This communique is not about Christmas

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I would to share this with the group, it was on my timeline.

Hello my fellow Ministers:Christmas Greetings ! This communique is not about Christmas however, we are so blessed to live in a time and Nation where we can Celebrate the Birth of our Lord.While in Prayer and Meditation on the Word this morning I was moved upon by the Holy Spirit to write this. I pray you accept this in the spirit with which I share it.I believe I heard the Lord say to me that the main reason we are not seeing “mighty moves of God” in our churches as we have seen in years gone by, is one major factor. There are more than one factor, i. e. prayer, fasting and the Word we preach. I have shared with a lot of men in the past that what we “sow” we “reap”. That statement is often spoken in reference to what a person(s) does or is related to giving. Those two references are for sure applicable, however, the reference that I relate to Ministers is “what we sow from the pulpit, is what we reap”. When I Evangelized, if I preached on salvation, people would get saved; on the Holy Ghost Baptism, people would get Baptized in the Holy Ghost; on faith, faith increased, healing and miracles, we saw healing and miracles. In those days of my Evangelistic Ministries there were many revivals that went four to six weeks experiencing the “mighty move of God”, even preaching my own revival in Statesboro that went five weeks, after I had been pastoring there for five years. Over 40 received the Holy Ghost Baptism. To God be all the Glory!The main point the Lord impressed upon me this morning was “what atmosphere is being developed in our services”. Are we preparing the people to “expect” God to show up? In the past if I announced ahead of time what I would be preaching, I allowed my people to decide ahead of time if they wanted to hear that subject, stay at home, or go to another church for that service(s). I had to develop an atmosphere of expectation.First, we must have a strong presence of God in our personal lives. Now, how do we develop the atmosphere for God to be present in our services ( as well as in our personal lives )? The Scriptures teach us: Psalm 22:3 The Lord inhabits the PRAISES of His people; Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts (presence) with PRAISE; Doorpost of the temple were moved at the sound of their voices crying HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, is the Lord of hosts; Acts 16:23-34 Paul and Silas sang PRAISES unto God in the midst of stocks, bonds and prison bars and their release came. As you know, the Scriptures are replete with emphasis on PRAISE.Why is it so difficult for the church to develop that kind of atmosphere? One, we have our own agenda, schedule, plan; Two, we are so time conscious that we give the Holy Spirit a set amount of time to move, if He doesn’t move in the first three or four songs we stop our PRAISE and WORSHIP; Three, often those who are leading us into PRAISE and WORSHIP have not properly prepared themselves; Four, the songs that are sung often are for our own pleasure instead of exalting Him; Five, when the Holy Spirit desires to move He is often cut off and not allowed to do His work. These points also can be applied to our personal time with Him. Oh by the way: Psalm 16:11 In His presence is fullness of JOY!The above stated points cannot come to fruition when we have not spent time with God enough to establish a “close” relationship to be sensitive to His will. Intimacy with God/Holy Spirit comes through getting to KNOW Him. As a husband and wife become close enough to often know what each other is thinking and wanting, that same closeness/intimacy must be developed by spending enough time with God for the relationship to develop. Too many have a speaking acquaintance only and not an intimate one.I believe in being prepared as much as anyone but I also know that we must have a willingness (not just say we have it), for the Holy Ghost (Spirit) as we used to say, “take over the service”. In many churches it seems that the Holy Spirit has about given up on having a freedom to work in the services. Spontaneity is almost a thing of the past in regard to having the Holy Spirit move as He wills.I pray this challenges each person who reads it to seek to enter into His Presence.