Priscilla Shirer shares a message on TBN’s Praise about the joy found in experiencing life with Jesus! “This video was brought to you by TBN Networks® WATCH full Praise episodes for free on the TBN app: https://watch.tbn.org/praise
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/ praisetbn NEED PRAYER? TBN’s Prayer Partners would love to prayer with you and are available 24/7: 714-731-1000 (U.S. and Canada) and +1-714-731-1000 (International). On the air since 1973, TBN’s flagship ministry and talk show Praise is one of the most recognizable — and most watched — Christian programs in the world. Taped before a live audience and hosted by TBN’s own Matt and Laurie Crouch along with other popular personalities, Praise features the best in contemporary Christian music and worship, fresh and impacting ministry voices, engaging interviews from a wide variety of guests, and a fast-moving hour of relevant talk you won’t want to miss! #praise #tbn #priscillashirer 00:00 Intro 00:40 Desensitized to God’s Presence 10:32 Awaken Your Desire for Jesus 11:23 When God’s Ways are Unexpected 18:33 Our Affluence Can Distract Us from Intimacy with God 26:58 The Power of the Holy Spirit 35:48 The Favor of God 36:53 A Life of Holiness
could it be that we have lived in this
neighborhood of blessing for so long
that when the train of God’s glory wants
to fall in unusual way when he wants to
show up in power and in glory that we
have become so used to it that we don’t
even recognize his blessing anymore
that we’ve become so desensitized to
God’s presence Among Us that it doesn’t
cause us as it always should for us to
fall into our knees and adoration our
arms outstretched in worshiped that God
would visit us in this unique beautiful
way Lord help us to never be
desensitized to the train of your glory
so glad to be with all of you listen
don’t even take your seat yet let me
just let me just go ahead and read God’s
word over you while you’re standing is
that all right I think every now and
then we ought to just stand up when
God’s word is read just to remind
ourselves who’s talking to us
listen to Luke chapter 2 verse 21
through about verse 32 or so when Jesus
was about eight days uh were completed
he was circumcised his name was then
called Jesus
the name given by the angel before he
was conceived and when the days for
purification according to the law of
Moses were completed that’s about 40
days after Jesus was born or so so he’s
40 days old they brought him into
Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
every firstborn male that opens the womb
Shall be Called holy to the Lord and
they came to offer sacrifices according
to what was said of the law of the Lord
a pair of turtle doves or two young
pigeons and behold somebody say behold
come on y’all say behold
oh there was a man in Jerusalem this
guy’s name was Simeon and he was
righteous and devout and looking for the
consolation of Israel and the Holy
Spirit was on his life
[Music]
and it had been revealed to him by the
spirit that he would not see death until
he had caught sight
of Jesus
so he came into the spirit into the
temple and when the parents brought in
the Child Jesus to carry out the custom
of the law Simeon saw him he recognized
that this little baby was Jesus Christ
he gathered the baby up in his arms he
blessed the child and he said Lord now
you can let me depart in peace I don’t
have to see anything else I haven’t yet
seen this guy perform one Miracle
Lazarus hadn’t been raised from the dead
the sick have not yet been healed deaf
ears haven’t yet been opened I haven’t
seen any of that but once I’ve caught
sight of the savior
Lord he says you can let me depart in
peace because my eyes have seen your
salvation which you’ve prepared in the
presence of all the people he’s a light
of Revelation to the Gentiles and the
glory of thy People Israel thank you for
letting me see
Jesus
Lord open up our eyes so that we can see
you Lord open up our spiritual ears so
that we can hear you God we are sitting
on the edge of our seat because we are
anxious to see how you will introduce
reintroduce yourself to us today Lord
I’m so grateful that all of us is here
but we didn’t come to see each other we
came to see you
so Lord come we’re your daughters and we
want to see you in Jesus name everybody
agreed when they said amen
give somebody a high five before you
take your seat
[Applause]
I’m so grateful and I’m so honored to
have an opportunity to be here with you
and to share in God’s word I believe in
the power of the word of God I I do
parent uh Chris just told you three sons
they are giants I just have Giants
walking around my house my nearly 16
year old is six foot two inches tall his
14 year old brother is the exact same
height they both wear size 14 men’s shoe
my youngest son his name is Jude so I’ve
got Jackson Jerry Jr and Jude and we
named our third son Jude on purpose
because y’all that’s as close as I could
