His Purpose in His Presence

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1. The Foundation

 

 

A Loving Heart Sees the Need

 

The following portion of this website discusses and examines a vital need common to many churches seen across 35 years in ministry as a leader given to love the Body of Christ.

 

From conferences to worship gatherings across a number of local churches, the observation mentioned has been generally consistent. “Generally consistent” is spoken intentionally understanding that there are, without doubt, exceptions. Yet, what is discussed ahead is indeed common. Yet, what is discussed ahead is indeed common. Our hope is that the following might engender a Spirit led examination in those who would have an ear to hear. But first, it is important to describe how the Lord revealed what we are about to consider.

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We Must Own It First

 

You may have come to understand how the Lord brings us to personal ownership of the truths He calls us to effectively impart to others. It is not God’s manner to employ philosophers to bring forth His truth. However, He does use the testimony of those willing to convey truth that they have personally experienced. Personal experience is often a great teacher, but even greater is the unique authority one can find in having moved through a specific experience with God. At its core, this is what allows our God given personal testimonies to be a powerful aspect of communicating His work within us to others. While not wanting get sidetracked here, it is a good moment to mention there is considerable resource regarding testimony and its vital importance in the Sound of Heaven section of this website.

 

Coming to personal ownership of the truth shared here began as the Lord introduced me to my own need for growth. It was during the seasons Matthias Ministries facilitated worship events known as “An Evening of Hosting the Holy Spirit” that He invited me to begin comprehending His purpose in His presence. These beautiful events have always purposed to follow a vision of creating a worship environment conducive to the Harp and Bowl worship paradigm. Once again, you can find significant resource about the Holy Spirit’s use of these powerful evenings, and the harp and bowl worship paradigm it employs, by clicking on the links above.

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The important takeaway here is that from the start our ministry focus remained upon preparation of heart. We learned to wait on God in worship with the hope that the Holy Spirit might move in our midst. A sober pursuit of His presence cannot ignore the importance of personal sanctification, preparation of heart and maintaining a clean altar. Each one involved held these Kingdom principles above their years in ministry and their notable gifts. Seeking His presence was not only our chief goal, but it also became the yardstick we looked to in order to determine how “successful” our corporate experiences had been. Does this sound at all familiar to your own corporate church experiences? 

 

Now here is the essence of what we are getting to. As important and worthy a goal of seeking His presence is, we were falling short in this being our yardstick or singular goal. Matthias Ministries came to find there was something of vital importance we were missing.

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The Call to More, and the Change We Resist

 

Please realize that in no way do I desire to diminish the unspeakable value of deeply enjoying the wonder of God’s presence. His presence is the pure holy taste of what we are eternally destined for, and it is that which makes us yearn for His unabated presence our hope of Glory. Also, in understanding the Trinity we know the discernible, and sometimes tangible, presence of God is none other than the presence of the Holy Spirit Himself. Yet, our encounters with Him are not meant to leave us unchanged.

 

We know that that ongoing purpose of God within this life is to transform us into the image of His Son. This is achieved in our live through the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the teacher, counselor and guide who endeavors to bring forth the change in us which we call growth, and that we tend to resist in our natural nature. The honest and humble soul is often the quickest to understand that growth is not something we are quick to embrace. A wise soul finds this a great place for increasingly honest self-introspection and self-focused prayer.

 

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An Honest Question

 

Even though we may be slow to co-operate with His work, God calls us forward though the Holy Spirit’s never-ending work of bringing forth change we call “growth in Christ”. Change is meant to be constant and consistent through life on this side eternity because of His faithfulness to complete every good work He begins in us. The paradigm is always upward, always higher, always Glory to Glory. The only thing we should settle for is ongoing and never ending “more”. Yet, how common is it in our life, or in the lives of our brethren, to not see significant change across years of being in His presence? Again, if we are honest, we might agree that this is a question we don’t ask ourselves as often and deeply as we should.

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Years ago, at the outset of Matthias Ministries, I was certain that the Lord showed me a pattern within communal worship that had the potential to bring significant change and growth to the Body of Christ. Multiple confirmations to this were overwhelming and came in the most profound and unlikely ways. We saw aspects of this as Matthias Ministries introduced  Harp and Bowl worship in a number of local churches. Yet, across several years and many beautiful times of His presence in our midst, I could not discern the kind of change, either within myself or others, I believe my heart had been given to hope for. I began to wonder what that hope of growth I believe within my spirit might look like. This became the crux of my question before Him as I wrestled with the sense that the ministry I was giving my life to was lacking the dynamic “more” I knew was missing. It was a long season of questions. As I continued to ask, seek and knock it was God who presented a question to me. It was a question that brought significant change to my life.

