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Tag Archives: presence of God

Are We Pursuing God – Really?

28 Mar

JogLast week I mentioned our pursuit of God. Many believers are convinced that they’re pursuing God. But is that what’s really happening?

I want to take a few posts to talk about the pursuit of God. Over and over again in the Scripture we see God saying to His people, “Seek Me, follow Me and come near Me.” One of the most important jobs of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into the Lord’s presence.

The fact is that God wants to be pursued – He wants to be sought after – and He wants to be found. The question I have is; are we pursuing God the way He wants to be pursued?

The Nation of Israel learned this lesson the hard way.

Here are two verses that don’t sound like they go together.

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.”
Isaiah 58:1-2

The first verse talks about showing the people their rebellion. In what way are they rebelling?

The next verse sounds like just the opposite. Day after day they seek out the Lord. They are eager to know His ways. They are asking for God to come near them.

This verse should actually cause us to stop and think. It sounds like much of the church in our generation. We are seeking, asking, studying, and desiring the presence of God to show up.

And yet, the Lord calls it rebellion. What was the problem? Actually, it was a very subtle one. The beginning of the next verse gives us the answer.

“‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’”
Isaiah 58:3a

They’re error was that they weren’t really pursuing God. They were trying to use fasting, prayer, going to church, and studying the Bible as a way to get God’s attention. In actuality, they were trying to get God to pursue them.

I believe that many of us in the church today are falling into the same trap. We’re trying to get God to come after us.

This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord.
“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
Isaiah 66:1-2

In effect, God is saying, “What could you possibly offer that I would pursue you?” This verse literally says that the one God looks intently at – the one who gets His attention – is the one who humbles himself before God.

I want to take a couple of posts to look at this aspect of pursuing God.

Question: How do we show either pride or humility in our pursuit of God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2016 in Revival, Spiritual Walk, The Church

 

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Cain – Repentance Breaks the Curse

23 Mar

CrossesI’m posting about Cain’s experience. He murdered his own brother because he thought that it would allow him to worship God on his own terms. It didn’t work.

He found himself away from his calling, and hidden from God’s presence. He even feared that he would be killed for his actions. But God did something surprising.

But the Lord said to him, “Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
Genesis 4:15

God gave Cain the world’s first tattoo. It read, “Kill him and answer to Me – signed – GOD.”

Why would God do such a thing? Throughout His Word the Lord has said that murder is punishable by death. The answer is in His mercy.

Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”
Genesis 4:25

This is a very strange statement for Eve to make. At this point she already had over 100 children. Why did she see the need to specifically replace Abel? The name Seth means to place in as a substitute.

Here’s where we see God’s mercy.

Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 4:26

What this verse tells us is that something happened when Seth was old enough to have children. The Bible literally says that calling on the name of the Lord was opened up. (The word men is not in the original Hebrew)

Why did God not allow Cain to be killed? The Lord wanted Cain to see the day when a new prophet would rise up. Seth could now offer the sin-offering for Cain’s forgiveness. I’d like to think that Cain took God’s offer of a second chance. I believe that we’ll see him in Heaven.

Remember – Cain’s curse was that he would be a restless wanderer.

Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.
Genesis 4:17

Do you hear that? Cain built a city. He’s not a wanderer anymore. It sounds like the curse was broken over his life. I believe it’s because he took God’s offer of forgiveness.

What can we learn from all of this – the way of Cain? I can’t worship God on my own terms. It’s an epidemic of our generation of believers.

Many people say that they’re pursuing God. The truth is that I can only pursue God the way God wants to be pursued. Anything else and I’m just a spiritual wanderer.

We must worship God the way He wants to be worshipped – in spirit and in truth. Anything else misses the mark.

Question: What curses has God broken from over your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on March 23, 2016 in Revival, Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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Cain – Worship On My Terms

21 Mar

WomanI’ve been posting about the offerings of Cain and Abel. What we’ve seen is that Abel was God’s designated prophet. If Cain’s gift was to be accepted, he had to bring it to Abel. This would have required Cain to humble himself.

“You mean I have to go to my little brother for God to accept my offering?”

