Kingdom Reality: Worship in Kingdom Gatherings:
Beloved’s of the Lord, One of the transitional changes the Lord is
bringing about as we come out of the 2nd day church system age to the
fullness of the 3rd day Kingdom of God age is our understanding of true
and holy worship of the Lord.
In the present 2nd day church age the majority of Christians attend "church services." Those who are being called to a deeper walk with God are beginning to "come out of services" to attend "Holy Spirit filled meetings" where the Holy Spirit is much more free to move.
They may meet in house churches, home meetings, prayer meetings, but there is a deeper experience of the Lord's Presence there. The final cross over into the third day is to attend "Glory filled gatherings."
This is quite prophetic because in the "services" we begin to "feel God." In the "meetings" we become more aware of His presence with us.' In our Gatherings we enter the Glory realm where He reveals His Manifest Presence or His Person is seen, felt and experienced in the most intimate personal way. Jesus said these words, "when 2 or more are "gathered together" in my name, THERE I AM IN THE MIDST OF THEM!
Please notice he doesn't say he didn't say a "service" or even a "meeting." He said when two or more "gather together" in my name (representing all I am and all that I will be) I am in the midst of them. That is the goal of what are "gatherings" should be. Jesus in our midst guiding us into all that He has for that gathering. In each group the focus changes.
A service is about our needs being met by God. A meetings is about meeting the Lord's need some and mostly about our needs being met. In a gathering it is not about our needs at all, but all about His. His Kingdom come, His will be done on Earth as it heaven. In that place when we meet His needs all our needs are met as well.
Worship is not about our needs but Gods:
About a month ago a prominent person in ministry said, “Worship is not for God, you are doing it for your self, you are doing it for yourself because that is what makes God happy.” This statement (even if it was not what the minister meant) was a powerful word to describe our present state in America at the end of the 2nd day church age system.
We all have said things wrongly or not with the best words to express what we mean, and I am not writing to discredit or give credence to any part of the statement. What I want to focus on is the “truth of that statement”at the end of the church age system and how it has impacted the people of God today specially the young people.
In this post I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to lay some ground work toward what God is about to do and do with our Kingdom Gatherings. Where is our present understanding of worship as we gather together in service of meeting times?
Music To Make Us Feel Good:
In the 1980’s and 90”s, God had given me over 100 songs or more, and many brothers and sisters encouraged me to get them published and perhaps put out on CD’s. So I had many of them copy written and then sent them into the “labels” of that day like Hosanna Integrity, Maranatha, etc. I was sure that these songs would be a blessing to many people. However, I did not ever expect the answer I would get back from the industry.
The answers I got back was they really were blessed by the song I had written, "BUT” it was not the “sound they were looking for.” They were looking for a specific type of sound that would “reach the young people” and “young adults” that appealed to them and what they wanted to hear. That was an exact quote. It was at this time Christian rap was coming forth, hip hop, heavy metal were coming into main stream Christianity.
The music God had given me had “ no place” in our contemporary worship services or even on the Christian contemporary music scene.
In most of today’s churches specially spirit filled churches as well as non spirit filled, a worship service consists of certain number of songs, types of songs, a style of songs with a worship leader to decide it’s direction.
Under the present church system many leaders were taught, “worship is to prepare us for the Word" (the message) the preacher is going to bring. Worship teams were formed to practice and get the music “just right” to sound like a particular label like in the 2000’s Hill song.
In almost every spirit filled church you know what songs are going to be song. Many of them are from Christian radio, cd’s, etc. You also know about how long the “worship service” is going to be as well.
You also know that the Pastor will come out and take over at the high point of the worship, to praise God, welcome the people, give the announcements, take up the offerings, sing another song to get the presence of the Lord back and then preach to the people.
Most of what we have done in our “church services’ in the 2nd day has fallen so short of what God desires us to do when we gather together in His Kingdom reality. I was one of those who pastored several churches in several states for almost 20 years or more. I thought we were pretty free in worship of the Lord and in our services.
Then one day God froze me in my tracks on the way to preach. He said, “Henry you are not going to do what you normally do.” "I want you to worship me until I tell you to stop. I want you to let my people minister to me until I tell you stop. I want you to minister my word until I tell you stop, and then have a time to pray at the end until I tell you stop." That meeting lasted over 6 hrs and God’s manifest presence was in our midst.
