Indeed there is a SOUND from heaven. There is a divine exchange between heaven and earth. And the sound is audible. Story after story has been reported of strange sounds emanating from seamlessly nowhere. From Oregon to the Ukraine, moans, groans and trumpets have been heard, recorded and analyzed. In fact, last year during Pentecost, the sounds from heaven caught the attention of scientists from NASA. They’ve speculated but have yet to come up with a definitive answer.
Beloved, if you are a believer, then you already know the answer. It has been written. It’s crystal clear.
The heavens are open.
Are your ears open to hear the sound?
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:6
What happens in the earth when we hear the sound?
Filling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)
Revelation (Revelation 4:1)
A New Song (Revelation 14:2-3)
Victory (Revelation 19)
How will you respond?
Open your mouth, echo heaven and release YOUR sound. Open your mouth in praise. Free your spirit to worship; a divine exchange between heaven and earth. He sounds, you respond. He moves, you move. You are a spirit and He’s called you to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Your spirit and your body resonate with the sound. You respond in sound, as you are an instrument of worship.
[bctt tweet=”Let us get in position on one accord to worship the true and living King” username=”inspiredfully”]. Be filled afresh to continue the work of establishing His kingdom here on earth.
Friends the current state of our world is in crisis. The Lord is waiting for you and I to rise up and be His hands and feet in healing our land. He wants to enlarge your territory so that you are more impactful for Him.
Join me in worship as we incline our ear to the sound of heaven.
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
In the Old Testament the word for “glory” is the Hebrew word כָּבֹוד “kabowd” which carries the idea of heaviness and weight. In the New Testament the Greek word is δόξα “doxa” which carries the idea of opinion, judgment, estimate, splendor, brightness, etc. It is used to speak of great honor, praise, value, wonder, and splendor. Glory is spoken of in reference to people and God. Glory is given by God and also is a manifestation of God’s greatness and presence that is awesome to behold.
But to really define glory virtually impossible. It’s the sum of WHO God is, WHAT He is and WHAT He does. How can that all be summed up in a neat one-sentence definition?
Personally, I’ve come to know God’s glory to be the external, present, manifestation of His presence in my life and all around me. For me, it is sensing, seeing and feeling his character and attributes manifested spiritually and physically. God’s glory is the FULL sum of who He is and what He does. When basking in His glory I am completely consumed, feeling as if my heart may nearly burst from being FULL of His love and His light.
God’s glory is The Lord of the Universe putting Himself on display for us to see and experience. And everywhere we look and in everything we do, His glory is evident, if we have eyes to see.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
Jesus himself is the express image of God’s glory. He is the sum of God’s character, attributes and actions all wrapped up in human form.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
As Jesus is the express image of God’s glory, our lives should reflect His glory. As true disciples and followers of Christ we ought to be a tangible representation of His truth, love and grace in all the earth. As He takes us from glory to glory, we in turn ought to give Him more glory. Our demonstrations of praise, worship and love for mankind give Him glory.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
1 Chronicles 16:24
Oh God that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear; to immerse ourselves in the weight of your glory. For it to completely envelope us like a cloak of fog in the UK.
Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:34
Oh Lord that we your people would bask in your glory, that we would be so completely saturated by it. That we would absorb its life sustaining nutrients and that we would then reflect its brilliance.
Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:1
Join me in basking in His glory.
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
Their survival depended on it. They needed to access fresh water. This tool would give them access.
The Spile
Like Katniss Everdeen and her crew from The 75th Hunger Games, receiving the spile was a lifesaver. In the event of a natural disaster, we could use spiles today to tap trees for water.
Oh friends we are the trees planted by rivers of water and God’s word is the spile that penetrates our hearts and permits rivers of living water to flow. He and His word are one.
While water tapped from trees is only good for 24 hours, God’s word is good and true from everlasting to everlasting. But we need to tap into it daily to prevent it from becoming stale in our hearts.
In The Hunger Games, wealthy benefactors gift needed supplies. We have the ultimate Benefactor who gave Himself as the gift that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Because of Him we have boldness and access with confidence to not only approach the throne of grace, but to tap into His unlimited power supply. And the combination of His living water coupled with His power will not electrocute us unto death but will act as a defibrillator, creating in us a clean heart and renewing a steadfast spirit within us.
So exactly how do we go about tapping into the source? The methodology may be a little different for each of us but here are some simple, practical tips. We don’t have to be SUPER spiritual, or SUPER deep. We just have to come to God with clean hands and a pure heart. I thank God for purging me with hyssop and for presenting me without spot or wrinkle then I eagerly run on to tap in.
