What does a pastor do that can't talk?
What does a worship leader do that can't
sing?
And so began to come after God like
I never had.
Because, you know, when something happens to you
for which you don't have a verse, I'm
not saying there is no verse, I just
didn't have it yet.
And so I'm on the search of my
life.
The monitor isn't working right now, I'm hearing
Maine, but is the house working okay?
Let's play with the monitor.
Yeah, you're finding me.
See what we can do there.
Thank you, this can help me.
And so began to come after the Lord
with a zeal and a fire like never
before.
Because I believe in the four square gospel
of Jesus Christ.
He is my healer.
He says, I am the Lord who heals
you.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but
the Lord delivers him out of them all.
And so that's the Jesus that I'm after.
And I'm pursuing him and pressing into him
until he finishes what he started in my
life.
So you are not listening tonight to the
last chapter of my story.
But neither are we looking at the last
chapter of your story.
God's got us all on a journey.
You know, I said to the Lord once,
I said, Lord, if you're doing something with
my life, if you're working on something, can
you finish with it first and then send
me to the body of Christ?
I just don't enjoy this thing of being
a spectacle.
You know, Paul said, we're a spectacle to
men and angels.
People are looking at Paul's life and going,
weird.
That's bad enough.
But when you have angels looking at your
life and going, weird.
You know, the angels are like, we've been
doing people for 5,000 years, and this
is weird.
Well, now you know you're a spectacle.
So I'm like, Lord, can you, you know,
finish with me and then send me out?
How many have figured out he doesn't finish
with you before he uses you?
So thank you for bearing with the unfinishedness
of the package and walking together with me.
As the Lord directs our hearts.
Now, Marvin mentioned the books.
He didn't mention the five dollar price.
And he said you had to pay.
I'm saying you don't have to pay if
you can't afford the five bucks.
It's my gift to you.
Help yourself because I'm not here to sell
something.
I'm here to sow something.
So may it be a blessing to you.
By the way, the message tonight, if it
connects with you, is in this book, Power
of the Blood.
Somebody on the front row is going to
get it.
You know, I was thinking, Marvin, I've got
my own Tara Hope story.
Do you want to hear it?
I'll tell it to you.
A little wordplay, but you'll catch on.
Go back to 90.
I'm in tremendous crisis as a pastor.
My pain levels are going like this.
My strength levels are going like this.
And I'm in trouble.
And one Sunday, a gal with a prophetic
anointing on her life walks past me on
her way out after the service.
And she says, you asked God for something.
And he's answered your prayer.
I have asked God for something.
Well, it seemed to be of the Lord,
and so I'm like, what did I ask
for?
Whatever it was, temporary insanity.
I take it back.
Can we go back three spaces?
So, I'm serious now.
Lord, what did I ask for?
Talk to me.
And the Lord reminded me of something that
had happened just in the months prior to
this.
It was my practice back in those days
to come to our sanctuary early in the
morning.
And I'd sit at the keyboard, put my
Bible on the music stand, and just sing
and worship and have my time with the
Lord, just me and Jesus, and a building
that was roughly this size.
And so, I'm doing what I do early
in the morning, and a song comes to
mind.
And I just recognize, man, there's some sauce
on this song.
So, I went and grabbed a hymnal and
put the hymnal on the music stand.
I'm singing the verses.
I'm doing the chorus.
And the chorus goes something like this.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on heaven's table land, a higher
plane than I have found.
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
And as I'm singing the song, the tears
begin to flow.
And the cry from my heart, I said,
Lord, I know there's a higher place in
you than I have touched.
I was 35 at the time, pastoring a
healthy church.
But looking at the fruit of my ministry,
and looking at the Gospels, and realizing I
haven't even started to touch the power of
the kingdom of God.
And yet, I was working so hard early
to bed, late at night, giving the kingdom
everything I had.
And I knew if touching the higher things
of the kingdom meant working harder, I was
working as hard as I could.
And I wasn't touching what I saw in
the life of Christ.
And this cry in my spirit, Lord, you
have got to lift me up.
