Journey to see God: a self-test to check on your God-reality

The watchman discovered that, the first pertinent question a believer in God must ask is, "Is my God real?"
If you cannot get pass this question with a straight unhesitating affirmative answer without any qualification, there is no need for you to go further on this journey to see God.
God is God. He is not just anyone we can simply treat according to our mood or feeling or thought.
When you believe your God is real, you will need to ask the next question:
"How am I treating Him and His word?"
If your attitude is sometimes you believe He exists, but sometimes you do not, some words you believe as truth, while others you do not believe as truth, then your God is still not real to you.

Take one minute or five minutes (for those who cannot stop describing God) and do this test yourself: 

The rules: without repetition or hesitation.  
The act: describe Who God is to you.
First review: check the quantity (how much or how little) you have written down or spoken about the God you know.
Second review: see the description's quality. Are you describing a lot of self-centered stuff or are you describing God-centered qualities?

After you have discovered how little and how poorly your God is to you, the next step: confess and repent and take actions to set aside more time to know God, through coming into His presence daily, reading His word, praying and talking to Him, listening to Him talking to you.

Learn from KING DAVID, A MAN AFTER GOD'S HEART

Psalm 42:2 (NKJV)

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

 Psalm 63:1 (NKJV) Joy in the Fellowship of God 

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

 Psalm 143:6 (NKJV)

⁶ I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah

For those who have not run out words (in quantity and quality) to describe God, you would want to take a further step of faith, climbing up further on your God's mountain. Moses was asked to climb higher and higher to meet with God Who was ready to reveal to him more and more of Himself!

THE LORD ACTUALLY ASKS FOR MORE!

Song of Solomon 4:8 (NKJV)

⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse,
With me from Lebanon.
Look from the top of Amana,
From the top of Senir and Hermon,
From the lions’ dens,
From the mountains of the leopards. 

God Himself can teach us how to drink from Him, how to pray and how to commune with Him. Jesus has also affirmed this truth!

 Isaiah 55:1 (NKJV) An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.

  

John 7:37-38 (NKJV) The Promise of the Holy Spirit

³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

God wants us be real with His reality in our lives. There is no option. 
A word of warning from Jesus to the worldly non-committed church:

Revelation 3:15-16 (NKJV)

¹⁵ “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,^[a] I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Footnotes:

1. Revelation 3:16 NU-Text and M-Text read hot nor cold.

How to see God's power and glory?

the cross life

Psalm 63:1-5

New King James Version (NKJV)

Joy in the Fellowship of God

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

63 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

End Times Witnessing: O the Blood of Jesus!

MIDI music file at http://patriot.net/users/bmcgin/blood10.mid

O, THE BLOOD OF JESUS

O, the blood of Jesus; O, the blood of Jesus;
O, the blood of Jesus; It washes white as snow!

” . . . and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7b KJV) ” . . . though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18b KJV)

Colossians 1:13-15 (NKJV)
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

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"NOTE: This is a very special and very powerful hymn. Demons hate to hear it, and they flee when it is played or sung. If you play or sing this hymn repeatedly, it seems to open up a direct channel to the Holy Spirit. You will know what I mean when this happens to you. I believe that this is perhaps the Lord’s very favorite hymn." (quoted)

"Satan frequently tries to discourage us and make us feel unworthy, by correctly accusing us of our many sins. This is what he did during an encounter with martin Luther, when Luther was trying the reform the church. But Luther quoted scripture to Satan, from 1 John 1:7 — “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.” — and Satan fled from him. This fact means that even if we are guilty of sin, our guilt is removed, through no effort of our own — just by faith in Jesus Christ. This is the reason why Satan and his demons hate the song “O The Blood of Jesus”, and want to run away whenever they hear it." (quoted)
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See the watchman’s blog on

END TIMES WITNESSING: TESTIMONY OF THE BLOOD of JESUS

http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/end-times-witnessing-testimony-of-the-blood/

End Times Witnessing: the faith that raises the dead

The watchman has been quiet for sometime. The July month events had been like a mighty torrent that swept through the spiritual realm and he was overwhelmed. Indeed, he went through the season swimming in the tides of the Spirit and has been led to enter another level of spiritual realm. The evangelical and healing rally has brought him to deeper waters. The message of the book that he was asked to assist editing brought the reality of spiritual warfare to him. The reality became real in his daily living and he is now confronted with the moment of truth.

The big question is: is he going to trust God 100%?

If his answer is affirmative, he has to let go of all medicine. He now begins to understand how others must have felt when they came for divine healing. How to have faith if they perceive physical symptoms being different from those of a healed person? On the other hand, faith means just believe what the words of God say (including the reality of spiritual realm).