He froze me in my tracks literally to stop me from doing what “we always do” as worship and in our meetings with God. This was in 1992. This was crucial for me to begin to understand that the our gatherings with God were not to be about church services as we know them to be in the 2nd day.
Beloved our meetings are not to be home groups as we knew them to be started by Paul Yungee Cho in the 90's, or about “man made agendas, 1-2 hr time frame meetings, worship services that prepare you for the Word or message from the Pastor or 20 minutes of announcements, offerings, specials or testimony times." Kingdom of God gatherings are about meeting with GOD and Him alone and the unfolding of His heart and kingdom in our midst.
We Have Crossed Over:
Beloved of the Lord, we have crossed over into a new day, a new kingdom understanding of what exactly true worship of God is, and why God desires to be worshipped as He wills in our gatherings in His name.
Our Gathering with the Lord are for a much higher purpose than we have ever seen and known in the Church age system. Our Gatherings are to be the place where Christ in us the Hope of Glory is seen and manifested as a collective Body of Christ. In Kingdom gatherings, Christ can be GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 says, "When He comes to be glorified in His saints [on that day He will be made more glorious in His consecrated people], and [He will] be marveled at and admired [in His glory reflected] in all who have believed [who have adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him], because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed [and confirmed in your lives]."
Beloved, that day is now. The third day is here where Jesus is going to finish his course as in Luke 13. He is going to be glorified in His saints. His Kingdom gatherings will be the start of that Glory being seen upon the Earth as it is heaven.
To understand the heart of what these gatherings are to become, we must understand God’s heart for gathering us together. That is for us to WORSHIP HIM IN THE BEAUTY OF HIS HOLINESS. WE MUST BEHOLD HIS GLORY!
What does that mean? Our praise to Him speaks of God's attributes that make Him God. Our worship reveals God’s Love in us, too us, too Him and in both of us.
Yet Glory reveals God’s Holiness in us and through us and this is the destination of true worship to God. It is to Be Holy as I am Holy! The 4 living creatures in Revelation are in that Glory and when they minister to Him day and night and look upon His face they can only cry, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.
It is in this place of ministering to God we as the Priests of God begin functioning as a Royal Priesthood and we become a Holy Nation. How does that happen? For Jesus said, "when 2 or more gather together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. "This I AM THAT I AM in the midst of us is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.
What does it mean to worship God in Spirit and Truth. Jesus said, “Woman the time has come whether where you will neither worship in the mountains or in Jerusalem, but the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth."John 4:24
That is the heart of true Kingdom worship and the focus of our Kingdom Gatherings. Our Gathering together with him is not about a plan, an agenda, but it is to be a DIVINE ENCOUNTER WITH THE LIVING GOD MANIFESTED IN OUR MIDST!’’
What Has Gone Wrong?
Beloved, worship is not something we do when we go to church services. Worship is why we were made. How did we get so far off from God’s original intent? I will try to answer that by sharing what the Spirit of God is speaking to me about what worship is in the heart of God verses what we experience in the 2nd day church system services as good as they may be for you.
Today in the present 2nd day church system age, the enemy has deceived God’s people in believing that “worship is about making us happy.” That preacher nailed it right on the head who said, “worship is not for God it is for us. God wants us to feel happy.” That is how the enemy had come into the church to pervert distort and destroy what belongs to God Himself and render it powerless.
Our present worship services in the 2nd day meetings are about our needs being met and not about God’s needs being met at all.
In a typical 2nd day church system church meeting, the worship leader often picks the songs they like or are “hot” on the Christian radio station. They may choose what they feel goes along with the message. In some churches it is all hymns from a book In others 3 fast, 2 medium and 2 worship songs from Hill Song or one of the Christian artist perhaps ending with “I exalt thee.”
In the 2nd day church system age have you noticed that the worship leader, musicians, singers all face the people? Have you noticed that the dancers and flags and banner are often done in front of the people? The Holy Spirit spoke to me when I was pastoring a church and said “why are you doing that?”
Henry, worship is not for the people and their needs. True worship is for Me and My needs alone. He taught me when people leave a “service” feeling how good the worship was, God was not worshiped at all, they WORSHIPED WORSHIP and left happy but God was not worshiped and GOD THE CREATOR OF US ALL LEFT EMPTY!
