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth”
To go forward, the first thing you must do is to build your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. The priesthood sustains the temple and the priesthood is based on repetition. This means that the duties of a priest are repetitive. It is almost like a list of what to do daily and at different times of the day. So, for you to take care of your temple there are things you have to do repetitively. And whether you like it or not, whether you feel like it or not, you have to be consistent at doing these things.
First Thing
Ezra 3:10 When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord….” [emphasis added]
Ezra 3:11 With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. 12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. 13 The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance. [emphasis added] Read the rest of this entry
Instrument
1 Sam.3:19 “As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.”
Samuel encountered God and the very next day he had to take a stand for God. 1 Sam.3:15 “Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him. 16 But Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” Samuel replied. 17 “What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” So Samuel told Eli everything God told him; God was chastising Eli on his Read the rest of this entry
Vision
Ruth 1:16 “But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
Our next lesson is from the life of Ruth. Ruth moved forward after she encountered God. Scripture introduces Ruth as a single woman, though she had been married but was now widowed and single again. As if that was not enough, this same Ruth was in the company of bitterness. Imagine someone trusting God for a life partner or someone waiting on God for anything, hanging around bitter people. The company of bitterness has a way of amplifying an already bad situation. But God came through for her.
Sweet Hour
Heb.4: 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
God wants us to come to Him boldly but most times we look at the mistakes we have made and the mess it has created, and we run from God. I am telling you today that the value of your life does not depend on the mess you have made. The value of your life is dependent upon the price that Christ has paid. When you do not see yourself in the light of the mess and the mistakes you have made, and you look at the cross and seeing how much you are worth [Jesus dying for you], your spiritual awareness rises. You are actually Read the rest of this entry
The Blessing
Gen.22:17 “I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.”
A change of name is a change of identity. Your name follows you wherever you go. You cannot shake it off. God said to Jacob, “Your name is your problem. I need to give you a new name”[paraphrased]. God is going to give you a new name this season. For some, it is physical and for others it is spiritual. If your name is detrimental to your greatness change it, because your name is your identity. You cannot rise above your name. As your name is, so you will be. It is your spiritual and your prophetic destiny. “And His name shall be Read the rest of this entry
Over-Turn It!
Gen.32:24 “…But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.””
Joseph had a dream – he saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing to him. Israel said, you mean that your mother and I will bow down to you? And Israel changed it. Check – everyone bowed to Joseph apart from Israel. In fact, Israel lived to bless Joseph and his children. If he did not change it, he would have had to prostrate before Joseph because it had been written. Take the example of Job; there were discussions going on about Job but he could not listen in and so he could not change it. Job cried out, “I wish I had a man Read the rest of this entry
Lock It Down!
Gen.32:24 “…But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.””
How can a man wrestle with God and win? It is easy to read this and miss the weight of the exchange that happened and the statement that God made. The Lord is God, the God of all the earth. The One that gave boundaries to the proud waves of the sea; the same One that gives command to the lightening and marches out the stars every night. He is God, the One who humbles the proud and dispossesses mighty kings. The One whose breath laid bare the depths of the Red Sea. This same God wrestled with Jacob and Read the rest of this entry
Happenings II
Gen.32:4 …“Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban 6 …the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “…Esau …is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!”
It is not enough to leave Laban’s house, you have to deal with “Esau”. We established yesterday that we all have “Esau” in our lives. “Esau” is that part of us that will sell the birthright in exchange for pleasure. “Esau” wants instant gratification and seeks to satisfy the longing of the flesh. It wants to eat the porridge and still keep the birthright. The “Esau” in us wants to feed habits that are leading us down the drain. Like Jacob, you need to face up to “Esau” and deal with it.
Encounter
Gen.32:5 and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women…10…When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps!
Be alert and expectant because God is changing destinies from Jacob to Israel in this season. Jacob and Esau were twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca. Isaac tilted towards Esau, while Rebecca tilted towards Jacob. From birth both sons struggled, even though Esau came out first; Jacob held on to his heel. Esau felt that he had won but Jacob had the birthright in view. He waited for the opportuned time and took it. Note: Jacob took the birthright; he did not steal it – two different things. Esau got really angry and was going to kill Jacob.
