Be forewarned - there is a price to pay for entering into the Holy of Holies, for becoming intimate with God. When you are close to Him, you become Holy, not because of you but because of Him, because He hides you under His skirt (Ez:16:8). He completely covers you and He is completely holy. People that are not Holy, fear and despise and resent those who are because they remind them they are not and that they can be. This is especially true among the people of God! When Moses - who craved and sought God's presence (no one wrote more scripture than him!) came off the mountain after meeting with God - the people fled from him (while he was meeting with God, the people were committing spiritual adultery, by whoring after other gods, man-made gods, a pattern they've repeated throughout their history, including the present day people of God - the Church).
Today, God's people are still fleeing from him, still hiding behind fig leaves (which represent religion - man's attempt to cover himself, to hide his nakedness and shame, by using something God made). Today - if you are holy and others in your church are not - they will shun you (if they are not holy by choice). Especially the pastor. He cannot tolerate someone who brings the very presence of God into the church because the anointing comes with God's presence - and the gifts too, and no one in any fellowship or church under today's structure will ever exceed the pastor in any way. The local church rises and falls with the pastor. He is the limit agreed to by the people - the standard bearer. He is the one they look to for all things spiritual. He is flesh. He will fail - guaranteed. He is not, nor should he ever be, the foundation of the fellowship. Our fellowship is founded upon apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph:2:20). Notice it's apostles and prophets, plural. No one man should govern a church, ever. It should be a plurality of elders, chosen by the Holy Spirit, with perhaps one elder chief among them - not because he seeks preeminence, but because it's given to him. In fact - a hallmark of God's leadership is "esteeming the other more highly than himself" (my paraphrase).
Holiness affects all parts of us - spirit, soul and body and holiness is attractive to the angels of God. You will find yourself craving God's presence as Moses did but you will also become painfully aware of how weak your flesh is - and you will cry out to God in agony that at the same time one part of your being craves holiness - the other craves sin, and this dichotomy will be the battle of your lifetime. It is why we must "die daily". It is why we need "daily bread". We need Jesus' presence daily to have any hope at all of walking in holiness. It is my heart's desire (holiness) and goal and it should be yours too but be prepared for rejection! What is better - acceptance from men (flesh), pleasing men (flesh), or acceptance from God (Spirit)? "I receive not honor from men". "How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God only"?
Today, God's people are still fleeing from him, still hiding behind fig leaves (which represent religion - man's attempt to cover himself, to hide his nakedness and shame, by using something God made). Today - if you are holy and others in your church are not - they will shun you (if they are not holy by choice). Especially the pastor. He cannot tolerate someone who brings the very presence of God into the church because the anointing comes with God's presence - and the gifts too, and no one in any fellowship or church under today's structure will ever exceed the pastor in any way. The local church rises and falls with the pastor. He is the limit agreed to by the people - the standard bearer. He is the one they look to for all things spiritual. He is flesh. He will fail - guaranteed. He is not, nor should he ever be, the foundation of the fellowship. Our fellowship is founded upon apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph:2:20). Notice it's apostles and prophets, plural. No one man should govern a church, ever. It should be a plurality of elders, chosen by the Holy Spirit, with perhaps one elder chief among them - not because he seeks preeminence, but because it's given to him. In fact - a hallmark of God's leadership is "esteeming the other more highly than himself" (my paraphrase).
Holiness affects all parts of us - spirit, soul and body and holiness is attractive to the angels of God. You will find yourself craving God's presence as Moses did but you will also become painfully aware of how weak your flesh is - and you will cry out to God in agony that at the same time one part of your being craves holiness - the other craves sin, and this dichotomy will be the battle of your lifetime. It is why we must "die daily". It is why we need "daily bread". We need Jesus' presence daily to have any hope at all of walking in holiness. It is my heart's desire (holiness) and goal and it should be yours too but be prepared for rejection! What is better - acceptance from men (flesh), pleasing men (flesh), or acceptance from God (Spirit)? "I receive not honor from men". "How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God only"?
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