I am the way… John 14:6 NKJV

I experiment a lot. If something works, if it bears fruit…Hallelujah! But if it doesn’t work or bear fruit, I change or discard it. If something works, I used to try to make it work even better, but that always seemed to ruin the delicate balance I had somehow swerved into, and that thing became worse than had I never touched it. In teaching the Word, I used to teach formulas, but I found that formulas don’t always produce the promised result. Walking with God is not the same as baking a cake! So, I discarded formulas, and instead embraced pathways. Now even a pathway can be cold and sterile if it’s not walked out in love and hope. Have you noticed that the easiest travel is the trip home to loved ones? Why? Love and hope. So, a pathway to the presence of God should be filled with love and hope because you are going home!

CONFESSION – PRAISE – WORSHIP – PRESENCE – ANOINTING

There is a spiritual axiom that says that only holy things enter heaven. Man’s unholiness must come under and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus in order for that man or woman to enter God’s presence. In the Old Testament the blood of bulls and goats was a foreshadowing of the blood of Jesus, a credit extended because of the future payment of His blood. The Lord immediately covered Adam and Eve in animal skins after the fall, meaning animals had to shed their blood as a substitutionary sacrifice. At some point in true worship, the Holy Spirit must inaugurate the worship and bring it into the presence of the Father and the Son. Good intentions won’t get you in, but the Holy Spirit can willingly take you there!

CONFESSION

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Ps 42:2 NKJV

The way into the presence of God can best be described as a pathway that is initiated by us but at some point the Holy Spirit has to take us by the hand. The child must come to the father. The father can woo the child but for love to be LOVE he cannot force the child. The only time the Father will come uninvited is in judgment, but even in that sense our rebellion is a backhanded invitation to come and judge. You want God? He says, come to Me!

Confession, the words of our mouth, either agree with God or they agree with demons and the spirit of man. When we agree with God, we confess our sins and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, preparing our souls to enter His presence. Agreeing with demons and the spirit of man won’t get you into the presence of God. But telling God who He is from His Word in love and wonder will begin to take you down that pathway. Remember, the Lord WANTS to meet with you! As much as I love the love of my children, multiply that by infinity and you begin to appreciate how much the Father wants to be loved by you!

PRAISE

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Ps 84:4 NKJV

Praise is so powerful! When Israel would go to war, Judah would lead the way, praising God for the victory even before the battle started. The enemy never had a chance because they were fighting the living God! Jesus said ‘Lo, I am with you always’…so praise! When you praise from the heart there is a Holy Spirit led transition from the soul to the spirit. Praise allows the Spirit to begin to take us by the hand into the presence of the Father and Jesus. Consider this…we come to Him. He doesn’t come to us. At best, He stands at the door and knocks, waiting to be invited in. Your praise invites Jesus into the throne room of your heart. In trouble of any kind, praise, praise, praise your way to victory!

WORSHIP

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  John 4:23 NKJV

Praise allows Holy Spirit to bring us into worship. I wonder how often we get to true worship? At this point you must throw out everything and let God be God because Spirit led worship is taking you into the holy presence of God. I teach it like this – if you sat with the president of your nation, you would allow him or her to run everything. You would sit when they sat. You would speak when invited to by them. You would give them your fullest attention – no cellphones in the presence of the president! When they stood, the meeting was through regardless of your agenda. When we meet with God our ABBA we are meeting with the President of the Creation, the King of kings and Lord of lords, not some mere fallen man who leads a nation. How our courtesy, our respect, our fear must be at the highest levels! I once sensed the Lord did not like me taking my dog when I went to pray because I gave him too much attention. What do you think about that?

Why does the devil hate tongues? Why do religious people denigrate tongues? Tongues is the language of worship. Without tongues you are just hitting Old Testament levels of worship (Ouch! I feel some toes getting stepped on!). I recently heard a story of a man who came to my friend Apostle Kiiza’s World Revival Conference in 2005, specifically to attack and denigrate tongues. He heard a preacher, a white man named Kevin Porter, preach on tongues. Then he got filled, fell under the power for fourteen hours, and got up and wrote a book about the Holy Spirit. JESUS!! This incident is recorded in his book. Jesus said that the time was coming (at and after Pentecost) that the true worshippers would worship in spirit and in truth. How exactly do you think that word was fulfilled?

PRESENCE

…indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. 2 Chron 5:13-14 NKJV

When God comes in, He captivates your attention. When the Lord recently spoke to me about evangelizing a nation in seven days, He held me captivated in His presence for hours (“If you had unlimited resources and time to prepare, could you evangelize a nation in seven days?” The next day He said, “Which is harder – evangelizing a nation in seven days or moving a mountain?”)  I couldn’t think of anything else. I couldn’t change the subject if I wanted to. I was captivated! The wonder of the glory of God reduces everything else to discarded insignificance.

On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 2 Chron 1:7 NKJV

In that place of His presence is when He says, Ask! What shall I give you? Is it wrong to ask God for things? No. We have the right to all that He has, which He has given to us. This is His idea! But we don’t treat God like He is a cold, impersonal bank or a bank account. How would you feel if your children only came to you when they wanted something? You would feel about as warm and fuzzy as you are with an automated bank teller machine. Love – real gut felt, heart trembling love – is the oil of our relationship.

ANOINTING

It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Isa 10:27 NKJV

The anointing breaks the yoke. If you will sit in His presence until He releases you, you will go with the anointing to accomplish the work He has given you. That anointing is not just for religious work, but for all work, all problems, all challenges. He is your Father, your ABBA! True Fathers care about everything in your life. With the anointing you can do anything. All things are possible to him who believes! Do you believe that? I believe we never ‘get old’ until we stop believing in hope. Hopeless people are way old before their time. With hope, His mercies are new every morning! The way into the holy presence of God is not a formula but a pathway, a pathway you enter with love and hope because you are going home to His presence, the presence of the Father and His family, the sweetest place in all creation. Don’t you want to go there right now? Amen! Me too. Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…