I can't touch it in my own strength.
Tears, weeping, singing the song.
I came back the next day, and it
happened all over again.
Same song, same tears, same cry, same helplessness,
same desperate reach in my heart, a cry
from the depths of my heart.
Lift me, the song.
Actually, the name of the song is Tear
Out Higher Ground.
Lift me up to higher ground.
And as I sang, then I forgot about
it.
But he didn't forget.
And I think there's times that we make
alters with God that God remembers better than
we do.
And so, I believe that prophetic word was
accurate, that the Lord visited my life, not
in the way I was looking for or
expecting, but I believe there has been an
invitation to my life to come aside, get
into the wilderness, press into the heart of
God, and find something in God that I
would have never been able to touch on
the track I was on.
He loved me enough to save me from
my own way.
And one of the
things that has happened in the journey, that
the Lord has opened up a window of
intimacy with him that I always wanted, did,
but never really found, that I'd like to
share from the overflow of that tonight.
I'm going to share some stuff that's very
personal, a little bit transparent, and my prayer
is that it will somehow be a blessing
in your life.
I invite you to come with me tonight
to the book of Hebrews 10.19. Therefore,
brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by
the blood of Jesus.
Would it be okay with you if I
taught blood of Jesus?
And Jesus created the human body for crucifixion.
I imagine the Father at creation saying to
the Son, Son, are you sure you want
to put all the nerve endings in the
feet like that?
That's where they're going to put the nail.
Son, are you sure you want to put
all those nerve endings in the hands like
that?
That's where they're going to put the nails.
And I hear the Son responding, Abba, I
want to feel their sorrows at the very
center of my being.
And beloved, when we come to the cross
of Christ, we're not coming to something that
is a casual, on the side kind of
thing.
We are touching the heart of Abba Father
at the very center of his being.
I believe there is nothing that Abba feels
more passionately about than the cross of his
Son.
When his Son was on that cross for
those hours and Abba was pouring his wrath
out upon his Son, the wrath of God
against sin.
And I imagine almost like this that the
Father's like, how can I do this?
But Hebrews says that Jesus offered himself up
through the eternal Spirit of God.
And it was the Holy Spirit that helped
the Father pour his wrath on the Son.
And it was the Holy Spirit that empowered
Jesus to stay on that cross and drink
the cup to the bottom.
There's a scripture that says, with God a
day is as a thousand years.
And there was a day, beloved, that to
God seemed to last a thousand years.
That day of Calvary, it just never stopped.
It just kept on going and going on
and on.
The same scripture says, with God a thousand
years is as a day.
So, and I bet that in our calendar,
we measure it as 2,000 years ago
in God's calendar.
A couple days ago.
Calvary is as fresh tonight in the heart
of Abba as the moment it happened.
He hasn't forgotten even a fraction of the
horror, the torment, the agony, the passion that
cross stands before him in its darkness, in
its reality, in the power that it speaks.
It speaks before the throne of God tonight
in the fullest, strongest voice.
And that's why the blood of Christ is
so powerful.
Because when you place your faith in the
blood of the cross of Calvary, you are
unlocking the heart of Abba Father.
You are touching an uncreated God at the
place that he feels most passionately about.
And when you simply place your faith in
the cross of Jesus Christ, Abba backs a
Mack truck up to your life, lifts the
back of that thing, and downloads to you
the fullness of his grace, the riches of
his mercy, the abundance of his acceptance.
He just lavishes upon you his forgiveness, his
healing, his goodness.
It's all because you placed your faith in
the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest
by the blood of Jesus.
Come to verse 22.
Let us draw near.
That's the point, the whole point of what
we're looking at tonight.
The purpose of the blood of Christ in
our lives is that we might draw near.
Let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water.
Quiz, what is the basis of the believer's
righteousness?
I don't want you to answer out loud.
This is a silent.
I don't want anybody to be embarrassed.
But if you were filling out, if you
were doing a fill-in-the-blank quiz
right now, and the question is, the basis
of my righteousness before God is, what would
you fill in?
Now, it's very important that you know the
answer, very important answer.
