Looks like we have a good group tonight

Since it is summer holidays in the States a lot of folks are busy or on vacation

I will be stopping out Saturday chats just for students for now, but we will continue with this Monday fellowship chat

Who is feeling blessed today?

Who would like to feel more blessed? 😀

Most of the things we concentrate on in life are the things that bring us joy and good feelings

But there are different ways folks go about getting these

Perhaps to feel good you like to go shopping 😀

Or maybe going out for a meal

Or enjoying your marriage partner

yes I know you singles are losing out

But there are many ways of experiencing good things

However, most of the ways we use do not include the Lord

Some get their joy out of a bottle

But that never lasts or fully satisfies

I do not condemn folks we need to do this

I hear folks say, “My husband has a drinking problem”

This is not true at all

He has another kind of problem but it is not the drink

The drink is the way he solves the problem

All of the ways of this world to have fun and get joy are temporary

And often very costly

But as believers we have something better

The Psalmist David knew the best place to go

and he told us in one of his Psalms

Before we get to that let me just ask a simple question

Have you ever been to a church where they are experiencing revival

One the biggest in recent times was Toronto and then Brownesville

People came in from all around the world to these places

Recently a revival seemed to break out in a university

and suddenly people came from everywhere

The place was tiny and could not house them all

Now what is it that attracts the crowds to revival?

yes but what makes people want to go there?

Actually it is not the signs and wonders

I watched a guy once who really moved in powerful healings and he was one of the first that had a manifestation of gold in his meetings

One meeting he took with him a guy who was a bit prophetic

and he asked the people which they would prefer - some more signs and wonders or some prophetic ministry

And without exception everyone said “Prophetic ministry”

Lila yes it is the excitement

and the feelings that go with it

I knew Rodney Howard Browne before he became famous - used to work for his brother Gilroy

And when people started falling and laughing it drew the crowds

I was told that folks would line up to be prayed for and fall

then they would get up and go back into the line again for some more

They all got drunk in the Spirit and loved it

Life is full of stress and sadness

We can all use a bit of joy and excitement

and some good feelings

Some have made serving the Lord a chore that costs us

They go to the world for the fun stuff

or they deny. themselves any fun because it is not spiritual

Well it seems David knew how to get all of this in the presence of the Lord

He found his own way to revival

Here is what he said

Psalms 16:11 You will make known to me the way to revival: in your presence, there is a joy that fully satisfies; at your right hand there are pleasures that last forever. [GBMV]

There is an easier way to revival that catching a flight to Toronto or some other place

It can be found in His presence

Just feeling His presence is the most wonderful feeling in the world

In fact, when you stop feeling his presence your spiritual life become tough

And you wonder where he went, and why He is not there any more

But in his presence is true revival

Not like the revivals of the past which all ran for a while and died down

David says there is a way, a road that leads to revival

and the destination is the presence of the Lord

So how do we find that road?

In other words, how do we practice the presence of the Lord?

We know that He is always present

He promised He would never leave us or forsake us

But most of the time we cannot feel His presenc

So we go looking for it

Jesus is always present

When the disciples were struggling with the storm in the boat, Jesus was there

He was lying asleep in the boat

Yet they cried out in fear

That boat could never sink with Jesus in it

But they did not make use of His presence until they became desperate

Then they cried out to Him

and with a couple of words He calmed the storm

Is this not they way we all are?

When things are gping great we forget that He is there

But then when things go wrong we cry out to Him - Lord where are you?

Lord, did you forget about me?

Now suddenly we want to rush into His presence

David was known as a man after God’s heart

and he said he had found the way to revival

So perhaps we could learn something from him

And he did not even have what we have in Christ

Yes Lila, YAES

The Scriptures says He dwells in the praises of His people

So if you want to find the way to revival or the first key to experiencing His presence there it is

What happens when you spend time in His presence?

What happened to Moses when he spent time in the presence of the Lord?

What happened to Jesus when he spent time in the presence of the Father?

They both began to glow

yes exacly

You know you get those glow in the dark toys

If you leave them lying in bright light for a while they pick up the power of the light\\

Then when you switch off the light they glow

What is it that touches us and makes us experience these things in the Lord?

It is the power of His presence

But where is His presence?

Moses climbed the mountain to experience it

yes it is His spirit

where is the Lord right now?

Our Father, who is in heaven….