The Lord told me to move everyone to the side and face each other or the Lord. He told me to have everyone minister toward the front of the room prophetically as to Jesus and never face, sing or minister to the faces of people. He wanted to have all the focus on Him and His Glory alone.
Ican’t tell you how many Christians in the church age system tell me they have left the church they were in because the church down the street had a better worship team? Why were they leaving, because when they went to a “service” they wanted to feel and touch God’s presence and they would go where the felt him the most.
Is Worship About The Needs Of God Or The Needs Of Men?
On face value that doesn’t sound bad, but in reality it is. It is bad because we are worshiping GOD FOR OUR NEEDS! WE NEVER WORSHIPED GOD FOR HIS NEEDS AND DESIRES!
We needed to feel loved. We wanted to feel accepted. We wanted to feel touched. We wanted to feel comforted. In that atmosphere Worship leaders are forced to choose songs that will minister to the need of the people and not the needs of God.
IT IS HERE THE ANTI-CHRIST SPIRIT CAN OPERATE BEAUSE THE WORSHIP LEADER PASTOR OR ELDER ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE THINGS OF MEN AND THEIR NEEDS AND NOT THE THINGS OF GOD!
Matthew 16:23: "But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Do you see what happens when the needs of men become more important then the needs of God?
This is a very serious situation before God. This type of worship is worshiping God in front of people and the idols in their heart. Yes, seeking God just for comfort or our own needs to get a spiritual fix is a form of idolatry. When it is all about us being happy, are we not worshiping God for own will and needs? What do you call that?
A Serious Charge Against the Levite Priests:
Ezekiel 44 gives some clear instruction why this is serious to God, and is a prophetic picture of what the enemy has done to us in giving our true worship to God and not to ourselves. Ezekiel 44: 6-18
6 And you shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O you house of Israel, let all your previous abominations be enough for you! [Do not repeat them!]
7 You have brought into My sanctuary aliens, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute and profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood; and through it all and in addition to all your abominations, they and you have broken My covenant.
8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have chosen foreign keepers to please yourselves and have set them in charge of My sanctuary.
9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh shall enter into My sanctuary [where no one but the priests might enter], of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.
10 But the Levites who went far away from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bear [the punishment for] their iniquity and guilt.
11 They shall minister in My sanctuary, having oversight as guards at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend the people to serve them.
12 Because [the priests] ministered to [the people] before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity and guilt to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand and have sworn against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity and guilt.
13 And they shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame and their punishment for the abominations which they have committed.
14 Yet I will appoint them as caretakers to have charge of the temple, for all the service of the temple and for all that will be done in it.
15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall attend Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.
16 They shall enter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within the temple.
18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes [them to] sweat.
19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they ministered and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, lest by contact of their garments with the people they should consecrate (separate and set apart for holy use) such persons [unintentionally and unfittingly].
True worship belongs to the Lord Himself. Our worship must be our "ministry to the Lord" when we gather together in His name. God must take us past the 2nd day religious system of "services." He must take us past our "transitional period between the 2nd day and 3rd day "meetings" just to get more of the Holy Spirit.
He must bring us into the 3rd day Kingdom "Gatherings" where the Lord is sought for Himself. These gatherings are to be "Glory filled meetings" where the Holy Spirit can lead, direct and do as He wills to bring the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is Heaven in reality in our midst.
Our time corporately with the Lord were never meant to be "song services." or "liturgical" meetings. They were intended to be "filled with the Spirit and Glory of the Lord, even with fasting and prayer as found in the book of Acts.
Our corporate expression of His Body must become what God intends them to be, Encounters with the Living God who speaks and stands in the midst of His people, directing and guiding them into all Truth!
Kingdom Gatherings: The Heart Of Worship, Meeting God’s Needs first:
I want to close with the “heart of worship.” In our Kingdom gatherings, our focus is not on us or our needs, it is to be upon His needs and our desire to minister to Him alone. He doesn’t have to do a thing or give anything for us to minister to Him.
If we come always just to get, we can never truly give God what He desires from us and be “living sacrifice” for His Glory in these gatherings. Instead of not being a “self absorbed one” where it all about our needs and making us happy in the 2nd day church system life.
Beloved, their are people who are seeing and tasting the kingdom who realize what we do as we gather must change and change now. The question is will they let God full do it to take them out of the 2nd day church age into the life and Holy fire of the 3rd day Kingdom age?