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A Life Defining Question

 

The life defining question mentioned above began in the quiet hours after His presence filled Matthias Ministries events known as “Evenings of Hosting the Holy Spirit”. It was during these reflective and meditative moments that God began to place a question within me that became impossible to ignore. Discernment, often a process, left me feeling increasingly compelled to understand what I was wrestling with. As the ministry founder, it soon became prudent for Matthias Ministries to cease moving ahead until clarity came.

 

The experience brought to remembrance an important truth. Sometimes it is during the busiest seasons of ministry where the better choice is found in embracing the stillness we might otherwise resist in order to wait upon Him. The wise example set by Mary and Martha in choosing the best (Luke 10: 38-42) can be easier to receive on a personal level than in a ministry when co-laboring with others. Although personal convictions of heart are not always understood by others, our obedience is crucial in ceasing activity and to become still enough to listen and grasp the revelation He may desire to impart as fully as possible. These seasons seem akin to David’s directive Selah moments in the book of Psalms. 

 

In wrestling with my need for clarity during that quiet season God began to open my understanding. Although not audible to my ear, He faithfully brought clarity to what my spirit was yearning for. His question became as unmistakably simple as it was profound. It seemed all I could hear for that powerful season was “you do well in seeking My Presence, yet will you seek My Purpose in it?”

 

 

An Initial Foundation of Worship

 

Many years ago, as a young worship leader, I came to the realization that God does not “need” our worship. This allowed me to see my own personal and our corporate worship in a new light. Aside from the fact that He is worthy of any and all worship, there is nothing that we can do, or bring, that adds increase to Him. God has no “need”. He is perfect and complete in every way in Himself. In understanding this I began to understand worship as a 24/7 affair of yielding our heart, mind and soul. I came to understand that is for us, for our benefit, in every way.

 

The great blessing of being filled with gratitude and called worship Him enables us to be more intimately connected to Him, who is the Source of all we’ve been created to need, want and desire. Again, in spite of Him being worthy of all worship, He desires our worship for the blessing of life it brings and to us. Worshiping God is both our greatest privilege and His greatest gift to us. It is within worship that we find the gifts of Himself, His presence and His intimacy. We could go on and on, for trying to describe worship in spirit and truth is more the substance of books, and not a website.

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Our focus here is found in addressing the response of greater yieldedness, obedience a deeper exchanged life that can, and should, grow out of our worship. Yes, all of this and so much more. But you may wonder what are the “specifics” of His purpose within His presence as we experience all that is mentioned above? Let's go deeper into His purpose in His presence.

 

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True Honesty - The Call to Come Higher

 

The Lord’s question regarding the need to seek true purpose in His presence created a need that began to redefine my prayer life and study in the Word. Initially, I was actually foolish enough to try to quickly answer His question by answering: “yes Lord, Your purpose is found within the transformational aspect of Your Presence”. Although not wrong, it didn’t take long to understand how pitifully shallow that answer was. It exposed the truth that my prayer life was shallow and needed to deepen. How beautiful it is to be able to stand in simple transparent honesty before the Lord as we fall short and sense nothing but His perfect unconditional love.

 

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Deeper Worship

 

His question reinforced the truth that learning to listen is the first step to comprehending His purpose in His presence. The next step that follows learning to listen is learning to hear. It is very easy to have too much to say and ask in self-centered prayer. Only in listening do we cultivate the level of intimacy in our personal prayer life. Becoming still before Him, and meditating on His Word, becomes the open door to hearing and finding His purpose.

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Laying hold to His purpose, especially in the most intimate moments of His presence, becomes the key to the next door of greater growth in the exchanged life that we are offered and called to. These are the "7 keys" mentioned in the last paragraph: learning to listen, learning to hear, cultivating intimacy, being still, meditating upon His Word, seeking and asking for His purpose, and learning to lay hold to His purpose. These are the keys that open realms of deep worship were the “me in Him” becomes “Him through me”.

