Psalm 29 – Dressed to impress

In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power. Stand at attention! Dress your best to honor him!

Three piece suit, gold cuff links, big gold watch, gold rings on a number of fingers and the makers label on the outside of the jacket sleeve.

What is it all about? Is it smart? Certainly! Does it look good? Certainly! But why the label on the suit sleeve? What does that do?

Dressed to impress! Sunday best! Look at me I am successful. Look at me I am somebody special. Look at me I have a brand name suit.

No disrespect. Many people like to look good when they go to church and that is great. It is after all the gathering of the sons of the King. The question is, however, is it because they are in awe of the glory or trying to impress. Is it a reflection of their being or a cover up?

Does the man in front display God’s visible power by showing a suit label? Is he making people stand to attention before God or is he drawing attention to himself? Is it a portrait of look what the Lord has done or an invitation to admire him?

The appearance of man is never a direct link to the appearance of God. It is the same with huge crosses around our necks and loud tattoos. All meaningless if the life behind and beneath the adornment doesn’t  reveal Him.

Dress well, dress as you please. Make visible statements to the world but be sure who is getting noticed, who is getting praised. What do the people say? Great clothes or powerful anointing?  Are they admiring you or praising God? Are they talking about you or testifying about God?

Before you get dressed, before you get that tattoo, before you hang that cross around your neck ask yourself what purpose it will serve. Does it need to be shining gold? Would a wooden cross tied with wire bring you as much attention?

Dress your best to honour God. Clothe yourself in Christ. Put on the robe of righteousness. The garments of pure white, washed in the blood of Jesus. Wear the mantle you have been given. That will certainly impress. It will make people be in awe of the glory, it will make them see the visible power of God. It will make them stand to attention. It will honour God.

Add to that the tattoo. Add to that the cross. Add to that the suit and cuff links. The only label you will want to display is His seal placed on you.

Psalm 29 – take a bow

A David psalm. Bravo, GOD, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!”

Church was awesome today. We had some big name preacher come and the place was packed. He opened the scriptures for us and brought such fresh revelation. He was amazing. It is worth travelling a long way if you can get the chance to listen to him. Buy the DVD, buy his book, start sending your tithe to him.

A world renowned healer is coming next week. Don’t miss out. Make sure you get to the meetings so that you can see him heal many. And the week after there is a famous prophet coming who will know things about people. It is going to be a blast. He is really good.

People love to be entertained. They love visual stimulation. They are naturally drawn by someone who can motivate them. By the funny, the unusual and those who appear to have power. Magician shows, hypnotists, those who bring some relief to the harsh realities of life. Good music and lights make most people feel at home. The church knows that people need these things and in many ways the church is being very obliging in dishing it up. Why not? Look at the numbers. Look at the offering. Listen to what people are saying.

What a performance we are putting on. Everybody knows our name.

The basis of our faith is the finished work of Christ on the cross. We are followers of Jesus who came to glorify the Father by taking us into His presence. The grace of salvation. The act of redemption. The miracle of the new birth. The most amazing thing that could ever be done for you. The thing that should be stirring us to worship this amazing God, to respond to His love, to be humbled by His grace. The thing that should should make us sing and shout and whistle and clap all being overshadowed by the brilliant performance of some man.

Take a bow all who stand in front. Give the people something to cheer about. Give them a reason to give a standing ovation. Bow your head. Get yourself out of the way. Let the people see right past you and see what the Lord has done.

Great men, the truly anointed, the spiritual leaders join with the angels and lift up the Name of Jesus, praising God for His mighty works. They give glory they don’t seek it.

Psalm 29 -WOW!!!!

A David psalm. Bravo, GOD, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!”
In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power. Stand at attention! Dress your best to honor him!
GOD thunders across the waters, Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness-GOD, across the flood waters.
GOD’s thunder tympanic, GOD’s thunder symphonic.
GOD’s thunder smashes cedars, GOD topples the northern cedars.
The mountain ranges skip like spring colts, The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.
GOD’s thunder spits fire.
GOD thunders, the wilderness quakes; He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.
GOD’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches. We fall to our knees-we call out, “Glory!”
Above the floodwaters is GOD’s throne from which his power flows, from which he rules the world.
GOD makes his people strong. GOD gives his people peace.

It is almost impossible to picture thunder. You hear it, you don’t see it. In fact it is almost impossible to picture power either. You see the effect, you see the outcome but you don’t actually see the force behind it.

You hear the mighty thunder. It roars and rolls and instils fear at its sound The air vibrates in response. And then beautiful sparks of magnificent light. Power lighting up the sky. WOW! It sure grabs your attention.

So the thunder of God. The sound of God unleashing His mighty power. Enough to stop the heart of the strongest man. So powerful the whole earth catches its breath for the moment and then WOW we see the result.