And there's really only one right answer.
There might be a couple of different ways
to say it.
The basis, now see, I'm just, I'm setting
you up, because I want you to remember
this.
The basis of the believer's righteousness, how many
know it's tithing?
How many know it's going to church?
Being a good Christian.
Now, the basis, I'm dragging it out a
little bit, I'm trying to catch, I want
you to remember this.
The basis of the believer's righteousness is faith.
Faith.
When you place your faith in the cross
of Jesus Christ, Abba counts your faith as
righteousness.
I don't know how he does the math.
I can't figure it out, but on the
Divine Calculator, when you put your faith in
the blood of His cross, Abba somehow does
the math and comes up, you are now
righteous.
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to
him.
As righteousness.
Another good verse for this is Philippians 3
verses 8 and 9.
That I may gain Christ and be found
in Him, not having my own righteousness, which
is from the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ.
The righteousness which is from God by faith.
Now, the reason this is so important is
because righteousness is our basis for
drawing near to God.
If you're going to get close to God,
you have to be righteous.
And we're not talking about some slipshod, haphazard
righteousness.
You have to have pristine, blazing, majestic, towering
righteousness.
How does a train wreck like me ever
get the kind of righteousness that can approach
God?
Well, if you think you can attain that
kind of righteousness through your performance, you're
delusional.
There's only one way to get the kind
of righteousness that satisfies the heart of God,
and that is by faith in what Jesus
did on the cross of Calvary.
And when you place your faith in the
blood of His cross, Abba says, accepted, righteous,
as righteous as my son, and now sprinkled
by the blood of Christ, I know I
am absolutely righteous in the sight of God
by faith.
And now I draw near with boldness.
It's me again, issues and all.
See, that's the neat part about the blood
of Christ.
The blood of Christ empowers me to bring
my issues into the throne room.
As if I had to get rid of
my issues before I came in, that's hopeless.
I would never get near to God, but
under the blood of Christ, I come in
with all my stuff, all my issues, and
now I say, Abba, conform me to the
image of Christ.
And in His presence, the veil removed, I
am transformed from glory to glory by the
power of the Spirit of God.
Righteousness, the most valuable thing you can possibly
pursue.
That's why Jesus said, go after this first,
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, because
it's righteousness that qualifies you to draw near
to God with boldness.
Come on over, please, to the book of
Daniel.
Daniel chapter 7, please.
Daniel 7, verse 13.
Daniel is seeing a very powerful vision.
He says, I was watching in the night
visions, and behold, one like the Son of
Man, coming with the clouds of heaven, He
came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought Him near before Him.
So, what Daniel is seeing is the second
person of the Trinity, Christ, riding on the
clouds of heaven and approaching the Ancient of
Days.
It's a very hoity-toity pomp and circumstance.
It's a very glorious, regal procession.
And it says that He has an escort.
The verse says, they brought Him near.
So, my question is, who are they?
Who are these escorts that are bringing Christ
into the presence of the Ancient of Days?
I mean, who qualifies for this job?
Who has a hefty enough resume to qualify
for this kind of a job, to escort
the eternally uncreated second person of the Trinity
as He's riding on the clouds of heaven?
Are they angels?
Are they cherubim?
Are they seraphim?
Who are they?
Well, the Bible doesn't tell us specifically, but
I can assure you of this.
They're heavyweights.
These are glorious creatures.
The scripture gives us a little insight into
how some of these creatures, some of them,
they have eyes on their wings, under their
wings, in front, in back.
They've got wheels with eyes on the wheels.
They've got rims over the wheels with eyes
in the rims.
I wonder if they have eyes on their
eyes.
I'm not sure, but they just have eyes
everywhere.
And they're burning.
With this fire, there's a fire and a
brightness coming out of them.
And when they move, they look like lightning
flashes and coals of fire and lightning coming
out of them.
It's just powerful, massive, radiant, glorious, fascinating
creatures.
So I'm starting to imagine that the glory
of this promenade, this here's Christ coming on
the clouds of heaven, and he's got these
big boys on his right and on his
left, and they're ushering him into the presence
of the Ancient of Days.