Beloveds, I have never seen a gathering where God’s needs were truly met where everyone’s need were not met as well but beyond anything they would have ever experienced in the 2nd day church system style of meeting. In these type of gatherings they get changed from glory to glory and become Kingdom people seeking the Kingdom of God first.
The intensity of God’s glory is so great when we focus on his needs in our gatherings that you loose sight of everyone around you, the singers, musicians, dancers, flags,etc.You get consumed with God Himself and His burning pure holy love.In that place you are ready to hear, receive and demonstrate the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in heaven.
It Is Critical We Come Out Of The Cocoon of “Service” to “Kingdom Gatherings
We must allow God to take out of the “service”and even "meeting" mentality of the Church age and into the Glory Gatherings to Encounter God and meet the needs of His heart. These types of gathering are going to be critical for us in these last days, because in them we are learning the functioning of the Royal Priesthood to God and we leave going out as kings as the army of the Lord.
Beloved’s, our kingdom gatherings are still in the infant stages and must grow even more deeper into the glory realm where the Holy Spirit can separate Paul and Barnabas for the work God has for them.
These gatherings are to reveal the things to come on the Earth with blueprints from heaven how to stand and overcome in them. These gatherings bring forth the true and pure worship of God because He leads us into the green pastures and still waters of his heartbeat.
Kingdom gatherings are just what they are by their name. Kingdom people gathering together with the King of Glory in their midst. We function as a royal priesthood to minister to the heart of God. We come out of that secret place with God as kings to God so His will can be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Our Kingdom gatherings must come up to their highest function where they will assist in transforming the Kingdoms of this Earth into the Kingdom of our Lord and Christ. Our gathering together is for the Lord Jesus Christ to be 'in the midst of us."
When His Manifest Presence and Glory are present and abiding in our gatherings, everything changes from darkness to light, from the earthly to the Spiritual, from the natural life to the heavenly life, from the the religious to the Kingdom of God in our midst.
I believe there is more to come on this in the days ahead and I know many are getting even more than I am seeing and experiencing at this moment. God take us from glory to glory. Amen.
In the present 2nd day church age the majority of Christians attend "church services." Those who are being called to a deeper walk with God are beginning to "come out of services" to attend "Holy Spirit filled meetings" where the Holy Spirit is much more free to move.
They may meet in house churches, home meetings, prayer meetings, but there is a deeper experience of the Lord's Presence there. The final cross over into the third day is to attend "Glory filled gatherings."
This is quite prophetic because in the "services" we begin to "feel God." In the "meetings" we become more aware of His presence with us.' In our Gatherings we enter the Glory realm where He reveals His Manifest Presence or His Person is seen, felt and experienced in the most intimate personal way. Jesus said these words, "when 2 or more are "gathered together" in my name, THERE I AM IN THE MIDST OF THEM!
Please notice he doesn't say he didn't say a "service" or even a "meeting." He said when two or more "gather together" in my name (representing all I am and all that I will be) I am in the midst of them. That is the goal of what are "gatherings" should be. Jesus in our midst guiding us into all that He has for that gathering. In each group the focus changes.
A service is about our needs being met by God. A meetings is about meeting the Lord's need some and mostly about our needs being met. In a gathering it is not about our needs at all, but all about His. His Kingdom come, His will be done on Earth as it heaven. In that place when we meet His needs all our needs are met as well.
Worship is not about our needs but Gods:
About a month ago a prominent person in ministry said, “Worship is not for God, you are doing it for your self, you are doing it for yourself because that is what makes God happy.” This statement (even if it was not what the minister meant) was a powerful word to describe our present state in America at the end of the 2nd day church age system.
We all have said things wrongly or not with the best words to express what we mean, and I am not writing to discredit or give credence to any part of the statement. What I want to focus on is the “truth of that statement”at the end of the church age system and how it has impacted the people of God today specially the young people.
In this post I believe the Holy Spirit wants me to lay some ground work toward what God is about to do and do with our Kingdom Gatherings. Where is our present understanding of worship as we gather together in service of meeting times?
Music To Make Us Feel Good:
In the 1980’s and 90”s, God had given me over 100 songs or more, and many brothers and sisters encouraged me to get them published and perhaps put out on CD’s. So I had many of them copy written and then sent them into the “labels” of that day like Hosanna Integrity, Maranatha, etc. I was sure that these songs would be a blessing to many people. However, I did not ever expect the answer I would get back from the industry.