Jesus is right there are the right hand

But we live in an earthly realm

Yes he is in me and all around me

just like electricity

but the power has to be connected first

Ephesians 2:6 And has raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: [GBMV]

In days gone by if you wanted to talk with the King you had to. visit His throne room

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high

So how do we get up there to come into His presence?

He sent someone to take His place and to bring His presence to us

Jesus said this to His disciples

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. [GBMV]

He promised the Comforter

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter [like Me], so that he may continue to be with you forever;

So the comforter, the Holy Spirit brings the presence of Jesus and the Father also

Now if I could just find out where Jesus’ throne room is…

I could visit Him there any time

In fact we are told we can come boldly any time

Hebrews 4:16 Let us, therefore, approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we can take hold of mercy and discover favor to help us when we need it. [GBMV]

The throne of Jesus is inside of you

and you can access it through the Holy Spirit who lives in you

But how can you do this unless you are able to see Jesus

I come into His throne room each time I need to minister

and I ask Him to activate the mantles He has given me

But this was not something I knew from the beginning

It was only after I had come to know Jesus intimately in the spirit that I could see Him in the spirit

I had to develop a friendship with Him in the spirit

to where He became as real to me as any other person

Now when I talk with Him, I do not aim my prayers up into the sky in hope

I see Him sitting right there next to me

and we hold a. conversation

This is what prayer should be

But until I saw Him for the first time this was only in my imagination

you see the Comforter was given to be a Jesus replacement

Just as Jesus was with His disciples helping them all the time

So the comforter now has come to carry out that role

When you are feeling down and need a word of encouragemewnt, where do you get it?

Do you need someone who is in touch with Him to give you a word from Him?

How can you come to a place where He speaks directly to you?

We must come to a place of spiritual maturity

And the sign of this is when you are walking in agape love

Here is what Paul said in the love chapter

1 Corinthians 13:8 [Agape] love never loses its efficiency: but if [there are] prophecies, they will come to an end; if [there are] tongues, they will cease; if [there is] knowledge, it will vanish away.

This means that when you are perfected in love, you can now hear from Him directly

So when I have a need I go and. talk with him

When I need to minister I talk with Him

A

I ask Him, Lord what do you want to do with this person?

Lord tell me about them

And He tells me directly

correct

Well how do we develop that relationship?

How do we come to a place where you can see Him in the spirit and talk with Him?

I have shared before how it happened for me, but for those who have not heard it I will repeat it

I came to the Lord one day in desperation and cried out to Him for my needs

Because I was desperate I pushed on through

I spoke in tongues for a while and kept praying

Then suddenly, for the first time I say a vision of Him in my mind

Now before this happened I only heard his voice speaking to me

and He told me that I still had bitterness in my heart towards folks that had hurt me along the way

He. told me to go make that right first

And after I bared my heart and cried out in repentance something happened

Suddenly He stood there in front of me

He did not say anything but just looked at me

and it felt like His eyes were going right through me

I did not know what to say, so I said, “Lord I am concerned about those people who once served you and now turned their back on you

And then He spoke very clearly.

He asked me, “What makes you think that I love them less than I love you?\"

I felt shattered - His love was unconditional

I learned that day that there is nothing you can do to change His love for you

And with a fresh knowledge of that love, I sought to know Him better

and I spent time praying every day

And each time he came again to talk with me

I fell more deeply in love with Jesus than I had ever been in love with a woman

I got butterflies in my stomach just thinking about Him

I wanted to spend more time with Him

and when He was there, I did not have a care in the world

I remember during one of those times of intimacy in His presence He spoke to me

and He told me that He wanted me to go out There to take His presence

I looked and saw darkness and evil out there

and I wanted to stay in the safe place of His presence

But He promised I would not need to go alone

He would always be with me

In time as my ministry grew I learned that we all have bad experiences in life that leave scars

He showed me that I could go back to those bad memories and take Him with me

So that they were no longer so fearful and painful

I found that when I revisited a bad memory with Jesus there is somehow changed the memory

I was no longer alone in that memory

and the sting of the memory vanished

the scar was. removed

I learned that I could do this with people who were still suffering from past hurts and bad experiences

I would walk them back through those memories with Jesus in it

and I would ask them to see Jesus there

When you father was being nasty to you and you felt all alone and rejected

You could turn to Jesus, who would put His arms around you

and you would no longer feel rejected and alone

I learned that we can be transformed by His presence

and began to teach on this

Sometimes the memory is so painful that a person does not want to go back there

They have shut off a while part of their life in their memory

Then He would show me the stage of their life and I would just ask Him to shine His light in the darkness