And as I'm seeing in my mind's eye,
the fire, the majesty, the power, the strength,
the glory of this processional, I found myself
offering a prayer to the Lord.
Lord, give me an escort like that.
Give me some of those big boys at
my right hand and at my left.
To escort me into the presence of the
Ancient of Days.
And as I'm asking for it, it's like
the Holy Spirit came back and said, I'll
do that and one better.
Ephesians 2.13 But now in Christ Jesus,
you who once were far off, have been
brought near by the blood of Christ.
Beloved, you have a more glorious escort than
angels.
You have a more dignified escort than cherubim.
Since you come into the presence of God,
escorted not by seraphim, escorted by none other
than the precious blood of Jesus Christ that
was shed upon that cross a couple days
ago.
And I take Hebrews 10.19 at face
value.
When it says that we enter the holiest
by the blood of Jesus, I just take
that right at face value.
Because when it talks about holiness, see, there
are degrees of holiness.
There's holy, there's holier, and there's holiest.
And it all has to do with proximity.
The closer you get, the holier it gets.
And when the blood is your escort, the
blood brings you to where the holy angels
are that stand around the throne of God.
And the blood says, excuse me, this one's
drawing near.
You move past the angels.
The blood escorts you to where the cherubim
are.
Now the cherubim, they have four wings.
When they move, they sound like multiple jet
engines because they're not just moving themselves.
They're actually moving the entire firmament of the
heavens.
And when they go, it says that they're
like flashes of lightning, and there's a whirlwind,
and there's thunder and light.
And the blood brings you to where the
cherubim are, and says, make way.
This one's drawing nearer still.
When the blood is your escort, the blood
brings you to where the seraphim are.
Now these ones have six wings, and they
never cease to cry out, holy, holy, holy.
They live right inside the throne itself.
And when the blood is your escort, you
come to where the seraphim are, and the
blood says, excuse me, this one's drawing nearer
still.
When the blood is your escort, you don't
stop drawing near until you come into the
holiest, the very bosom of Abba Father.
There is no holier place in the universe
than where you live right now.
You can't get holier than where you are.
You're in the immediate holiness of an altogether
holy God.
Now, here's the neat part about holiness.
Holiness is a derived quality.
It's not something inherent to you.
It's something inherent to God.
And when you get near Him, He makes
you holy, not because of who you are,
but because of where you are.
Because holiness is a place.
It's the bosom of Abba Father.
And when you simply place your faith in
the blood of His cross and get sprinkled
by the blood of Christ, Hebrews 10, 22,
Jesus sprinkled me now with your blood.
You are righteous in the sight of God,
and you come in with boldness.
It's me again.
I'm back.
And now I step into the very holiest
place in the universe, all because of the
sprinkled blood of Christ upon my life.
Jesus died to get you into the Father's
embrace.
God forbid, should look at the thing for
which He died and lightly esteem it, neglect
it, forget about it.
No, this took Him to His death.
Abba, I want to honor this sacrifice.
I want to honor the blood of the
Lamb.
So I'm gonna get sprinkled with blood by
faith, step into the throne room with boldness,
and live in the embrace of my God.
So one day, here's kind of how it
happened for me, Marvin.
I was in this passage one day.
I was just meditating in it in my
daily time in the Word.
And I just said to myself, I'm gonna
try this.
I'm just gonna do it.
So I prayed a prayer.
I said, Jesus, sprinkle me now by your
blood.
And I saw myself under the blood of
Christ by faith, righteous in the sight of
God.
And I barged in with boldness, right into
the bosom of Abba, right into the throne
room.
I mean, there was no 15-minute calisthenics.
If you have patience for 15 minutes of
calisthenics, you're a better man than me.
Maybe I'm too ADD.
I don't know.
But I need to have instant intimacy.
And I found it.
I just get sprinkled by the blood of
Christ, righteous before God.
And I come in with boldness.
It's me again.
And I step it.
And I found, here I was, in the
embrace of Abba.