get to Revelation because it is finished
that is it it’s the end of the line
and they’re Giants somebody come help me
feed these people that’s all I do is try
to feed the boys and I remember this
particular weekend because I was in
Memphis Tennessee there were very little
at the time and I remember being very
very tired on this particular trip I
could not wait to get to the location in
Memphis Tennessee so I could get to the
hotel I’d had an early flight and was
very excited to be at the hotel early so
that I could immediately go and get in
the bed and go to sleep early that night
I was so happy to have that opportunity
and so I arrived in Memphis Tennessee
was picked up at the the airport driven
by a sweet woman who had come from the
church where I was going to be at their
conference she’d come and pick me up
took me to the hotel and it was about 7
30 in the evening I was so happy she
said would you like to go out to dinner
first I was like oh no I get to go into
this hotel room all by myself and have
the bed all to myself I could not wait
so I lay down watched a little something
on television I’m thinking about 8 30 I
mean I was out I needed all those hours
of rest
accept that around 3 A.M or so I was
Jarred awake jolted awake by a train
that started to go by right outside the
back of the hotel there were train
tracks that were just a few feet behind
the hotel the conductor was sitting on
the horn the entire time that all of the
cars of the train went by I was jolted
awake and I went immediately to the
window and looked outside and I saw how
close that that train actually was and
then you know you have to kind of sit
there and wait for the whole thing to
pass and this wasn’t a small train this
was one that goes on and on and on
finally it passed and I tried to get
back to sleep but really couldn’t Nestle
down into a good sleep I knew I had to
be up really early in the morning so I
couldn’t sleep real well but did my best
got up in the morning the sweet woman
from the church came picked me up I got
in the car didn’t say anything about the
train had a great long day at the church
at the conference and then could not
wait to get back to the hotel so that I
could try to get a good night’s sleep
this was going to be the night that I
got all my good hours of sleep in before
having to go home the next day and so I
laid down in the bed about 8 30 9
o’clock in the evening fell into a very
deep sleep until 3 A.M in the morning
when a train went roaring by the
conductor sitting on the horn the entire
time that the train went by this time I
was jolted awake went and looked at the
train outside of the window and I
thought I can’t wait for the sweet woman
from the church to come pick me up
so that I can tell her about this train
that is passing by right outside the
door or outside the back of this hotel
so when she came I sat down in the car I
said thank you so much for picking me up
I gotta ask you about this train I
described to her how at three o’clock in
the morning for the last two nights this
train had gone roaring by in the back of
the hotel as I explained it to her I
felt bad for her because it was like it
was occurring to her Dawning on her like
she was reminded about this train that
comes to their Community her eyes were
as wide as saucers and she said
Priscilla I am so sorry I I totally
forgot about that train and she said the
reason why is because those of us who
live in this community have gotten so
used to the sound of the train that we
don’t even recognize it anymore that
train comes by two or three times a week
every week and we paid little attention
to it because we’ve lived here so long
that we’ve gotten so used to the sound
of the train that when it comes we don’t
recognize it we’ve been desensitized to
the train in this community it occurs to
me that those of us who live
particularly in this part of the world
where we have been all
the only blessed by the presence and the
power of God Among Us where here in this
country you and I can go on a Saturday
to a Christian women event like this one
or we can go to a Christian bookstore
when we could pick up any Bible in any
translation in any language or we can
turn on Christian radio and listen to
gospel if you like that or contemporary
Christian music if you like that we have
options available to us could it be that
we have lived in this neighborhood of
blessing for so long
when the train of God’s glory wants to
fall in unusual way when he wants to
show up in power and in glory that we
have become so used to it that we don’t
even recognize his blessing anymore
that we’ve become so desensitized to
God’s presence Among Us that it doesn’t
cause us as it always should for us to
fall to our knees in adoration our arms
outstretched and worshiped that God
would visit us in this unique beautiful
way Lord help us to never be
desensitized to the train of your glory
