Scriptures and Key Points:
Keys for Attracting the Presence of God:
- Hunger
- Matthew 5:6 NKJV Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
- Holiness
- Leviticus 11:44 NKJV For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy…
- Holiness is not an external piety; it’s an internal consecration.
- Humility
“Circumstances don’t change God, God changes circumstances.” – Doug Stringer
Three Circumstances the Church has overcome through the years:
- Persecution
- Poverty
- Peace and prosperity
Matthew 16:18 KJV And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- We need to be willing stewards of God’s resources.
- It’s always been God’s intention to give the Church peace and prosperity, so that we can be a blessing to the nations.
- We must humble ourselves and not forget where we’ve come from.
- The anointing of God is separate from the frailty of humanity.
- Just as we need grace, we need to give grace to others.
- Walk in God’s grace daily in every circumstance.
“Never take yourself so seriously, only take God serious.” – Leonard Ravenhill
- Don’t forget where you came from.
- Obedience is the highest form of worship.
- We’re nothing without God.
- Never lose your vision of hope and destination
1 Samuel 11 NKJV Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead…
- When others compromise, we must stand for what is right.
Ephesians 6:11 NKJV Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
- When we give up the right eye of righteousness, then we have no power to overcome the enemy.
- We need to learn to instinctively respond to the Holy Spirit in us.
- The enemy seeks to take our vision.
God requires our total surrender.
- The limp of God changes our destiny.
- It is better to walk in the limp of God than to walk in the strength of the flesh.
“Is it not sweet to believe that our tears are understood even when words fail! Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers.” – Charles Spurgeon
Matthew 5:1-12 NKJV …Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…
Exodus 32 NKJV The Golden Calf
2 Samuel 6 NKJV …Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled…
We get impatient, raise up our own idols, and declare “God, I’m doing it for you!”
1 Kings 8 NKJV The Ark Brought into the Temple
Psalm 139:14 NKJV I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…
1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
Romans 12:1 NKJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
John 15:19 NKJV If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
In every circumstance have the tongue of a ready writer and of the learned.
Psalm 45:1 NKJV My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Isaiah 50:4 NKJV “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.
- God is faithful in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.
- When we’re in the place of the unknown, we can be encouraged that we’re stepping into the place we are meant to be.
Esther 4:14 NKJV …Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
- God has placed us in a stinky world so we can be dispensers of the fragrance of heaven.
- Don’t let the devil take your vision.
This is the moment to step into the destiny God has for us.
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…
- Hypocrite – the stage actor, the performer
1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
“Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.” – A. W. Tozer
Exodus 32:28 NKJV So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.
Acts 2:41 NKJV Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
- Exposure of hidden areas of our hearts, evilness and of those who haven’t compromised
- Implosions of institutions we have put our hope in
- Explosions of the Holy Spirit
Psalm 51:10 NKJV Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Links:
- The Devil Wants Your Vision, But The Lord Wants Your Limp by Doug Stringer
- Ray Comfort
- Jabbok! A Place of Total Surrender by David Wilkerson
- Create In Me A Clean Heart by Keith Green
Books:
- Living Life Well: The Spirit of the Ten Commandments by Doug Stringer
Connect with Us:
Website: SomebodyCares.org,
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomebodyCaresAmerica/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/somebodycaresamerica
Rumble: https://rumble.com/user/SomebodyCares
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SomebodyCares
Let the hurting know that SOMEBODY CARES with a donation to support disaster response and ministry efforts here! To get the latest updates on disaster responses, visit SomebodyCares.org.
Share this message with a friend and subscribe for weekly encouragement and inspiration!
You can also receive weekly Provoke-a-Thought emails, monthly teaching emails, periodic ministry updates, or join our prayer team by signing up here!
Download a free 30-day devo at AWordInSeasonPodcast.org