God is Stirring Up an Ache Inside of Us for MORE!"
In this revelatory article, I'll explain why it's important to hunger and thirst after and contend for and pursue breakthrough for God's presence. It is the encounters with God that will release abundant favor and fruit in your life for His glory. We'll examine exciting Biblical truths and blueprints through the lives and testimonies of King David in his Psalm 63 prayer, Moses, Aaron, and the study of the Old Testament tabernacle and tent of meeting. Learn how to go from the tent of meeting to testimony, to becoming a witness of the testimony of His presence. It's an exciting place where you can believe for the impossible and where anything can happen!
O God, You are My God!
I am so excited about what the Lord's doing right now. It's a time where the Lord is putting the same cry of David found in Psalm 63 into His people's hearts: "O God, You are my God!" The Lord wants to release that cry in us daily, not just on Sundays! It's saying everyday, "I can't help but worship the One whom I am extremely, overwhelmingly in love with!" How awesome to awaken every morning with, "O God, You are my God!"
Friends, this is a time to PRESS IN to the Lord for this anointing--the anointing of a worshipful, God-seeking heart. How would you like to awaken every morning with an attentive ear that eagerly anticipates the Word He has waiting to release for you? Aren't you glad He's your God?
What a privilege to get out of bed every morning with, "O God, You are my God!" Why do you think God included this passage in the Bible? There's good reason why the Holy Spirit inspired David to start Psalm 63 off this way, because not only is it a privilege to worship God, but also because we have the privilege of unlimited access to Father God through Jesus, our Redeemer. As a result of unlimited access, we can go before the Throne any time, and we don't have to bow back, we won't have to draw away, but we can go before God Almighty and say, "O God, You're my God!" Why don't you just praise Him for that privilege right now and tell Him aloud, "O God, You're my God!"
Early Will I Seek You
In the next breath, David prays, "Early will I seek You." The implication here is that God is David's first love. He seeks God early or first thing in his day. I tell you, I believe one of the things that the Lord is releasing to the Church right now is a fresh fire of His passion and love. Do you want His love to consume you afresh? Of course you do! We need the primary motivation for everything we do to be His love. God wants us to press into Him by faith to receive the imprint of a greater depth of His love in our inner man, so that His love flows like a river out of our lives and touches people around us. We're not going to have to "pump the pump" in worship, but we can just BE worshippers. Tell yourself right now, "I'm a worshipper." Do you know why you're about to break through into this? It is because He's about to break through for you! You can't help but be overwhelmed because of His lovingkindness!
My Soul Thirsts for You
How desperate are you for God? Do you thirst or hunger for Him, for His presence? David cried out, "My soul THIRSTS for you, my flesh LONGS for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water." How desperate is that? His flesh longed for God. Listen, when your flesh longs for Him, you're living out Galatians 2:20, "...it's no longer I who live...." It's saying, "But the flesh crucified and I want Him to live His life through me." The flesh doesn't like to be denied. It likes to eat and it likes its comfort. The flesh is used to getting certain things, and it doesn't like to let up.
When a group of people denies their flesh to cry out to God, something big is up! I believe the Church has stepped into a new season of hunger. We're beginning to put a demand on the presence of the Lord and we don't care what it costs, we just have to have more of HIM! We have all had wonderful blessings of the Lord in our lives and we're truly grateful for that, but God is stirring up an ache inside of us for more of His presence!
So I Have Looked for You
Hunger is something we must respond to, just as David did. He fed his hunger by feeding himself with revelations and remembrances of God. He'd lie on his bed at night and ponder about Him, and think about God and His goodness. He'd remember things that God had done, or reflect on His character. Have you ever had little bits of flashbacks of God's promises in your life? Have you ever been stirred to say, "Oh, I remember the days Lord, when You promised me...I want to see those days God!" God stirs our hunger. When He stirs yours, how will you respond? Like David? "O God, You're my God!"
A revelation is coming to the Body of believers whereby, we are going to understand deeper still the vastness of God! It will awe us and we'll marvel that we have access to One so great; that He is OUR God, who spoke everything we see into existence with a word! He knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning, and His counsel stands forever. From "ancient times," He knows things that are not yet done and says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do My pleasure!" (Isaiah 46:10).
It's just so awesome that this One who speaks is our God and I marvel that we have total access to Him!
While in Dallas for some incredible meetings, one night I awoke out of a dead sleep startling my wife Janet, and she says that I was saying, "Oh God You love me, You love me!" I recall also saying, "I want those things that You have prepared for me! Holy Spirit, search the deep, deep, deep things of God and give them to me!"
Are you ready to dive into the bottomless treasure chest of God for your life? Listen, when you awake hungry, the Lord is up to something in your life because He initiates the hunger.
In the Sanctuary
King David tells God that he searched for Him in the sanctuary: "So I have looked for You in the sanctuary...." Where's the sanctuary of God? The Bible says that we are the temple "where the Holy Spirit dwells" (1 Corinthians 3:16; see also 1 Corinthians 6:19). There's more though! We as a Body of believers are also His sanctuary! Ephesians 2:19-22, tells us that we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God and, "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Can you imagine a group of people together telling God, "O God, You are our God! We hunger and thirst, we say, 'No!' to the flesh, and say, 'Yes' to You!" It will be a whole lot more than a board meeting, praise God! Nothing boring about encountering the Living One! We will meet with God because of our hunger. When we gather in one accord and cry out to Him because we're hungry, we WILL GET BREAKTHROUGH in the "sanctuary," the corporate Church Body!
Now think for a moment what would happen if your family gathered in the house to say, "O God, You're our God!" Expect a Jacob's ladder anointing where your home will become a gate to Heaven. Imagine a fresh hunger coming to your household and when people walk into your house, they'll encounter the Living God!
