The Presence of God and other stuff... update

 The Presence of God and Other Stuff

Worship was awesome last night at church, and I could tell before the first note ever came out of my mouth that the Lord was setting us up for something good. There are times when you walk into a room and you know you are not there to perform, entertain, fill time, or just get through a set list. You are there to minister unto the Lord and to make room for His presence. Last night was one of those nights.

The week leading up to service had already been marked by several encounters with God. I am talking about the kind of encounters where His love is so real that it overwhelms your body. His presence comes in such a strong way that I can feel myself vibrating on the inside. Some people may think that sounds strange, but when the Creator of heaven and earth begins to touch mortal flesh, I do not expect it to always fit inside neat little religious boxes.

Then, about four hours before service, a huge sickness attack hit me. It came hard and fast. My first thought was to call and cancel. That was the natural thing to do. But then something rose up in me and I realized, “Wait a minute. I have been doing this long enough to know how the devil operates.” The enemy loves to hit right before obedience. He loves to push right before breakthrough. He loves to whisper, “Stay home. Sit this one out. You are too tired. You are too sick. You are too weak.”

Ha! Not today.

I took authority, prayed, confessed the Word, and encouraged myself in the Lord. I also had some Google+ peeps pray for me. Thank you, guys. I love you. See, I blog about you. That is love!

“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”

— 1 Samuel 30:6, KJV

There is a lesson in that. Sometimes nobody else is going to be able to pull you up in the moment. Sometimes you have to grab hold of the promises of God with both hands and encourage yourself in the Lord. You may feel weak in your body. You may feel like quitting. You may feel like calling it off. But if God has assigned you to stand, then stand.

I am not talking about pretending symptoms do not exist. I am talking about refusing to let the enemy dictate obedience. There is a difference. We acknowledge what is happening, but we do not bow to it. We do not let fear or fatigue become lord over the assignment God has given us.

When His Presence Makes the World Lose Its Grip

Back to the presence of God I had experienced during the preceding week. Often I am so overwhelmed by His presence that I seem to lose gravity. Literally, if my eyes were not open, I would not know which way is up. It is as though the normal rules of this world become less convincing in the light of His nearness.

I asked the Lord why gravity seemed to disappear, and He said, “This world shall have no hold on you.”

Wow. That rocked me.

The closer I walk with Jesus, the less I desire this world. It really does not have much to offer compared to Him. The world advertises pleasure, attention, status, money, comfort, and control, but all of it fades. It promises satisfaction and leaves people empty. It promises freedom and binds people with invisible chains. It promises identity and leaves people performing for approval.

Jesus is different. When He comes near, the things that once pulled on you begin to lose their strength. The gravity of the kingdom becomes stronger than the gravity of the world. The presence of God lifts your eyes. It reminds you that you are seated with Christ in heavenly places. It makes the pavement of this world look cheap when you remember that in the city of God, gold is used as street material. #ThingsThatRock

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

— Colossians 3:2, KJV

That verse is not religious poetry. It is practical warfare. Where your affection is set determines what has pull on you. If your affection is set on popularity, people can manipulate you. If your affection is set on money, fear can own you. If your affection is set on comfort, obedience will always feel too costly. But if your affection is set on Jesus, this world loses its leverage.

Worship Is Not a Warm-Up Act

It is awesome when people enter into worship and let the Lord enter into the congregation. I know that sentence may bother some people who want to argue theology, but I am speaking from what I have watched over and over again. God shows up where He is celebrated and not merely tolerated.

Worship is not a warm-up act for the sermon. Worship is not filler while late people find their seats. Worship is not a Christian concert where we rate the musicians and decide whether the song selection matched our preferences. Worship is surrender. Worship is agreement. Worship is a people turning their attention toward the One who is already worthy before a single instrument plays.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

— John 4:24, KJV

Jesus did not say the Father is looking for people with the best lighting system, the most polished band, or the most marketable stage design. He said true worshippers worship in spirit and in truth. That means the heart matters. Truth matters. Surrender matters. The Holy Ghost matters.

A successful worship service is not measured only by whether the transitions were smooth or whether the congregation clapped on beat. A successful worship service is when you see the Spirit move like wind through the leaves of human trees.