Tapping In
Worship Music
Music ushers me right into the presence of God. For the first few years of my salvation, I didn’t really understand how integral the role of praise and worship was to the Sunday church worship experience. It was one of those things I just didn’t GET until I got it. When I look back now, I can smile and say to myself, “Girl, you really had no clue.” And I follow that up with, “Thank you Jesus for being patient with me.”
Today, I can listen to the same song on repeat umpteen times throughout the day. I let the spirit guide me to the song. And sure enough the song speaks to my heart and serves as the gateway to worship and intimate fellowship with the Lord.
“Lord I reach for you, lead me to your heart. And I thirst for you, draw me deeper still. Deeper into the water. Deeper until I’m under. Ohhh Oh living water flow and overtake us. Ohhh oh healing water flow and overtake us”, sings Israel Houghton in one my absolute favorite songs, Deeper. Needless to say with all that’s churning in my spirit right now, this song is the current soundtrack to my spiritual life.
He goes on to sing, “God give us a heart, give us a heart, give us your heart. God gives us a heart. Deep cries out to deep.”
Mmm. Those lyrics right there. Each time I sing them, it’s like I’m putting on the mind of Christ and I come into alignment with Him. We begin walking step in step and my will becomes His will and we are ONE. Our hearts beat in unison. And the music is the metronome that keeps our hearts beating with synchronicity. And my response is, “Yes Lord. You are calling me deeper. I am coming. Getting closer with every step”.
Scrap The Legalism
My daily tapping in always involves scripture. Because I am a systematic, linear person, I tend to use structured materials for my scripture reading. Bible reading plans, day-by-day devotional books, topical studies, etc. My natural nature can hold me hostage to completing these materials in a robotic fashion, blocking up the flow of the spirit. So I’ve had to learn to not be legalistic in my approach to tapping in and to give God room to communicate what He desires in the way that He desires, even if He says step away from those materials and sit still. Sometimes He’ll call a word up in my heart. Sometimes it’s a scripture sung in a song. Sometimes he’ll have me turn to a specific scripture, chapter and verse. But I had to crucify my need to tick off or not skip a day of scheduled reading to not miss Him in how He chose to show up in my quiet time.
Dialogue Not A Monologue
When we tap into the source, we have to give Him opportunity and room to flow. If I stick my spile into a tree then fill the spout with debris, I will certainly muddy and impede the flow of water. And the same is true when allowing His truth to flow through our hearts and mind. When communicating with the Father it is not a monologue but a dialogue. There is a time to speak and a time to listen. We cannot hear from the Lord if we have endless internal chatter. It is critical to silence the chatter. This requires much practice and disciple. But God is a very present help. He will help you take those thoughts captive so that you can be quiet and clear your mind so you can hear from Him. For more on quieting your thoughts, CLICK HERE.
He longs to communicate with you. His voice will flow.
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel
came from the way of the east. His voice
was like the sound of many waters;
and the earth shone with His glory.
Ezekiel 43:2
Write
Writing has always been therapy for me. It is the way I receive, communicate, find clarity, vent, heal, and more. Writing helps me think and process. So after I sing and meditate on scripture, I write. I write whatever scripture I’ve been led to. I may write some of the lyrics to the song I listened to. I sit and I listen to what the Lord has to say then I write His response.
These are a few of the strategies I employ to tap into the well that never runs dry.
You’ve been invited to tap into the source.
COME!
DRINK.
And thirst no more.
The Spirit and the bride say,
“Come!” And let the one who hears
say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty
come; and let the one who wishes take
the free gift of the water of life.
Revelation 22:7
P.S. I try to keep posts shorter than this as I don’t want you to skim the post but to read in its entirety. But the water has overtaken me once again. To read Part 1 of The Living Waters series CLICK HERE
Glory to God I’m going deeper!
Will you join me?
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
https://www.inspiredtolivefully.com/staging/4119/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/DSC_0176-e1457533215202.jpg9981000Tyra Lane-Kingslandhttps://www.inspiredtolivefully.com/staging/4119/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Inspired-Life-300x300.jpgTyra Lane-Kingsland2015-08-04 06:00:132015-08-04 01:33:39Tapping Into The Source
“He threw up all in the bed”, was my wake up call at 1:01am. My husband alerted me that our sweet 2 year old was laying in this mess. I jump up and indeed the entire bed was filled with vomit.
Saturday evening I was tired and drifted right off to sleep. I hadn’t been asleep long and glory to God that worship had ushered me to sleep because it was in a spirit of worship that I jumped up to clean the mess.
Lord, Here’s My Worship.
