GOING TO A DEEPER LEVEL #4

THE DARK PLACES
Fear not for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you,I will uphold you with My righteous right hand
Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)

We can all experience dark places in a world where we are trying our best to live in the light.

The fact is we are all flesh and it is our spirit man that dwells in all of us that yearns to connect with God. Without the spirit man we would simply be flesh and have no desire to seek the things of God in our lives.

BRING FEAR INTO THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT YOUR FRIEND
The concept of fear is interesting in that it shows us how we can rob ourselves when fear controls us. I love the picture Israel paints when he talks about throwing all your junk and stuff lying around your home into the closet when people come to visit. When they arrive in your home they ask you what’s in that room over there and we let out an almighty NO!!!!

It is easy to live our lives like that sometimes and we try and hide our fears and concerns in amongst the busyness of life but sometimes we need to let God be God and give those fears up to him.

Living in fear is like a merry-go-round that never stops. You will always stay on the same track your entire life if you allow fear to dictate your steps.

EGO
Some people totally miss it when it comes to this topic. There is a healthy way to accept praise into your world. If someone comes up to us and says good job and we simply point heavenward and declare it’s simply the Lord then we have missed it.

God is using YOU so let his people give you praise. The danger only comes when we take that praise and form an attitude that we are the be all and end all and things only happen in church when we are involved. This is what we call EGO.

WORKING IT OUT IN THE KITCHEN
We all need a secret place where we develop in our relationship and in our worship to our King. Your bedroom, your closet, your study, your little place hidden away at the local park... form a well worn path to your secret place, visit it regularly, and work out your worship heart there.

YOUR FIRST LOVE
Never forget the simplicity of your first love. It’s like when we first meet a romantic partner... things were so simple and you would make every effort to see them and hang out but after a few years the desperation to be together has fallen away and you are now in a routine of normality.

The same can happen with our relationship with God... it’s time to return to your first love again...

MORE THAN WE DESERVE...
The picture we are given of Israel as a 16 year old sneaking out of the house must remind alot of us what we got up to as kids. Israel went to his dad totally expecting to be grounded but his dad told him he could have a later curfew now and entrusted him with more.

This is a great example of the picture we have of how God deals with us. We know we are flesh we do bad stuff and we deserve hell, but the grace of our Lord is more than enough... so much more that he simply says... come home again.