 

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He is Our Reward

 

The holy thirsts and hungers that drive His people to seek always seems to lead to the great gift of repentance. It is by faith we grasp this gift, offered by His mercy and grace, and there may not be a greater example of us “apprehending that for which He has apprehended us” (Philippians 3:12). Aside from our Salvation, without this great gift there would be little or no growth in Him. All that has been mentioned to this point has been an example of the fruit of repentance. The growth resulting from repentance enables the heart to seek and find Him in an increasingly deeper way as it defines life and redefines deep-rooted notions. Repentance means change, and it is impossible to seek and find God and the things of God and remain unchanged. The beautiful truth is that God is truly a wonderful rewarder of those who will diligently seek Him.

 

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But without faith it is impossible to please Him:

for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

 

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The Wisdom of Hunger and Thirst

 

Countless disciples have known the joy of experiencing His faithfulness to give living water to those blessed with divine thirst. His perfect wisdom in allowing us to hunger and thirst for what only He can satisfy accomplishes more in meeting our needs than we

are aware of. It leaves a divine deposit within us, the reality of personal ownership and a proper appreciation of His greatest treasures.

 

It is foolish to take for granted the blessing of what it means to hunger and thirst after the heart of God. Just like our innate resistance to change and growth mentioned earlier, there is nothing agreeable to our natural nature about desiring to hunger and thirst. Jesus alone focused perfectly upon His Father throughout His days on Earth. Even the most zealous among us should always pray for divinely inspired hunger and thirst for the “more” in God. Let’s consider some of the ”more” in God as we consider the differences between His Glory and His Presence.

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2. The Foundation of His Purpose in His Presence

 

 

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His Presence is Promised - His Glory is Not

 

There are many, even those mature in their faith, who either do not understand or have an inaccurate understanding of the nature of God’s Glory. One common example is found in equating God’s Glory to His greatness, which although not wrong, is an oversimplification. We will make the case that these two realities in God are both distinct and separate. Misconceptions about His Glory limits our understanding of His purpose in His presence. Unpacking a few simple truths is a good place for us to start. Consider the wonderful, well known and often quoted assurance Jesus gave to us in Matthew 18:20 before He departed this Earth.

 

 

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,

there am I in the midst of them.

Matthew 18:20

 

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Jesus said “I am with you always (Matthew 28:20). He also said "I will never leave or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5) and promised us His Spirit (John 14:26). But, unlike His Presence, the Glory of God is NOT the same. Yet, many conflate the presence of God with the glory of God, or simply fail to understand the differences which separate these two distinct aspects of who God is. Confusing or conflating these two realities is likely due to the beauty and wonder of His presence being so glorious in itself. The actual Glory of God speaks to a much wider reality of God than His awesome beauty. We’ll look more deeply into the nature of God’s Glory shortly, but our purpose right now is to understand that His Glory has never been promised in the way His Presence has been promised to us.

 

 

Created to Carry - Glory Containers and Conduits

 

We need to seek His Glory. Some may ask how? The answer to this has been, the subject of volumes of books. Perhaps we can simplify things by saying that God has called and designed us to be and become, “Glory containers and conduits”. We are created and purposed to be vessels that contain aspects of His Glory and the dwelling place He lives in and shines out from. This is the salt savor that Jesus warned us about losing and becoming useless (Matthew 5:13). We are each designed to be a unique conduit of His Glory to those our lives touch. As the Church, we are purposed to collectively reflect His Glory throughout the Earth. Just as Jesus was, and is, the “radiance of Gods Glory” (Hebrews 1:3), we are called to be the same, both personally and corporately.

This is the exchanged life we are called to with Jesus that is possible by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Although there is much that can be considered at this juncture, it suffices to say that God’s Glory is not an all or nothing matter. One who asks, seeks, knocks and digs for the greatest treasure of God’s Glory will know the greater reality of those who do not.

 

 

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,

for he who comes to God must believe that He is,

and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

 

 

The Word teaches there are many various kinds of vessels in the Master’s house. Similarly, there are greater and lesser aspects of His Glory to, and through, His people. The question becomes, “how much of His Glory will we contain in order to pour out?”

 

 

All Are Some Type of Container

 

Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels,

but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be

a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master,

prepared for every good work.

2 Timothy 2:20-21

 

The unfit container will neither possess nor radiate His Glory. Perhaps, the most important thing we can bring is a humble heart that asks for wisdom and the help to be the “Glory container” He would use. Even as Moses asked, our own greater wisdom is found in the asking, seeking and knocking Jesus taught is indispensable. 

 

There is always “more” in God. We are not limited to radiating the aspects of God’s Glory we radiate today by our yesterday. We’ve been called and purposed to grow. Always.