and in the Old Testament or in the New
Testament rather in the Book of Luke
Luke’s gospel I love so much because
Luke writes about people who encounter
the train of God’s glory in the person
of Jesus Christ he gives a story after
Story encounter after Encounter of Jesus
meeting with people and transforming
their life he included a handful of
these stories so that you and I would be
not only reminded of their Encounter
With Jesus but recognize that they are
not exceptions to the rule they are
examples for us of the encounters that
we should also expect to have with Jesus
and listen this should be your goal not
just hearing about him but experiencing
him that should be your goal like your
appetite should be wet your heart should
Hunger for More Than Just a knowledge of
who Jesus is you ought to come to the
place I ought to come to the place in my
relationship with the Lord where more
than anything else we want to see him
with our own eyes we want to hear his
voice with our own ears that the same
God who divided the Red Sea in the Old
Testament the same God who raises
Lazarus from the dead in the New
Testament the same God that are those
things we don’t want to just celebrate
it in the lives of other people we want
to stand in line to have an encounter
with God like that ourselves
Luke writes about encounters because he
wants to wet our appetite to have an
encounter with Jesus Christ because
listen y’all we have wasted our time if
all we’ve done is come here on this
Saturday to applaud what Jesus did
yesterday I’m so glad about what my God
has done yesterday but I want to see him
today anybody interested I want to see
him in my own marriage and in my own
finances and raising my kids and on my
job and in my Ministry I want to see and
encounter the power of the almighty
Living God
that’s what today is about
it’s to make you hungry again it’s to
wet your appetite again it’s to not let
when the day ends something to end in
your life but really to launch you
forward to a brand new beginning and an
adventure with Jesus Christ so Luke
writes about encounters and he writes
during a time when the nation of Israel
is experiencing National depravity and
Decay they have been oppressed by
oppressors who have come in and stolen
from them much of what they valued they
are living in a in a place of Oppression
and a place of Destruction and look
right to them during this time when
their nation is in trouble and I don’t
know if if you’ve noticed or not but our
nation is in trouble we are living
during a time of moral and social Decay
and decline like never before and listen
the more God is marginalized the more
he’s segmented to the periphery of
society the more he has completely
ignored or disregarded the more we will
continue to see an influx of chaos and
an influx of destruction in our nation
but Luke doesn’t just write to people
who have National trouble Luke is
writing to people that have individual
personal struggles they’ve been waiting
on a hero to show up they’ve been
waiting for the kingdom of God to be at
hand they’ve been waiting for the
Prophecies of old to come to Florissant
that there would be a messiah a savior
who would come and rescue them from all
that they’ve been experiencing
nationally but also the things that they
have been experiencing personally
so I know our nation is in trouble but I
didn’t really come to talk to you today
about what’s happening in the White
House I want to talk to you about what’s
happening in your house
underneath the roof of your home the
trouble that might be happening in your
marriage the thing that causes the tears
to fall down from your eyes in regards
to your kids or your finances or your
health or on your job or in your
ministry you like the children of Israel
like me been waiting on a hero somebody
who can come in and Speak Life to the
dead places and refresh the dry places
of our life Luke is writing for people
who need an encounter with a God Like
That
and I just want to tell any of you that
might be in a struggle personally
underneath the roof of your own house
and the landscape of your own house and
you’re in a struggle you’re in a time
like Luke writes to where man things are
just plain old flat out difficult I just
want to
suggest to you the possibility
that sometimes
sometimes your difficulties are less
about the Enemy being against you
and more about God wanting to show you
what it looks like when he’s for you
sometimes the stuff that you are facing
the stuff that I’m facing that are
difficult it’s less about the Enemy
being against you and sometimes it’s
just about God allowing a stage to be
set in your life to where when he shows
up you will never ever doubt again that
you’ve had an encounter with Jesus
so the children of Israel need an
encounter with a messiah they need an
encounter with Jesus Christ and finally
Jesus arrives on the scene after 400
years of Silence between the Old
Testament and the New Testament Jesus
