Tony and the Holy Spirit

Tony and the Holy Spirit
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Friday PM Opening Session
(All Biblical references/verses are NIV, property of Zondervan Inc. used with Permission Etc., see the website for this permission thing. I hate having to do that... seems so commercial. Are there any money changers in the temple courts?... Sorry my bad... let's get back to the good stuff.)

What does it mean for the Holy Spirit to come among us to reveal/exalt Jesus Christ in our life?

What prepares the way for the Lord to come.

Psalm 24 Of David.

Ps. 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
- God is looking for a response from his people where every part of their lives is a passion for Jesus. "Seek first the kingdom of God and then all else will be added."
- God wants to invade every part of our life. All of it.
- Every part of what God has called you to be a part of... Jesus wants to redeem. Jesus wants to redeem all of the earth. He wants to be Lord of everything in our lives.
- Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He wants us to bring the kingdom to those around us. Revealing the kingdom to those around us.
- The world at this time is still in the grasp of the evil one.
- Evil wants to keep its hold on the earth.
- TD shared a example of being a medical doctor in England and the Board of Medicine trying to change the oath that doctors took to allow teenage girls to get abortions without their parents knowledge. TD and 2000 other doctors stood against it and as a result, they backed down. We are called to bring a little bit of the kingdom into all areas of our lives.

Ps. 24:2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

Ps. 24:3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
- He is inviting us to come into God presence. ( John 14:15-21)
- What can we do to cooperate with God to help reveal to the nations Jesus Christ?
- If we do not accept the Holy Spirit role in our lives... are we rejecting Jesus Christ in our lives?
- We need to open the door to Him
- There is a link between obedience and living in the presence of God.
- We can live in the presence of God if we are willing to obey Him?

(John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” NIV)

Ps. 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
- We will experience the guidance of the Holy Spirit at the moment that we are willing to seek holiness in every area of our life.
- TD shared a story about compromise in his life and how it cost him the peace and experience of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit nagged him about the compromise.
- As you cry out to experience the Holy Spirit... you will be reminded of things that you need to put right. The Holy Spirit will guide you to make those things right.
- Until we deal with the lies in our life, the Holy Spirit will not show up. If we are unwilling to deal with the deep issues in our life, God will not show up. He wants us to experience the depth of Him. We must ascend with "Clean hands and a pure heart".
- "Who does not life up our soul to an idol" - Are we taking credit for things that are not of us? The issue is all about our character. Not about our charisma or abilities, it is about our character before God. God knows the inmost souls of each one of us. We must ask Him, "Lord what else do I need to deal with or confess in order to move forward in my relationship with you?"
- Pride is a killer of our souls. It is our greatest idol! What is our idols in our lives?
- TD shared about the arrogance of the idea of "us" and "then". "We have a better grasp of God than the traditional church"... NO THIS IS AN IDOL OF PRIDE. God will not bless us if we live our lives that way. Who are we to look over Jordan and judge others who are working for the kingdom.
- "swear by what is false" - Do we keep our word? Do we follow through with our word even when it hurts.
- TD shared a testimony of a commitment they made to not do church if the Holy Spirit did not show up. We believe that if the presence of God does not show up at our meetings, then we should shut the church down. It happened and the church team let it go and ended up going out to other works in England. If they had not kept their word, Jesus would not have prospered all the other ministries that the house church leaders went to.

Ps. 24:5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.

Ps. 24:6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
- The above desire for holiness needs to be who we are before we seek Him and His face.
- If you want to know Jesus... you better know His Holy Spirit. The two are one. The amazing idea of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is Jesus. They are not separate. They are one.
- When the oxen are not in the stable it is clean... but there is great strength in the ox... When the Holy Spirit is present there is going to be a mess. It is clean when we do not seek him... when we operate with Him... things get messy.
- Look at history of the church. When the Holy Spirit came, there is always a mess... a "thing" that happened that no one could control. We would like it to be neat and orderly, we want God to fit into our paradigm. The rebirth of the church throughout history was messy. Jesus came to destroy the strongholds and wants to give us freedom. On the way to freedom, there is a mess.


Ps. 24:7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
- God can win the battle. "LIFT UP OUR HEADS... THE KING OF GLORY IS COMING!"
- We have been invited to lift up our heads in praise and belief that He can do it.
- Mighty warrior count me in.
- "God dwells in the praises of his people."
- Come Holy Spirit Come!

Ps. 24:8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
- Jesus Christ is King of Glory. He is victorious.

Ps. 24:9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Ps. 24:10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty — he is the King of glory.


James 5: Confess our faults to one another so that we may be healed.
TD asked that we, around our round tables, confess our sins to one another. To complete strangers? Then we are to pray for one another that we would be healed.

(A Bill Note: This is a little weird... I don't know anyone. I will let you know what happens.)

Well nothing happened that was not out of my experience. We, about 7 of us, prayed for three people. Some prayed in tongues, others prayed silently, others gave words of encouragement. It was meaningful. I had a chance to spend some time with a minister who is burnt out. Traditional church burnout. I prayed for him and spent some time encouraging him. He has lost his joy. His heart is tired. I pray that the Lord will minister to this man and his family. God can restore his joy. I will commit to pray for him for the next week.

Resources to look into:
Destined for the Throne (Book recommended by Tony Dale during his challenge.)

Summary:
The Holy Spirit will not make his presence known/felt/experienced in a vessel that is not seeking holiness before God. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit" is a verse that kept coming back to me throughout the talk. Jesus desires to make his supernatural presence know in the lives of each of us, but we must do a number of things... (1) Want it (2) Clean house, sweep out the closets of our souls. By the way, it is not just a once in a lifetime thing, we must continually fight that battle. (3) Remember our position and esteem is in Jesus Christ. Hold our heads high! (4) Be open to His leading and His work for us. It is not for us to "exploit" the Holy Spirit for our ego's or ministries, but rather the Holy Spirit will do whatever it takes to honor and lift up the Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer is a continual theme of this conference. Pray and the Lord will reveal to each of us our sins, shortcomings, unchecked ego's, etc. Ask for forgiveness, confess it to others, seek wholeness in Jesus Christ, His Word, and His power through the Holy Spirit.

What can I say... we need to pray... pray... pray. If God is truly who he says he is, he will speak to our hearts if we listen.

By the way, He is who He says He is. :-)