Do you know that my wife and I cannot get our grown kids to leave our home because they say that it's so peaceful there? Of course, the Prince of Peace lives at our house! When we hunger for Him, His presence stays! When I awaken and say, "O God, I hunger!" I hunger for Him and I hunger for Him to blow the lid off anything I've ever seen or done before! How about you? How hungry are you? Are you ready to see Him lift limitations? Gather with others and agree that where two or more gather in His name to tell Him, "You are our God, we say, 'NO!' to the flesh and 'YES' to You," that anything is possible! Hey, it only took 120 people hungering after the promise of the presence of the Holy Spirit to receive the mighty outpouring of God's Spirit and incredible breakthrough for spreading the Gospel.
To See Your Power and Your Glory
What did David say after he told God that he looked for Him in the sanctuary? He said that he looked for Him there to: "See Your power and Your glory." We need His power and His glory in our lives! It's an awesome thing to see the power of the Lord at work! Nothing is impossible for Him. Even more overwhelming is His glory. Contend to see His glory. Moses said, "God, show me Your glory!" Are you asking that of God? Remember that YOU are His dwelling place!
Think for a moment what will happen when He shows you His glory and power in His dwelling place. Imagine God's glory and power exploding in the sanctuary. We need an encounter with God that fills us afresh with His power and His glory. Do you know what happens after a fresh breakthrough and revelation of His power and glory? Of course! Praise! "Oh God, I'm so glad You're my God! We're so glad You are our God!" King David said, "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You!" Our lips shall praise Him! Once you get a taste of His power and glory, all you'll want is more. You'll become desperate! Hungry! Thirsty! Your soul and your flesh will cry out to Him!
Ah, glory in the tabernacle, that's what I want! Gather your family, gather your church, and cry out to Him for His glory cloud to cover the tabernacle of meeting! When it covers that sanctuary, God fills it with His glory! "Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" (Exodus 40:34). The cloud of His presence covers the tabernacle of your life everywhere you go, and on every journey, it covers you. Check out how the cloud of glory affected the children of Israel:
"And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle meeting because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys" (Exodus 40:35-38).
Arise, Shine!
The glory makes you shine! "Arise, shine, for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you" (Isaiah 60:1). Have you ever been around someone who has just experienced the glory of God? The glory glows so brightly in the inner person that we see its brilliancy! The Book of Hebrews makes the point that our covenant in Christ Jesus is far better than the Old Covenant of the Law through Moses (see Hebrews 8:6), and if Moses came down from that mountain glowing after leaving God's presence, how much more we shine with Emmanuel, God With Us! Oh my gosh! We serve Emmanuel God With Us, His glory constantly an overshadowing cloud of His presence.
Are you ready to step into that realm of open Heavens? We can live daily with a fresh infusion of dunamis, dynamite power to live as an overcomer, not overcome. What's the difference? An overcomer says, "I can leap over walls! I don't see any giants, I see the promises of God and they are 'Yes' and 'Amen' in the anointing!"
Friends, we are about to see families, churches, and businesses filled with the cloud of His presence and His power where anyone who encounters us, visits us, or does business with us will encounter God and His presence, and experience true freedom. The anointing sets captives free! We must have an overcomer's lifestyle of ruling and reigning in this life. Life shouldn't rule us! Our walk should be that of living to glorify the Master who said, "Be of good cheer, for I have won!" He wins!
Breakthrough for His Presence
So, how do we get or see this breakthrough of His presence in our lives? II Chronicles 7 describes a scene from Solomon's temple, whereby the priests placed an offering on the mercy seat of the altar and the fire of God came down and consumed it. Afterward, the glory of God filled the temple. For believers, the Blood of Jesus is our finished and completed offering. This means that we can ask for the glory of the Lord to fill the temple (us).
When you gather with others, or when you spend time alone with God, do you ask that the cloud of His glory would fall upon you? Do you go for breakthrough? Maria Woodworth-Etter had this revelation. She understood that she could establish the realm of the Kingdom wherever she put up her ministry tent by accessing the tabernacle of His presence and asking for the glory to come. And when His presence would break through, people in their homes within a twenty-five mile radius from the tent would be overwhelmed by His presence.
How desperate are you for that kind of glory to fill the temple? Think of the possibilities for your city to be touched and awakened to His presence. I'm going to go for breakthrough! At a recent meeting in Cedar Rapids, a healing wave came in and God healed many, though not all. I went for breakthrough and said, "Now Lord, You healed many the first time, You'll heal the rest also!" Then another wave came in and when I asked how many had any pain whatsoever, only three raised their hands.
Go for breakthrough! Believe God for breakthrough! You can have breakthrough in every area, including finances and harvest. The enemy loves to attack finances to cripple God's people, but GOD wants to give us breakthrough so that we can give out of abundance, not lack!
I'm pressing in for Ezekiel 1 to be a reality in the Church. I want to see the "wheels in the wheels" touch the earth. I want to see all the activity of the Throne come and overshadow us. Imagine gathering with other believers and standing in agreement for God to set up His Throne over an entire stadium of lost people! Listen, Ezekiel in his vision stood under the Throne and looked up and saw lightnings, thunders, and flashes, and "in the appearance of His glory was the rainbow" (verse 28). What did it signify? I believe it is the display of the manifold glory of God, which Ephesians 3:10 says will be made "known by the Church." We will display the glory of God to the rulers and authorities in the Heavenly realms; to spiritual beings both angelic and demonic.
"Manifold" also has the idea of beauty--multicolored, having different hues and tints. How would you like to radiate the multifaceted brilliance of His glory that causes even the principalities of the air to watch your life and go, "Oh my gosh!"
Keith Miller
Stand Firm World Ministries
Email: info@sfwm.org
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