It seems important to emphasize that our greatest loss comes from lack of growth in learning to settle for less. “Settling” for His presence can easily sound like a blasphemous statement because His unspeakable beauty fills the heart of us as worshipers. Nevertheless, we’ve made a case for a deeper calling into His presence, knowing that He is present for us to know His will, and to be filled with His Glory that we may fulfill it.

 

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There’s Always More in God

 

There is always more in God, and the question becomes, “how much do we desire what He desires for us?” His Glory is very weighty. The question becomes, “how much are we willing to be strengthened in Christ to hold?” There is more, as much as we will have.

 

Those who ask and cry for more will know growing discomforts and pains. The process Jesus taught about in Luke 5:37 of replacing of old wine-skins with new is as unending as our growth in Him. This is all part of learning to submit ourselves to the ongoing process of sanctification and the true worship of obedience. It is through these things that we will see His Glory manifest through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, we cannot forget in reverence that He is the Spirit who can be quenched, grieved and resisted by any of us.

 

Obviously, the decision to impart, reveal or move in His Glory is God’s prerogative alone. Still, there are the variables just mentioned that we have brought here. The keys of obedience, a sanctified life, and our worship in spirit and truth are examples of living above the compromise of a lukewarm life that God rejects.

 

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Pressing Onward To….

 

We press on to becoming the Glory Container we have been created to be. Let that sentence sink in, for that is exactly what you have been created to be, a container of His Glory. Nothing less, nothing more. He who has allowed us to invite His presence, and to take up residence within us is everything. EVERYTHING.

 

The desire of God’s heart and of every believer, and therefore the Church, should be one. It should be “let Your Kingdom come upon the Earth as it is in Heaven”. Heaven is the realm of God’s Glory and His desire is for His Glory to cover the Earth. We long to see His Glory coming down from Heaven. Yet, His Glory coming out from His tabernacle within every believer’s heart is our destiny, our commission and our high calling.

 

Yes, God’s Glory coming down from on high is a sure reality. It is based upon the expression of His great Grace, His great Love and His perfect faithfulness promised in His Word. While this reality will manifest upon His return, it has already manifested in Jesus. He radiated God’s Glory to this world, and to us through the Holy Spirit being given.

 

His Glory filling the Earth through you and I is also a sure reality simply because His Word declares it. Yet, while based upon the same aspects of the greatness of His Grace, Love and Faithfulness, it is also contingent upon our weakness and the imperfect nature of our faith and our will.  

 

Nevertheless, it has pleased God to work through the frailties of men, and THIS is what we have been apprehended for. We are saved and filled with His Spirit for this purpose, to radiate His Glory here.

 

 

 

Growing in Our Ability to Radiate

 

Revelation 12:11 is one of the most extremely provocative and challenging Scriptures in the Word. In it we see how the very survival of the end time Church will take place. In it we see the Church having grown beyond what Jesus warned the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 about. We see the Church having grown into our ultimate call of being and becoming over-comers that He promises will inherit His greatest blessings. We see the Church victorious over the gates of Hell itself. We see the Church without shadow of compromise, even unto death. Is there a greater Church you can imagine? A greater zenith you can cite?

 

 

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,

and by the word of their testimony;

and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Revelation 12:11

 

 

Many see the most amazing part of Revelation 12:11 rests in the word “and” – especially the 2nd of its three uses. The reality of it pointing to our need to co-labor with the sacrifice of His Blood to accomplish our God given destiny is simply overwhelming.

 

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The Power of Our Testimony

 

Therein lays the truth that the word “and” not only points to the importance of our testimony, it points directly to the focus of it. The testimony of Christ in us is the very publishing of His Glory. We truly are “living epistles read of all men” with the focus upon what Christ has accomplished. My testimony is Christ, and Christ is my testimony. There is nothing I can radiate of His Glory outside of this simple and profound truth.  

 

There is a simple truth in front of us. The strong in Him will radiate in a way that the weak never will. Yet, never forgetting that our “weakness” in Christ is His Person being strengthened in our weakness of self is the basis for the Alabaster Box testimonies that so deeply impact others. The Lord never fails to purpose in building our strength. The issue is to what degree we will publish it through our willingness to testify of Him as a living epistle.  

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The Coming Paradigm Shift

 

So here we are at the end of considering His Purpose in His Presence. We must say “for now”, never knowing the how or when God may bring us to new revelation. My remaining prayer is for any insufficiency of my personal ability in writing the vision plainly given to Matthias Ministries does not inhibit the Lord’s use of it. I also pray, in the name of Jesus, that any aspect of mere self might fall into the ground and be forgotten. I conclude my prayer in asking that everything that has inspired would find the ears and hearts of those called to “run with it”. God promised Habakkuk that “though it tarry” it will not tarry beyond God’s perfect timing. With all my heart I believe this is that time.

