Rapid-Release Spiritual High

Disclaimer: you might not be ready for this! If you have ever experienced a spiritual high with God, you know that there is nothing in the physical realm that can duplicate that freedom of body and soul. There is no chemical or biological release to compare to a true move of the Spirit of God. Every move of the Spirit is precisely intimate. God knows you better than any human partner could.

What I often see in the charismatic churches is a pursuit of a quick spiritual fix. While that eagerness to feel God’s Spirit is understandable, the lack of it is very evident in the robotic mechanisms of the non-charismatic churches. Again, the Lord wants me to talk about the cameras in the sanctuary. This is a big deal for God. Would you want cameras recording your intimate naked moments with your spouse? (That was intentionally carefully worded. But you get the picture … right?) Will you ever catch a move of the Spirit on camera or will He stay away because your need to record His presence is anticlimactic? Why bother if you miss the point completely?

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:2-4 NIV)

The Biblical encounters with God were obviously never caught on camera. The belief in those moves of the Spirit require faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. God doesn’t want disconnected, low-investment voyeurs trolling His activities looking for proof of His existence. But perhaps, that is what the church has become. Or, is it a place where you can momentarily hide yourself from God? Because you are in a corporate gathering, God certainly won’t approach you to open your heart for inspection. He wouldn’t embarrass you that way, would He? Joining in on religious events allows you to fake a more robust pleasure by association with the “saints”. Pretty much anyone can spot a fake orgasm, especially the faker. (Remember the disclaimer in the first paragraph.) Do you know what it is like to be in the Spirit, or not?

“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” (Revelation 1:10-11 NIV)

Other Scriptures to Consider:

• “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9 NIV)
• “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 NIV)
• “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25 NIV)
• “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8:26 NIV)
• “At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.” (Revelation 4:2 NIV)