We start a brand new series "Draw Near" with Pastor Mark Carrillo setting the stage. Sometimes in our daily walk with the Lord, we find ourselves asking questions like "Is this God moving in my life?", or "What does it feel like to be in his presence?". Sometimes we are left wondering about the presence of God. Pastor Mark begins this series by helping us know how to answer some of these questions. By being confident in knowing the presence of God, we can draw near to deeper relationship with him. Notes below.
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Message Notes:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5, ESV)
Abide — to remain in the same place over a period of time—to remain, to stay
The Church is a Supernatural EntityWe are Spiritual beings in a spiritual community
We accomplish nothing of eternal value without God
The Lordship of Jesus is seen in our willingness to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. But how can we follow Him if we don’t recognize His presence?
Who, or what, are you around that makes you want to love Jesus more?
Who, when you leave their presence, stirs your desire to serve God?
“For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit.” (Romans 8:5, AMP)
Ministry was designed to be presented based
“And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14, ESV)
For the disciples it didn’t matter if Jesus was doing miracles of just giving another sermon, they just had to be where He was.
The One Thing
“Here’s the one thing I crave from God, the one thing I seek above all else: I want the privilege of living with him every moment in his house, finding the sweet loveliness of his face, filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace. I want to live my life so close to him that he takes pleasure in my every prayer.” Psalms 27:4 TPT
Revelation is born out of Relationship, not study.
The moment that the what-He-wants-me-to-do becomes more important to me than Him, I have slipped into a kind of idolatry.
If you want to better discern God’s presence:
1 — Eliminate as much noise as possible.
You only have so much attention to give.
Eliminate the extraneous noise – He’ll thunder by comparison!
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35, ESV)“
And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,” (Matthew 14:23, ESV)
2 —Spend time “listening” – (Spiritual disciplines) Compassion and Attention
He speaks in the nudge, knowing or thought. He also speaks in a still, small voice. The more Word in your heart the easier it is to recognize His voice, the way He speaks. Jesus’ life demonstrated unreserved availability to God.
Spend time doing those things which “gratify the Spirit”
3 — Place High Value on the Presence
Worship focuses us on Jesus. Act as if he were physically present. You can develop a hunger for what you read about and who you listen to.
When the Spirit of God is manifest, He will do what Jesus would do if He were physically present.
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