Come Into His Presence

Donna Braman
copyright 2009

BELIEVERS MINISTRY

COME INTO HIS PRESENCE

     The bible calls him a man after God's own heart.  I call him a man that had a garment of true praise about him evidenced by a passionate heart for worship that ushered him into the presence of the Lord.  The worship style he implemented resulted in a return unto the Lord by the people.  Something powerful occurs in a church when worship is energized collectively by our love and passion for the Lord. Such worship cannot be generated without covenant living; walking in Jesus' commands and in relationship with His Holy Spirit.

      In contrasting views I will analyze the biblical presence of God by King David and how many churches today are lacking in the principles required to achieve the Lord's favor and his presence. Knowing how to come into his courts is a protocol missing in the lukewarm church.

     When the Lord anointed King David he was a sixteen-year-old youth, the son and stump of Jesse. David was a ruddy skinned Sheppard from the land of Judah.  He was the least noticed of his household and certainly had nothing, according to his Father, that looked like a future King much less the potential to become a mighty praise and worship leader and a fearless military conqueror.

     When it comes to who God draws near to and who he anoints to build his Kingdom or to fight his battles it is never the obvious that can be seen with the natural eye that pleases the Lord.  More often than not, the one that the Lord calls has a hidden asset in the heart that the Holy Spirit gives power and life to.  David was bold and did something that no other King had ever attempted.  He pitched a tent and brought the Ark of the Covenant inside and the people praised and worshiped in the presence of the Lord without the veil.  That same power of the Spirit that worked through David wants to restore us again to worship in the presence of the Living God, to draw us back to communion and holiness, that splendor and spotless heart that the Father requires for the Son to have a spotless, unblemished bride.

     Praise and worship is not all about singing, swaying and swooning or feeling goose bumps for an hour on Sunday morning.  But when you see true worship manifest in a congregation of believers, look with your spiritual eye and you will see the work of the Holy Spirit manifest the gifts in different individuals. 

     As I will outline here for you, there is a form of worship and coming into the presence of the Almighty that King David demonstrated that has all but been lost in today's church.  My soul earns to see all of the churches have such love and great passion for the one who is coming soon for his bride and wants to unite with her adorned in her fine linen of righteous acts and draped in the precious jewels of the Holy Spirit.

     God longs for praise and worship that reflects a heart of thanksgiving and a daily life that reflects him as Sovereign over his creation.  As we etch closer to the second coming of Yeshua, a direct descendant of the throne of David, Christ, that is seated on that everlasting throne, we will see, as the bible prophesies, the church again will gather at his tabernacle in a revival of the latter house of glory in heartfelt thanksgiving and praise will continually be on their tongues.  No longer will congregations sit back in the pews lukewarm content for praise and worship teams to entertain them and praise for them.  Praise will be on all of our lips and worship will be a reflection of our righteousness before him.  In the ladder house we will again be a covenant people and the presence and manifestation of the Holy Spirit will empower the true church of Christ and endue it with the gifts and anointing.  We will see miracles and healings, but most of all we will see the fruit of the spirit demonstrated in our Christian walk.

     What was this true worship that King David did so well that God gave him victory over his enemies and blessed him in all that he did?  Why was it that when King David sinned and dropped to his knees contrite in his heart with repentance that God's love endured for him, and even made his kingship and throne to last forever?  

     What is clear and prophetic is that the unveiled tabernacle was a foreshadowing of Christ's church.  This kind of discernment does not happen automatically, but after much meditation, prayer and reading of the word these truths are made known to your spirit. Discernment about the old testament is necessary to understand what is to come. Jesus is foreshadowed from Genesis to John in the gospels.  It is baffling to try to understand why the Jews rejected Jesus.  But now I know it was all in his end plan for the number of Gentiles to come into his kingdom.  The blinded eyes of the Jews will be lifted sometime during the tribulation.  But there are a lot of Christians who will be asleep in these end days.

     I've seen some things in churches, as a minister of education that have made me fall prostate on my face with my soul crying out the Lord.  What happened to mercy and justice Jesus demonstrated for us?  We need some Joshua's to say no, this is the way we are going to do church, and we will start with coming back into covenant and doing away with the worldly church.  The church as a whole has lost its power to draw the lost in because of a hardening of the heart. There is no flame burning to shine into the darkness. Don't you boast that you are a Christian and grace is the answer to your sinful heart.  God's wrath can come upon the Christians just as quickly as it did his chosen, and after all we are just and engrafted root.  Somebody ought to shout right now and give Jesus praise for that.

     Whatever happened to the church that stayed long after 12:00 noon to pray and worship in God's sanctuary at the altar of sacrifice (praise).  That seems to have been replaced with gathering to meet at the resturants, you know leaving church and still the same when you leave.

