Your Presence is all I am longing for
Here in the Secret Place
Newness is all I am waiting for
Here in the Quiet Place
My soul waits for You alone
Just like a watchman waits for dawn
Here I’ve finally found the place
Where we’ll meet Lord face to face
I’ve finally found where I belong
In Your Presence
I’ve finally found where I belong
Is to be with You
I’ve finally found where I belong
In Your Presence
I’ve finally found where I belong
Is to be with You
I am my Beloveds and He is mine
Come into Your garden and take delight in me
Take delight in me
Come delight in me
Delight in me, Delight in me, Delight
These words are lyrics to a song called Where I Belong, by William Matthews, worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding, CA. As I consider the words of this refrain, my attempt to describe my longing anticipation for this type of encounter with God seems effortless. Though this place of worship is harder to explain I will attempt to paint a picture of the type of intimacy my soul awaits to have with God. I will also explore the fullness of God’s Spirit and power this type of affection unlocks.
The words of Where I Belong are enchanting, these words incite a feeling of awe from within. I imagine myself walking through a beautiful sleeping garden before daybreak, walking and searching for my Beloved. In my fantasy, I seek Him in the early hours of the morning. Waiting and watching, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of Him. My hearts quakes to see Him as I think of meeting Him in our secret place. I smile at the thought of my Beloved in desperate pursuit of me. As I continue to listen to the lyrics, I catch a glimpse of His white robe trailing behind Him. I’ve finally found Him! In finding Him, I’ve found my place. I belong in the presence of God; to be saturated in His all-consuming love and to be bathed in the showers of His brilliance.
The watchman Ezekiel penned his encounter with God and his description of God’s Glory far surpasses any words I’ve written so far.
Ezekiel 1:4 (NKJV)
“Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”
Ezekiel describes a radiating midst cascading from this Consuming Fire of our God, this midst that glowed like the color amber. How appropriate is it that God’s glory is likened to that of flaming lights, appearing like beams excellence from a colossal candlelight. For me, this is quite an interesting concept; His Glory is light because He is Light (1 John 1:5).
Consider this. At Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, He declared to His listeners they were the “Light of the World” (Matthew 5:14). During that period, the Kingdom of God was announced as being “at hand” (Matthew 3:2) and was being established (Matthew 16:18-19). The Kingdom of God is designed to perpetually advance through the Church [the church consists of those that have received the salvation offered through belief in Christ]. Christ’s call to be the Light of the World echoes loud today in the hearts of all those that would believe. Furthermore, this imprint of Light we have been given, a portion of the of God’s image which we have been created in, is to reflect His Light, this Glory back to Him.
Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
God’s light can dwell, it will dwell and does dwell within us to direct attention to Him. He desires that we act as reflectors or spiritual mirrors, to filter the attention we receive from the observer back to Him.
God intends to release His presence on the earth in a great capacity, but it will not come as some would expect or think. Soon, our Father will display His majesty, His wonders, His powers through people like you and I…He will bring forth the glory from the Heavens right here to the earth! The Glory will be released to born again, Spirit-filled followers of Christ. Born again having accepted and received Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior. Spirit filled having received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
There is an awakening occurring in the hearts of believers. A kindling to remove complacency from our motives and actions, to replenish the barren, unfruitful places of our lives with the fire of God. Animals like the crab go through a molting process, this is a process where various animals shed old skin, hair, feathers or a shell to make room for new growth. This is the state many of us are in and will begin to experience, I’ll compare this process to that of the crab. When a crab outgrows the home it’s made in a shell it begins to experience discomfort and agitation. Naturally, so, the crab is experiencing growth pains or birth pains as Paul penned in Romans 8:22-25 because it doesn’t have room to accommodate its growth.
