November 11, 2012
(These are notes Dee used for the sermon.)
God dwells in our presence especially when we have spent time in His Presence, praises of his people, and remembrances.
Foundational scripture:
- Psalms 36:4-5: Delight in The Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
- John 8:29-30: Christ in the Father and Christ in us
- Romans 8:29-30: Called to glorify
Review of how to love lavishly:
1. Delighting in The Fabulous Five’s of Love
A. Relationship Cycle
1) Infatuation
2) Disillusionment
3) Conflict
4) Resolution
5) Re-choosing
2. Experiencing the Presence through our senses
A. Smell
B. Taste
C. Touch
D. Hear
E. See
3. Speaking love fluently
A. Quality time
B. Receiving gifts
C. Affirming words
D. Acts of service
E. Physical touch
4. Giving a blessing
A. Meaningful touch
B. Spoken word
C. Expressing high value
D. Picturing a future
E. Active commitment
Have you ever spilled milk? This is a story about spilt milk when it came in a glass bottle. (Listen for the elements of loving lavishly.)
This is a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others? He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell (without breaking), spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”
Would that have been your mother’s response?
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk. His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn’t work,” we usually learn something valuable from it.
How can we apply this to our presence?
- How do we experience God? His Presence?
- The same way we experience our world with the added dimension of the spirit.
- Delight brings joy and expectance and openness to adventure.
- Your approach to God?
- Psalms 37:4-5 Delight in God
1. We experience the world through our Five Senses
A. Smell
1) Being an authentic Christian carries the aroma and fragrance of Christ that can be smelled before others get close to you. 2 Corth. 2:3
2) Moses had to wear a veil to tone down his face reflected the light of The Lord.
B. Taste
1) Taste means to experience something that is assimilated into your body, the core of your being, each and every one of your cells.
C. Touch
1) Touch can be physical or emotional
2) Cannot love God without loving your brother 1 John 4:20
3) Do loving things without thinking about it. Matt25:40
D. Hear
1) God’s still small voice 1 Kings 19:12
E. See
1) Living letters from Christ 2 Corth. 3: 2-3
2. Experiencing the Presence through our Breath (His Breath)
The Breath: Acts 17:28 In Him we live and breathe and have our being
Gift from God
A Holy Kiss-The kiss of life
- Holy-we use breath to speak, what are you doing with your holy breath?
- Gift at birth
- Your breath is your connection with God
- It is a holy breath and should be used as such
- The breath has conflict
- Always moving
- When encounters conflict, pause, turns around, keep moving
- Jesus breathed on disciples and us: spirit, close intimacy
- Reminder of God With Us: Emmanuel
- Reminder of God in others; respect, hail, acknowledge
- Let every thing that has breathe, praise The Lord Pslams 150:6
3. Experiencing the Presence through Mercy
The sanctuary in minutia detail dictated by God was an object lesson showing the plan of salvation and His thinking. Every object was a lesson about the character of Christ. The Ark of the Covent was in the most holy place and the Sanctuary especially through The Mercy Seat was the place of the Shekinah Glory. The law was the foundation but the Mercy Seat was on top. Therefore God shows up in mercy. Are you being merciful? Showing God to others through mercy?
The 10 commandments itself was written with God’s own hands and the sanctuary was dictated by him. Ex. 25:22
4. PRAISE:
Approval and commendation; words and acts of homage-respectful deference or worship! John 14:18-20 Christ in The Father, We in Christ, Glorify with response to life.
A. God dwells in our praises
B. Test of faithfulness and trust
C. Hallelujah! Amen!
D. Response instead of reaction
E. God is concerned about our character and not our comfort.
Everything that comes into our lives comes through the bottleneck of God’s hand as He recreates Himself in us; His DNA is being activated to develop our character like His.
F. Hallelujah and Amen to God bottleneck
G. Loving lavishly
H. Speaking the 5 languages of love fluently
5. REMEMBRANCES
God calls us to remember. Consciousness precedes being. Be aware of the movement of God in your life.
A. The Sabbath 4th commandment calls us to remember, calls us to a date with God Ex:20:8
B. A blessed time Gen.:2:2
C. The Holy Communion-remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection
D. You are blessed to be a blessing
E. Relationships cycles: infatuation, disillusion, conflict, resolution, and re-choosing
F. How to give a blessing
PRESENCE
Remember Robert and the milk:
His mother had a presence that changed his life because he remembered her presence.