     The Sabbath has become two hours instead of a 24 hour period and many churches don't even hold service every Sunday anymore. That is not a committed love to our savior that died to free us from bondage and sin.  That is not the kind of love that saves a lost and dying world.  Of the churches that have a problem with this, well, all I can say is I didn't write the commands I just follow them.  Go ahead and short circuit the Holiest command and see if you get any blessings; and then they asked themselves, why are they leaving the church?

     Of all the holy days outlined in Dueteronomy the Sabbath is the holiest and the church of today has desegrated it.  In several short months of visiting churches I saw continually God's holy day so dishonored with back biting, carnal minded thinking and the world so up in his house, and not even an altar call or a gathering in his altar to pray and worship.  Wake up church, this is the very things the Israelites did when God allowed a whole generation to die. The Joshua's are coming out, and they are going to raise a standard, and when they do you won't have any problem with discerning the wheat from the tares in the church. His righteous church will be visible.  I cry out to my Lord, "Jeshua, Son of David, where is the remnant church?" 

     The love and passion I have for the church in all it's faults cuts through my heart to bone and barrow.  That kind of  agape love forces you to start making a difference by being the true church through deeds and actions. I'm thankful for the church for it is the fellowship that Jesus called us into for lifting each other up in him and learning of his word together.  The greatest joy that comes out of me in church is when one is saved and you know the journey they are about to take that transforms their life because that precious blood was poured over me one day long ago in the altar of his court. If I never receive another miracle, that was miracle enough for me and I will thank him and praise him till there is breath left in me.

     King David had a thankful heart, even for little things and he never forgot what God had done for him.  I believe we are living in a day where the Holy Spirit is pulling nobodies from the gutter and off the pews and anointing them to witness the power of Christ to the lost. So don't sit back and let the flock lower the standard, that's why Moses didn't get to go to the promised land, and Joshua took the mantle because he wasn't afraid to confront the flock and say, no, we will enter back into covenant and we will walk in his ways, and not the world's way.

     The Lord is calling us today to return to our first love and to put zeal back into our worship and to put him first in our daily lives, in our homes, in our workplace, instilling his truth into our children and loved ones, and not be so about self that we don't even know anymore how to take yokes and burdens off of others that we stand and worship with every week, much less a stranger we may encounter.  It's time for ministers and teachers to bring down the veil of hypocrisy, man made doctrines, legalism, trying to change the word instead of allowing it to change us.  When the churches begin to teach righteousness, biblical principles, and worship him with all their hearts, instead of looking around at what kind of clothes someone is wearing, or their cars, we will have the ear of God and his presence will manifest for all to see.  I'm ready to start making the Jews jealous! Give me my Tallit, for I was one that he did not seek, the daughter that was not natural that now has become natural.  I will take my inheritance that God Almighty promised Abraham that I would one day have.

     I'm not trying to link all the churches into one category by any means but Jesus is calling us to be one in spirit and this has been a 'suddenly' year for a lot of churches that are delivering the word and a passion to worship him and to come into his courts with praise and thanksgiving.  That kind of love takes you through your week and leaves you with the weapons necessary for spiritual warfare that we are faced with daily in the world. Get ready to see in your  lifetime the greatest spiritual awakening in the church that the world has ever seen. The glory of the latter house is upon us.  If you can not see this, then you need to get yourself back down to the altar and get cleaned up from the inside out instead of on the outside, and get spiritual eyes and spiritual hears, for the worldly minded cannot not comprehend the glory that the Holy Spirit is pouring onto Christ's church, not to mention the horrific events and the shaking of the nations that IS occurring.

     To sum up it up best I quote a prayer by Rev. Robert Lowry, at the presidential inaguration; "Let not our feet stray from the place where we met thee."

The Power of Love

Believers Ministry Daily Devotional

7-23-09

Donna Braman

Today Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Will Rejoice In It!

Read: Luke 15: 11-32

The New Testament uses three Greek words to express love:

1. eros - physical love or intimacy

2. philia - friendship

3. Agape - love produced in us by the Holy Spirit (Galations 5:22)

Our Father cares for us with agape love. He sacrificed His Son Jesus to bring us into a right relationship with Him. (1 John 4:10)

We are demonstrating agape love when we:

RESPOND CALMLY TO DIFFICULTIES. To the Prodical Son's untimely demand for his share of the inheritance, the father didn't reply with angry words about ungrateful children. Though the boy's attitude must have caused pain, the man held his tongue and did not retaliate. In calmness, he could think more clearly and choose to love. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

SACRIFICE WITHOUT COMPLAINT. The father, quietly and without complaint, gave the son his inheritance as requested. Although he knew his son was committed to a ruinous course, he directed his efforts towards preserving their relationship. In so doing, he chose the way of love.