arrives on the scene after centuries of
waiting after prophecy Desiring to be
fulfilled Jesus shows up on the scene
their hope has finally be been fulfilled
but here’s the tragedy when he comes he
does not come as they supposed he would
he is not on the throne he is not riding
a white horse he is not coming in power
and Vengeance and Authority that they
had mirrored in their oppressors that
they had pictured that their Messiah
would come in no he is born as a baby
all of that deity and authority and
miraculous working power that they
longed for was packaged in the skin of
humanity and a small human at that this
is not what they wanted it’s not what
they recognized it wasn’t the
expectation they had built up in their
heads so when he came they did not
recognize him
when he showed up because he was not in
the package that they had pictured in
their minds
he didn’t come in the package they had
prayed for
he had come in a different way because
he did not meet their expectations when
he showed up they did not recognize him
in the passage that we read Jesus is
being brought into the temple he is
being carried by his mother Mary Joseph
is along for the ride as well they have
come with Jesus about 40 days old into
the temple they are in a religious
gathering where people have come to
perform their religious duties
and all the people who were gathered
that day are in the presence of the one
they prayed for and do not know him when
he comes
would you please notice that they’re not
just anywhere
they are in the temple
and still don’t recognize the presence
of God
I want to suggest to you that it is
possible to be at Propel and not CG
I want to tell you that it is possible
for you to be in your church every
single Sunday which I pray you are but
you can be in your church and not have
an encounter with Jesus
I want to tell you that I’m so glad many
of you are in Bible study stay in Bible
study but you can read a verse a day to
keep the devil away until you are blue
in the face
but if you read the scriptures with a
hardened heart with your eyes not open
you can be filling your days with the
duty of religious activity and never
catch sight of the lover of your soul
never have an encounter an experience
with Jesus all these people were in the
presence of Jesus Christ and did not
know him when he came
because oftentimes many times
when the Lord comes to minister to you
to speak into your life circumstances he
will come in a way that is not the way
you expect it
why because his ways are not our ways
his thoughts are not our thoughts as
high as the heavens are above the Earth
that’s how high his ways and his
thoughts are above our own and what I
attempt to do what you often attempt to
do I’m sure is to dumb him down so that
his ways match our ways his thoughts
match our thoughts we want him to answer
our prayers the way we’ve prayed them we
want the solutions that work out in our
minds to be the solutions that will be
best given the scenario that we see
given the prayer requests that we’ve
prayed but y’all sometimes we pray for
growth and he answers with rain
sometimes we pray for oak trees and he
answers with an acorn
and when the answer comes for your
marriage when the answer comes for your
parenting when the solution that God
listened today God is going to give some
of you Solutions and divine strategies
for things that are happening in your
life and on your job and in your
finances the struggles that you’re
facing and I’m saying when he answers if
the answer does not come in the package
that you have expected will you miss it
because you want your way not his way
and so Jesus he comes and he’s in a pool
of religious people and they do not
recognize the presence of God near them
now I want to open up a little
parenthesis here before we jump to a
specific person that I want to draw your
attention to he’s the only person in the
text who actually sees Jesus but I want
to open up a little parenthesis because
you may have recognized that Luke went
into a whole lot of detail to tell us
something about the text it’s one thing
I love about Luke is that he gives us
details I like all the juice and all the
details out of the text so that I can
get a full picture painted of what’s
happening in the story and Luke wants us
to know that that Mary and Joseph are
coming for the ceremonial dedication of
their firstborn son that’s what
everybody did they would come to
Jerusalem particularly during this time
when they had a newborn son to present
their newborn son to the Lord get the
picture of this the Lord in this case is
being presented to the Lord
and they come in and Luke writes and
tells us exactly what they have with
them other than the baby Jesus says that
Mary had two turtle doves or two pigeons
for her sacrifice now that wouldn’t
really be of interest except that we
know from Leviticus from the sacrificial
system that had been set up divinely
