Beholding through Encounter
090804
Caleb Franklin
Introduction :
-My dad’s been preaching on revival and the biggie
-He spoke last sun on lining up with the right path as the spirit and the flesh pull on you
-I think that one of the first step moving into that direction is going to put our focus towards alignment
- Secondly let ourselves be pruned or purged with fire
1. We need to move and come into alignment with what He loves
-righteousness, holiness, humility, love, obedience
Deut 5:23-24-"So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said: 'surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire.
Deut 5:29-32 -Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.' "Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
- Aligning ourselves up affects not only us but majorly affects our children and the generations below us
- Lets set our heart to align up with him whether we feel like it or not
- If we go off of our feelings well never get there
- That’s whats gone wrong in America we have left the place of fear which affects our knowledge of Him and directly affects how we obey His commands
- I.E( story of Sid at work)(Canoeing)
- Which brings me to my next point … now we have to purge ourselves bc we have left this place of fearing Him and obeying Him.
2. We need to know that this alignment process will take time and consistent effort
- The critical and hard part of it is we have to so deeply want it and desire it because we can bail/quit at any second
Jhn 15:5- parable of the vine and the branches
Mal 3:2-3 –the refining fire and launders soap
I.E ( I have been crying scriptures to wake me up) Ps 119 36-37,88, 154, 156, 159 rev 1:17
Rom 12:2-And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
- Conformed- to fashion alike, i.e. conform to the same pattern almost like being stamped
- So we need alignment, we need to alignment a process takes time
3. We need to position ourselves through the goggles of alignment to see Him as He is.
2Cor 3:18-But we all, with unveiled face, Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the Lord
- Behold- to mirror oneself, i.e. to see reflected
The beholding/becoming principle: the first step into holy, diligent love is to fix the gaze of our heart on the person of Jesus. It takes fierce determination to believe that we can approach the Almighty for communion, for the many enemies of the soul (mind will and emotions) try to subvert this process of God revealing God to the our heart. We can live our lives doing religious services and exercises, yet never gazing on or focusing on the object of all our worship. We were made for encounter, for experiencing the presence and depths of God. Even the smallest fragments or scratches at the surface of revelation are enough to transform and thrill the our heart. Dim glimpses of God are enough to fascinate the heart, transform the mind, and apprehend the will to gaze on glory.
-its no longer about get and give
- but setting our eyes on Him to Become like Him
-I have worked on setting my mind daily on a scripture passage or verses to help align me and help me behold who the lord really is!
- God showed Himself plenty of times in the Old testament to u Scriptures demonstrate that God loves to fascinate us through our eyes when Elijah experienced god not by fire or by whirlwind but by still small voice…the garden when they heard God walk ; simple things as dreams prophetic dreams and visions (Numbers 12); God’s encounters with Jacob, burning bush, Mt. Sinai
1. Jesus: baptism of Jesus, calling of Nathanael (John 1:51), healings and miracles, feeding the 5,000, calming the Sea of Galilee, walking on water, Peter walking on water, Mount of Transfiguration, translation of Philip, Stephen’s open vision, Saul/Paul, Apostle John,
- God does not exaggerate when He says he will never leave us nor forsake us He means it, When He says as we see Him we will be made like Him, He means it. He also never exaggerates when He says "Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
The wisdom of beholding! The grand design of the eye! The eyes are the gateways of fascination. The affections of the heart follow the locked gaze of the eyes. The God of pleasure designed us to delight in that which we behold. Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Simply put, whatever you focus your gaze on is what you become. Don’t commit your gaze to anything less than the person of Jesus
Closing:
-I have worked on setting my mind daily on a scripture passage or verses to help align me and help me behold who the lord really is!
-We need to stand and Behold His commandments and let that be our guide of change and let His hand be the tool that renews our mind!
a. “Knowing that Jesus Christ, true God, has loved us so that He suffered death, and death on a cross, for us, doesn’t that put our hearts in a vise, and make them feel its force, and squeeze love from them, but with a power that, the stronger it is, the more delightful it is.” He goes on to say, “When then, don’t we cast ourselves on Jesus crucified, to die on the Cross with Him, who has chosen to die for love of us? I will hold Him and I will never let Him go; I will die with Him, and will be consumed in the flames of His love. One flame will consume this divine Creator and His wretched creature. Jesus gives Himself unreservedly to me, and I give myself unreservedly to Him. I will live and die in His loving arms; neither life nor death shall ever separate me from Him. O eternal love, my soul longs after You, and chooses You forever.
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