The intimacy was so rich and sweet.
I said to myself, I have got to
remember to do this again sometime.
And I did.
I remembered.
It happened another day.
I was like, I'm gonna do that Hebrews
10, 22 thing again.
Yeah, yeah, let's do it again.
Jesus, sprinkle me now by your blood.
And I saw myself under the blood of
Christ, righteous by faith.
And I came in with boldness.
And it was so sweet and so immediate
and easy and delightful.
And I said to myself, I have got
to do this more often.
And so I started doing it more often.
And I got myself to the place where
I've been doing it every day.
Every day getting sprinkled with blood by faith
and coming into the throne room.
So, let me talk about it.
Okay, Psalms.
Come with me to Psalms.
I want to just talk about how this
actually works for me.
Psalm 109.
Now, as I share about this, if what
I share is a total disconnect for you,
don't sweat it.
God will give you your own way.
This is just my way.
And if something works for you, steal it.
Psalm 109, the very last verse.
Psalm 109, last verse.
For he shall stand at the right hand
of the poor to save him from those
who condemn him.
Psalm 109, last verse, has Jesus at my
right hand.
Now, come to the next verse in your
Bible.
The Lord said to my Lord, sit at
my right hand till I make your enemies
your footstool.
So, Psalm 110 has Jesus at the Father's
right hand.
Let me say it again.
Psalm 109, last verse.
Jesus is at my right hand.
Psalm 10, first verse.
Jesus is at the Father's right hand.
And since the two verses are back to
back in the Bible, it caught my attention.
And I'm like, how does this look?
I'm trying to figure out the geography.
Okay, Psalm 109.
Jesus is at my right hand.
Okay, got it.
Here's me.
Here's Jesus.
Psalm 109.
I can see it.
Now, Psalm 110.
Jesus is at the Father's right hand.
That must put the Father on my left
hand.
Let me see if this works.
If the Father's on my left hand, Psalm
110, Jesus is on his right hand.
Well, that still works.
Psalm 109, Jesus is on my right hand.
Yep, that's still working.
So, that's how I put the verses together.
That's how I do the geography.
Here's the Father.
Here's Jesus.
And in the middle is...
So, here's how I visualize it when I
come into the throne room.
I get sprinkled with the blood of Christ.
I step into the throne room.
And when I come into the throne room,
I see Abba on the throne.
Jesus seated at his right hand.
I just make my way between
them.
Make way, here I come.
To the center of their embrace, until I'm
right in the middle of that thing.
Then I turn around, sit down with Christ
in heavenly places.
Now, Abba on my left, Jesus on my
right, me in the middle.
And that's where I like to spend my
day.
When I was a kid, around, I'm going
to guess now around 10 or 11.
Anybody here 10 or 11?
Okay, okay, I'm taught.
What's your name?
Brianna.
Love that name.
Brianna.
Every once in a while, my parents in
the kitchen, my dad would wrap his big...
My dad's like this tall.
And I'm the runt in our family.
And he would wrap his long arms around
my mom, bring her into a body embrace.
Whenever I saw that action happening, I was
on that.
I'd be like, okay, I'd be like, here
I come.
And Brianna, it wasn't always easy to get
in there.
But I was gonna, okay, so I'd push
and I'd shove.
And I'd get myself right between mom and
dad.
And then once I was in the middle
of their embrace, I'd be like, let's do
this thing.
Because I figure if we're gonna have a
public display of affection, sign me up.
The only problem was, I kept growing.
Eventually, my dad takes me aside.
He says, Bobby.
He said, there are times that I would
like to show your mother a little affection.
And I don't always want you in the
middle.
Well, I'm 53 now.
And now I get it.
Oh, okay, dad.
I'm tracking with you now.
I understand.
Okay, 110 wiggling pounds jammed between you and
your wife.
Okay, now, dad, I get you.
But back then, talk to the hand.
I'm not sure what you're talking about right
now, dad.
I'm not sure I'm connecting with you.
All I know is if you and mom
are gonna do that lovey-dovey, coochie-cooey,
huggy-huggy kind of stuff.
