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THE EXCHANGE IN GOD PRESENCE

The God we serve is a loving God and Father. All through the Bible we read and see several accounts of God reaching out to man in his low state- in this state God always touches man in a most profound way and makes exchanges with man’s low state for HIS HIGH STATE.
What do I mean by saying man’s low state and God’s high state? In Isaiah 55 vs.8-9 (KJV) God said “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
From the above scripture we understand that God thinks from higher state thoughts of greatness for our lives and He also walks in a higher way than our little mind can fathom.
God is always reaching out to man to make an exchange of His higher thoughts and ways with man’s inferior thoughts and ways.
It is the exchanges that God makes in our lives all in attempt to mould us to be like Him that I call the great exchange.
There are several of these exchanges. The very first of them was after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Many years after the fall we read and understood from scriptures like John 3 Verse 16 and Romans 5 vs 8 that God extending His love towards us and exchanged our death with His ABUNDANT LIFE. This exchange is the most important of all the other exchanges mentioned in the Bible. The saving of a soul is the biggest miracle ever in the human history.
In first Peter 2 Verse 24 and Isaiah 53 Verse 5 we have the package of God’s healing and health for our body. This also, is another gracious exchange extended by God to man. Yet, another exchange is what we read in 2 Corinthians 8 vs 9. Our poverty was exchanged for great immeasurable riches of God
How? By Christ who is God’s gift and channel of exchanged for man’s low state becoming poor in place of man’s poverty.
All these are great exchanges God has freely given to man. However, the condition to enjoy this benefit lies in the ability of man (you and I) to make right, appropriate choices. To follow God, choose life and live or go the contrary way and have destruction.
Yet, there is one exchange I really want to dwell on which I haven’t mentioned. As children of God, you will agree with me if you have tasted a little of God’s presence that it is truly awesome and is something you cannot live without.
This drives me home to the major topic of this article, I don’t know about you, but I have discovered that there is always some thing compelling in God’s presence that keeps you in there when you get into that cloud, such that you feel too safe and secure, you don’t want to try another life aside that.
When we get into true worship of the Father especially through songs of worship and praise, you may begin as an ordinary flesh, with your lips realising words of adoration and honour. Gradually, you ascend to join the host of heaven. Soon you become engulfed in His awesome, majestic splendour.
It is at this point something happens. Your fleshy unworthiness is exchanged in God’s presence and every sense of insecurity is dropped right there and never returns with you.
It’s such an encounter in God’s presence Prophet Isaiah had in Isaiah 6 vs 1-8, after which he became available for God’s usage.
What I’m saying here is: when your unworthiness and weaknesses are exchanged in God’s presence for God’s worthiness and strength, God commits a ministry to your hand. Pulpit or non-pulpit, it does not matter. What matters is there is a message instructing us on what to do. What do I really mean? I view ministry in this light: “Ministry is simply testimonies of how Christ transformed our weakness to strength, and enabled us to tell it to others.
That’s why in ministry, what you have not experienced, you cannot share with others. Any lesson you haven’t learnt you can’t teach. When we approach the presence of God daily with an attitude of total surrender in true worship, not complaining and requesting. He exchanges our weakness with His strength. That is why when we go to God’s presence to worship Him truly one of the things that happens is that we are refreshed by the time we are leaving His presence and the exchanged is already done, because as we entered is never same way we return. We entered as people with limitation but leave seeing no limitations before us. We may enter having so many issues on our minds and leave having no issues but solutions. We entered especially burdened and maybe heavy in spirit but we feel free and refreshed.
The secret to endless power/ strength (whatever ministry you are involved in right now pulpit or non pulpit) is staying always in God’s presence every day. By this I mean, through daily worship and creating an atmosphere of worship around you while working through out the day.
If God’s presence is around you, satan’s presence can’t be near too. That means you will be having days of fulfilments. I have discovered for myself that when every I get into true worship every confusion or negativism is stopped and are turn for my favour. So, I’ve decided not to let negative atmosphere build around me before changing it. What I do is create the atmosphere I want, God’s atmosphere around me, so the opposite will never raise its ugly head at all.
In conclusion, I was enjoying God’s presence on June 25th 2003, when He spoke to my heart these words “Every ministry is built on a story. NO STORY, NO MINISTRY. Every ministry is made out of our weaknesses turned to strength by God’s grace in His presence or your story turned to Glory. I believe this article have given more light to this revelation. I encourage you to begin your day right by going to the right place first - God’s presence, that way you will only go to the right places, say the right words and do the right things each day of your life.
Remember that your daily true worship to God gives you a daily ministry because you can only plan and run your life per day. So, do what you have to do and commit God to perform on your behalf.
N.B: - This article is strictly for personal consumption thus, it should not be repackage in any form for commercial purpose except with a written permission from the writer.
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