Number One Priority

December 15, 2011, 5:12 pm

Here at New Life Church our number one priority is intimate worship of God.  Whenever we come together we have the expectation that we will entertain the presence of God.  At the very moment a person places trust in God and in the work of the crucified Christ and his glorious resurrection from the dead, the Spirit of the Living God comes to dwell inside that person.  His heart becomes the home of God.  In that sense the Holy Spirit is with the believer at all times. 

It is important to note also the dynamic of the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit descending upon a person or a group of people.  He dwells within us, but he also comes upon us.  In the book of Acts the believers were instructed to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, so that he could fill them with power to do the work God had called them to do.  This power that we speak about is anointing for service and ministry.  The pattern established in Acts is first wait on God, receive, then give.  And this waiting was not a passive activity. They didn’t simply go about their business with an attitude of, “If it happens, then it will happen; we don’t have anything to do with it.” Rather, they gathered in the upper room and fervently prayed with expectation until God showed up.  When God showed up they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they went out among the crowds and 3000 people came to faith in Christ that day.  They waited, they received, and then they went and gave of what had been imparted to them.

Jesus had a purpose in his earthly ministry and his disciples followed suit.  They were not filled with the Spirit of Jesus simply to make them feel better, although that is a wonderful benefit of his presence in our lives.  They were filled, as first described in Acts 2, subsequently over and over again, as described in the following chapters of the book of Acts, to empower them to be witnesses, starting in Jerusalem extending to the ends of the earth. 

But evangelism is not the only fruit of this filling of the Spirit.  1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14 express to us that God pours his grace out to believers in what is described as gifts of the Spirit. A gift is simply the grace of God given to us to empower us to do his work (chapter 12).  Of course the greatest gift is love.  If we do not love, it matters not how gifted we are in other ways; the essence of God is not coming through to others, for “God is love” (chapter 13).  The good news is that this is not an either/or, but a both/and proposition.  We can have both God’s love and his empowerment (gifts) for service. So we are implored in chapter 14 to pursue more love and more power.

The beginning, middle and end of this story go like this: Give yourself to God in worship to him.  Love and adore him and spend time in his presence seeking him because he is worthy of our praise.  The byproduct of this activity is “God inhabits the praises of his people” and his presence is equal to his power.  As we worship, God shows up and lavishes us with his grace.  He speaks to us and embraces us as Father. He pours his love out to us and reveals destiny to us.  He heals us, teaches us and equips us for life and service in his kingdom. We simply cannot get enough of his presence.  “Better is one day in God’s courts (presence) than a thousand days elsewhere” and this is why intimate worship is our number one priority.

Joel Willson

Bread from Tomorrow

In the early morning hours today I began to dream.  In this dream I came into a huge sum of money, from where it came I’m not sure.  In a half dream half wake state I began thinking of all the things I would do with this money, pay off debt, buy cars and houses for friends and family, invest in business, save and invest in ministry projects.  All of the sudden, out of the euphoria came a sinking feeling and I heard these words, “This is the spirit of poverty.” This was the Holy Spirit speaking.  I didn’t feel condemnation or shame, though I knew I was being corrected and I knew instantly what he meant. 

My thoughts generally run along the lines of just having enough to get by, but probably running out of money as I get older, and probably never really having the kind of resources that would enable me to bless others like I want.  

I have been asking the Lord to do surgery on my broken mind and in my faithless heart, so the Holy Spirit is revealing my lousy mindset to me and leading me to truth.  The truth is that God owns it all and there really is no shortage in his storehouse.  We were not instructed to pray, “Give me enough bread for today,” even though that is what most of us have thought for our entire existence here on earth. This is the way we are to pray, “Give me today the bread from tomorrow.”  The bread from tomorrow does not exist in the natural realm, correct? We are to ask for provision from heaven.  Where did the manna in the wilderness come from?  It came from heaven. It came from the future.  It was supernatural provision and there was so much of it the people couldn’t eat it all.  That is the same reason we are to pray, “Your kingdom come (from the future), your will be done on earth (in the present) as it is in heaven (in the future.)”  We are asking for the future to break in to the present.  We are asking for heaven with all of its provision to break into the earth realm where we suffer lack.

There would not be a need on earth if there were not provision in heaven in advance to meet that need. Therefore we can say that our need reveals the will of God for our lives.  Rather than feeling hopeless and downcast when a need arises we should feel hopeful and full of excitement about how God is going to step in and make provision for us.  It is God’s good pleasure to give good gifts to his children.

When anxiety and fear begin to overtake you, let that be your cue to quiet your soul and instead turn to Papa and trust him with your need.  There is no safer place to rest than in his arms.  Rest in him and allow him to pour his grace out to you.  He really will put a coin in the mouth of a fish, if need be, to meet your need.

Joel Willson