God of Heaven, Glorious, Majestic

"To know God, to see Him as Jesus the Savior, as Jesus the King, as Adonai and Jehovah, Shepherd, Provider, Redeemer, Captain, Peace, requires a drink at the fountain."

A RICH MAN came to Jesus with a question. “What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” And Jesus answered, saying to keep the commandments. The young man replied that he’d done this his entire life. So Jesus gave him an ultimatum. Sell everything, lock, stock, and barrel, and give it all to the poor, then come follow Him. Disappointed, for he had many possessions, the rich young man left.

“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24)

I think the fact that he asked the question showed far more hunger, far more goodness of heart, than most in today’s elite culture where they’d rather dance with the devil in knowing rebellion rather than submit their will and emotions to anything or anyone. Jesus has become a joke, a plastic image who a few deluded souls like myself bother to worship, and the majority of the church is sadly responsible for upholding this image. They shake their head and spit curses at people, albeit in King James, rather than lay down their sword, meant for the enemy, that fathead devil, and act like love or extend compassion.

If you see someone swimming in sin and feel self-righteous, then you are wrong. Without God’s mercy, proven to us in the death and Resurrection of actual-Jesus, we are all goners.

Jesus’ beloved apostle John had been sent to the isle of Patmos for preaching the gospel. Them were turbulent times. And huddled up alone, nothing to do but seek God, he had a vision of Jesus Christ. He’d seen Him, walked with Him, laid his head on His breast. He’d taken communion and watched Him die. He’d taken Jesus’ mother in as his own. But this version of Jesus speaking to Him was far beyond what his human mind could grasp. Here was not just the man, who’d eaten dust on the road to cities, nor the one who’d walked the storm into submission, rain in His eyes, but the God of heaven, glorious and majestic, the light of Him so radiant, John feared to see it and fell on his face.

Would that these woke-up people and others still sleeping would see the King of Kings in a glory such as that, then they would decry their sinfulness and never doubt His truth again.

But it’s easier to listen to the devil, easier to believe a lie and walk beneath it than to see the truth. The Scripture says, he comes as an angel of light. There are many facets to this. To a child of God, he sounds like God. Not location, location, location, but in voice. That lousy meatball can sound like the Holy Spirit to the untrained ear. To a child of darkness, the devil sounds like logic, like entertainment, and a thousand other emotions. Not a voice, necessarily, but incorrect desires. To both, he justifies anger and hatred, he fosters bitterness underneath a thousand different names, all rooted in fear and selfishness.

To know God, to see Him as Jesus the Savior, as Jesus the King, as Adonai and Jehovah, Shepherd, Provider, Redeemer, Captain, Peace, requires a drink at the fountain. And did you know the Holy Spirit, whose water bubbles up continuously, longs to give even the rich young ruler a sip? But ruler, remember, walked away sorrowful. Others prance or run or trip and fall, trying to escape. One truth remains, God is holy, and it is His holiness that men can’t face.

Line up a thousand voices to speak like Jesus, and we should know Him instantly from amongst them. As I would know my mother’s voice among women, or my daughter’s among her girlhood friends. As I know my husband’s mannerisms and can tell you what he would do in any situation, I know Christ. They Word tells us the enemy speaks into our minds, and the Spirit of God lives in our heart. But to know the difference between them and not be deceived by that old fathead, isn’t as simple as thinking, “Oh, that was in my mind!” We must know the content of his words, that they are not in the Scriptures. We must know the type of words he speaks, that they are not what God would speak. We must know the anointing behind them, and we can only know God’s anointing from the devil’s by spending time with Jesus.

We must know that of a 10-word sentence, 6 words were God, and 4 were the devil. That stupid pork chop will poke his head in anywhere just to mess you up. God and the devil do not work together. They are in separate kingdoms, oil and water that do not mix. But to a mind that is unrenewed, a churchy way of saying you don’t automatically and fully think like God does, they sound similar. Growth is progressive. Daily. A child goes from age 2 to age 3 by living 365 days between them. The apostle Paul urged Christians to grow up. Our growth is taken up by us as we spend time reading God’s Word and putting its principles in our heart. As a person goes to school to become a doctor and gain the education and techniques needed to be the best at his profession, a Christian must from the day of his salvation spend time learning all that the Word says God is, all that it says we are, and in so doing, change our thinking.

Suddenly, we know that those 6 words were God and hear the other 4 and say, “No, you don’t, fathead.” We don’t fear him; we know we are stronger than him through the power of Christ living in us. We don’t talk and act like him; we have been changed from criticism and offense to love and mercy toward others. We aren’t fooled by him and no longer blame God for him. The devil decided to defy God, and God condemned him at the cross.

God embraced us at the cross in His defeat of the devil. The blood of Jesus was shed to erase our sin. All that’s required is a simple confession. When we say, “Jesus, come into my heart,” the Spirit of God enters, and our old man is made completely new. This is a supernatural truth which we must know in our pattern of growth. But see, here, Jesus’ Resurrection. When the Holy Spirit raised Him from the grave, He remade His body into perfection. This is not the sexual connation of the world but must be understood as the Spirit of the Father, the Holy Spirit, filling the physical body as well as the spirit. When Christ returns and our bodies are changed in an instant, when we become like Him, as stated in the Scriptures, the glory of God will fill us completely. That is God’s intent.

It is what our hearts desire because we are loved by Him, and the Holy Spirit who lives in us because of salvation, is the promise today that until that day comes, we have discernment between God and the devil. We know the voice of God over the enemy. And the goodness of God fills us with all we require for the wisdom and understanding, love and patience, needed to have prosperous, joyful lives amidst those who can’t see Him. Who should see Him. In us.

“Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?” (Matthew 18:33)

Photo by Kseniya Lapteva on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com