God is a WOW God. When He speaks universes are formed, mountains fall down, evil quivers, demons flee, Creation pays attention. Then we see the the result. Salvation. healing, deliverance, provision, comfort, strength, freedom, peace.

He WOWs us with His thunder so that we will acknowledge Him and leaves us not in fear but amazed by His glory.

Let the unbeliever be terrified at the sound. But you and I, let us look and say WOW look what the Lord has done

Psalm 28- Out of the frying pan and into the fire???

Save your people and bless your heritage. Care for them; carry them like a good shepherd.

Saved. A way out? Circumstances changed by an external force? Interference bringing relief from danger?

Why did you call on the name of Jesus? Were you in trouble? Were you sick? In need? Lonely? Desperate? Trying your luck?

And now that He answered your call? Are you free? Does your life just go on as normal until the next time? Are you disappointed? Disillusioned? Have things actually gone from bad to worse? Despite momentary relief you continue to struggle?

That’s what happens when you don’t understand salvation. When you seek first the things and think you are getting the Kingdom. When you think salvation is relief from your perceived need.

I want as much as anyone to see the power of God moving in revival fire across the land. I want to see the signs and wonders of God silencing the world. I want that every sick person to be healed and every one in need be provided for. But true revival begins with salvation. God’s salvation. Not relief but rescue. Not out of the frying pan just to fall into the fire but out of the fire and into the Kingdom of God.

Yes God wants to save you from…… He does it by safely moving you from where you are into a place where you are safe. Into a place where He is. A place where He can express Himself and highlight the purpose of your salvation. Where He can shepherd you and care for you. Where the fire cannot reach you. Into a place where His blessing can find you and abound towards you.

Not just saved from but saved into. Out of the darkness into the light.

No one will dwell in the house of the Lord forever because they got healed from a sickness. No one will glorify God forever because they became wealthy. The Bible does not teach healing (nor any other sign and wonder) first so that people can know that they are saved. It teaches Kingdom, the Lordship of Christ, the finished work on the cross, the Gospel of Jesus Christ followed by signs. It teaches the Word, the One that sets free confirmed by signs.

There will come a moment when those who are in the Kingdom will see no more sickness, no more dying. When there will be no more corruption, no suffering, no crying, no darkness.

Our message is not a rock to stand on in an ever rising flood but a rock that is solid in the sinking sand of life. Our ministry must not be a way out of the frying pan of the day but a transference into the cool of the evening where God walks amongst us.

Whatever your circumstances today I pray God’s blessings over you. I pray that you would know His presence right where you are and find peace from it.

And if you are sick, be healed! If you are in need, receive!

Psalm 28 – Hidden in power

GOD is all strength for his people, ample refuge for his chosen leader

The believers were told to wait until they received the Holy Spirit. It was then that they would receive power. It was then that they could go out and start telling people about Jesus Christ. Then they would be able to preach the Gospel with signs and wonders following. Then they could be more than conquerors in a hostile world.Then they could do what and more than what Jesus did. Then what they did would make people see Jesus and know Him.

So many people today want to stand up and be seen. Church adverts for special meetings are mostly headlined by the name of a man. People called to flock after this preacher, that prophet, this miracle worker, that teacher. Always after the man. Wow! he is so anointed. He is so able. You must listen to what he says.

The woman at the well never went back and started preaching, gathering a following for herself. Getting people to be wowed by her revelation. She called them to come with her to meet Jesus. She was a witness to Him.

Pentecost and the continuing outpouring of the Spirit is God empowering all flesh. It is you the believer being anointed, baptised in power, absorbed into Christ. Jesus has met you just where you were and like the women at the well He has set you free. God has raised Him up to be seated at His right hand and raised you up to be seated with Him. You are now the anointed of God. The Christ. The one who will testify of the Father. A witness for Jesus. Proof of the finished work.

You are hidden, not in a safe corner, but in full view of all the world. You are hidden in power, clothed in Christ. You look like Him, walk like Him, move like Him. Your being is in Him. For all the world knows you are Him. Everything about you takes the attention off you and reveals Him.

Have you become God? No, but it is no longer you that lives but He who lives in you. His power makes you victorious. His strength makes you able. His anointing is your hiding place. All who seek you will find Him.

Psalm 28 – Who chose who?

He proved he’s on my side; I’ve thrown my lot in with him. Now I’m jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to him.

For so many people “Christianity” is the result of choosing the religion you think best or that seems to offer you the closest you are looking for. It suits you to be a Christian. The religion has much to offer. Other religions don’t square up as well. So you choose Christianity. Now off you go to church, do all the right things, say all the right things and sing all the right songs.