The answers I got back was they really were blessed by the song I had written, "BUT” it was not the “sound they were looking for.” They were looking for a specific type of sound that would “reach the young people” and “young adults” that appealed to them and what they wanted to hear. That was an exact quote. It was at this time Christian rap was coming forth, hip hop, heavy metal were coming into main stream Christianity.
The music God had given me had “ no place” in our contemporary worship services or even on the Christian contemporary music scene.
In most of today’s churches specially spirit filled churches as well as non spirit filled, a worship service consists of certain number of songs, types of songs, a style of songs with a worship leader to decide it’s direction.
Under the present church system many leaders were taught, “worship is to prepare us for the Word" (the message) the preacher is going to bring. Worship teams were formed to practice and get the music “just right” to sound like a particular label like in the 2000’s Hill song.
In almost every spirit filled church you know what songs are going to be song. Many of them are from Christian radio, cd’s, etc. You also know about how long the “worship service” is going to be as well.
You also know that the Pastor will come out and take over at the high point of the worship, to praise God, welcome the people, give the announcements, take up the offerings, sing another song to get the presence of the Lord back and then preach to the people.
Most of what we have done in our “church services’ in the 2nd day has fallen so short of what God desires us to do when we gather together in His Kingdom reality. I was one of those who pastored several churches in several states for almost 20 years or more. I thought we were pretty free in worship of the Lord and in our services.
Then one day God froze me in my tracks on the way to preach. He said, “Henry you are not going to do what you normally do.” "I want you to worship me until I tell you to stop. I want you to let my people minister to me until I tell you stop. I want you to minister my word until I tell you stop, and then have a time to pray at the end until I tell you stop." That meeting lasted over 6 hrs and God’s manifest presence was in our midst.
He froze me in my tracks literally to stop me from doing what “we always do” as worship and in our meetings with God. This was in 1992. This was crucial for me to begin to understand that the our gatherings with God were not to be about church services as we know them to be in the 2nd day.
Beloved our meetings are not to be home groups as we knew them to be started by Paul Yungee Cho in the 90's, or about “man made agendas, 1-2 hr time frame meetings, worship services that prepare you for the Word or message from the Pastor or 20 minutes of announcements, offerings, specials or testimony times." Kingdom of God gatherings are about meeting with GOD and Him alone and the unfolding of His heart and kingdom in our midst.
We Have Crossed Over:
Beloved of the Lord, we have crossed over into a new day, a new kingdom understanding of what exactly true worship of God is, and why God desires to be worshipped as He wills in our gatherings in His name.
Our Gathering with the Lord are for a much higher purpose than we have ever seen and known in the Church age system. Our Gatherings are to be the place where Christ in us the Hope of Glory is seen and manifested as a collective Body of Christ. In Kingdom gatherings, Christ can be GLORIFIED IN HIS SAINTS.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 says, "When He comes to be glorified in His saints [on that day He will be made more glorious in His consecrated people], and [He will] be marveled at and admired [in His glory reflected] in all who have believed [who have adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Him], because our witnessing among you was confidently accepted and believed [and confirmed in your lives]."
Beloved, that day is now. The third day is here where Jesus is going to finish his course as in Luke 13. He is going to be glorified in His saints. His Kingdom gatherings will be the start of that Glory being seen upon the Earth as it is heaven.
To understand the heart of what these gatherings are to become, we must understand God’s heart for gathering us together. That is for us to WORSHIP HIM IN THE BEAUTY OF HIS HOLINESS. WE MUST BEHOLD HIS GLORY!
What does that mean? Our praise to Him speaks of God's attributes that make Him God. Our worship reveals God’s Love in us, too us, too Him and in both of us.
Yet Glory reveals God’s Holiness in us and through us and this is the destination of true worship to God. It is to Be Holy as I am Holy! The 4 living creatures in Revelation are in that Glory and when they minister to Him day and night and look upon His face they can only cry, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.
It is in this place of ministering to God we as the Priests of God begin functioning as a Royal Priesthood and we become a Holy Nation. How does that happen? For Jesus said, "when 2 or more gather together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. "This I AM THAT I AM in the midst of us is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.