The truth is that there’s only one way to worship God acceptably – God’s way. Cain had a problem with that.

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:8

The result was that Cain killed Abel. Cain’s thinking was that God wanted him to worship through the prophet. But what if there was no prophet? Then God would have to accept an offering from Cain’s hand.

Cain wanted to worship God on his own terms. He thought that God would have to accept his offering regardless of how he brought it. But that wasn’t the case.

Cain became the world’s first murderer. He was cursed for this sin.

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Genesis 4:10-12

What was Cain’s response?

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 4:13-14

Cain said that his punishment would be unbearable. Why? Not only was he driven from the land, but he would be hidden from God’s presence.

Does that sound like an angry, hardened reprobate to you? I don’t see any of that as he stands before God.

He is starting to understand his situation. He can no longer fulfill his calling – being driven from the land. He can’t find forgiveness in the presence of God. The only advocate that he could have gone to – Abel – is dead. It even dawns on him that he deserves death.

His answer to God sounds sorrowful to me. He sounds more humble that Adam and Eve did when they sinned.

This shows the mercy of God. The conversation between Cain and God still sounds like the interactions of a father and a wayward son.

We serve a God who always desires restoration over judgment. The outcome of this event is no different. Cain was sorry for what he had done. God had a remedy.

In my next post you’ll see how the story ends. It’s probably different than you think.

Question: How has God’s forgiveness affected your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2016 in Spiritual Walk, Worship

 

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Change is the Constant

13 Apr

TrailGoing through changes in our life is never easy. I wish it were. If you want to lay hold of your destiny, then you need to accept change.

Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.” As she breathed her last – for she was dying – she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
Genesis 35:16-18

Sometimes going through change is like we’re dying to ourselves. Psychologists say that when change takes place there’s a grieving process that we must walk out.

The fact is that we can’t stop change from happening. The only thing we have control over is our attitude. It’s how we deal with change that makes all the difference.

In this Scripture, Jacob and his family were “on the road” when his wife Rachel died in childbirth. If anyone could have had a reason for bitterness, he did. But he didn’t wallow in self-pity. She named the child Ben-Oni, which means, the son of my trouble. The hurt of that day would have followed the child for his entire life.

Instead, Jacob immediately changed the boy’s name to Benjamin, the son of my right hand. He released the pain into God’s hand. I don’t know what you’re going through right now. But if there’s a great change you’re grieving over – give it to God.

Only the Lord can bring you through. As you spend time in His presence you’re allowing Him to turn your Ben-Oni into a Benjamin.

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.
Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.
Genesis 35:19-21

There are many changes that are hard to deal with. That’s why it’s so important to work on our attitudes during those times.

When God speaks to our hearts as we’re quiet before Him, He may require us to make a great change in our lives. Sometimes the change is so big, that it may seem that our old way of life has died and we’ve been reborn to a new way of living. It’s like our life is going through a huge makeover.

It’s essential that we learn to bury the “old man” and then move on. Unless we leave the past behind, we can never enter His future.

One of the ways Jacob moved on was in the setting up of a pillar – a memorial – to remind him of what happened. You could set up a “memorial stone” as well, by commenting in your journal or placing a sticky note in your Bible. It could be a kind of tombstone for your old way of living.

God wants to bring you from glory to glory but you’ll have to leave your old self behind. Change is really the only constant in life. Either you’re going through it right now or you will in the near future.

Make the choice now to rely on God’s grace in times of change. Be willing and ready to accept His leading, whatever form it may take. Only then will change do its work and make you a better, stronger person.

Question: What are the changes God is leading you through right now?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2015 in Encouragement, Faith, Prayer, Worship

 

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A Prophecy for 2015

31 Dec

 

2015I’ve found that the Psalms have lined up with current affairs since the year 1901. Over the past 10 years or so I’ve preached from a Psalm each year and it’s been amazingly accurate. The Psalm for the New Year is Psalm 115.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1

We need to start 2015 on the right footing. It’s all about the Lord’s glory and not ours. Sometimes we miss that in the quest for bigger ministries. Yes, we want the move of God to attract people, but it’s the name of Jesus that should be the goal.