As you look around in any church meeting there are people around you with arms lifted up, singing praises because they choose your religion. They have chosen to do this as the way to satisfy their need. Preachers encourage them not to honest relationship but to claim and take all they can get. Of course lots of bragging and false testimonies draw the crowds to come and make the same choices.

In true Christianity however there needs to be a different point of departure. A different reason to be found in the House of the Lord. It stems from the understanding of who chose who. Who went first. Why would you choose to follow Jesus? Why would you love God?

Simple. Even a quick glance through scripture preaches a different message. Because God first chose you. You are able to love Him because He first loved you.

The Psalmist says God proved He was on his side. Jesus did not stand on a cloud calling you to choose Him. He came to you and dwelt amongst you. He became flesh, what you were, to reveal His way, His truth, His life to you. Being on your side he turned life around. Darkness into light. Death into life.

You never actually choose Him. You choose to believe. You recognise what He has done for you and acknowledge Him in His rightful place in your life. The Psalmist threw his lot in with God. He acknowledged that what God brought to his life was exactly what he really needed.

So he never started shouting and singing to get. He was doing it with joy at what he had already received.

Have you chosen Jesus as your way to heaven, your way to wealth and blessing. Even your way to immortality? Do you worship Him out of hope for what you can get out of Him?

Or are you blown away by the fact that He would choose a wretch like you? Have you put up your hand and said ‘yes’ to His being on your side? Turning Himself into the way and abandoning your way? Overwhelmed by His love for you?

It’s knowing who chose who that makes me sing, sing and dance and shout with joy.

Psalm 28 – God’s hearing aid

Blessed be GOD- he heard me praying.

Most men have selective hearing. They hear what they want to hear and even choose who and what they listen to. Men can sit in front of a blaring TV or in a meeting with perfect acoustics, wide awake and yet not know a single thing that was said.You can look a man in eye and tell him something and minutes later he will have no recollection of it. Yet you can whisper something in a noisy room and a man on the far side will react.

We have triggers. Things that cause the brain to hear what the ear is hearing. Automatic switches that get flicked on or off by words, concepts, topics that stir us one way or another. Filters that only allow certain things beyond the inner ear. The art of good communication is to find them and activate what it takes to get the listener to hear.

But how do we get God to hear us. What triggers His response. What switches His hearing on?

Firstly His name. Those that call on His name……… . When you speak the Name above all names, when you call on the name of the Lord, when you call on Jesus, He listens to your call and He hears.The power of calling on His name is released by the fact that you are focusing your calling on Him. No longer an open appeal but a declaration of faith. Calling on His name comes out of you putting your faith and trust in His name and He answers to that name. He is triggered and stirred by your faith. He hears you.

Secondly praise. Lifting up the Name of Jesus, praising Him. Singing and talking about the goodness and greatness of God puts you in a special place God has prepared where He can hear you. You lift Him up above the noise and distractions and He lifts you up with Him into that quiet space where He can respond to you.

Thirdly His faithfulness. God has made us promises and He is faithful and true in keeping them. He has invited us to come to Him. He has made a way open to ensure we can and He waits eagerly for us to receive the blessings He has prepared for us. His whole being is tuned in to your voice.

And then let us not forget His love. God loves you. He loves you to be His people and for Him to be your God. He loves being the one you trust and the one He provides for.

Why would God not hear you. His selective hearing, the switch on His hearing aid is you.

Psalm 28 – Self destruction

Because they have no idea how God works or what he is up to, God will smash them to smithereens and walk away from the ruins.

Many grace preachers simply deny that there is any form of condemnation or punishment from God. Yet not only the Old but also New Testament scriptures tell us there is. Consider for a moment what the worth of God’s grace would be if He simply did away with punishment, with judgement. Grace is not letting you get away with anything. It is not legalising sin. It is not turning a blind eye. Grace never says it is Ok for you to do what you like.

God is a God of justice and righteousness. This is what makes His love for us so special. Despite the fact that we are a broken, sinful, rebellious people, He wants us to inherit His Kingdom. There is a judgement. There is a separation of the chosen from the lost, of the adopted from the children of Satan, of the wheat from the chaff, of the sheep from the goats.The judgement will take place and the separation will be eternal. When all is done there will be those who inherit the Kingdom of God and will dwell with Him eternally, and those who forever live separated from Him – in hell.

At no point does grace just say never mind. Grace does not prevent judgement nor dispense with it. Grace operates in the midst of the judgement. Grace is there to ensure that justice is achieved. In fact grace comes after judgement and condemnation. The world has been judged and found guilty. There has been no one found righteous, not even you. And so the guilty verdict is handed down on all man. The condemnation to death and separation from God is signed and sealed and about to be delivered.