Later He gave me a specific gift of inner healing where I could set people free without going back

There are so many benefits to being in His presence

And if you want to experience the greatest benefits you must take time to get to know Him in the Spirit

For me it began by praying in tongues for long periods of time each day

Until one day I experienced a kind of breakthrough

We discovered way of speeding this up, and Daphne did a teaching called Bulldozing Through Spiritual Problems

To do this you take a Scripture promise and speak it over and over again

Then you pray a bit in tongues

then find another Scripture and repeat

you can also praise and sing in the spirit

All of these things bring a greater sense of His presence

Until you feel charged up

But the starring point should always be getting to know Him in the Spirit

Ask Him to reveal Himself to you

Pray in the spirit and spend time praising him

until He manifests Himself to you

Then develop that relationship on an ongoing basis

This is only the first stage of experiencing the fullness of God

you have only come to know the Comforter

Now you move higher to develop a relationship with the Risen Jesus and then the Father

Jesus as the comforter is uncondemning and tender

But when you encounter Him as the Risen Ascended Christ you come into the presence of His power

and this can feel quite scary at first

When John the apostle first experienced this he fell at His feet as dead

Saul of Tarsus fell to the groun

This is now a different kind of presence

This is some of what you experience when you cannot stand before the power

Now you can develop this personally alone with Him

Or you could start by finding someone who already has this relatoinshiop

and they are able to communicate that power to you

Ths is what happens in revival churches and men and women of God who are anointed

The presence of the Father is something that is not avaialble to everyeone

It is usually reserved for those called to the higher Apostolic Offices

You can sense His presence because it feels different

It comes with a deep awe and reverential fear

yet these are all his presence

The presence of the Comforter brings a manifestation of love

The presence of the Risen Christ bring a manifestation of power and joy

the presence of the Father brings a sense of awe and everything gets very quiet

I explain my own experiences with all of these in my book The Essential Mantles

So if you desire to experience more of God and be used by Him I recommend you get that book

For now, getting to know Him as the Comforter should be your first priority

If you have a prophetic orientation or desire to flow in prophetic ministry, then developing a relationship with the Comforter is essential

We include it as part of our training

But you can start moving there by making the effort to pray in tongues often and for long periods of time

Add music and include praise and worship and this greatly enhances it

And then there are stages you move through to experience a greater level of His glory

Where you move from praise to worship to. glory

I actually preached a message on this some time back entitled From Praise to Glory

I found tons of messages I preached on YouTube that were never published in books and have been downloading them and transcribing them

And I am putting them into a new book in GBM Books

you can go watch this one and read the unedited transcsript here

https://gbmbooks.gbmi.co.za/read-chapters/?Title=YouTube%20Videos&Chapter=20

The final conclusion of what I have been trying to tell you tonight

Is that you can practice His presence and experience the joy and pleasures that He offers

And you can come to the place where you hear Him speaking to you whenever you need Him

But it will not fall on you one day when He decides to do it

The choice lies in your hands

and there is an effort required and a price to pay

But the final result is well worth all the time and effort

I would trade for this world what He has given me and continues to give me through His presence

I hope you enjoyed the study tonight and are motivated to get moving into His presence

If you need extra help, I have given lots of teaching and can point you to move materials

I trust you will have a wonderful week and experience some of His presence this week

See you all again next monday

Last night we looked at Practicing His Presence and I mentioned that I had preached a message a while back entitled from Praise to Glory which shows how to move into a greater experience of God’s presence

I have now fully edited this message and put it up in a new section in GBM Books containing many past teachings that were never published officially. They are all under a book called YouTube Videos and I will be publishing them in a similar way to my regular blogs - i.e. with video, audio and transcripts.

These are all full teachings and not short publication like my blogs, but they will be up permanently on Gbm Books under Free Books so that anyone can benefit from them.

There are 36 messages up so far, but not all the transcripts have been edited yet - they were just made using a transcript program and are readable but not perfect

But you can now watch, listen to and read the teaching From Praise to Glory here: https://gbmbooks.gbmi.co.za/read-chapters/?Title=YouTube%20Videos&Chapter=20

Remember our chat tonight at 7pm Our time. Tomight I want to look at moving into the power of God

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