mandated by God in Leviticus that when
someone came to make their sacrifices
they did need two animals to be
sacrificed one was a pigeon or a turtle
dove the other was supposed to be a lamb
that they were supposed to bring a lamb
with them but we find in Luke’s gospel
that he’s made sure we know Mary and
Joseph do not have their own lamb Luke
chapter 12 tells us or Leviticus chapter
12 tells us that there was a caveat for
why someone would not bring a lamb to be
sacrificed there’s one little verse Luke
chapter 12 verse 8 or so that says if
someone could not afford a lamb if
they’re fine Financial Resources were so
that they could not buy for themselves a
lamb to bring into the temple to be
sacrificed there would be an exception
made for them they could bring two
turtle doves instead of one turtle dove
and a lamb they could just bring two
turtle doves but that was a symbol of
the fact that they were insufficient in
some way they did not have the finance
finances to buy their own lamb which
means
when Mary and Joseph came on that
particular day with their two turtle
doves in tow people would have
automatically looked at them and
recognized them as a couple who had
insufficient funds as a couple who was
inadequate in some way as a couple who
had lack and who had knees I wonder how
many people turned their noses up at the
couple who could not afford their own
lamb I wonder how many people ignored
the poor couple who didn’t fit in with
everybody else who had been able to
purchase their own lamb I wonder how
many people did not get an opportunity
to have an encounter with the baby Jesus
because they ignored the people who had
him carried in their arms
I want to speak to who anybody who’s in
this room and you’ve ever felt excluded
or ignored from The Clique of people who
have the money to buy their own lamb
they drive the car and they live in the
house and they’re able to to communicate
or to experience life in a certain way
that that man you just can’t afford
maybe you’ve got lacked financially or
you’ve got lack emotionally you have
lack relationally you have poured
everything out and you find it that
you’ve got insufficient funds in some
way in your life and you can’t afford
what it looks like everybody else can
afford and you’ve been ignored or
ostracized people have turned their
noses up at you can I just tell you that
sometimes you don’t need to have your
own lamb when you can carry the Lamb of
God that takes away the sins of the
world
in fact
the lamb is most often best experienced
in the lives of those who have
insufficient funds
in fact I think it is our affluence that
keeps us from actually having an
encounter with the Living God we’ve
become so used to being able to bless
ourselves
that we don’t have a real authentic
relationship with the blessor
we are so affluent we have Prosperity
particularly in this part of the world
where listen if you’re poor in this
country you’re rich in other countries
and here where we’ve been able to
sustain ourselves where we know where
our next meal is coming from where we
choose from a closet full of clothes as
to what clothes we’re going to wear to a
particular event where we might have
Financial struggles everything is not
perfect but we still have our daily
needs met it is sometimes in our
affluence because our arms are so full
of the Lambs we have bought for ourself
we actually don’t even have room we
don’t have margin to have an intimate
ongoing relationship with the Lamb of
God that takes away the sins of the
world Lord forgive us when we’ve turned
our noses up at people who don’t have
all of the external markings of
affluence in doing that we have missed
out on the blessing of having a
relationship with the people who often
have the most intimate relationships
with Jesus Christ
because sometimes y’all those people are
not in this in the spotlight they’re the
ones behind the scenes sometimes those
are the people that are not in mega
churches they’re in storefront churches
sometimes there are the people that are
not the ones on the platform with the
microphone in their hands they’re the
people that volunteer their time to
clean up in a sanctuary like this to
sweep up after us they’re the people who
volunteer their time to be in the Sunday
school teaching our second graders and
third graders so that you and I can
enjoy an opportunity like that Lord
forgive us when we ignore those people
and clamor after the people whose gifts
happen to put them in the spotlight but
we ignore those people who are who are
uh an intercessory prayer who are on
their knees in the secret quiet places
the Lamb of God tucked within their arms
having an intimate encounter with him
but we ignore them because they don’t
look like us or dress like us or drive
what we drive or live where we live
so if you’ve ever been that person
the text speaks to you today that it was
Mary and Joseph who did not have what
everybody had
