Holiness and Intimacy

2 Cor 13:14

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

There are three concepts here grace, love, and fellowship.

As believers, we can never forget that our right standing with God which is the cornerstone of our faith comes from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The very next concept is the love of God. Aren't you glad that God's love is all-encompassing and unconditional in that we don't have to earn it, because we are created in His image and He loves us as His special creation, and more than that He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight?

This brings us to the concept of fellowship. My dictionary defines fellowship as a close personal friendship. The Greek word that is translated here is koinonia. Here are some definitions: fellowship, intimacy, partnership, and companionship.

Have you considered what is required to develop a close bond with someone?

As we get to know the Holy Spirit, His likes, His dislikes, The things which upset Him, and the things He does, then intimacy develops, and we develop a closer bond.

There is such a thing as a legal partnership. Defined in contractual law These normally have a list of obligations and duties for both sides and there are consequences for their neglect, misuse, or disobedience.

Ephesians 4:30 

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Ephesians chapter 4 has a lot to say about the way we should live not lying to our neighbor, and making every effort to renew our thinking in regard to developing a Christ-like character. In fact a whole chapter on the way we should live to please God.

I would advise a study of Ephesian chapter 4 in-depth if you want to live a holy life in such a way as to not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Amen 

The keeper of keys

 I am the Lord who opens and closes doors 

See I have set before you the door to eternal life 

Walk in my steps for I have paved the way 

Trust in my Word and eat the scroll I have set before you.

Does it not taste sweet as honey 

Do not be afraid I shall show you my kingdom in all its glory 

It has always been my plan to visit you

Come into my presence and feel my joy and love 

Where can you hide from me? 

Be amazed I shall pour out astounding abundance into your life 

Search me out and seek me with all your heart

Reach out and take hold of my hand and I shall guide you through crooked and twisted roads

I make high mountains like plains and deserts like green pastures 

See, I shall make salt water as fresh and life shall return where there once was death and decay for I am the resurrection and the life.

As the risen Son shines upon your life. The fog that surrounds you shall clear like the morning mist. The night has ended and a great light has dawned over your life 

I am holy and righteous and completely in love with my creation

Yet there is one who seeks to separate you from me. Do not trust every voice you hear for the enemy loves to whisper lies and untruths in your ear.

I am the God who formed you in your mother's womb 

I stretch out the heavens like a curtain 

I set the planets in their orbits and know the stars by name

My storehouses bring the rain in due season and I hang the Earth upon nothing.

I shall pour out blessings like a torrent  You will barely have enough room and like the widow, the oil shall not run dry 

Amen   

When the Spirit of God hovers, moves, flutters, and shakes

Our hovering, moving, fluttering, and shaking God 

This aspect of God is only described in three verses in the Old Testament 

Gen 1:2
And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Deu 32:11
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

Jer 23:9
Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

In Gen 1:1  the Spirit of God was MOVING over the waters 

In Deu 32:11 A mother eagle prepares herself by FLUTTERING over her young 

In Jer 23:9 A prophet becomes drunk in the Spirit: ...all his bones SHOOK...

So what can we learn from these three verses about our hovering, fluttering, and shaking God?

As I was pondering these verses I had an image of warriors in the desert calling in a rescue after a fierce battle and a Chinook helicopter came into land. Can you imagine that? This isn't the gentle hovering of a butterfly or hummingbird? This is the extreme downdraft of a massive military helicopter. Whilst the soldiers are safe, the ground around them is kicked up to such an extent that only when all the loose ground around them had been blown away and the helicopter touched down did they climb aboard the helicopter. And then the massive engines of the chinook kicked up the dust again 

God is hovering over your situation right now. He is preparing to land, to carry you to safety. To shake the ground beneath you to such an extent that all the looseness of the situation or circumstance you are in will be shaken and He will carry you to a new place. It will be as though your natural sense of your surroundings is blotted out and all you will see is the guiding hand of the Lord.

You will lose the sense of the importance of the situation you are in you will be like the proverbial drunk man you won't care what others think, You will be like Superman possessing supernatural strength. 

Amen   

What is God Hiding from you?

Acts 7:55-56.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”

From the account of the stoning of Stephen, we can see that when things get really rough God will shift our gaze toward heaven. And we see Jesus in all His Glory.

I want to encourage you when you are in pain and suffering to ask God to open up the heavens in order that your perception of earthly senses be dulled and your sense of heavenly and spiritual things be heightened.

As Stephen was being stoned he kept his focus on heaven and not his problems 

What is a mantle? What are spiritual weapons?

