Not For Soaking or For Drinking

~ Bethel Community is teaching on the book of Galatians.. if ever there was a perfect fit, it is this word for the church as a whole in this hour.. and a packed house. If you don't have a church home, or if you're just in the neighborhood of visiting, I encourage you to stop by next Sunday. We'll scooch over and make you a spot.


~ Pastor Lance was sharing that Galatians is about returning to our first love.. Jesus.. about getting to know him. He emphasized that "it's not just about how we enter the Kingdom, but HOW we live in the Kingdom." It's a continual thing, a forever thing, not just a one time, kneel at the altar, to get in the door thing.

What powerful direction from the Word of God to so much that the Spirit of God has been speaking lately. This is gonna be good!


~ "Your Hope must be in Christ alone."

That is something God has been emphasizing for the past month or so. From the moment one of the worship leaders began to proclaim during a Friday Night worship service I think it was.. "Jesus Be Lord of Your Church!" Christian leadership as a whole entered a phase some years back where everything was strategized and based on Barna and blah blah blah.. and it sterilized the relationship between God and Man and made it about stats.. it culminated in caging and control of the spirititual gifts and the murder of the prophets.. yes, I know, that's a pretty harsh statement. But that's what I witnessed. It was like Hitler's labs experimenting on ppl with eccentric and outlandish trends and theories, while masking so much contradiction to the word of God and the true Gospel. So much blood. So much injustice. So much sin... in the church.

But God has come to restore order, to bring cleansing and to heal the broken hearted. Ppl began to question how we got to this place as sin began to hit home and rip apart their families and seduce their children.. we began to realize that our own arrogance had duped us to follow the drift, to follow the blind, to leave our first love, all the while denying it. Until there was no denying it.

There is a call like never before to true believers.. "return to your first love."
A stage is being set in the world.. evil is about to come to an end, but there is gonna be a couple horrid battles before the end. Scripture says that the enemy will really get nasty when his time begins to run out. Sobering.. but exciting days ahead. God is among us and so very active. The increase is coming. Every seed of faith, every seed planted in a generation.. the increase is coming. Just watch.


~ Pastor Richard commented during offering yesterday, that the first act of worship recorded in the Bible was an offering.. when Abraham and Isaac went to the mountain to worship God, Isaac was offered to God. Tho God sent a temporary substitute in a ram, until he sent the forever substitute in Christ.

Immediately I thought of Elisha and a story I read as a young Christian while reading through the Bible.. it stuck with me forever about the power of worship.. the kings were needing direction from God tho they had not honored God as they should have, and so they went to Elisha, who called for a musician and spent time in worship with God.. and THEN received direction from God.. so cool!...
"And Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the Lord..." (2 Kings 3)


~ I also remember when I was pregnant and had some rare sickness that caused sores on my tummy and along my limbs. I was sent to a specialist in Nashville. They were familiar with the sickness, but wasn't sure what causes it. There was no cure, only ointment to treat the discomfort, it would remain until after I delivered the baby. I was to return to the doc in a week. That night I went to to a revival service. There was an odd sensation over my body from the moment I walked into the building, can't describe it, but it was like static electricity or something. I remember standing in the pew and talking to God during worship, I told him that I didn't really understand about healing but that I knew he could heal. I asked him to heal me and resolved that I was gonna go up for prayer at the end of service.

At the call, they decided to have all the pastors and leaders make two rows and have everyone wanting prayer walk between them as they prayed. I never liked that kind of prayer for so many different reasons, but I told God that I would go up any way. I walked the line, told God thank you and nothing noticable happened. I trusted God to honor the prayer and then didn't dwell on it. Didn't psych myself up for it, didn't walk around chanting anything all week.. just trusted God with his answer.

Mid-week, the sores began to dry up and fall off. By my next appt with the speicalist in Nashville, they were completely gone. I went in his office, he came in to examine me, you could see the confusion in his face, he lifted my arms and checked several times, and then said in dismay... "I don't know how this happened, but you don't need to come back to see me." And then rushed out of the office.

~ Worship had already started when we got there.. it was just an atmosphere that I can't describe as I walked in.. honestly like that spiritual cloud ppl talk about that the presence of God sometimes causes... the sickness was something assocaited with pregnancy, had a weird name.. but anyway.. the doc knew we were Christians and I think he just didn't want to hear us credit prayer for healing me. On any account, the percentage of having the sickness with following pregnancies if you have it the first one is high.. but I never had it again. Not a sign of it, during two more pregnancies. God healed me completely. I think it was that atmosphere of worship. I think there is a power concerning worship that we just don't fathom.. when the presence of God shows up and fills a room in the spiritual realm, his glory spills over into the physical in miraculous ways. When we speak it forth in faith and in the name of Jesus, it manifests as God wills according to his mercy and his wisdom.


~ Another cool thing I learned Sunday, being the word person I am.. Pastor Lance brought out that the word "according" as in speaking about according to the word of God.. or even according to the will of God.. is actually a musical term meaning "in harmony with"

In harmony with the word or will of God.. is that not worship?
Oh my goodness.. I love that.


~ This is just me thinking things thru and is not Scripture, but I thought it was interesting that Michael is a warrior angel in the Bible.. Gabriel is usually involved in delivering messages, a messenger angel.. and it is understood that Satan was involved in worship before his fall..

When Judas betrayed Christ, Matthias was chosen to replace him. It made me wonder who God gave that role of worship to? And I have wondered if perhaps we are to fill that role. We have been given a song that the angels wonder at and can not sing.. thru the blood of Christ, the song of redemption and salvation. I wonder how that role and anointing of worship plays out fully as the Bride of Christ. Music is such an intimate thing, such a mood setting instrument to prepare hearts and minds for whatever we are about to venture into.. whether battle or sex with our spouse or victory ceremony or just rest itself.

Worship is such a deep thing.. far more reaching than just a plunky song on a harp. I think that is part of Satan's rage toward mankind. We have been given the role of worship, and the power that is released when we align that worship with the word and will of God. Kinda cool to think about.


~ So sunday at the close of service, a picture popped into my head as Pastor Lance made the appeal for ppl to return to their First Love.. I saw silver buckets of soapy water placed all over the stage.. lots and lots of suds and sponges to scrub with.. as tho God had placed them there thru the words Lance spoke..

But then I instantly also saw ppl rolling around on the stage pouring the water over themselves, trying to soak in it when it was clearly not enough water to soak in, some were drinking it, repulsed by the taste, and rightfully so.. because it wasn't meant for drinking.. nor was it meant for soaking or anointing ourselves...

It was meant for scrubbing.. for cleaning.. for scouring off the yuck..
It was gonna involve hard work and effort and diligence..
It was gonna feel foreign and require leadership and teaching and learning...

The time of soaking is passed.
There will come a time to stand under the waterfall and rinse.
But now, is the time of scrubbing...

a personal work, of intent, and repentance and change.