but they had
what everybody else didn’t have
and so they come into the building
nobody recognizes that
accept one person
Luke writes at the top of the passage
he writes and beholds somebody say
behold
come on y’all say behold
anytime an author in the text writes
that word it isn’t a throwaway word it
isn’t something that you just need to
skip or skim over quickly anytime you
read behold in the text the author is
trying to tell you lean in put your chin
in your hands just in case you kind of
fell asleep during all the minutia and
the fine details that led up to this
moment this is when the author wants you
to open up your eyes and sit up straight
because there’s somebody he wants you to
meet
he says behold there was a man named
Simeon and when no one else recognized
the presence of God when God came near
there was one guy who did
and if in this room today
there are only going to be a handful of
us who actually have an encounter with
God I’m talking about where we hear his
voice when we our hearts are set aflame
by the Holy Spirit when you when we get
some some direction for the purpose that
he has for our life if they’re going to
be a whole lot of us who have an
experience today but only a few that
actually encounter the Living God that I
don’t know about you but if there’s only
going to be a few I want to be one of
them anybody
so Luke says pay attention because
there’s one guy that’s going to show you
how to have your eyes open so that you
aren’t just in the religious place but
so that you encounter a holy living God
he says there’s a man named Simeon he’s
righteous devout
he’s looking for the consolation of
Israel his eyes are open peeled to the
Horizon waiting for Jesus in whatever
package he chooses to come waiting for
an encounter with the long-awaited
Messiah
then he gives us at least the one there
are many throughout this text but the
one characteristic of his life that I
believed opened up simeon’s eyes to
catch sight of God that will open up our
eyes to catch sight of God he says at
the bottom of verse 25 he says and the
Holy Spirit
was upon him
Luke says simeon’s I
because
God’s spirit was on him
the holy spirit is the greatest gift you
will ever receive this side of Eternity
the moment you place faith in Jesus
the moment you receive Jesus as your
personal savior I don’t know if you knew
it or not but you received in that
moment the greatest gift you will ever
receive the holy spirit of God
and the Holy Spirit is not a ghost or a
wind or a fire or a dove he is often
symbolized by those things but y’all
they ain’t who he is
the holy spirit is the third person of
the Trinity not third because he is
least in value just third because he is
the last to be revealed to us in the
pages of scripture but all of the
fullness all of the Power all of the
authority all of the greatness all of
the Grandeur of God the father is in the
person of the Holy Spirit which means
when you place faith in Jesus Christ and
the Holy Spirit takes up residence in
you
that now means that all of the Power all
of the glory all of the Grandeur all of
the greatness of God the father now
lives on the inside of you Ephesians
chapter 1 says the moment you believe
you receive the holy spirit with promise
you are not waiting on the Holy Spirit
you have the Holy Spirit right now you
did not receive the holy spirit in
installment plans
you can’t give away a person in parts
all of the Holy Spirit you ever gonna
get you got the moment you got saved now
we need to be filled by God’s spirit as
we yield to his conviction in our life
in obedience
as what is happening in US becomes an
outward expression as our behavior is
modified as we are Sanctified somebody
say sanctified
that means as we are molded into the
image of Christ Jesus so that we start
to think like him and talk like him and
walk like him and behave like Jesus
Jesus behaved we need to be filled by
God’s spirit but when you got saved
listen to me you received the Holy
Spirit of God God’s spirit is in you the
benefit of this is all of the fruit of
God’s spirit is available to you that
means that that there is gentleness
that you don’t have in your own natural
ability for that person or that problem
that now you are able to have that is
beyond your own natural capacity because
the Holy Spirit what he does is help us
to live beyond ourselves when we’ve come
to the end of our patience you know with
that one co-worker that one that if she
says one more thing to you you go knock
her out that one
the holy spirit is the one that gives
you patience when your patience has long
since run out the holy spirit is the one
who gives you self-discipline so that
you have discipline in areas where you
know left to your own natural desires
and propensities you would not have
discipline in that area of morality or
that area of gluttony you wouldn’t have
discipline but now because the Holy
Spirit lives on the inside of you you