1Ki 19:19

So he departed thence and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

A mantle represents an anointing. They come in various types Joy, Servanthood, Power, etc...

Do you know what your mantle is?

What about someone else?

Ask God to show you the various types of mantles that operate in your community.

2Co 10:4

We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

Eph 6:14
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere

We do not wage war like humans, for we wage war like spiritual children of God.

Truth, Righteousness, peace(Gospel), Faith, Salvation, Sword of the Spirit, Tongues(pray in the spirit). 

Ask God to reveal to you what weapons you hold and ask for those which you do not hold.

Ask Him to teach you how to use them.

Amen

 

Meditate on one of the Names of God

 There are many names of God in the bible choose one and meditate on it.

Concentrate on the attributes it speaks about  

Elohim: Strong Creator God

Ask God to show his wonder-working power as the Creator God 

Meditate on his creation both visible and invisible   

El Nekaomoth: The God that Avenges 

Ask God to show you how he has shown his divine vengeance on enemy spirits that curtail your blessings 

Jehovah Chereb: The Lord the Sword.

Ask God to teach you how to wield his Sword in battle and show you in what circumstance to use it 

Ask him to reveal the specific events in which has operated as The Lord, The Sword in your life 

Jehovah Tsaba: Lord of Hosts

Ask Him to show you how he leads the heavenly host and enable you to perceive their working in your life 

Jehovah Gibbor MlChamah: The Lord Mighty in Battle 

Ask him to show you this aspect of his dealings with his foes and reveal to you a fresh revelation of The Lord, Strong, and Mighty 

Elohim Bashamayim: The Lord of Heaven 

Ask Him to show you His operations as Lord of Heaven both in spirit and in your life 

Jehovah Raah: The Lord our Shepherd

Ask Him to lead and guide you and show you what He has done to bring you to where you are today and let Him steer your thinking and actions to a better future for yourself and your family 

Amen 

I shall provide says the Lord

It has always been my desire to see my people prosper says the Lord

I am Jehovah Jireh and I shall provide.

See, I shall be true to you, for my name is Faithful and True

Throughout all generations, I have provided for my children 

Watch as I pour out blessing upon blessing into your life

See, I shall send my messenger with gifts and provisions in times of need.

My storehouse has everything you need 

Look it's in plain sight. Do you not see? Do you not perceive?

Ask me for bread do I not give it daily as I gave manna in the wilderness.    

The harvest is plentiful for I have sent rain and sun in due season 

As surely as day follows night, I shall provide for my people, it was I who created the heavens in all their vast array. 

It is I who stretches out the heavens and causes the snow and the rain.

You have run like a sprinter but you grow tired and weary, and your resources are depleted

You have exploded out of the starting gate at great speed but now you grow tired 

Surely I shall renew your strength and shall carry you on Eagles wings. I shall shelter you under my wings like the swan, her young.

See I have placed you on the higher path where no wolf can reach for wolves only climb as high as I will.

Learn to live at altitude for I shall carry you on my wings 

And as you grow, you will learn to soar like the Eagles, for I am both the wind and the sun: I cause the rising wind and shimmering haze.

Amen 

Prophetic mantles and giftings

A lot can be determined about a prophet from their God-given name. Samuel means heard by God He was dedicated to the Lord at birth and raised by anointed people in the temple.

There is a lot to be said about the way in which a child is raised and the anointing and mantle they carry.

 

That said your past experience doesn't determine your present or your future for you are a new creation of God.

1 sam 3:19

As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.

Ask God to be like Samuel in your gifting: that none of your words would fall to the ground unfulfilled and that you will be instrumental in the raising of the holy people of God, especially in the prophetic giftings.

practice the seer gift with a friend or family member

Act 21:10

Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Here Agabus had a clear word from God about Paul and it was accurate and all those with him bore witness to both the word and the demonstration. 

Gather with friends or family members and ask the Holy Spirit to show something about them then ask them if it's accurate.

 

The importance of fellowship with prophetic people

1Sa 10:10

When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, they saw a group of prophets coming toward them. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy.

1Sa 19:19
When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy. When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time. Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
“They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him. But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth! He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?”

Notice how spending time in fellowship with prophetic people imparts prophetic gifting. Here we see Saul who was not naturally prophetic prophesy when in the company of prophets 

It was not an isolated incident either. The spirit of God came upon some of Saul's men at Naioth in Ramah. The news went back to Saul and he sent other soldiers and they too began to prophesy. Saul himself traveled to Naioth and asked where Samuel and David were, He went to join them and he too began to prophesy.

If you want to develop a prophetic gifting then seek out prophetic people to fellowship with

Amen