Spiritually the Church, interchangeably the Body of Christ, is like that of the crab, groaning and ready to make room for what’s to come! This awakening is producing a sense of urgency to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). I pray in Jesus name you’re able to discern the times, you prepare to move into this place and the shift in your spirit. The home, this shell, is no longer able to contain what God desires to give. The temple is breaking and the Church will burst out of the confines of the four walls we have become so comfortable with, but on the contrary God has grown weary of. Complacency is detrimental and it’s imperative that we move, or else those that don’t may end up lost.
Proverbs 1:32-33 (NIV)
“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
This clarion call comes directly from the Throne of Grace, this is a clear proclamation to seek the face of God and to align with His divine vision. Determine your individual responsibility in God’s providential plan by simply asking Him. The closeness we receive through intimacy with God enables man to receive the divine revelation we need. The Holy Spirit we received then gives us insight into God’s mind because that is His very Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:11 (NKJV)
“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”
The God we serve is a Consuming Fire, Ezekiel was moved by amber waves of glory exuding from a “fire engulfing itself!” There is a fire God desires to immerse the Body in, to baptize us in; there is a fire God wants to pour onto us and into us. God wants to submerge us into His very being. For what purpose? So the Body of Christ can then GO FORTH displaying His Glory on the Earth, after all, we have been made in His image (Genesis 1:26).
The Church can only advance in power once it receives a fresh outpouring and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Pixabay/Unsplash
The Spirit of the Living God revealed something very significant, there is a key to unlock the fire of God’s Spirit. This key is intimacy with God. Intimacy is not routine or tradition, it may even seem a bit awkward at first, but no worries God is a Good Father and He will gently teach you what this is. Intimacy with God is beautiful, freshly inspired communication and empowering, endearing communion between us and God…
My soul waits for You alone
Just like a watchman waits for dawn
Here I’ve finally found the place
Where we’ll meet Lord face to face.
This place, this state, is a figurative face to face encounter with God Almighty, which can, in fact, elevate to the magnitude of a literal encounter. Intimacy is initiated through a relationship, it’s nurtured and grows through fellowship like prayer, worship and reading the Bible. Before any person is able to obtain this, there has to be reconciliation between God and man. Before His Spirit could come to make residence within us something had to take place. Christ spoke of His death in Luke 9:22:
“The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders of the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” (NLT)
These words were fulfilled and the finished work of Christ brings us peace with God every day!
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him. And by His stripes we are healed.”
Christ made another prolific statement that reaffirms the need for the repair of the gap between God and man caused by sin. As Christ prepared His disciples for His earthly departure, He shared the following:
John 16:7 (NKJV)
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
God designed a new covenant to eradicate the wedge of sin that hindered man from being in fellowship with God, He provided a way through Jesus Christ to remove our sin. This also allows God to have what he desired since the Garden of Eden…to walk with us, dwell in us, to be our God and for us to be His people.
The Helper, the Holy Spirit, couldn’t come until Christ departed thus sending Him. We can’t receive God’s Spirit until our relationship with Him is mended, and without His Spirit, we cannot complete our individual or corporate purposes.
Assuming you’ve received salvation, you’re probably wondering why I’ve mentioned this. To answer you, it’s because there is a deep need for the line of intimacy discussed to be renewed. At some point there was a disconnect, the causes are many and would be taxing to discuss at this time. My plea in this is for reconciliation and renewing our commitment to God because the Fire of God doesn’t come until the relationship is functional and without it, we disable ourselves.
We need this Fire to be transformed, changed and conformed to the likeness of God’s image. To shine as that of a lighthouse, a beacon of light into darkness, a sign of hope and salvation for those weary for rest. We need this Fire, to give us the power to be God’s witnesses in the Earth.
Acts 1:8 (TLB)
“But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection.”
In closing, accept God’s new covenant of forgiveness, grace, and peace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. If you’ve already received the blessed assurance of salvation, renew your relationship with God…recommit yourself to love Him with your whole mind, soul, body and strength. Ask for the FIRE of HIS SPIRIT and prepare to receive this gift from the Living God!
Love and Peace.