So went the rest of the wee hours of the morning. Nearly every half hour, my sweet baby continued to throw up, until 5:30am. After a while he was just dry heaving because there was nothing left to come up. My mama heart was hurting for my baby so I just held him and rocked him.
Lord, Here’s My Worship.
Yet with every wake up, every lurching of his stomach, every clean up of the mess was my worship. Washing the soiled linens, stripping soiled clothes…yet again and scrubbing vomit out of the rug, my worship was present in that too.
You yourselves like living stones are being built up
as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood,
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5
As I continued to listen to the pure, unadulterated worship of singer Jason Upton, my heart was filled with tremendous joy. I was reenergized and revitalized, not just to meet the needs of my baby in that moment, but I KNEW something was happening in the spirit.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day. Psalm 71:8
So as I continued to praise and worship the Lord, I remembered that it was now officially Sunday, the day of Pentecost. I could not have planned a better way to usher in Pentecost, to have my heart and mind set squarely on worshipping the Lord, with no distractions. For Him to orchestrate this divine appointment with me was just so perfect.
Even here I have to stop. As I weep, I just cry out HALLELUJAH…HALLELUJAH!
Lord, Here’s My Worship!
With my heart open in a posture of worship, I receive a fresh touch, a special impartation. This is not the 1st time the Lord has had me up in the wee hours of the morning to speak to me. So Holy Spirit I thank you for a fresh touch, for fresh fire, for fresh oil, for fresh wind, for the indwelling of your Spirit.
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.’” Acts 2:17
Even in the midst of the vomit, the Lord sought to connect with me. The glory of the Lord filled my bedroom and I was saturated in His glory. Throw up and worship, who knew they’d go hand-N-hand? As my grandmother would say, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Oh Lord, I’m so grateful that you invite me into your presence to connect with you, to commune with you, to worship you.
Oh friends, be open and receptive to entering into worship in peculiar places at peculiar times. We cannot BOX our God in. He is not isolated in silos. He is omnipresent and He longs to connect with you.
Are you present and available?
Lord, Here’s My Worship.
Friends, won’t you join me?
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
We were created to worship the true and living God. What an honor and a privilege to give Him my absolute best. Worship is the act of giving sacrificially of yourself out of your love for God.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:23-24
True worship comes from the heart. As I open my heart and open my mouth in recognition of the great, mighty, powerful, loving God I serve, I move closer and closer into that sacred space with Him. When we worship not only do we demonstrate our love, reverence, awe and honor for God but we also create an atmosphere conducive for having a personal encounter with Him. He says, “If you draw near to me, I will draw near to you”.
I am just coming off of a worship immersion experience. Dr. Celeste Owens Ministries hosted The Surrender Healing Retreat. During my time at this retreat I was completely immersed in a worship experience. In fact, the experience was so overwhelming I have been having a difficult time adjusting back to my normal routines. I feel like I am in a fog of sorts but in a good way. I have continued to cry, pray, and praise. I have been at a loss for words, which is rare for me.
Oh to bask in God’s glory. To feel the radiant heat of His love saturate the atmosphere and fill me. I am bubbling over. I literally feel as if my body cannot house my spirit, like my spirit has been so ignited that I will combust. Whoo God! And I want to remain in this sweet space.
But that sweet sacred space
Of meeting Him face to face
Ignites my soul
It makes me whole
I am forever changed
No longer the same
Filled with love and light
My spirit takes flight
As I worship the King
Standing on Holy ground
All love grace and peace abound
Standing in the most place
Seeing the Master face to face
As I worship the King
Commonly, worship is associated with music only. While music is a conduit to ushering in worship, it is not our only form of worship. We can engage in worship through:
Obedience
Serving
Making Joyful Noise
Giving
Proskuneo is the word used most often for worship in the New Testament. It implies having deep reverence, to bow down or fall down before. In its early usage, it was designated for falling down and lying prostrate before a king to kiss his feet, hem of his garment or the ground. As believers, our worship is not only a physical act of lying or bowing, but our spirits should maintain a posture of being laid out before our holy God. Every day all day we should remain open, sensitive and humbly connected, rooted and grounded in the Father’s presence.
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2
Oh friends I invite you to take your shoes off, dust off your feet and join me. This is holy ground! Leave the cares of this world behind as we move into the most holy place to commune with our God. Worship the King.
What will you do to create an atmosphere conducive for pure, authentic, uninhibited worship?
As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
https://www.inspiredtolivefully.com/staging/4119/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/worship.jpg426640Tyra Lane-Kingslandhttps://www.inspiredtolivefully.com/staging/4119/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Inspired-Life-300x300.jpgTyra Lane-Kingsland2015-04-29 06:55:372018-07-02 08:28:49Worship The King