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

— John 3:8, KJV

As a worship leader, you can sense it. You can see it. The atmosphere changes. Hearts soften. Tears begin to flow. Faces lift. People who came in heavy begin to breathe again. There is a wave of healing, restoration, conviction, and overwhelming love that invades the room. Nobody has to hype it. Nobody has to manufacture it. The Spirit of God moves, and the people respond.

That is what I want. I do not want religious entertainment. I do not want to simply sing songs about a God we refuse to encounter. I want Jesus. I want His presence. I want the kind of worship that makes demons nervous and makes broken people remember there is still hope.

Knowing About Jesus Is Not the Same as Knowing Jesus

I have also received some neat testimonies by email recently. You know I am always hammering home the fact that we need to know Jesus personally and not just know about Him. I say it over and over again because it is one of the most important differences in the Christian life.

There are people who can quote doctrine and still not recognize the voice of the Shepherd. There are people who know Bible facts, church history, denominational arguments, and theological vocabulary, but they have not yet fallen on their face before the living Christ. Information is not the same as encounter. Religion is not the same as relationship.

I think about Acts chapter 9 all the time. Saul was not some pagan atheist who knew nothing about Scripture. He was trained, zealous, and serious. He was so convinced he was right that he used Scripture to justify persecuting Christians. Then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and this top theologian had to ask, “Who art thou, Lord?”

“And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

— Acts 9:4-5, KJV

That passage should sober us. Saul knew about God, but he did not know Jesus. He knew texts, but he missed the Person those texts were pointing to. And when he encountered the living Christ, his entire life was interrupted, corrected, and redirected.

This is why I keep saying it: Jesus wants relationship. He wants to encounter people spiritually. He wants us to hear His voice, follow Him, obey Him, abide in Him, and be changed by Him. Christianity is not merely agreeing with a list of beliefs. It is being born again and walking with the risen Lord.

When people finally get this, everything changes. Every now and then I get emails from people who tell me they have had an encounter with the person Jesus. When that happens, I get totally excited. I am talking spiritual cartwheels excited. Because once someone meets Him, the Bible transforms from a boring book of “thees” and “thous” and genealogies into a living, breathing river of life.

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

— John 5:39, KJV

The Scriptures testify of Him. They point to Him. They reveal Him. But we must come to Him. Meeting Jesus turns you into a freight train of faith. Your purpose changes. Your priorities change. Your appetite changes. Your courage changes. You no longer live merely to survive another week. You live because He is worthy.

Gratitude for the People Who Help Keep This Going

I also want to thank you for your contributions. Your support helps keep this blog going. To be honest, your contributions have helped keep me going personally. There have been times when I was playing it close, and those gifts helped buy food. I do not take that lightly.

I know people work hard for what they give. I know every seed represents trust. So thank you. Thank you for praying. Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for writing in with testimonies. Thank you for standing with this ministry when it may look small to the world but matters deeply in the kingdom.

If you have not checked out BeTheFew.com yet, I encourage you to do so. Here at Conrad Rocks, I blog about anything and everything pertaining to Jesus, liberty, and things that rock. BeTheFew is different. It is all about Jesus, all the time.

And that really is the point, isn’t it? Jesus. Not platform. Not performance. Not religious routine. Jesus.

Your Next Steps

1. Set aside time to worship in spirit and in truth. Do not wait for a church service to turn your attention to the Lord. Put on worship, open your Bible, and invite the Holy Ghost to search your heart.
2. Encourage yourself in the Lord when the attack comes. If the enemy hits right before obedience, recognize the pattern. Pray, confess the Word, ask trusted believers to stand with you, and keep moving forward.
3. Ask Jesus to make Himself real to you personally. Do not settle for only knowing about Him. Open Acts 9, John 4, and John 5. Pray honestly, “Lord Jesus, I want to know You, hear You, and follow You.”

OK, I have rambled on enough, but I wanted to share what the Lord is doing and stir you up to pursue Him. The presence of God is not a side issue. It is life. It is the difference between dead religion and living relationship. It is the place where sickness, fear, worldliness, and spiritual dullness lose their grip because Jesus becomes more real than everything trying to pull us away.

Much love.

Blessings,

Conrad