If it's gonna be a public display of
affection, I am going to be part of
that action.
Well, I'm 53 now, and nothing's changed.
I get sprinkled with the blood of Christ,
step into the throne room.
And when I come into the throne room,
the first thing I see, I see affection.
Affection.
The love of the Father for his Son.
The affection in the Son for his Father.
It is such a fiery, fierce, all-consuming
flame.
Beloved, the inferno that burns in the Godhead
is so fiery.
The affection is so hot that the scripture
says three are one.
They are joined together in a loyal embrace
of everlasting fire.
And when I see that kind of affection,
sign me up.
I am definitely gonna get in on this
action.
So I get sprinkled with the blood of
Christ, come into the throne room with boldness.
It's me again, and I step right into
the embrace of the Godhead.
Make my way between the Father and the
Son until I'm right in the center of
their embrace.
Then I turn around, sit down with Christ
in heavenly places.
Abba now to my left, and I am
in the bosom of Abba Father, just like
Jesus.
Jesus to my right, I am leaning on
the breast of Christ, just like John did.
And I figure it like this.
If Abba wants to say something to Jesus,
he's gonna have to go through me.
Jakey, I figure it like this.
If Jesus has anything he wants to say
to the Father, he's gonna have to go
through me.
And I'm in the center to lap up
all the affection.
And the very affections that Abba Father has
for his Son are now striking me in
my spirit.
And I find that I am receiving the
very same affections that he's receiving.
And beloved, this is Bible, John 17.
Jesus said, the Father loves you with the
very same love with which he loves me.
Now, Laurie, my imagination goes on me, okay?
So what I'm about to share is just
my sanctified imagination, all right?
I imagine the Father speaking to the Son,
and me in the middle getting hit with
the message.
The Father to the Son, Son, you laid
your life down for me unto death.
And as that word penetrates my spirit, something
inside me says, Abba, I lay my life
down for you unto death.
Abba to the Son, Son, you laid your
life down for me unto death.
The Son back to the Father through my
spirit, Abba, of course I did.
You asked me to.
Abba to the Son through my spirit, but
Son, I gave you such a bitter cup,
and you drank it to the bottom.
The Son back to the Father, Abba, if
you give me another cup, I'll drink it
as well.
Anything from your hand, I say yes to
it, because you are the best Father in
the universe, and I give you my heart.
I am yours forever.
Abba back to the Son, Son, you move
me at the depths of my being.
Son, when I offered a bitter cup to
Lucifer, he turned on me.
He called it tyrannical leadership.
He called it cosmic child abuse.
He turned a third of heaven's angels against
me.
But Son, when I offered you a bitter
cup, you didn't partner with Lucifer's accusations, but
you just stood on that nail, spread your
arms, and loved me while I was pouring
out my wrath against sin on you.
You just stood on the nail, lifted your
eyes to me, and loved me.
And Son, I am yours forever.
Abba, when I was in my lowest place,
when I was in the pit of hell,
when the sorrows of Sheol were wrapped around
my brain like seaweed, Abba, you reached down
into the lowest hill, and you lifted me
out of my pit.
And when that word goes through my spirit,
something inside me goes, Abba, you're gonna lift
me out of my pit too.
The Son to the Father, Abba, you lifted
me out of my pit.
You set me again at your right hand.
And Abba, I am yours forever.
The Father back to the Son.
Son, if you think I have finished with
your exaltation, think again.
Right now, around the world, they blaspheme your
name.
They profane your name.
They call you boring, irrelevant.
But Son, just sit at my right hand,
and I'm gonna finish what I have started
with your life.
All you have to do, Son, is sit
there, and I'm gonna finish.
And by the time I have finished the
story, Son, every knee shall bow of those
in heaven, and those on earth, and those
under the earth, and every tongue will confess
that you are Lord to the glory of
God.
Beloved, if you have unfulfilled promises in your
life that God has not yet answered, you're
not the only one here tonight in that
category.
Jesus Christ himself carries unfulfilled promises.
