All have an innate hunger for the divine— the supernatural. For Moses this hunger was so intense that a life without God’s glory was not a life worth living.
One day Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me.”
‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’
“But You haven’t told me whom You will send with me. You have told me.”
‘I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’
“If it is true that you look favorably on me. Let me know Your ways. So I may understand You more fully and continue to enjoy Your favor.”
The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you Moses, and I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you.”
Then Moses said, “If You don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. How will anyone know that You look favorably on me and on Your people? If You don’t go with us? For Your presence among us sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”
The Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked. For I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.”
Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.” Exodus 33:12-18
So it is today for a growing number of Christians. Weary of the Gospel devoid of the supernatural— God’s glory. They are hungrily seeking His glory.
Why is God’s glory absent in many American churches?
Man’s wisdom, not the Lord’s is honored.
Humanistic philosophies are firmly entrenched in the American version of Christ’s Gospel. These philosophies extol man’s wisdom and encourage personal willpower and introspection.
YOU have the ability to reach your full potential— self-actualization. Focusing on the improvement of self should be the dominating force in your life.
The self-actualized YOU is independent, autonomous and resistant to societal pressures. Possessing the ability to transcend the adversities of life.
Humanistic philosophies believe all knowledge needed for transformation is available to YOU.
Humanism refuses to acknowledge there is a transcendent, sovereign God who has declared.
“My thoughts are not your thoughts. Nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
God’s wisdom does not belong to this world or to the rulers of this world. Who are in power today and gone tomorrow. It is a wisdom that has been hidden. Which God had planned for our glory before the world began.
Not one of the rulers of this world has known it. If they had, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. But as Scripture says. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:6-9
God violates or transcends natural laws so He and His Kingdom are glorified. In doing so all mankind shall see— behold and understand and at last acknowledge the salvation of God. The deliverance from eternal death decreed by God. Luke 3:6
Perhaps the absence of divine supernatural power in the lives of many Christians today is because their hearts have posted a “No Trespassing” sign. Refusing to believe whatever has been born of God conquers the world.
This is the victory that has conquered the world— our faith. And who is the one who conquers the world? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:4-5
By believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name. John 20:31 Power that guarantees whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence 2 Corinthians 5:17 — becoming Christ-like.
Disciples of Christ unashamedly admit, “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.
My friends, I don’t feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal. So that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.
All of us who are mature should think in this same way. And if any of you think differently, God will make it clear to you. But we must keep going in the direction that we are now headed.” Philippians 3:12-16
By not trusting God’s wisdom. Christ’s Gospel has been stripped of His supernatural power. Which is the prerequisite for both personal and cultural transformation.
Until the Church and Christians return to the literal interpretation of Scripture. Acknowledge that the earth and the supernatural realm are not two separate, alien worlds. But different expressions of the Lord’s spiritual reality. Her followers will never experience the fullness of the Lord’s glory.
Like Moses you must trust God to do what only God can do. With a word make something out of nothing.
When everything is hopeless. You must believe anyway. Decide to live not on the basis of what you know you cannot do, but on what God said He will do!
GO DEEPER
Many Christians lives are ones of quiet despair. Attempting to live a holy, sinless life without God’s supernatural power— His glory.
They are stuck in no man’s land. Caught between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness. Standing alongside them in no man’s land are hopelessness, failure, shame and guilt.
Was there a time when you felt caught between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness?
What did you do to cope during this time?
(Excerpt from I AM The Paternal Friend)
I AM The Paternal Friend e-book
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