"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "Forced Falls"

"..God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."(Exodus 3:4-5) The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knows how to bring us to our knees, whether it's appearing to us in a burning bush, writing on the wall of a banquet room in the midst of a feast, sending an angel to say we are chosen, or calling to us through a bright light ... these things are "Forced Falls."

"..And suddenly there shined round about him

a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth,

and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul,

why persecutest thou me?"

(Acts 9:3-4)

This was the conversion of Paul. He had spent his life persecuting and killing christians, but, God ... Note these words, "But, God," intervened! God is the Master of intervention; He knows how to get our attention! In our lives, the greatest thing that could ever happen in any of our situations, dilemmas, tragedies, triumphs, victories, successes, and miracles, is to note "that" awesome and stupendous changing moment when we said ... "But, God!" No matter what we're going through; if we belong to Jesus Christ; we know after prayer, we can say, "I was going under .. But, God! ... I was getting a divorce .. But, God! ... I was consumed with cancer and given weeks to live .. But, God! ... I lost everything to flood, fire, or foreclosure and thought I would not survive .. But, God! Ah, those beautiful words, "But, God made a way where there was no way; I was blessed with more than I had before; my body is healthy and clear of disease; my husband came home when I thought it was over!" ... "But, God!"

Our "But God" probably started with a "forced fall" though ... a drop to our knees, a falling on our faces, a posture of surrender, a humble contrition of the flesh to accommodate The Spirit! Ah, the "fall" .... We discover new worlds on our knees; we get vision on our knees; "the doing of the matter" first takes "praying for the matter!" We conquer in the Spirit; then, we go out and take the spoils! We can only lose sight of the shore when we are seeing through the eyes of the One with the world view!

Jesus said to him, "Away from me Satan!"

For it is written, "Worship the Lord your God,

and serve him only."

(Matthew 4:10)

Moses did it; Daniel did it; Paul did it; Prophets did it; sinners did it; people possessed with devils did it; and even satan did it ... they fell before the Lord. Some fell on their backs; some fell on their faces; some knelt in humility, but the point is: they all had "forced falls" before the Lord God of the universe. And, there's coming another one, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."(Romans 14:11) Why is this important? We are beholden to the One who created us; we realize we are but dust; we would have no mind, no body, no spirit or soul without God; we are creation worshiping the Creator! It is the natural order of things that we bow before the only One who IS DNA, who started the beginning and consummates the end, who is Alpha and Omega, who is the First and the Last, who Was, and Is, and Is to come, the Almighty God, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Moses and Joshua in the Temple

Moses and Joshua knelt before the Ark, which at that period of time in history represented the presence of God. There has always been a people who worshiped God, who bowed before Him, and who respected His Diety. Falling on our faces before God will only increase, because the "times" call for it. It is not in man to surrender, because in our flesh dwelleth no good thing, but the spirit is willing even though the flesh is weak. All over the world, peoples of every Nation, kindred and tongue are seeing there is a higher power at force here. The Bible is coming to pass before our eyes; the headlines are Bible prophecies; the prophetic fire of the Word is flaming all around us; it's time to "fall" ...

We are never taller than when we are on our knees; we are never prouder than when we are humbled! "What?" you say. One definition of "proud" is having a proper amount of self respect. Respect literally means thoughtfulness or consideration. So, when we humble ourselves, we are presenting our bodies, souls, minds, and spirits in thoughtful consideration of our Creator. It is a very proud or respectful thing for a human body to do.

Only in earth are we hesitant to "fall" on our knees; many do it willingly, some do it forcefully when the "wind" knocks their feet out from under them; some do it as a ritual; but "all" will do it before long ... and one day it will become a thing of the past! What? We'll be in a new place, robed in white, having obeyed the salvation message ... repentant, filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ ... And, it will be no more a "forced fall," but a "free fall!" We'll be free of sorrows, free of tears, free of heartache, free of pain ... we'll fall out of love, adoration, freedom from mortal flesh, and wonder at the Throne of God; we'll cast our crowns as our knees hit golden streets, and we'll cry Holy, Holy, Holy, to The One who reigns forevermore!

Everything "perfected" in life requires a little bit of practice ... Let's "fall!"