The weight thereof will become unbearable until the world comes tumbling down and destroys itself. Justice will have been served.

But grace. Friend, God is not offering another option. He is offering salvation. Your judgement was fair. Your condemnation is certain. But grace. God’s salvation. God’s justice system so perfect. There is a price to pay and God has made very sure it is paid

For those who will turn to God. Embrace Him by putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, there is given salvation from destruction. Grace is the fact that after you were condemned Jesus took your condemnation on Himself. He was crushed by the weight of your guilt and died your death. Justice is served, the price has been paid.

But the Bible says that those who do not believe, do not accept salvation, do not receive the grace so freely given, heap condemnation upon themselves. They stand under the full weight of the sin and guilt of the world, trying to justify themselves but they will carry the burden of their own condemnation. They will be destroyed, crushed, smashed to smithereens. And God will rule and reign forever in the Kingdom He has established together with all the believers.

What will it be? The path of salvation? Righteous by faith? Secure from destruction in Christ?

Or will you self destruct?

Pslam 28 – Pay back!

Pay them back for what they’ve done, for how bad they’ve been. Pay them back for their long hours in the Devil’s workshop; Then cap it with a huge bonus.

Human nature screams for revenge. We are injured, suffer injustice we demand payback. Perpetrators must be dragged to court and given sentences harsh enough to satisfy us. We call it justice.

No wonder we struggle so to understand grace. To receive grace, to live by grace. Grace is not a natural action or thought in the human psych. Even praying the Lord’s prayer is not natural for us. We want forgiveness but we don’t actually know what it is in the natural.

It is not until we can forgive that we will understand the magnitude, the effect of the forgiveness we seek. It is only when we can give the same measure of grace will we know the grace that has been heaped upon us..

So revenge, mob justice, the craving to see punishment that is the natural way of man needs to be satisfied. It is however never really satisfied and there remains always a need for more. The bonus.- take his eye and cut off his ear to teach him a lesson. So the real fix comes when man’s mind has a supernatural encounter and can think in the supernatural.

There has been payback. Christ bore the brunt of your transgressions. He suffered for everything you did to the point where there is no demand left against you. He did it in the flesh but gained a supernatural victory for you. One that would set you free forever. The world can think what you like but you are not judged and condemned in the natural but declared righteous in the supernatural.

So look around you, read the news, consider your experiences. What emotions are rising up? What is your mind thinking? Are you screaming for justice?

Or can you today dispense the love and grace of God. Can you see Him on the cross in your place? Can you look at others as He looked at you? Are you a recipient of the finished work of Christ? Then dispense justice, supernaturally.

Psalm 28 – Moonlighting.

They talk a good line of “peace,” then moonlight for the Devil.

Wow! Sometimes the moon is so bright it could almost be daytime. One cannot help but be fooled into thinking that the moon is actually a light. It shines as this big orange glow or brilliant white light in the sky, contrasting the darkness and even bringing so much light onto the earth it causes shadows.

The fact is that God gave a light to separate the day from the night, the sun. The moon is not a light. It catches the rays of the sun and appears like a light, even projecting an illusion of light on the earth.By itself the moon reflects a portion of the glory of the sun and yet claims the light as its own, pretending to be a source of light.Yet before the sun rises in the morning it’s light fades and becomes insignificant.

 God sent His Son. The true light of the world. The one that does not shine in the darkness but who dispels the darkness altogether. The light that does not give aid to living in the darkness but who removes us from the darkness and places us in His glorious, perfect light.

Satan  can create nothing. All he can do is to take what God has said and done and created and somehow twist it away from God yet still making it appear as true. He is the deceiver. He is a part of the darkness causing the true light to look like his own in a manner that lets people think the light is true.

So Satan does not deny the true light. He pretends to be part of it so that people will eventually forget that there is one true light and let His lie light their path.

Preachers, prophets are rising up like moons and stars. Speaking things that sound so good. Standing in front of the cross, holding the Bible in their hand. Speaking things that draw the attention of man. Seeing the cross and the Bible man thinks he hears them speak, presumes they are the light they are seeing. And while the people are oohing and aahing they speak the twisted falsehoods, the true sounding lies. Instead of shining forth the glory of the true light they illuminate the darkness so that people may continue to dwell there.

They take the finances that belong to the Kingdom but they are moonlighting for hell. They pretend to be advancing the Kingdom but they are turning people back. They take up popular positions, become world renowned, cause a huge following of their deception. They often are the preachers first invited. They often are the leaders of the richest ministries. The shout loudly, speak with boldness. They rule the darkness. They cause Son worshippers to embrace the darkness thinking they can see clearly.

Be careful who you listen to. Be careful who you follow. The beauty of the full moon can be bewitching.

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