A New Season
The release of a gift through the laying on of hands is entirely God's doing. We are not vending machines where you put in your request, push a button, and out comes the desired gift. Often someone will tell us that they want twice what we have. Well, so do we! If it were that easy, we would lay hands on ourselves and pray, "Double it!" we can say, "we can lay hands on you and impart an anointing into your life as God wills. But we can't give you our history with God." There is something priceless in a person's life that must be developed and protected at any cost: it's our private history with God. If you make history with God, God will make history through you. This history is created when no one is watching, it's who we are when we are alone. It's seen in the cry of our hearts, how we think, what we pray, and how we value God, Himself. Our lives are shaped when there is no one able to applaud our sacrifice or efforts. These are the moments that we learn the most about hosting His Presence. It's when there's no one to pray for, no one to serve, that's where the relational boundaries are determined. We are in this for how God can use us, or we are surrendered because He is God, and there is no greater honor in life? Jesus had His encounter with the Holy Spirit at His water baptism. A crowd watched. Probably very few, if any, had an idea of what was happening. But it was on the nights on the mountain, when no one was watching, that His greatest breakthroughs came. History was made in Him before history was made through Him. He loved the Father before He could reveal the Father.
Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” Exodus 33:12-16
John testified saying, And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. John 3:32-35.
Jesus sets the stage for a whole new season. The Old Testament prophets modeled this possibility amazingly, especially for their day. They showed the impact of the Presence of God upon a person for a specific task. But it was Jesus who revealed this as a lifestyle. The Holy Spirit remained upon Him. Now we realize that we are not to live by feelings. we can become so in tune with that we move as He moves. We know that the Holy Spirit lives in us as born-again believers. The amazing promise that accompanies this reality is that He will never leave us. What a promise. What a comfort this is. But the sad reality is that the Holy Spirit doesn't rest upon every believer. He is in me for my sake, but He is upon me for yours. When the Holy Spirit rests upon a person without withdrawing, He has been made welcome in a most honorable way. Asking people what they would do if an actual dove landed on their shoulders. How would they walk around a room, or even go about their day if they didn't want the dove to fly away? The most common answer is carefully. It's a good answer. But it's not enough. It is this, every step must be with the dove in mind. This is what we believe to be the key to the Spirit that remains. He is the single greatest reference point, not only for direction and power in ministry, but actually for life itself. We've been chosen to carry the Presence of God. The Presence of God will not rest on anything we make. He rests on us. God will not ride on ox carts, even emotions are wonderful, but not reliable indicators of God's Presence and moving. But there is a feeling that goes beyond emotions, and quite frankly can work regardless of our emotional state. It is the mood of the Holy Spirit Himself that created to facilitate great ministries. But no matter how great the organization, the by-laws, or the reputation, God doesn't rest upon those things. It's people. Yielded people have the privilege of carrying (hosting) God into life's situations. All of life gets reduced to one thing, hosting the Presence, is the only way these impossible dreams can be accomplished. The fulfillment of these dreams is actually the byproduct of hosting Him well. Jesus affirmed this principle for life when He taught,
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"
Matt. 6:33.
The Kingdom of God is not something separate from His actual Presence. The Kingdom has a King. In reality, the Kingdom of God is within the Presence of the Spirit of God.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17.
This command by Jesus is to prioritize our lives down to the one thing which is eventually evidenced by righteous living. The disciples lived in awe of this One who called them to leave everything and follow. It was an easy choice. When He spoke, something came alive in them that they never knew existed. There was something in His voice that was worth living for, worth giving one's life for. Every day with Jesus was filled with a constant barrage of things they could not understand; whether it was a demoniac falling at Jesus' feet in worship, or the overbearing, religious leaders becoming silent in His presence; it was all overwhelming. Their lives had taken on a meaning and purpose that made everything else disappointing at best. Oh, they had their personal issues, for sure, but they had been apprehended by God and now nothing else mattered. The momentum of the lifestyle they experienced would be hard for us to comprehend. Every word, every action seemed to have eternal significance. It must have occurred to them that to serve in the courts of this King would be far better than living in their own palaces. They were experiencing firsthand what David felt when he lived with God's presence as his priority.