WAIT PATIENTLY. Out of deep affection, the father allowed his son to leave and to stay away. What heartache he must have had; yet he remained hopeful. He waited for the boy to recognize that sin cannot deliver what it has promised. Waiting pays off through the power of agape love. (1 Corinthians 13:4

WORD SEED:

The Holy Spirit's work in our life empowers us to show selfless and sacrificial devotion to the development of another person. In that way, we become people who respond calmly, uncomplainingly, and patiently. Which kind of emotion do you offer to others, human or divine?

Families have such emotional ties that I think its harder to be calm in a situation where we feel one is about to do wrong or act selfishly but when we can let go of control and keep our emotions from going out of control we can respond with agape love. That person may still not do as we see fit but our relationship doesn't become bitter with pent up anger and communication is easier to acheive and it is that communication, putting self aside that helps families to grow in love.

The Day of the Lord

06-30-09

Donna Braman

PUTTING ACTION BEHIND YOUR FAITH

More and more lately I'm hearing sermons that are outlining what the end time church is supposed to be and calling for righteous living in our daily lives. All eyes are on Israel and looking for the beginnings of the New world Order. We have a new order in the body of Christ as well, a return unto covenant and holiness. I believe the Holy spirit is breathing a fresh wind into the church today to help prepare us for the coming of the King of Kings. I believe in these next few months as the conditions in the world worsen you'll see the Holy Spirit move upon the church body sending revival to church leadership, to the pulpit, to the administration of God's house and to the teachers and members. It's all about being a collective body now and a fragmented body with legalistic indoctrines and burdensome religious rules of, "this is the way we're supposed to do church," is a thing of the past.

You should not fear what is going on in the world economy because God never leaves his own begging for bread, but keep your eye on the movement of the Holy Spirit and how he is transforming the church body. It is a joyious time to be a Christian. I'm looking forward to my 7 year supper, but until that hour the Lord is calling individuals to do a new thing to pull in the lost that are to be a part of the body, and you don't want to leave out a loved one. Do you feel a new thing in your spirit lately? I see Christians hungry to be a part of the end time body. They desire pure worship and to experience the presence of God, a coming together in one accord and one spirit. You'll start to see a shifting take place in the church, the Holy Spirit will anoint the ordinary Christian who is faithful to do a new work and its goodbye to church leaders who did it their way instead of God's way. God wants that regeneration to be evident to the lost. Attendance in church these last few years have been at an all time low, but get ready because the lost and dying world will turn to the only hope there is, the bride of Christ. The Holy Spirit will usher in a power of enduement like you've never seen, and the people who return to the church will be greeted with something different than what it was that caused them to leave. Try reading Jesus' parables in Matthew once more and pray for discernment, for the very words out of his mouth are coming to fruitition in the church today. The seed parable and the 10 virgins can come alive at this time in your spirit and in the spirit of the church. The parable of the seed gives discernment to all parables and to all the biblical principles we are commaneded to live by, so get yourself planted in the word, so the devil can not come along and steal your seed. It is the principle that keeps you steadfast and solid in the rock, and as Jesus told Peter, the gates of hell will not prevail against you when you are planted in this truth. The Holy Spirit is giving discernment to Christ's Church and from now on it's going to be Church Unusual.

No more of just going to church to be intertained or view a show from leadership who think it's all about them, but the Spirit is calling for real teaching and a return to real worship by ALL THE PEOPLE, and we will be more knowledgable of our covenant, our authority, inheritance and dominion through the blood of Christ. We will live a life of holiness in our home and in our workplace that reflects obedience and righteousness that is the unblemished bride. The Holy Spirit is separating the wheat from the Tares. I'm an avid gardener and have experienced how difficult it is sometimes to tell the difference between the weeds and the fruit bearing plant when the garden sprouts. So like Jesus said, let them grow together because if you start to pull them up too soon you might uproot the fruit with the weeds. Oh, but in the end when its harvest time, you can clearly distinquish the corruptible seed from the incorruptible seed. One has fruit the other one does not. Jezabelle will show her true colors and the works she has been doing in the body in the dark. In past generations she has been hidden behind the righteous. But in the past the righteous did not have the gift of discernment like it does in these days just as Isaih prophesied.

