The Secret of the Lord

This speaks so much depth and truth. Many speak on His love and grace which is a big part of who God is. His word tells us that very clearly. We are to love God with all of our  being and love others fiercely while not compromising His truth that is in His word. He is also a Holy, Just, and Righteous God who deserves our reverence and respect. There is a lack of Fear/reverence for God in the hearts of we as His people that should not be. If God is Holy and He tells us in His word to be Holy as He is Holy then we must consider what Holiness is in the eyes of God. If God called us out of darkness into His marvelous light....He desires that we walk in His light and truth.  There is no darkness in Him because He is a Holy God. Does being Holy in the sight of the Lord make us perfect? No it most certainly does not. As long as we are in this human body none of us will ever be perfect but we must not use that as an excuse to not follow His command of being Holy as He is. We must strive toward Him and away from sin that so easily besets us . Yes, we make mistakes, but thank God for the sweet Holy Spirit who convicts our hearts when we do and draws us to repentance and change.

This verse says the SECRET of the Lord is with those who FEAR HIM and He shows/reveals His covenant to them. Could it be that we don't reverence or respect God enough to know His secrets...to know the deeper truths? Have you ever read a context in scripture and when reading it just didn't understand it ? I know I have, and then I went through some stuff and got closer to God over time....then one day I'm reading this same scripture and it's like I finally Get this truth that I didn't get before....Secret REVEALED...WOW moment..... Praise the Lord!

Perhaps we just want to stay in our comfort zone so that we don't have to give God all that we are bc it requires sacrifice........it requires saying no to some things and YES to God. Perhaps we want to stay in the outer courts of praise because it's easy to Praise Him but worship becomes alot more intimate alot closer to the Holy God and He will begin to speak ....In those deep worship moments of our life....He will begin to prune....He will begin to cut off those things that should not be, are not bearing good fruit ,and that don't belong......when we worship Him with our lives we will move past the outer courts of praise and into the inner courts of worship first.....just as the priest in the old testament had to be prepared to enter in to the Holy of Holies.....God prepares us as His children over time!

 Back then if the priest  went in the temple impure and sinful they died which is why they had to send them in with a rope around their waist so they could pull them out if they did die in there...think about
 that a minute....they could not stand or physically live in the light of His Holiness, presence, and truth if there was sin in their heart. Thank God for Jesus and His grace .... If it weren't for Jesus...where would we be? ...thank God that He tore the veil and made the way for us to have forgiveness and grace through faith. So very thankful for the cross that He died on so that we could have the opportunity to choose abundant life that only comes through Him. But doesn't he tell us to die daily to ourselves and to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh?  We are not our own but bought with a price. We were created to worship Jesus, but how much time do we give to God in a day verses what we give to everything/everyone else in our lives? Are we worshiping someone or something else other than Jesus? I'm including myself in this to y'all.

God prepares us and prunes us for the Holy of Holies though. Yes His Heart is for us....which is exactly why He calls us to this place....this point of surrender....Deeper waters  but a higher place of glory in Him.....this SECRET place  (y'all I'm not talking about worship in a music church kinda setting right now....I'm a worship leader.....love to worship Jesus in song, but talking about life worship to God) He wants us to know Him deeply like He knows us.  It requires surrender and obedience. Obedience that sometimes goes against what are flesh wants. Obedience that sometimes upsets those who are in compromise to the word of God. I get it.....over the last year God has been doing a major pruning in my life and I've had to get rid of stuff, but being in His presence and right standing with Him matters more to me than those things. Thankful that He's still working on me.Sanctification is  life process, so I know that I have a lot more to learn and a ways to go. 

His word tells us that He is a consuming fire. Last week in prayer..I kept hearing God say......I'm calling you higher so get ready for the fire 🔥......fire is hot...fire hurts.....it sometimes even breaks your heart bc people will receive what your saying the wrong way.......fire purifies you .... Fire draws you closer to the light of His presence and while you love others with a Christ like love .....you begin to leave no room for compromise so you care more what’s God thinks and says about you then what people do.

Speaking of singing though, last week God put this song on my heart that we sang back in the day at Rose of Sharon Camp called Surrender....Many of you have probably heard it.....but part of the lyrics were ...."I'm giving up MY rights" .....Wow ....y'all....I remember me many years younger listening to the worship leaders pour this out at camp and the conviction of the Holy Spirit begin to gently whisper.  . " Have you surrendered all, Crystal? " I was brought up in Church......I read my Bible and prayed some.....I dedicated my life to God many years before that.....but had I given all of who I was? No.....not really.....only parts of my heart. I still have a long way to go, but thankful for the opportunity every day to get closer and closer to Jesus. I want to know Him more and tremble at His word. I love God, but never ever want to loose fear/ reverence for Him. I want to know His secrets found throughout His word. I don’t want to compromise, and I don’t want to keep Jesus in a box. Hes a great big God who desires to take us out of our comfort zone to grow us And show us more of who He is. If we really yearn to know Him we can’t stay where we are but we must allow God to transform us into the children of God that He’s called us to be.