Heart Tracks - Dazzled

13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5:13-14

..."Christ stands alone; and He does not imitate; neither does He court the world in a lame attempt to win the world......St. Ignatius said, 'Apart from Him, let nothing dazzle you. We are allowing everything but 'Him' to dazzle us these days." A.W. Tozer

There are two desperate needs today. First, the Church, His Church, needs to see, really see Jesus Christ. I'm speaking of seeing Him as He is, and not as we've imagined Him to be. I mean seeing even a glimpse of His true glory, of His Light that puts to flight all darkness. I mean seeing His wonder, beauty, majesty, power, and above all, His holiness. In this realm, we can only hope to see just a part of all that, but I wonder if, as Tozer says, we're even seeing Him in part?

The second desperate need then is for the world to be able to see Him in and through His Church. Through you and through me. To see Him in our words as we proclaim Him. To see Him in our hearts as we live for Him. To see Him in our eyes as we tell of Him. To see Him as He is, and not as the lies of this world and the father of lies, satan, has claimed Him to be.

Our flesh loves displays of wonder. Where such displays take place, the crowds will follow....for a time. Then they'll move on to the spot that offers an even greater "show." Tragically, the Church has been seduced into trying to offer a better "show" than the world. We've amped up our use of props and special effects in order to make things more attractive, more fantastic, more dazzling. Sadly though, those who respond to that eventually grow weary of and demand to be stimulated even more. The result then is an exhausted church that wears itself out looking for the next "big thing." We're all trying to "present Jesus," but our hearts and minds are dulled to the fact that we're trying to do that in our own strength. Why can't we see that there is nothing to compare with Christ presenting Himself? Why can't we see that there is nothing more dazzling than the manifest presence of Jesus Christ in the midst of His Church? Why can't we stop trying to "create" an atmosphere of worship and presence, and simply yield ourselves to His Presence and behold Him to appear among us? When we live in the atmosphere of the Kingdom of heaven, we'll never have to strive to create that. It will be the natural outflow of our lives and our churches.

His Word says that He comes to all those who "love His appearing." For such, no props are needed. He manifests Himself to those who love His appearing. He does it individually, and when such gather together, He does so corporately. The atmosphere of the glory of God is present. Someone said that you never need to advertise a fire. Oh, that we in the Church would come to know that reality. May the fire of His Holy Spirit ignite us. May the glory of His Presence never cease to appear to us. May we always be those who "love His appearing." Those who are dazzled by Him alone.

Blessings,
Pastor O