What does it mean to worship God in Spirit and Truth. Jesus said, “Woman the time has come whether where you will neither worship in the mountains or in Jerusalem, but the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth."John 4:24
That is the heart of true Kingdom worship and the focus of our Kingdom Gatherings. Our Gathering together with him is not about a plan, an agenda, but it is to be a DIVINE ENCOUNTER WITH THE LIVING GOD MANIFESTED IN OUR MIDST!’’
What Has Gone Wrong?
Beloved, worship is not something we do when we go to church services. Worship is why we were made. How did we get so far off from God’s original intent? I will try to answer that by sharing what the Spirit of God is speaking to me about what worship is in the heart of God verses what we experience in the 2nd day church system services as good as they may be for you.
Today in the present 2nd day church system age, the enemy has deceived God’s people in believing that “worship is about making us happy.” That preacher nailed it right on the head who said, “worship is not for God it is for us. God wants us to feel happy.” That is how the enemy had come into the church to pervert distort and destroy what belongs to God Himself and render it powerless.
Our present worship services in the 2nd day meetings are about our needs being met and not about God’s needs being met at all.
In a typical 2nd day church system church meeting, the worship leader often picks the songs they like or are “hot” on the Christian radio station. They may choose what they feel goes along with the message. In some churches it is all hymns from a book In others 3 fast, 2 medium and 2 worship songs from Hill Song or one of the Christian artist perhaps ending with “I exalt thee.”
In the 2nd day church system age have you noticed that the worship leader, musicians, singers all face the people? Have you noticed that the dancers and flags and banner are often done in front of the people? The Holy Spirit spoke to me when I was pastoring a church and said “why are you doing that?”
Henry, worship is not for the people and their needs. True worship is for Me and My needs alone. He taught me when people leave a “service” feeling how good the worship was, God was not worshiped at all, they WORSHIPED WORSHIP and left happy but God was not worshiped and GOD THE CREATOR OF US ALL LEFT EMPTY!
The Lord told me to move everyone to the side and face each other or the Lord. He told me to have everyone minister toward the front of the room prophetically as to Jesus and never face, sing or minister to the faces of people. He wanted to have all the focus on Him and His Glory alone.
Ican’t tell you how many Christians in the church age system tell me they have left the church they were in because the church down the street had a better worship team? Why were they leaving, because when they went to a “service” they wanted to feel and touch God’s presence and they would go where the felt him the most.
Is Worship About The Needs Of God Or The Needs Of Men?
On face value that doesn’t sound bad, but in reality it is. It is bad because we are worshiping GOD FOR OUR NEEDS! WE NEVER WORSHIPED GOD FOR HIS NEEDS AND DESIRES!
We needed to feel loved. We wanted to feel accepted. We wanted to feel touched. We wanted to feel comforted. In that atmosphere Worship leaders are forced to choose songs that will minister to the need of the people and not the needs of God.
IT IS HERE THE ANTI-CHRIST SPIRIT CAN OPERATE BEAUSE THE WORSHIP LEADER PASTOR OR ELDER ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE THINGS OF MEN AND THEIR NEEDS AND NOT THE THINGS OF GOD!
Matthew 16:23: "But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Do you see what happens when the needs of men become more important then the needs of God?
This is a very serious situation before God. This type of worship is worshiping God in front of people and the idols in their heart. Yes, seeking God just for comfort or our own needs to get a spiritual fix is a form of idolatry. When it is all about us being happy, are we not worshiping God for own will and needs? What do you call that?
A Serious Charge Against the Levite Priests:
Ezekiel 44 gives some clear instruction why this is serious to God, and is a prophetic picture of what the enemy has done to us in giving our true worship to God and not to ourselves. Ezekiel 44: 6-18
6 And you shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O you house of Israel, let all your previous abominations be enough for you! [Do not repeat them!]
7 You have brought into My sanctuary aliens, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to pollute and profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood; and through it all and in addition to all your abominations, they and you have broken My covenant.
8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have chosen foreign keepers to please yourselves and have set them in charge of My sanctuary.
9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh shall enter into My sanctuary [where no one but the priests might enter], of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.
10 But the Levites who went far away from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bear [the punishment for] their iniquity and guilt.
11 They shall minister in My sanctuary, having oversight as guards at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend the people to serve them.
