The Numinous

Think for a minute about each of following statements;

Millions of stars that glimmer into the distant reaches of the universe.

The hazy arms of the Milky Way galaxy as they spiral across the night sky.

The clock-like procession of the seasons as our planet travels around the sun.

Sunsets in iridescent orange, purple and every other fantastic color imaginable.

Silver moonlight soothing the world in an ethereal luminosity.

And Jesus.

Yes, God did take on flesh and become a man. Although Divine, He also became the Son of man.

But God is even more infinitely faceted than the universe He created.

Yes, I know the Jesus of the gospels. Do you know that the entire universe, all creation, both visible and invisible was created through Him? John 1:3

Sadly, many believers have lost their sense of wonder.

Our western civilization prides itself on trying to explain and categorize everything, but it’s not as simple as we like to think.

All our lives, we see Jesus portrayed as He walked the Earth during His life here, and it inspires us to love His humanity. He took on our human nature, so that we could partake of His divine nature. It is the greatest single event in the history of creation. But there is more to Jesus, or indeed, the Holy Trinity, than ‘meets the eye’.

How do we comprehend infinity? What is eternity like? What is the relationship like between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How do we explain God???

I submit to you, that the picture at the top of this post captures just as much of His character as those other ‘portraits’ do. I’ve heard it said that you can learn a lot about an artist from his work;

Reflect, if you will, on the myriads of all the forms and species of life in all their impossible shapes and colors. Think about the unexplored depths of the oceans, still filled with countless and unclassified forms of life.  And what about the infinite universe, space and stars that go on forever and ever?

But all infinities are not equal (ask a mathematician!). Only one thing can be bigger than an infinite universe.

An infinite God.

The word numinous means the awesome, incomprehensible, and overwhelming sense of the mysterious, the unknown. It presses in on you, creating both a fear of, and longing for something far beyond yourself. Like the weight of Gods’ glory.

But we forget sometimes how heavy that’s really supposed to be. We become familiar with our own conceptions of who God is. We forget the mystery. We lose the awe, and yes, the fear.

In many ways this is the Jesus I grew up with. I gave my life to the Lord at the age of 29, and it’s been an incredible journey. But I still remember that everything from atoms to galaxies have come from the very nature of His divine imagination. We need to love Him and long for His presence. But we also need to realize that in His incomprehensible and infinite being, both mercy and judgement have their origin. He is both judge and Savior.

If we are to really love Jesus, we must long for His entire nature.

We must also embrace the numinous face of God.

The culmination of all things

Can you feel it?

It is change, it’s revolution. There’s upheaval in so many places. It is manifesting in every arena of life, even in the physical realms of geology and plate tectonics. This is not business as usual. It’s not even ‘global warming’. It’s more than that, and it’s quite unstoppable. The world as we know it, is passing away.

What the new one looks like is largely dependant on you.

This is not a doomsday prophecy, although it is prophetic in nature. The revelation of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy, and His nature will be revealed. It has always been shared with His followers, but what’s coming next will completely extinguish what we think we know. God will unveil His Glory to and in those who are ready. The sick will be healed. The blind will see. Cripples will go running and jumping, and the dead will live. The Glory of God will manifest in man, and he will become fully, Spiritually alive. You will not have ‘church’ anymore.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to shelve your personal agenda? Are you ready to leave your comfort zone? You’re going to find the only real comfort is in leaving it! God has a calling and a purpose for each and every one of us. What we need to do is HONESTLY seek it. No whitewashing or toning it down. No rationalizing it. We need to find it and actually DO it. We need to walk in the works prepared for us.

I don’t know what that looks like for you, but you will know it, when you find it (or it finds you!)

The truth of the matter is this; We are coming to the culmination of all things. Not just political reform, or even spiritual awakening. All things. Very soon there will be two very distinct groups of people on this earth. It’s not going to be a question of race or gender or nationality that sets us apart. It will be those who are walking in the will of God bringing light, and those who are desperately in need of that light. I don’t know how much time is left, but I do know that the lines are being drawn even now. The choice is ours, It’s yours and mine.

Can you feel it?

Are you ready?

 

Rend the heavens

Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence— Isaiah 64:1

In chapter 64 of his book, The cry of Isaiahs’ heart was to see God in all of His glory, and for that glory to manifest on the earth. We know Isaiah did, in fact, witness the Glory of God on at least one occasion;

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.  Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one cried to another and said:

“ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth isfull of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:1-4

Seraphim translates literally into the ‘burning ones’. Some of the most powerful and glorious of the angelic hosts. The sound of their voices praising God shook the temple to its very foundations. Yet they covered their faces with one pair of their wings, I believe, because the intensity of the glory they beheld was more than even they could bear

Don’t you want to see this glory manifest on the earth?

