This morning as I prayed, I heard the Lord saying: "When you realize that I never leave you, it will change your life. Where you see separation, I see unity. Where you feel division, I feel only love. The measure of My love does not depend on the size of your container! I will pour until you overflow... you cannot contain My glory!" Overflowing LoveI believe one of the greatest things we can understand about God is that He is beyond understanding. Unfathomable. Better than the best things we could imagine about Him. Loving past the unlovable. Staying when we would have left. Pouring overflowing love and glory into vessels that could not contain it if they tried, no matter how big they were! I think of the tents and tabernacles Israel tried to build for God. How they were built according to God's specifications - intricate details and measurements that seem almost "nit-picky" to us modern-day Bible readers. Angels measured so carefully, plumb lines were drawn, messages given to prophets who would then communicate the details to the builders. Why? To build a house for God. A place where He could rest. Yet the same God who commanded a house to be built is full of glory so great He cannot be contained! Indeed, His glory, like His love, was never meant to be contained; even in the house He commanded to be built, glory seeped out over the thresholds and into the streets, rushing out into the world He created, flowing rivers whose tributaries found their ends at the sea. (See Ezekiel 43.) So it will be in these last days. The whole earth cannot contain the glory of the Lord, the love and goodness of the Lord! Love is meant to reach the farthest corners of the world - and Jesus will not come back until this task is completed. Glory is meant to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14). Ezekiel says the earth "shone" with the glory of the Lord in his vision; the land was radiant with it! (Ezekiel 43:2.) Psalm 34:5 gives us a similar Bible promise when it says: "Those who look to Him are radiant." We who are part of God's building (1 Corinthians 3:9) are also meant to radiate the glory of the Lord. As I contemplated this, I heard the Lord say, "Expand your vision of who I am." Earlier this year, in a prophetic word for 2018, the Lord spoke of "envisioning expansion." I initially saw this as a divine call to encourage and foster Kingdom growth, to believe Him for the expansion of ministries and churches serving Him all around the world. This year, we know, is a time of unprecedented favor and growth. Today, I see that in the same way, the Lord wants us to expand our vision of WHO HE IS - not just of the things we want to do or the places we want to reach. God is far beyond all that we could do or imagine. Only as we expand our vision of who He is do we begin to develop an accurate picture of the great "I AM." Just as we are expanding our visions for ministry and outreach, so we need to expand and grow in our understanding of His greatness! I heard Him saying, "When you realize that no thing you could do and no structure you could build would be enough for Me, then you have arrived at an accurate acknowledgement of who I am. My greatness is beyond compare, My goodness expands well beyond even the "Trinity" that defines Me, for already My goodness has infiltrated all created things, filling each with My Presence. All that is required to activate My Presence throughout the earth is the the acknowledgement of it - the acknowledgement of ME, that I was before all things, that I am in all things, that I sustain all things. To acknowledge Me in your daily life is not unlike the touch that turns to gold; confession of My goodness and Presence activates life, riches, and wisdom in every creature!" How do we do this? How do we expand our vision of this immeasurable God? Proverbs 3:3-5 reads: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (NASB) To acknowledge is to know (Hebrew "yada"); to ascertain by seeing, to recognize, perceive, distinguish, admit or confess. Acknowledgement of God often means ceasing from our labors to fully comprehend His. Psalm 46:10 says "Cease striving, and KNOW that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth." (NASB) It is out of our acknowledgement of God, realizing and resting in the greatness of who He is, that we receive direction for our lives also. As we pray, He straightens out our paths so that we walk on the right way, with Him. "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." (Psalm 16:11, NASB) Be Filled with the Uncontainable!We build the Kingdom for a King whose glory is uncontainable. We pray and seek to expand our vision of a God who is, for now, wholly unknowable - yet beckons us to know and love what we can. We share a love that knows no limits and stops at no defenses, whether ours or someone else's. We create places of peace and stillness in our private lives so that He may direct our paths in our public lives. Our expressions of worship pale in comparison to who He really is. And yet we are compelled, driven almost, to try. To enter in to as much of His Presence as we can contain, so that His glory will spill out of us and into every creature, awakening the goodness that has already been implanted there, but lies dormant, waiting for His Spirit-water to touch it. Oh, God, use us for your glory! Fill us with Your Presence! Overflow us with Your love! Allow us to know You in the fullest measure that we can, confined as we are to these limited vessels. Let Your glory cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Amen. © Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com Encounter God's Presence at the Destiny Conference, June 8-9thAuthor, Speaker, and Christian Ministry leader Deborah Perkins inspires people worldwide to discover "Life-Giving Communication with God." Join her daily on social media, or visit her website for prophetic words, Bible teaching, and a free weekly blog. Need more direction in your spiritual life? Find her Bible Study and other books on Amazon.com! |
Free Link to the Subscriber Resource Library when you join His Inscriptions!
About
Deborah Perkins Categories
All
Archives
January 2025
AuthorA severe hearing loss from childhood caused Deborah Perkins to develop what she now calls her secret weapon: tuning in to God's voice. A Wellesley College graduate and an award-winning writer, Deborah is now a wife and mother of 3 boys. Deborah has devoted over 25 years to professional and lay Christian ministry in New England and beyond. Her passion is inspiring people to cultivate greater intimacy with God. |