How big is your God?

When the prophet Isaiah (6:1) saw the Lord high and lifted up and the train of His robe filling the temple, he gained fresh revelation of the awesome power and authority of God. He was overwhelmed by this vision of God! In Isaiah’s day, kings attached to their train the trains of kings they defeated in battle. The length of the train indicated the kings’s authority. Isaiah saw the one and only true God as a king with unlimited power and authority!

Our fears, frustrations, depression and hopelessness come from a lack of revelation of how big and awesome our God truly is. The God with whom we identify determines the amount of fear, stress, worry and hopelessness we experience. If we see God the way Isaiah did, opposition won’t discourage us.

We must never stop desiring deeper understanding of what God can do in and through our lives, because yesterday’s revelation won’t meet today’s challenges. Too many people are living on yesterday’s understanding and they’re filled with fear, anxiety and worry—a sure sign that the God they know is too small.

What God do you identify with? One who is able to do this, but not that? Remember, Isaiah was already God’s prophet before he received that new revelation. If he needed to be reminded of who God really is, how much more do we need a fresh download of revelation from heaven?

Here are some qualities you need to increase your view of the authority of God: 

1. Brokenness, demonstrated by meekness and humility. You can’t expect to get fresh revelation if you are prideful, self-righteous or unteachable. Isaiah was devastated by the death of the friend and king he served for 52 years. But through his devastation, he glimpsed the True King. Trauma or the removal of people we put before God often develops in us humility and brokenness.

2. A desire to know God more. Some people are satisfied with what they already know of God. They stop pursuing Him, but God only feeds the hungry. Ask God to give you a deeper hunger for more of Him. He’ll certainly answer that prayer because He wants to be known by you. Moses served God for many years, but when he cried out to know Him more, he experienced His presence to the point that God’s glory shone from his face!

3. Seeking Him with all your heart. People always say they love God with all their heart, but they’re deceived if God isn’t their main passion. Here’s the acid test: What do you do when no one is watching? Do you spend time just loving on Him? Is He the focus of your attention? Jeremiah 29:12-14 says, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord….” The key phrase is with all your heart. Plead with God to turn your heart to Him and no one else.

4. Acknowledgement that we have “unclean lips”. Isaiah knew his language revealed a lack of understanding of how big God really is. Change what you say to your mountain. Stop agreeing with your problems and stop complaining about what God isn’t doing in your life. God’s power is in His word! So, if your God is big enough, your words ought to reflect that. The greatness of your God…

Would Jesus call you ‘hypocrite’?

Sometimes I read the word of God and it just hits me with a 2 x 4. Ouch! That’s what it’s like reading through the Sermon on the Mount. Right off the bat, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What was wrong with the scribes and Pharisees? Jesus called them hypocrites because their example and teachings kept people away from God.

The word “hypocrite” was used at that time for stage actors in Greece and Rome who wore masks to reflect particular moods and emotions. The audience never saw the real person. They witnessed only what the mask portrayed.

In the same way, scribes and Pharisees wore “holy masks,” while underneath they were anything but holy!

You and I need to ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. Ask, “Holy Spirit, am I hypocritical in any way?” In some ways, we are all actors and, for that, we need to repent and ask the Lord to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

However, it’s not hypocritical to be nice to someone you don’t like. That’s obedience. God tells us to “love the unlovely,”and we don’t go by our feelings. On the other hand, if you are nice to that person’s face and tear them apart behind their back, you’re a hypocrite. If we act one way at home and another at church, that’s hypocritical.

A true Christian should be kinder to the person no one likes than the person everyone is falling all over. Why? Because he or  she needs their kindness more.

We sing songs in church like, “I Surrender All” but do we? Do we even want to, or are we happy the way we are? We read verses like “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” but do we really?

Have you forgiven those who have wounded you or offend you on a regular basis? Jesus didn’t call the adulterers, the thieves, the drunks and liars “hypocrite.” No, He saved this harshest criticism for the religious church people of His day! I ask myself, “Don’t we all wear masks sometimes? Is it realistic to think that our heart can match what we portray on the outside? Can we truly be righteous inside and out?” And the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!

If it weren’t possible, Jesus would never require it of us. What He requires He supplies. How does He do it? By coming to live inside of us, by filling us with His Holy Spirit, filling us with all righteousness. The Sermon on the Mount is only an impossible standard for us to live by if we refuse to let Jesus be Lord of our lives.

I don’t know about you; I can only speak for myself. I know there are a number of areas in my life that He isn’t Lord over because I haven’t let Him be. But I long for that to change, and I’m working on it.

I want the qualities found in the Sermon on the Mount to be a reality in my life and even in the areas I don’t think I want it. I’m willing to pray, “Lord make me willing to be willing.”

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