can live beyond your natural capacities
anybody excited about that the holy
spirit gives you fruit so that you are
able to have more than what you would
have if left to your own
but you don’t just get his fruit you get
his gifts
the holy spirit gives you gifts through
which you can edify the body of Christ
he turns what would have maybe possibly
been just a talent into a gift that
actually causes what you do or what you
craft to actually get to the hearts of
the people that you are singing to or
speaking to or dancing for or writing to
those people now don’t just read words
on a page that you wrote now the words
are like fire shut up in their soul it
changes their heart it renews their mind
it accomplishes spiritual purposes in
their life so listen if you’re a writer
well then write do your best work but in
the end what you’re praying for is that
God’s spirit will anoint your words with
power and with fire to affect people for
the glory of God
don’t you speak
ask God for fire on your message
don’t just dance perfect your craft but
in the end what you’re looking for is
not just Talent
what you want is a gift
and there’s no amount of manufacturing
that can give what only the Holy Spirit
can give
so when the Holy Spirit takes up
resonance on the inside of you and on
the inside of me at the moment we are
saved we have the privilege of having
relationship with Jesus Christ having
relationship with God having
communication with him because of the
holy spirit that lives on the inside of
us that if when God sent his son Jesus
to die on the cross if when we received
that gift we got a ticket to Eternity
and that was all we got just that we
knew we were saved from Death hell and
the grave and we got to experience
eternity with Jesus Christ listen if
that’s all we ever got out of this
salvation deal that would have been
enough for us to celebrate for the rest
of our days but when that might have
been enough for us it wasn’t enough for
him
he said no I’m gonna send you the holy
spirit so that I don’t you don’t have to
wait to get to heaven to experience
heaven but so that you can have a little
bit of heaven right now while you’re
here on planet Earth I’m going to give
you myself in the person of the holy
spirit so that you will see what it’s
like to walk with me and talk with me
and have friendship with me and an
ongoing relationship with me that is
what it means to have the Holy Spirit
but Luke says
that Simeon did not just have the spirit
in him
it says that the spirit was
upon him
this tells us that there is a difference
between the spirit being in you
and the spirit being on you
I want to live a life
that invites the presence of God’s
spirit
on me
I know he’s in me but I want the kind of
life that is a magnet that calls down
the grace the favor the anointing the
presence of God upon my life I want to
live in such yielded surrender to him
that not just is he in me that’s a gift
that all of us get who have placed faith
in Jesus Christ but I don’t just want
him in me I want him on my life
I want the evidence of him on my life I
want it so that when I do something or
say something or participate in
something or pray over something I want
it so that when I walk away people don’t
just say Priscilla was here I want them
to say no God’s presence was here that
only happens when the spirit of God is
on you
and so if you want to Mother your kids
in such a way that you leave the imprint
of God on those kids the spirit can’t
just be in you he got to be on you
if you want to be the wife that God has
called you to be single woman if you
want to be the kind of single woman that
God has called you to be if you want to
be the kind of employer or employee that
God has called you to be if you want to
walk with purpose in the way that God
has called you to then thank the Lord
that God’s spirit is on you
but I’m asking that God will allow it
there to be 2 000 women who leave this
place today at the end of the day and
God’s spirit isn’t just in us but God’s
spirit is on us where we are marked by
the presence of God where when people
encounter us there’s something unusual
something distinct something that they
cannot touch or taste or communicate
with their five physical senses there’s
an intangible that is on their life
where when the employer is looking to
give the promotion it’s not that your
resume says you are the most qualified
out of all the candidates but there’s
something about you that they just
can’t put a finger on that’s called the
spirit of God being on you
it’s called
favor
is what opens up doors no man can shut
favor is what puts you in places you
know you don’t have no business being in
favor is what sets you in positions that
you know you aren’t qualified for say
favor is what makes it so that you are
exactly where you’re supposed to be to
accomplish exactly what it is that God
has set for you to come it’s it’s what
qualifies you when you don’t have the