The dying world will gravate to the fruitbearers (the wheat) in the body. The fruitful will be doing the will of the Lord and not the will of self, so watching for fruit instead of listening to empty words will give you more discernment on the work of the Holy Spirit on Sunday morning. Watch the Christian that has faith with works. The righteous have clean hands and you can clearly separate them from legalistic minded church folks. For the Tares in the church think their talent is what keeps the church going. Their oil lamps are dimming because they cleaned themselves up on the outside but did'nt allow the Holy Spirit to clean them up from the inside out. There is a process of transformation for I have experienced that regeneration. The first process is redeemption through the blood and it is at the cross where Jesus plants his spirit that changes the heart, the spirit of man. The second process is renewal of the mind where the word saves your soul, the word plants incorruptible seed into your mind and it is the battleground between the forces of evil and the divine. The third process is when God puts you on his Potter's wheel and he cleans you up on the outside to become a usuable vessel in his Kingdom, a process where the flesh dies to Christ. I can assure you that your self made walk and talent is worthless to the Kingdom without a Holy Spirit anointing and spiritual gift slapped on top of it. Jesus said in the end you will be gathered together and thrown in the fire. Don't believe people who claim to have a spiritual gift who does not back that up with fruit, in the church and in their personal life. It's easy to be spiritual on Sunday morning, but only the real Saints can maintain that in their home and in their work places and in their relationships. Because you see, the anointed have a responsibility 24-7 to whom the Spirit has called them to be assigned to. So if you don't want to be a worker for Christ and a servant to those you are called to don't pray for a gift or anointing. You see, the anointing is given to the Kingdom daughters and sons who have germinated seeds in them and have prepared themselves for their assignment. They operate in Kingdom principles and not world principles. They have died to self and Christ is clearly seen in them through their availability to others in need. They are calm in a crisis and during trying times, for they have learned to rest in the power of Christ in their life and they live out their faith knowing that the Lord has already gone before them to level the mountains. They are consistent and steadfast. They are sure in their calling and they don't straddle the fence from the world system to the spiritual system.

The Christian who is still on milk seeks blessings for self and is still on the Potter's Wheel. The spit shine pots are the light on the hill, the gifted and anointed with overflow and they are doers of the word and produce fruit and not just words. If you want to get God's attention then do something extraordinary in the body or put your faith into an action and stop praying for a break through of blessings for self. God doesn't respond to need, if that was so we would'nt have disease, starvation, family problems and financial troubles. God will show up and show out in your life when you demonstrate faith in action and you learn how to speak to your mountains. They are just standing there before you waiting for you to speak to them with the sword of the spirit.

The true righteous come to church ready to serve and be a blessing to the church and the people in it. They are conscious of the needs of others and not looking at what outfit someone has on. They have gladness and thankfulness in their hearts and a joyful spirit. They are not interested in the scripture the Sunday School teacher has found to go with his a,b,c, lesson guide to try to impress the prople with his knowledge. Pray and pray some more for spiritual discernment and Knowledge by the Holy Spirit for your Pastor, for your teachers and leaders. Knowledge is a spiritual gift given to those who have applied the word to their life experience and have been transformed to the mind of Christ and they are not impressed with a false leadership's professed faith without works. Their tongue gives life and can make demons tremble. They come to church to fellowship in love and to meet the needs of others. They always have time to hear what burden you have and to lift you up with the truth of the word concerning your need. They have wisdom and can lift you up when the devil comes to attack you, they don't allow the devil to use them to be judgmental and attack you too. They do not use church time to try to show how holy they are with their shout and self righteousness, their works reflect their holiness. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and makes a timely move in the church body to lift it up into the presence of God. The righteous is eager to welcome newcomers with love and acceptance, they are the first to be at the altar to pray for someone else. They do not come to church to get a blessing, but to be a blessing.

The signs to look for in determining the corruptible seed the devil plants in Christ's church:

1. Opposition

Whatever ideas someone suggests or something new to implement in the church you can be sure they will be the first to oppose it whether it's the wrong color carpet to order for the new addition, or the minister wanting to start a prayer day or a teacher wanting to start a bible study class.

2. Coveteousness

They always backstab the anointed, gossip, and jealous of other's blessings. They have a full time phone ministry and the goal is to bring down anybody in the body that is producing fruit which is lacking in their own walk.

3. Pessimistic

They will always have an opinion of why this plan or that plan will not work, and they always question other's righteousness. They are judgmental and doubt that anyone is real in their Christian life. They bring down the spirit in the church by causing division, and you can feel the presence of this spirit when you walk in a church. Criticism is their middle name.

It takes a collective body in one spirit to cast this spirit down and lifting our voices in praise and worship does it everytime. That is how you speak to this spirit and cast it down into the sea. When you speak God's word and magnify him and exalt him in praise and song, watch how quickly a bad spirit will shut its mouth. Because you see, hindering spirits have no power without a listener, so refuse to give ear to the devil. Give them nothing but goodness and when that spirit of division pops it head up, shut it down by responding with a positive comment. Intertain only speech that is filled with the fruit of the spirit.

If you would like to share a word on how the Lord is speaking to your spirit and calling you to do a new thing, or you've had a wonderful experience in the Lord this week, I would love to hear from you and share some of my readers thoughts in coming articles on THE DAY OF THE LORD. If you've had an intercessor experience on your job or in your family I would especially love to hear from you. Leave your thoughts on my blog:

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To share a word or comment or to request more information about the Back to Covenant Seminar, please email me: .