Photo Credit: Washington Post

I was in my living room by myself one evening, minding my own business, when God’s spirit ushered into my life and shook me. Wake up, He seemed to be saying. There is more.

It reminds me a bit of Asbury, Kentucky. If you haven’t been following the news, a bunch of regular kids attended a church service. It was an uneventful day. But God‘s spirit rushed in and grabbed them, gently shaking them with a deeper awareness of Him. There is more, He seemed to be saying. The kids stayed and worshiped.

We know someone who attended that event. She said that the sense of God‘s presence was palpable as soon as you entered the building.

I guess others felt it too.

Over 50,000 people came to the sleepy 6,000-person town over a period of two weeks because God‘s presence was felt in a more tangible way.

In the sermon that was preached just before this outbreak at Asbury, the speaker said, “Make sure you experience God‘s love. Don’t leave this building. Don’t graduate until you have experienced God‘s love.”

The time when God touched me, powerfully, exactly like what is happening in Asbury, I also experienced a deeper understanding of God‘s love just prior. I had listened to a sermon by Rolland Baker. He said that many of us are seeking outpouring, seeking even what is happening in places like Asbury, but what we need to seek is simply God.

God himself. We don’t seek the experience of God, we simply seek God.

And so this touch of God that is shaking the world at Asbury, that is waking us up to say, there is more, is possible within each of our hearts and in our homes. Many of us have experienced something similar.

And so how do we escape the judgment of God, and help to usher in His Kingdom instead?

1. Thirst. We become thirsty for more of God, for more of what God wants to say, for more of God’s love.

2. Honesty. We confess our sins. The outpouring of God‘s love at Asbury has been characterized by a deep confession.

There are many marriages on the brink of break up that easily confess the sin of the partner. My partner did this wrong. My partner is a jerk. This is not the kind of confession that brings healing to a marriage.

The confession that brings healing to the marriage is the humble confession that admits that I have done wrong. I have failed.

In the same way, the kind of Christianity that brings cultural healing is the Christianity that says I have done wrong. Not pointing fingers at others and saying they have done wrong.

3. Surrender. We need to obey what Holy Spirit is saying to us, as He whispers when we draw near to Him. That’s it. It’s not complicated.

Christianity is not God plus our agenda. Fill in the blank for what that agenda could be.

God asks rhetorically, “Who among us can survive this firestorm?” Are you ready for the next few lines?

The answer’s simple: Live right, speak the truth, despise exploitation, refuse bribes, reject violence, avoid evil amusements. This is how you raise your standard of living! A safe and stable way to live. A nourishing, satisfying way to live. The Message

God help us to put down our metaphorical guns, our finger-pointing. May we focus instead on the mess within our own hearts. We lay down our agendas for what Your Kingdom looks like. May we instead follow Your love, giving away the extra love we cannot hold as we journey.