 

Finally, may our understanding that the Glory of God meant to fill this Earth is in no small way a function of His people’s testimony. It is the living declaration of His Glory touching and filling our lives. Jesus came to Glorify the Father, and we have been created and redeemed to do the same. Matthias Ministries fully believes that our communal gatherings, and those of the local church, are beginning to see a paradigm shift. Such must happen as we overcome the testimony anemia that has resulted from the sleepy comfort of being primarily only led and fed. The Church will rise and find her voice like never before, for we will not see the realities of Ephesians 4: 15-16 or Revelation 12:11 become the actuality is destined to be without His Glory manifesting upon our lips like never before.

 

The section of this website titled “The Sound of Heaven” is a resource that points to and under-girds the coming paradigm shift we believe is already beginning.

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A New Day and Better Day

 

There was a time in Ezekiel’s day when the Lord was very clear about the importance of the order and specifications of where His presence would dwell and His Glory would abide (Ezekiel 40-43). In Ezekiel we see that His Glory returned to His people as His Presence returned to His temple.

 

Since the advent of Pentecost, His Presence is assured and within us. The New Testament Church does not only await the coming of God's Glory suddenly from above, for His Glory is meant to EMERGE FROM WITHIN. This too of course, is because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

 

When the Lord returns, His Glory will be revealed in two ways. His Glory will unfold visibly upon the clouds of the Eastern sky, and His Glory will also emanate from within our being as His radiant Bride. On the one hand His coming Glory will be upon seen by everyone descending with a shout from on high, and on the other His Glory will burst forth from within His Bride, who is saturated with His Glory. These are the objective and subjective aspects of the coming Glory of the Lord.

 

Yet there is more to receive from Ezekiel. What we see in Ezekiel is the Scriptural principle of God’s Glory manifested among His people as He gains a building. The exact same principle stands today as the gift of the Holy Spirit finds His habitation built up in the dwelling place of His people, the Church. When the building plan of the temple of Ezekiel was complete, the fullness of God’s intended purpose became manifest to Israel. Likewise, as the Church today sanctifies herself, and the desire for His visitation becomes a desperate hunger for His habitation, we too will see His purpose manifest in and through us like never before.

 

Finally, and again, His purpose and His desire is for us to carry and radiate His Glory. The very essence of “let Your will be done, let Your Kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10) becomes reality as we radiate a tangible reality of His Glory that invades and covers the Earth. The God of “more” wants us to desire the more of what He wants to give us. This is meant to go even deeper than our admiration of His beautiful presence.

 

The multi-color spectrum of a rainbow in nature allows us to see the various and uniquely beautiful colors that combine to make pure white light. In a parallel manner a list of Divine attributes can serve as examples of the manifold nature of His Glory. We must bear in mind that any list, no matter how long, will never be complete in the limited revelation we have on this side of Eternity.

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Seven Truths of His Purpose in His Presence

 

The following truths were identified through the time spent with Him writing the Purpose in His Presence portion of this website. Hold them before the Lord with a Berean heart.

 

 

1. His Presence is as close as the Holy Spirit, who can be grieved and quenched by the same sin which undermines God’s Presence. The awareness of this truth increases with the maturity of those set upon answering His calling to bear and radiate His Glory.

2. His Presence is ours that we might know the revelation of His heart more deeply. This is His great desire.

3. His Purpose in His Presence is hidden, so that it can be sought by those who understand that our own purpose is hidden in Him. (Jeremiah 29:13)

4. Our assignment of bearing and radiating aspects of His Glory does not have a fixed end in that we are always meant to increase and grow in such.

5. We will treasure most that which is most difficult to seek and find. This, like truth that reaches our innermost parts, is the reward of the deep in Him finding the deeper places within us.

6. There are two distinct aspects to our life in Christ, the personal and the communal. The deep which calls out to deep is the intimacy we are called to in both.

7. We must ask ourselves, “In His Presence are we seeking the manifestation of His power or the revelation of His Person?” (His heart, mind and will)

 

 

 

Are you interested in going deeper? Consider examining:

 

• What Exactly is God’s Glory?

• Radiating His Glory – Jesus As My Testimony

• What Exactly is the “Led and Fed Paradigm”

• Practical Remedies for the Led and Fed Paradigm