degree and you don’t have the diploma
you don’t have the connections you’re
just where God has opened up a door for
you to be and even though people might
talk badly about you or try to push you
out of that place you cannot be moved
not because you manufactured your way
there but because God’s spirit has
placed you there
God’s spirit on your life
is what makes it so that you don’t have
to Market yourself because you’ve
already been marked by the presence of
almighty God
oh I want God’s spirit on me can I tell
you this are you listening
there is one thing that attracts the
presence of God to rest on our lives
and it is
plain old
flat out
old school
I implore you Sisters by the mercies of
God
to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling by which you have been called
that if you come if I come into this
room and we celebrate till we are blue
in the face and we wave our hands and we
read the scriptures and we worship but
we walk out of here and we live in a way
that is incongruent
with everything that we’ve heard here
today
if we do not choose to walk in a way
that honors God we will have wasted the
time that we have spent here
and if there is something that breaks my
heart for my own generation and the
generation coming up after me
is that social media has made it so that
we are more interested in impressing
people
than walking holy before our God
we are more in more instant in being
perfectly lit
lit making sure that we’re laying up
Treasures for ourselves in heaven
Lord help us
when because of our hubris because of
our arrogance because of our pride we
are more interested in receiving the
Applause of people than we are of making
sure that we will receive the Applause
of Heaven
but a day is coming y’all sooner than we
think where we’re going to look our
savior in his face where we’re going to
see him face to face and when we see him
he will not ask me how many Instagram
followers I had
he will not wonder how many people liked
my message on Twitter what he’ll ask me
is number one did I have a relationship
with his son Jesus
and then I will give an account
you will give an account
and I don’t know about y’all but when I
give an account I’m looking for a well
done
not because I necessarily please people
but because he is pleased with my life
and the one thing that invites the favor
of God on our life like Simeon that will
open our eyes to see him more clearly so
that we don’t miss him when he comes
into our circumstances trying to speak
to us to answer us to make himself
apparent in our lives the one thing that
opens up our eyes is God’s spirit on us
and if you want if I want God’s spirit
on our lives then we got to decide to
live holy
I implore you by the mercies of God to
lay aside every sin every hindrance
anything that is keeping you entangled
so that you cannot run with endurance
the race that is set before you
any relationship severate at the past so
that you can walk holy sister
any addiction any habit any lifestyle
choice that is keeping you from being
free and walking in Victory in Jesus
name Let It Go by the power of the holy
spirit so that he can rest on your life
going to church is good but it’s not
enough
doing your Bible study oh it’s great but
it’s not enough if you want God’s
presence on you marking you making you
distinct and different from the people
around you then you gotta walk in a
manner worthy of the Lord
be ye
it’s not perfection
it is a call to yield to the power of
the holy spirit in you so that you do
not give way to all the desires of your
flesh
what it means is that you have not
chosen as a lifestyle
an attitude or an action that you
already know is displeasing to God you
know up front that you’ve already got on
your calendar after this is over a place
you’re going or a person you’re seeing
that you know you don’t have business
any business being in relationship with
but you’ve already scheduled sin into
your calendar
I’m saying walk away from everything
that is keeping you from having the
biggest most amazing blessing you can
have on your life and that is God’s
presence
marking you all up on you setting you
apart girl for his purposes and with his
power evident through your life if you
were in this room and you are in Chains
in some area of your life where you’ve
tried the 12-step program you’ve tried
to walk away from that illegitimate
relationship you’ve tried to not live
this lifestyle because you know that it
is out of alignment with the truth of
God but everything you’ve tried in your
own power has not set you free so that
you can walk in Holiness and have God’s
presence resting on your life I believe
that before this day is over those
chains can fall off of your life that
you can decide that I’m going to live
holy so that I can have God’s favor like
Simeon so that my eyes can be opened
because I want to see my God I want to
hear his voice I want to have an
experience and an encounter with him