encountering the father heart of God: a vision to go deep in God
1. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS RESTORING THE FIRST COMMANDMENT TO FIRST PLACE
-the reward of a lover is the power to love. a lover will always outwork a worker. when a worker becomes a lover, their paradigm about the work changes greatly.
-our heart must grow in love for God as His blessing increase in our lives.
-the primary goal or assignment in God's will is for us to grow in love, meekness and revelation. if our ministry assignment is our first priority then we easily get burned out and bitter.
2. AFFECTION BASED OBEDIENCE: MOTIVATED BY SATISFACTION IN JESUS
-"affection-based obedience" is obedience that flows from experiencing jesus' affection for us and then giving it back to Him. It is the strongest kind of obedience. it results in the deepest and most consistent obedience. a lovesick person endures anything for love.
-"duty-based obedience" is obedience that does not feel God's presence. God's word requires that we obey God even when we do not feel inspired to do so.
-"fear-based obedience" or "shame-based obedience" is obedience that flows from the fear of being put to shame or the fear of suffering negative consequences. this is biblical. it is not enough to motivate us to consistently resist the pleasures of sin for many years.
-we sin when our heart is unsatisfied with God. the temptation to experience the pleasure of sin is usually more powerful than the fear of punishment. this fear of sin's consequences does not usually overpower the tendency to sin. instead, it causes us to sin in secret.
-we receive revelation of His love and then return it to Him and allow it to overflow to others.
3. GOD DOES NOT CONFUSE SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY WITH REBELLION
-God does not confuse spiritual immaturity with rebellion (the OT law spoke of clean and unclean animals: sheep and swine both become stuck in the mud)
-we must have confidence of our access to the presence of the indwelling Spirit. the Holy Spirit is the glory that Jesus gave us to empower us to walk in unity with God's heart. unity with God's heart is the essence of intimacy with God.
4. SETTING OUR HEART TO KNOW THE FATHER
-we must have a sustained vision to go deep in God by walking in intimacy with Him. We must set our heart like mary of bethany and david did.
-our ministry assignment or our place of function in ministry must be our second priority. it will change through the seasons and it will ebb and flow in terms of momentum and increase. if this is our first priority we will stumble in burn out and bitterness.
-it takes focus and effort to go deep in God. there is a captivity of activity in working for God without acquiring the 'oil of intimacy.' the battle in the natural and in the spirit is for the oil. in the natural, we must drill for oil and mine for gold and diamonds because they do not usually lay on the ground. it is the same in the spirit, we must drill for the 'oil of intimacy' and dig for gold.