He was led to read Romans this morning. He sat at the attic window, facing the line of beautiful trees basked in golden sunshine outside, used a mike and amplifier with speakers and read God’s words treating them as medicine. Indeed, as he persisted, the symptoms on his body became more and more bearable! Before he realised it, he read through nearly all of Romans.

After that he went downstairs and ate a hearty sandwich with mozzarella cheese! In his New Living Translation Bible the following passage has brightened his day:

Romans 14:6-9 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

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The following speaks to the watchman about what true faith is. The faith that is required is a faith that persists against all odds in the physical realm. What can a 100 year old man do? Yet Abraham persists in believing God and His words. Abraham has seen into the spiritual realm, the unseen reality that many other men have overlooked. He believed in the Creator. He did not limit his sight to the fallen creatures (including human beings).

This is the first of the watchman’s role models. Abraham, the father of the people of faith. Read this chapter. Proclaim it loud. speak into the spiritual realm. Let your faith rise too.
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Romans 4 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Faith of Abraham

Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. 6David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

7 “Oh, what joy for those

whose disobedience is forgiven,

whose sins are put out of sight.

8 Yes, what joy for those

whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

9 Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. 10But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!

11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. 14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 15For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.”This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” 19And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

Footnotes:

1.Romans 4:3 Gen 15:6.

2.Romans 4:8 Ps 32:1-2 (Greek version).

3.Romans 4:9 Greek is this blessing only for the circumcised, or is it also for the uncircumcised?

4.Romans 4:17 Gen 17:5.

5.Romans 4:18 Gen 15:5.

End Times Witnessing: What is Righteousness? (a young ruler missed heaven too)

When a rich young ruler (almost perfect in man’s righteousness) came to Jesus he knew he still missed out something and he wanted to know what that missing act was, so he could make it up and enter heaven. But when Jesus talked to him he still missed seeing the truth, that is, no man has the physical ability to attain God’s righteousness. So he went away sadly because he was still thinking in the physical and mental perfection realm. He could not meet the righteous plumbline of God.

But Jesus assured His disciples, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God”!

How sad it was that the rich young ruler did not see God (Jesus), who was right in front of him, talking to him so patiently, full of grace (undeserved favor for the young ruler) and mercy. If only he had lingered on and not in a hurry to go away…Alas, God had time for him but he had no time for God!

Luke 18:18-30

18 Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”[a]

21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

With God All Things Are Possible

24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”

27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

28 Then Peter said, “See, we have left all[b] and followed You.”

29 So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

End Times Witnessing: What is Truth? (how a man missed entering heaven)

A life time one-off opportunity to encounter God and have a discourse with Him came to one man. Pilate was such a blessed man (even if momentarily).

The Jews brought Jesus to Pilate (the Roman governor of Judea) as he had the authority to judge and pass death sentence to a criminal. (The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus be crucified and dead.) So Pilate had a rare occasion to encounter Jesus. The following is the conversation between Pilate and God (Jesus):

John 18:33-38 (New King James Version)

33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.

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Pilate and Jesus were talking on two different levels. Pilate asked questions and Jesus answered. But Pilate could not understand what Jesus was telling him.

1. Pilate’s Question: “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus’ Answer: “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

What Jesus was interested was Pilate’s motive behind the question. What was he trying to find out? Was he seeking God for himself? Or was he just repeating what others had accused as a routine part of the interrogation? Jesus was also trying to alert Pilate to ponder and see beyond his narrow vision.

2. Pilate’s Question: “Am I a Jew?” (meaning: what you are is none of my personal concern. I am not interested in who you are. I am just doing a job here) “What have you done?” (another interrogation question)

Jesus’ answer: ““My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (Jesus told him plainly who He is, so Pilate had a chance to rise to a higher level)

3. Pilate’s Question: “Are You a king then?” (Alas, he remained uninterested, merely continuing his usual interrogation)

Jesus’ answer: “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (Jesus gave Pilate another chance to know Him, the King of kings, Lord of lords)

4. Pilate’s Question: “What is truth?” (Pilate missed the chance. He was still engrossed in doing his normal usual mundane mortal chores as a governor. He missed the once in a life time opportunity to know God, whom he had encountered face to face!) He wasn’t looking for an answer to life. He remained a sceptical, hardened, pragmatic military-political-administrative man.

After this discourse, Pilate thought he had done his job and told the Jews his conclusion. “I find no fault in Him at all.” He told them.


The kingdom of God had come so near to Pilate but he missed it. Why? He was just a natural human, walking according to what can be seen and perceived by the senses. He could not understand the supernatural (spiritual) realm and its reality.

1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

So, this is how you can get so close to entering the kingdom of God and and yet miss entering the narrow gate…