There are too many people out there settling for a superficial relationship with God—just doing the shouting and the singing—but God is looking for genuine heart service, not just lip service! We read in Psalms 100:1–5 that we ought to shout for joy, enter His gates with thanksgiving, and praise His name because He is good. But let me tell you, we have to move past a temporary emotional high. Our true cry needs to match the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:10–11, where he cried out, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings…” True knowledge of God isn’t found in your head; it’s a deep, life-altering experience in your heart that transforms you completely!
You see, a real encounter with God will break you and change your walk forever. Jacob had a dream at Bethel, but he didn’t get his name and destiny changed until he stayed up all night wrestling face-to-face with God at Peniel! Look at the prophet in Isaiah 6:5–8, who saw the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted up. When you actually get into the presence of a holy God, you don’t boast; you get convicted and cry out, “Woe is me! for I am undone…” It was only after the seraphim purged his lips with a live coal from the altar that Isaiah could say, “Here am I; send me.” Church, without that deep, gut-wrenching conviction, people just feel a fleeting moment of remorse at the altar and go back home the exact same way they came.
Look at Peter—Jesus had to take him through a total breaking of his self-reliance before he could be truly used. In John 13:8–9, Peter pridefully told Jesus, “Thou shalt never wash my feet,” before flipping to say, “Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” Later, he boldly declared in Matthew 26:35 that he would die before denying Christ, completely ignoring the warning in Matthew 10:33 that whosoever denies Him before men will be denied before the Father. But when the rooster crowed, Peter remembered the words of Jesus and “wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). That brokenness was necessary, folks! Because of that crushing, when Jesus asked him in John 21:17, “Lovest thou me?”, Peter didn’t boast anymore. He humbly replied, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee,” and Jesus could finally tell him, “Feed my sheep.”
God wants to give you a genuine experience that opens your spiritual sight and alters your walk. We’ve got to stop letting envy, jealousy, or our own fleshly desires blind us from the revival God wants to pour out in this house. It’s time to stop playing church, folks! Let’s get down to these altars, enter His presence with open hearts, acknowledge our desperate need by crying “Woe is me,” and surrender completely so He can use us for His glory.
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.