I AM! I AM! I Am God, I am King, I am, Lord! I AM! Who are you, my children, who are you? Do you know who you are? Do you have a true understanding of who you really are? You are the children of the great I AM! You are my children! You have been saved and sanctified by the blood of my precious and only begotten Son. His blood poured out for you, my children, a holy and acceptable sacrifice for you! You have been saved, sanctified and set apart for me. You are my children! My sons and my daughters! It is you whom I desire to call my friends.

I stand before you and rise in the presence of your praises. I stand before you the great I AM! You are to come boldly before me in my throne room. Do not stand far off. It is when you come close to my presence that you can clearly see who I am and who I am meant to be in your life. You say you love me, but do you fear me? Do you reverence me? Do you fear me enough to live your life according to my word and not according to your own selfish desires? Do you fear me enough to put aside those things that you know are detestable to me, yet you continue to do them anyway? Do you reverence me enough to bow down before me and submit to my ways and not your own ways? Oh my dear children, you do not! If you cannot even enter this church, focus on me and put me first, how do you expect to focus on me and put me first throughout your week? Your thoughts are far from me! Your focus is on what’s happening later. Your focus is on your next text. And when talking to the people around you is more important than focusing on me and my word, you do not reverence me. Do not be deceived! I see you, I hear you, I know you! Your thoughts and your hearts are far from me. Church is no more than a tradition to many of you. Do you hear me? Are you listening? What is distracting you? Get rid of it! Remove it from my presence! Do not think you can enter into my courts in your own way, with your own set of rules. It is not acceptable to me! It is an abomination to me and I will not receive your praise when you approach me on your terms! I must be first! I must be your focus when you enter into this place of worship. I desire holiness. I desire humbleness and submissiveness. I desire hearts that truly seek after me. You who are distracted are also a distraction! You grieve my Holy Spirit with your arrogant, self-centered presence! I would rather you stay home and do as you please there then to bring your self-serving ways here. When you enter this place set self aside. Bring the sacrifice of praise back into my presence again. Raise up holy hands with a willing heart. Bow before me as you crucify your flesh. Prepare yourself before you enter this place. Determine within yourself to worship me. Your worship doesn’t change me, but it does move me. I inhabit your praises, my children, yes, I dwell in them! And when your praises turn into true worship, then my glory will fall. I am not talking about a feeling of worship, NO! I am talking about true worship that comes from hearts that love me and fear me. Worship that starts before you enter this building and continues long after you have left. When you truly worship me, you will truly find me and my glory will be revealed in your midst.

My people! I desire to reveal myself to you. As a father desires to reveal himself to his son and a mother to her daughter, I desire to reveal myself to you! You are my children! I love you but I desire more of you. So much more! It is time. It is time to examine yourselves, your lives, your motives, your intentions, your desires. Where do I fit in? Examine yourself. I desire your all. Are you willing to give me your all? If I wake you up in the middle of the night will you hear me? Will you awaken and follow me? If I disturb you in the middle of your favorite TV show will you get up and follow me? If I call out to you as you are on your way out to visit a friend will you stop and follow me? Will you obey me? Am I worth the sacrifice? If you hear me say, “NO!” when your flesh desires what is wrong will you walk away from that fleshly desire and honor me? Where, my child, do I fit in? The world needs the church, but the church needs me first! When the church wakes up and realizes where it’s truly at, when the church humbles itself before me, when my people repent from their willful sins and they bow down before me, when my people pray and lift up holy hands in worship before me, then I will show you my glory and then my church will take my glory to this hurt and dying world where I will show myself strong in the midst of the darkness as my light shines out through you – my children! I am watching and I am waiting.

Arise and shine my church, arise and shine! For you truly are the light of this world and if this world is growing darker, it is because it started first with the church. It is time to let your light shine once again. What makes your light shine is my glory. And my glory will only come to the church that has prepared itself to receive. What have you done, what are you doing to prepare yourself for the coming out-pouring of my glory? Examine yourselves. Prepare yourselves. Study my word and pray or you will miss out and so will the world around you and I will hold you accountable! Prepare yourselves. Arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is upon you!