That the Father has spoken over his life,
and that we sing about tonight, but that
have yet to be fulfilled.
But I assure you that every promise the
Father has given to his Son shall be
fulfilled.
And I assure you, every good word that
God has spoken over your life shall be
fulfilled.
Why?
Because he loves you with the same love
with which he loves his only begotten Son.
And now Abba, Father, is as loyal to
your destiny as he is to Jesus' destiny.
And he will finish what he has started
in your life because he loves you with
a passionate, undying love.
And when you place your faith in the
blood of the cross, you are now the
recipient of the everlasting affection of an uncreated
God who loves you the same way he
loves his only begotten Son.
And now, I'm in the middle of this
love embrace, the Son and the Father exchanging
their infinite passions, and I'm caught up in
the center of the thing.
And I have been invited into the love
triangle of the Trinity.
A fiery furnace that for eternity passed.
Only three were ever allowed into this fire.
Only three could ever sustain this kind of
a fire.
But now there's the form of a fourth
in the fire, and the angels looking into
this inferno are saying, we thought there were
only three in that furnace of fire.
We are now seeing the form of a
fourth.
Beloved, you and I, buckle up, you and
I are headed for a fiery inferno of
affection that not even the cherubim and the
seraphim are able to sustain.
We are being prepared.
I don't even know what I'm saying right
now.
I don't know what I'm talking about.
We are being prepared, because I've never experienced
it, the glory of it.
We have been prepared, created, designed by God,
called to a heavenly calling to burn with
the holy flame in the very bosom of
Abba Father.
I mean, could it get any better than
this?
In the bosom of the Father, leaning on
the breast of Christ, sharing in the affections
of the Godhead, could it get any better?
Yes, it does.
Because as I'm here in the bosom of
the Father, leaning on the breast of Christ,
I look ahead, and there's a lot to
see.
There's a rainbow.
There's elders.
There's cherubim.
There's seraphim.
There's angels.
But the thing that grips me most, the
first thing I see, Revelation 4, 5, seven
flames of fire that burn before the throne
of God, which are the seven spirits of
God.
And now, here's what I like to do.
I like to reach into those seven fires
and pull the living coals of the Holy
Spirit's fire into my bosom.
And now I say, Holy Spirit, come into
me now.
Burn inside of me with all seven of
your fires.
I don't want two.
I don't want five.
I don't want six.
I want seven fires to come into my
bosom and burn inside of me now.
And I take the Holy Spirit into my
spirit until I am joined to him, 1
Corinthians 6, until I am one spirit with
him.
And now I say, Holy Spirit, burn inside
of me with everything that burns inside of
you.
I'm asking you to get rid of every
wet thing inside of me.
That wants to extinguish the flame of your
love and cause me to burn with a
bright flame and the presence of your embrace.
And so, in the bosom of the Father,
leaning on the breast of Christ, I now
pull into my spirit, Holy Spirit, come into
me.
Spirit of counsel, spirit of wisdom, spirit of
revelation, I'm asking you to give me the
spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge
of Christ that Christ might dwell inside of
me by faith that I might be filled,
that I might know the height, the length,
the breadth, the depth of this love, that
I might be filled with all the fullness
of God.
And that's my message.
That's how I like to start my day.
I'm not talking to you tonight about some,
you know, deep or high or lofty.
This is Christianity 101.
This is just how you start your day,
sprinkled by the blood of Christ, living in
the bosom of Abba Father, burning with God's
fire and passions.
And now that I have that kind of
fire in my bosom, now I open the
word.
Now, I start to worship and give him
my love.
Well, I'm finished.
Before we go home, though, would you be
interested in going there?
Okay, I just needed one person to nod.
That's all I need, one.
So here's what we're going to do.
I'm fixing to go there.
And you're invited.
So if you want to come with me,
I want you to do whatever will help
you in terms of a bodily posture.
So if staying in your chair works for
you, stay in your chair.
If you want to prostrate yourself on the
floor, you can do that.
If you're a sit-down-on-the-floor
person, if you're a stand-up, if you're
a go-to-the-back corner, whatever kind
of person you are, I'm going to give
you about 15 seconds to find your place.