Moving on from here, there’s a bigger issue at stake. I believe that 2015 is the year of the big question. It’s what we should have been asking long before now.

Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Psalm 115:2

Wow! Could there be any other question more appropriate for our present generation of believers? Notice that the question isn’t, “Where is their God?” It’s more a question to us, asking what are we doing that blinds the world to who our God is.

Why is the nation unaware of our God? Why do they believe that God is irrelevant to our lives? That’s the question of the hour.

The next part of the Psalm gives the answer to it all.

Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
Psalm 115:3-8

We’ve forgotten the simple truth that our God is Lord over all. The things that the world runs after can never give life. These things can never help us in our time of need.

Money, entertainment, social media sites, and all the rest are merely distractions keeping us from experiencing the best God has for us. In their right place – under the authority of Christ – they can be beneficial. But when they take time away from our walk with the Holy Spirit, we’re headed for ruin.

We can’t afford to fill our lives with the world’s distractions. It’s time for God’s people to press into the place of intimacy with Him. That’s where the true source of power is found.

You who fear him, trust in the Lord — he is their help and shield.
Psalm 115:5

This year we need to remember where our allegiance should be. The rest of the Psalm is a blessing upon those who are willing to take the time to seek the Lord’s presence. Let 2015 be the year we turn things around. Make it the year that the world sees that truly there is a God who works in and through His church.

Have a blessed and prosperous New Year in Christ!

Question: What are you trust God for in this coming year?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on December 31, 2014 in Power of God, Revival, The Church

 

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What’s God Looking For?

31 Oct

BinocularsThis is the last of my series of posts dealing with the subject of personal revival.  David has shown us the progression it takes.

Starting with seeing ourselves as needing a touch from God, we then receive the forgiveness and purifying from the Lord’s hand.  After we have been changed, we allow the power of God to spill over into the lives of those around us.

The final part is the attitude that permeates revival.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 51:16-17

We’re sometimes lead to believe that following God is all about working, serving and giving.  While these things are a part of our Christian walk, they’re not the main things that God is looking for from us.

There are some who feel that once they’ve attended church and given their offering they’ve fulfilled their obligation to the Lord.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Revival brings us to the realization that it’s not about the things we do, but about relationship with the Father.  I have to come to the point where I see that God is not after my money or my stuff.

He wants ME!  All of me.  He wants everything that I am, just the way that I am.  He wants my weaknesses as well as my strengths.

Don’t ever get the idea that you’re not good enough to be intimate with God.  You can’t make yourself more acceptable to God.  He loves you just the way you are.

He wants to begin His work in you from the ground up.  How foolish we are to think that we can impress God by our striving after Him.

Let the truth of David’s experience with the Lord speak to us.  The church needs revival – right here and right now.  It will only come about in God’s way, not ours.

It’s time to lay our lives down before the Lord in submission and humility.  Stop the striving and just allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in you that only He can do.  Prepare yourself for the revival fires of the Lord.

Question: What’s your first step toward a personal revival in your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on October 31, 2014 in Power of God, Revival, The Church

 

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Spreading the Fire

29 Oct

FireI’m taking a few posts to talk about personal revival from David’s perspective.

What is revival?  I experience revival when I’m open and honest about the condition of my life.  Then I go to the Lord to be forgiven and changed by His presence as I spend time before Him.  The Psalmist David tells us the next stage in the process.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.  Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Psalm 51:13-15

After you’ve started experiencing God’s renewal in your life, your desire is to see this same spirit of revival catch on in the lives of others.  That’s the way it should be.  The change God’s working in me brings such joy, that I want others to experience the same thing.

Unfortunately, in many cases, we cause problems by doing things our way.  We haven’t changed.  The power of God is not working in us.  And yet we try to get others to change what they’re doing.  That’s when we’re accused of being hypocrites, and rightly so.

When it comes to producing change in a life, I’ll never be as powerful or effective as the Holy Spirit.  It’s actually kind of arrogant to think that I’m able to change someone for the better.

That is not what we’re called to do.  The best we can hope for is to introduce people to a God who is abundantly able to transform their lives.  It has to be done God’s way – from the inside out.

