I really feel the biggest enemy of those who are successful is personal pride, in not always giving God the rightful glory. It is also likely that the biggest enemy of those who are suffering is self pity, as they struggle to not be angry at God. In my own life, the latter has been an on again off again battle as the challenges that the Lord has called me to face have often involved a lot of pain. I’m not going to create a list for you, but hopefully many will relate to what I know the Holy Spirit has taught me about the things He sometimes allows in our life with the sole purpose of bringing us closer and causing us to be more dependent on Him.
This truth was brought home to me once when I was ministering in a church for a week of services in Pennsylvania near Scranton. Right from the first service God began to do incredible things. Often as a revivalist the message the Lord is giving you for the congregation is a message that speaks back into your own life. If they truly seek God for their message material, any minister of the gospel can attest to the same thing.
It just so happened that the old church probably built in the early part of the last century, had a small apartment in the rear. Known as “The Prophet’s Chamber,” during that time period it was common practice to include them in the construction plans for traveling ministers or a possible living space for an assistant pastor. The unique thing about this church was that “The Prophet’s Chamber was literally right behind the front stage platform and actually right behind the big illuminated cross that hung on the back wall. I was staying in that little apartment that week.
One night as the service closed and the last person left the building, I began to walk toward the cross and the hidden door behind the curtain, but as I did so, I felt something in my spirit just wasn’t right. I went into the apartment, loosened my tie, threw my jacket on the bed and laid my Bible down on the nightstand, all the while thanking the Lord for His presence there and the things that He had just done in our service. Just then I felt a gentle tug to go back out to the altar and pray….
Psalm 149:6 (KJV) says: Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand. The Lord has blessed me as I have meditated on this verse and what it may mean when we refer to the “high praises” of God. Most of us love worship and although I love the teaching and preaching of God’s Word I always look forward to the worship part of every church service. Not much is taught today about the different levels of God’s presence. The hyper-grace movement has thrown grace around so much it has successfully put everything on the same level in people’s thinking. I also believe that there are different levels of things like the anointing of God, the presence of God, the correction of God and so on.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Nolan Harkness
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