DELIBERATELY PURSUING GOD
PART 34
THERMOMETERS, SWITCHES AND ELEVATORS

There are two kinds of spiritual conditions; HOT – and everything else in between. Just like the two different sizes of spiritual roads (broad and narrow), the two different attitudes of the heart is what IDENTIFIES each person and each church. A spiritually strong church is filled with people that have embraced the revelation of letting go of the love of this world. They have been presented with the spiritual realities of being mentally transformed and have made the commitment to stay in the operating room until the work is done. I am not even going to ask what this has to do with worship because once again, our thirst to worship God reveals the temperature on our relationship “thermometer” with Him. Worship is our outward expression to God – that unveils our internal love for Him.

Christians that listen to the word of God will always find themselves standing in a crossroad that presents the choices of taking the detour to “carnal parkway” or to just stay straight on the “holiness interstate”. Those who are filled with God’s spirit and know what is right are constantly faced with the convictions of being a doer. When a person sells out of this world’s system and the control of their own life and desires to follow God completely, then the steel plates can be taken down that once protected the “switch” of their conscience. When the follower of Christ has allowed the switch to be flipped, they will never be the same again. That is exactly what happened to Peter, Andrew, James and John in Mathew chapter four.

“Elevate” means; (to raise or lift to a higher level; to improve one’s moral or intellectual awareness; to improve one’s spirit) and as we elevate with Christ, the intensity of our light will increase as we go to higher voltage. The deeper we go into God the more our eyes will be opened to see how much more there is to enjoy. It is the same concept of how the more we learn the more we realize we do not know. The problem is there are multitudes of lighthouses but very few that are “turned on.” Worship is not an EVENT – it is a lifestyle! It is not that people are not connected and plugged into the power source – it is the refusal to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Mathew 5:16) It is not that Christians do not have knowledge and the understanding of what they should do, but they will work overtime trying to avoid the most important “command” to crawl onto the alter and be consumed. God desires to take us from glory to glory, higher and deeper but has given each person the free will to make their own decisions. You see we can have ALL of God we want. There is nothing (except our own decision) that is stopping any of us from worshipping, praying, studying and seeking His face every day, every night and every moment. The problem is that we go to God like we shop at Krogers. We push our basket around, take what we want and leave. When we have all of God we want, we will not develop or progress any further with Him. Unfortunately most of the church world already has all they want. Selah – –

There is an epidemic of lukewarmness. This attitude does not care about quality or excellence and never gets anything accomplished that is worth anything. It is a “barely get by” mentality that is poison to a company, an organization AND a church. Since it does not really care about anything and has no deep love or commitment it will not blink an eye to backstab and criticize. If people do not believe the cause is worth the cost – they will not support it or pour their heart and soul into it. The simple truth; if people do not value a soul they will not pray or have a burden to witness. If they do not value the church they will not give or serve. If a person does not love God with all of their heart, they will not surrender their will to Him and if people do not love to worship, they will hinder the atmosphere.
Maybe the reason why some do not worship the Lord is because they know the bible stories about Jesus but have never personally experienced Him. (I see the pictures of presidents on my money everyday, but I never knew them personally.) Maybe they already worship so many other idols there is no room left for God. Maybe some are living in a lethargic coma. Or maybe the reason why people are not concerned with worshipping God is because; they have never deeply fallen in love with Him.

I want to share a word from the Lord that pierced my heart with conviction. This was written on a scrap piece of paper and handed to me by Michelle at church on June the 27th. “You cannot be “in like” with me; you must be “in love” with me. “In like” will only take you to the gate, but “in love” will take you all the way into where I am. “In like” will not crucify your will; “in love” will make you say, not my will but your will be done, no matter where it takes me or what it cost me.”