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

At the time of King Uzziahs death, Isaiah found himself in the temple, profoundly worshipping God. In his vision, the seraphim had joined with him in his worship, and their praises shook the earth! This is worship in spirit and in truth, and although it did take place in the temple, it could have happened on a mountainside, in a house, or anywhere else for that matter. The only thing that matters is that it is in spirit and in truth.

Jesus said “I am the truth!”  Think about that for a minute. If we are worshipping in the spirit ( by and with the Holy Spirit), and in the truth (Jesus), then God the Father will come and INHABIT OUR PRAISES!

This is what rends the heavens. This is what creates an ‘open heaven’ over our place of worship. This is what makes the mountains shake, and this is what brings Gods glory down, and manifests it in our times of worship.

Let’s press in for this. Let’s contend for this, so we can take it out into our cities, and transform them with the incredible weight of His glory. Amen?

 

FIRE FALL

Let Your fire fall, let Your wind come, let Your Glory come down.

Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.  Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. Acts 2:2-3

They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

All consuming fire, You’re my hearts desire, living flame of love, come baptize us.

All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. Ex 19:18 To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Ex 24:17

The winds are your messengers;flames of fire are your servants. Ps 104:4

But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it! Jer 20:9

Fire fall down, Fire fall down on us we pray.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Luke 3:16b

“I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! Luke 12:49

For our God is a consuming fire. Heb 12:29

So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Rev 3:18a

Fire is mentioned in the Bible over 300 times. Some fires are bad, and some are good. There is one particular fire we need to seek with all our heart. It’s the one that consumes you from the Inside out, that burns in your heart and Inside your bones. It smolders and then rages till we can’t containe it. There are no words to fully describe it,  all the above references won’t ‘bring it’ till you’ve felt it. Once you’ve felt it, you will know it Intimately, and you’ll never be the same. It’s what we need to bring with us to prayer and worship. It’s what we need to carry with us into the world wherever we go. We will not be able to move forward without it. It is the essence of the kingdom of God. It is the embodiment of the new church as it rises from the ashes of the old. It is the passion and heart of the Bride of Christ. It is His will. It is revival.

 

 

 

Down in the Valley

It’s a little hazy down there. It’s a little hard to pick out much detail. The view from up here is lovely, but it’s a little Indistinct.

Have you ever been to the mountains? It doesn’t really matter which ones. It’s something you’ll never forget. You feel like you can see forever. When you’re up on a mountain you are able to see literally for miles and miles and miles! But the higher up you go, the less detail you are going to be able to see below. If you really want to know what’s down in the valley, you’re going to have to go down into the valley to find out. There’s also this; what goes up, must come down.

I’ve crossed quite a few mountain ranges in my life. And for a time, many years ago, I lived in Hollywood California. Nothing was better than a hike up into the Hollywood ‘hills’ and Griffith Park. When you got to the top, LA was on one side and the Burbank valley was on the other. I loved to stay and watch the sun set over LA. At the end of the day, though, I always knew I’d have to hike back down in the dark.

Every mountain top experience is preceded, and followed, by a trip into the valley. You really don’t know what’s going to be in the next valley until you get there. You glean as much as you can while you’re on the mountain, but as we’ve all seen, the reality is waiting for you at the bottom.

A hike up a mountain is usually a glorious one day trip, but you never know how long you might have to stay in the valley. It could be for only a day. More than likely, it will be much longer. It’s not the length of time that matters though. It’s what you do with it. If you spend your days pining away, thinking about how wonderful it was on the last mountain, you won’t be very effective where you are now.

Truth be known, we spend most of our time in the valley. No it’s not because you messed up on the last mountain. It’s because this is where you’re needed. We need to bring the beauty, strength, vision and Glory down with us. We need to shine the light from on high down into the lowest places. That’s why you were on the mountain in the first place. It wasn’t to give you goose-bumps. It was so you could be a carrier of all that you were given. That you, in return, would become the giver.

Some of us, maybe most of us, are in our own ‘valley’ of sorts right now. I know I am. Let’s make the most of our time here. You may have an encounter with God on the mountain, but you will best serve Him in the valley.