So you can just zone in.
Go to your knees if you want.
Just find a physical posture that will help
you go to the throne room right now.
So what I want you to do is
block out the room.
Just block out every other person.
Do your best to block me out.
And we're going to go into the throne
room together.
I'm just going to go through the simple
steps that I have come to enjoy.
And as I do, you're welcome to join
me.
For me, it's become a very simple prayer.
Jesus, sprinkle me now with your blood.
Ah, that precious blood.
I see myself now, Abba, under the blood
of Christ, righteous in the sight of God.
And I'm coming in with boldness, right into
the throne room.
And as I come into the throne room
now, I see Abba on the throne.
Jesus at his right hand.
Now for me, Psalm 109, Psalm 110, I
just like to make my way between them.
I'm coming right into your bosom, Abba.
And I don't stop till I'm in the
center of their embrace.
Now I turn around, sit down with Christ
in heavenly places.
Abba's now on my left.
Jesus now on my right.
And now that I'm here, Abba, I just
want to talk to you for a minute.
You are the best father.
Holy father.
Good father.
You found a way for me to live
right here in your bosom.
I'm still pinching myself.
How did I even get here?
Abba, it was you, you came up with
a way, you devised a plan, you gave
your best.
Abba, the most precious thing to your heart,
and you gave it away for me.
And now, my heart
is yours forever.
And then I'll turn a little bit sometimes,
I'll turn a little bit to my right,
or maybe lean a little bit to my
right, because by faith I see Jesus here
on my right.
Jesus, I've just got a couple things to
say.
Son of God, Son of David, Lamb of
God, with scars in your hands, in your
feet, in your side, in your back, in
your brow, so that I might be joined
to you in everlasting affection.
Jesus, what a name, Savior, Redeemer,
Healer, Deliverer, Strong Towerer, Mighty God, Desirer
of the nations, and I've got you, my
altogether lovely one, Fairest of ten thousand.
Jesus, you have captured my heart, my King,
my God, my High Priest, my Judge, my
Bridegroom.
And I've espoused my heart to you, Lord
Jesus.
You won my heart with the wounds in
your hands, and I am yours forever, forever.
Now, as I look ahead, seven flames of
fire that burn before the throne of God.
Holy Spirit, come into me now, all seven
of your flames.
Enter me now, I pray, as I pull
you now into my bosom, Spirit of love,
Spirit of joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control, Spirit that gives words of
knowledge, words of wisdom, gift of faith, gifts
of healings, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of
spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
Holy Spirit, come into me now.
Come into me with all your fire, with
all your power.
Come into me with your wind, with your
water, with your wine.
Holy Spirit, Jesus said you were given to
me to help me, and I'm calling on
that card now.
Help me, Holy Spirit.
I'm asking you to come into me and
help me.
Help me to be a loyal son to
Abba, Father.
Help me to be a chaste virgin for
Jesus Christ.
Help me to walk worthy of the Lord.
Help me to walk in holiness, in righteousness,
in truth.
Holy Spirit, I'm asking now for the power
of God to enter my bosom and fill
me with power in my inner man that
Christ might dwell inside of me now by
faith.
Spirit of counsel, Spirit of might, Spirit of
the fear of the Lord, come into me
now.
Help me.
Help me to love Jesus the way He
deserves.
Make me an inferno of affection.
Just talk to Him.
Just stay where you are.
Just stay in that place with the Lord.
As I share one more verse, 1 Corinthians
6, 17.
But he who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit.
It's no longer his spirit and my spirit
kissing, if you will, or touching.
It's actually my spirit and his spirit joined
together into one.
I've thought of it in this way.
When you put a cup of water, you
don't say to yourself, the ocean is a
little bit diluted now.
You say, that cup of water is totally
lost in the ocean.
I'm joined to Christ.
I am totally lost in the identity of
the Spirit of God.
It's no longer I who lives, but Christ
who lives in me.
I've now lost myself in the glory of
the ocean of His love.
And it's now Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.