"A thunderstorm of God"

I want to experience God! I dont want to just read about Him, or hear about Him, or sing songs about him, or talk to Him in a one way conversation.You can study the Scriptures, sing hymns, "seek" God, attend church, and constantly talk about God, but all that does is make you hunger more for God. These things in themselves wont bring you closer to God- only the experiencing of God will bring you closer.

We must become a transfigured church, spiritually entering the church, spiritually entering the mystical realms as did Paul upon entering the third heavens where he heard unspeakable things, as Isaiah who beheld the awesome radiance of the Divine Ancient, as Daniel who fell at the feet of Angels radiating divine power, as Moses who trembled at the awesomeness of the divine flame!

In almost 19 years as a Christian I can recall similar encounters- times when mere head knowledge of scripture was rendered mundane by the manifest presence of God. The power of God coming over me upon a mountain and dropping me to my knees on the rock, as the Holy Spirit washed upon me like waves, and for that moment I experienced the true significance of the Rock of Christ~

Or when the firey presence of one fo the Lords holy ones filled my room and I experienced a spiritual form of "Shock and Awe." It was during the recent Iraq war so the term "shock and awe" aptly fit. The fire of the Lord was upon me and I staggered into my hall, fell against the wall, and slumped to the floor. His flame burned pure and clean, leaving me washed and tingling. All I could say is, "uhuhohahok, ok, wow! I t was indescribable, but it was holy and it was profound. No, I was not drinking. No, I was not on drugs. But yes, oh yes, the power of God visited in those moments and I knew intimately the experience of Isaiah and Daniel, and John the Revelator.

Then, at these times, and others like them, the eyes of my understanding become enlightened, the Scriptures rise from the deadness of the letter to become living words of Spirit and truth, yea, the power of God to transform and transfigure, even to transport ones very soul into the heavenly places, bringing you unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, an innumerable company of Angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, to God the Judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling by which we are made righteous before Him.

Yes, our God IS a consuming fire, and this fire, this presence, this experience is lacking in the church. It is denied, it is ridiculed, it is misinterpreted, but very rarely is it accepted as the manifestation of God Himself to His chosen vessels.

We tend to elevate the Prophets and Apostles, as if they were somehow beyond our reach, or above us, but the fact is they were just common men and women like us, and we can attain to the same spiritual heights they did. Moses said "would God that all the Lords people were prophets, and that the Lord would put this spirit upon them!"- (Numbers 11:29).

What did Joel prophecy, that Peter later preached at Pentecost? "It shall come to pass in the last days saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon All Flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy---"~ (Acts 2:17-18) - We should not be intimidated by their experiences, but rather, wee should earnestly seek them.

The people of the Spirit, elect by the fore knowledge of God, can only have an impact on the world if they have first had an impact of the Spirit upon them and within them.

I have visited churches in several states. Some have the fire, some have the thunder, some have the lightning- but most are content with dying coals, and unless the Holy Spirit ignites the fire of Gods presence, there will be no light. They shall be candles under baskets that smolder and wane until they are extinguished by apathy and indifference.

"Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of Thunder---"(Psalm 81:7) Just as in the ancient days, the Lord desires to know his people, to deliver them, and to answer them in the "secret place of Thunder"- that being a secret place between you and God, a place where His Thunder shakes you to your core.

"Clouds and darkness are round about him: Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord; at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

The heavens declare his righteousness. And all the people see his glory"- Psalm 97:2-6) .

Holy Spirit, come and shake this place, rush as a mighty wind, put your words within us, enlighten us with your lightnings, grant us the visions you would have us to have, sent the fire, and the power, fan the fire. Let your voice shake the earth and the heaven, bu which may all know that you are Lord and hath visited your people.

In Jesus name. Amen