I don’t know why it’s so easy for me to see what you need to change, yet so hard to look at my own failures.  No matter, in Christ the change needs to start in me before I can ever get it to reach out to you.

We need to stick to the Lord’s plan.  Let Him work His renewal in us first, then lead others into His life changing presence.  That’s the way personal revival can spark a revival in the church.  Make this your prayer.  “God, send revival.  Start the work in me.”

Question: How have you seen the Holy Spirit change you over the years you’ve served Him?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on October 29, 2014 in Power of God, Revival, The Church

 

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God doesn’t Need to Cool Off

24 Oct

MeditationThis continues the subject of personal revival which we started in my last post.  The road to revival begins by taking a long, hard look at your life in comparison to Jesus.

Once you see your condition, you’re ready for the second step.  David describes it to us in Psalm 51.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Psalm 51:6-9

The next logical step, after self examination, is to run into the presence of God for forgiveness.  Don’t ever fall into the trap of thinking that God is mad at you.

It’s never too soon after a failure to go to Him.  Our Heavenly Father doesn’t need any “cooling off time”.  He loves you as much right now as He ever will.  As soon as you’re aware of your fault, seek out His presence.

That was one of David’s greatest character traits.  When he was confronted with his sin, he was quick to repent.  We need to follow his example.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

That’s where true forgiveness can be found.  Remember, it’s God’s forgiveness that can totally wash us clean of our sin.  Don’t try to rely on good intentions, will power, or turning over a new leaf.  Let God work His cleansing power in you.  Lay your sin under the blood of Christ.

That’s the joy and gladness that David talks about.  We’re not just going to try harder.  We’re going to the Lord for Him to clean us by the Holy Spirit.

There’s no need for a guilty conscience.  There’s no need to work extra hard to get God to accept you again.  When God does the work, it’s done and final.

Elsewhere in Scripture it says that God throws our sin into the sea of forgetfulness.  He removes it as far as the East is from the West.  Those are powerful statements about God’s ability to remove the stains of sin.

If you see places of fault or failure in your walk with God – take the time to seek Him for His cleaning process.  Let Christ totally wipe the slate clean.  Then you’re ready to continue your walk toward personal revival.

Question: Why do we sometimes feel that God is mad at us?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on October 24, 2014 in Power of God, Prayer, Revival

 

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Worship – Escape or Preparation?

11 Aug

Pray1I’m posting about how worship takes place around the throne room of God. Then we’ll apply it to our own experience with the Lord.

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
Revelation 4:1

After being called upward, John was told that in this place of worship he would be shown what was to take place beyond his generation.

Not many people realize this, but worship is preparation for the future. In the presence of God, John learned what was needed for the church to be ready for Christ’s return. He got a clear revelation of what was going to happen – most of which we’re still trying to sort out.

In Christian circles we sometimes think of worship as an escape from the problems and demands of life. People talk about just wanting to “run away” to the place of worship.

The reality is that it’s preparation for what’s coming just ahead. When we talk about worshipping in heavenly realms there’s a special work that takes place in us.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

Because we’re in Christ, God wants to bestow upon us all of the spiritual blessings that were purchased on the cross. It’s the place of worship that reveals these blessings to us.

The fact is that we don’t know what is going to happen later today, tomorrow, or a week down the road. But in the spirit we can see what Christ has in reserve for us. Then, when it’s needed we’ll have the faith for it. That’s because our spirit has already laid claim to it in the place of worship.

This is such an important concept. We were created to worship God. It’s probably the most important part of our relationship with Him.

For us to think that it’s an optional thing – something that I’ll do when I find the time – it’s like ignoring a call to your boss’s office. Especially when your boss is about to give you a raise or a new promotion. God calls us upward into His presence to equip us in ways we could never do on our own.

You can’t ignore this call and expect to complete your destiny in Christ. Run to that place of worship. Spend the quality time needed to prepare for the glorious future that God the Father has already set up for you to enjoy.

Question: Why do we find it so hard to set aside the time for the worship of God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on August 11, 2014 in Faith, Prayer, Worship

 

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