12 Because [the priests] ministered to [the people] before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity and guilt to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up My hand and have sworn against them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity and guilt.
13 And they shall not come near to Me to do the office of a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame and their punishment for the abominations which they have committed.
14 Yet I will appoint them as caretakers to have charge of the temple, for all the service of the temple and for all that will be done in it.
15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall attend Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.
16 They shall enter into My sanctuary; and they shall come near to My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed in linen garments; no wool shall be on them while they minister at the gates of the inner court and within the temple.
18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes [them to] sweat.
19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they ministered and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, lest by contact of their garments with the people they should consecrate (separate and set apart for holy use) such persons [unintentionally and unfittingly].
True worship belongs to the Lord Himself. Our worship must be our "ministry to the Lord" when we gather together in His name. God must take us past the 2nd day religious system of "services." He must take us past our "transitional period between the 2nd day and 3rd day "meetings" just to get more of the Holy Spirit.
He must bring us into the 3rd day Kingdom "Gatherings" where the Lord is sought for Himself. These gatherings are to be "Glory filled meetings" where the Holy Spirit can lead, direct and do as He wills to bring the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is Heaven in reality in our midst.
Our time corporately with the Lord were never meant to be "song services." or "liturgical" meetings. They were intended to be "filled with the Spirit and Glory of the Lord, even with fasting and prayer as found in the book of Acts.
Our corporate expression of His Body must become what God intends them to be, Encounters with the Living God who speaks and stands in the midst of His people, directing and guiding them into all Truth!
Kingdom Gatherings: The Heart Of Worship, Meeting God’s Needs first:
I want to close with the “heart of worship.” In our Kingdom gatherings, our focus is not on us or our needs, it is to be upon His needs and our desire to minister to Him alone. He doesn’t have to do a thing or give anything for us to minister to Him.
If we come always just to get, we can never truly give God what He desires from us and be “living sacrifice” for His Glory in these gatherings. Instead of not being a “self absorbed one” where it all about our needs and making us happy in the 2nd day church system life.
Beloved, their are people who are seeing and tasting the kingdom who realize what we do as we gather must change and change now. The question is will they let God full do it to take them out of the 2nd day church age into the life and Holy fire of the 3rd day Kingdom age?
Beloveds, I have never seen a gathering where God’s needs were truly met where everyone’s need were not met as well but beyond anything they would have ever experienced in the 2nd day church system style of meeting. In these type of gatherings they get changed from glory to glory and become Kingdom people seeking the Kingdom of God first.
The intensity of God’s glory is so great when we focus on his needs in our gatherings that you loose sight of everyone around you, the singers, musicians, dancers, flags,etc.You get consumed with God Himself and His burning pure holy love.In that place you are ready to hear, receive and demonstrate the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in heaven.
It Is Critical We Come Out Of The Cocoon of “Service” to “Kingdom Gatherings
We must allow God to take out of the “service”and even "meeting" mentality of the Church age and into the Glory Gatherings to Encounter God and meet the needs of His heart. These types of gathering are going to be critical for us in these last days, because in them we are learning the functioning of the Royal Priesthood to God and we leave going out as kings as the army of the Lord.
Beloved’s, our kingdom gatherings are still in the infant stages and must grow even more deeper into the glory realm where the Holy Spirit can separate Paul and Barnabas for the work God has for them.
These gatherings are to reveal the things to come on the Earth with blueprints from heaven how to stand and overcome in them. These gatherings bring forth the true and pure worship of God because He leads us into the green pastures and still waters of his heartbeat.
Kingdom gatherings are just what they are by their name. Kingdom people gathering together with the King of Glory in their midst. We function as a royal priesthood to minister to the heart of God. We come out of that secret place with God as kings to God so His will can be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Our Kingdom gatherings must come up to their highest function where they will assist in transforming the Kingdoms of this Earth into the Kingdom of our Lord and Christ. Our gathering together is for the Lord Jesus Christ to be 'in the midst of us."
When His Manifest Presence and Glory are present and abiding in our gatherings, everything changes from darkness to light, from the earthly to the Spiritual, from the natural life to the heavenly life, from the the religious to the Kingdom of God in our midst.
I believe there is more to come on this in the days ahead and I know many are getting even more than I am seeing and experiencing at this moment. God take us from glory to glory. Amen.
Edited by Henry Falcone on 04/01/2015 at 6:41am
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