Creflo Dollar - How to Receive the Presence of God Daily - Part 1
2 Peter chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ". Now, notice what Peter was saying. He was a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained what? "Like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ". Verse 2, now watch this, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge," and the knowing, "of God".
Now, why did I say knowledge and knowing? Because there's no way you're going to read about him, gain knowledge about him and not eventually know him. See, you don't really know people without at least getting some knowledge about them. It starts somewhere, you know. So he says what happens is as you begin to get the knowledge and the knowing, say that. Say, "Knowledge and knowing". As you begin to get the knowledge and knowing of God and of Jesus Christ, he says here's what you need to be expecting. Multiplied peace and multiplied grace. So here's what's going to happen. As you begin to develop this intimacy with God, unmerited favor is going to be multiplied unto you. In other words, the more you come to know him, the more you're going to find yourself experiencing things that you didn't deserve.
The more you come to know him, the more this undeserved love begins to manifest itself in your life. You won't be able to go and explain exactly how it happened, except, "I've just been learning about him and knowing him and it looks like favor has increased in my life". Now, you know you can't do nothing to earn favor or wouldn't be favor. But I prophesy over this congregation here and over the stream, get ready for multiplication of grace and peace, grace and peace. Say, "Grace and peace". Ooh, glory to God. Do you know peace is a blessing? And the devil is going to do everything he can, well, he's already been doing it. That's what this whole thing is about. He's been doing everything to rob you of your peace. You can hardly turn the news on because it's infested with peace robbers.
Do you go to that old TV station that played the more "Andy Griffith" reruns? That'll give you more peace in some of the presence stuff they're playing today. Satan is after your peace. The peace that comes from God is the security that you need in the midst of turmoil. Hell freaks out when peace and grace is being multiplied, but you can't multiply that by your own means. It comes through the knowledge and knowing of Jesus Christ. That's why now it's important for us not to just teach a sermon and you take note. Now it's important for you to have a daily encounter with the presence of God. And I'm going to tell you, get ready for it. It won't last long.
See, you got to understand the devil is like the Bible says roaring lion. His teeth have been pulled. He has no claws. He says he roars as a roaring lion. Didn't say he was. Don't let the roar put fear in you. I'm already telling you, and I believe that example was for us today. I'm already telling you your decision to be a carrier of the presence of God will attract the fear of the devil. "What do you mean the fear of the devil"? Don't you know the devil is scared of you? You got the presence of God. All you need to do is to let him know, "Look, I got the presence of God. You don't want none of this now". And there, "You don't want none of this now". All right, let's go to this next verse. You got this one? Got it?
2 Peter, let's do verse 3. Let me, I forgot verse 3, verse 3. He says he does this according as his divine power hath given unto us what? All things that pertain unto what? Life and what? Through the... Look there. "Through the knowledge and the knowing of him that has called us to glory". He's called us, that knowledge and knowing of him calls us to glory, and it calls us to virtue, which means there'll be supernatural things taking place in your life that you are not going to be responsible for making happen. It's going to come because of a clear decision you've made to know him and to get the knowledge about him, amen? Now, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. So awesome.
Now watch this. "But grow in grace", what? You can grow in this unmerited favor? You can grow in this operation of love? Grow in grace. One of the ways to do that is when you get to know him to such a point you're depending on him all the time. Sometimes throughout the day, one of the ways to engage in the presence of God is to just pause in the midst of an impossible situation and say, "Lord, I trust you". Go ahead and say that right now. Say, "Lord, I depend on you". He said, "Grow in grace". And notice what's attached to growing in grace. And in the knowledge and the knowing. See, we're not going to be wasting our time here this month as we learn about walking in this intimacy, in the knowledge and the knowing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "To him be glory both now and for ever".
I tell you something got turned on last week. And I don't know about you, but I ain't trying to find the on/off switch. Grow in grace. Say out loud, "Grow in grace". So every time, you're going to start noticing every time there's a talk about growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and getting to know him, you're going to start seeing grace and peace. Grace and peace will be multiplied because you're now growing in the presence of God and your relationship with God. You're not just, don't have knowledge of him only, you know him. You know, there's a lot of Christians who have knowledge of him. They know what this Bible verse say, they know what that Bible says, but do they know him? Because there's going to come a point in everybody's life that he's going to do something that you won't be able to explain, and I don't want to serve a God where I can logically explain everything he does. I want a God that shows up and does some stuff sometime and I have no idea how he did it, I'm just glad he did.
Now, seriously do you think you are really qualified to logically explain everything that God does in your life? Because if you think you are, get ready, honey. He's getting ready to do something that you will not be able to logically explain. I want to serve a God that I can't logically explain. I want to serve a God where it's all right that I don't know what you did and how you did it. I want to serve a God that showed up with no announcement but just showed up because I wanted to be a carrier of his presence and none of my knowledge and intellect can explain anything. I saw some stuff I still can't explain and it's okay because something happened to me. "What"? I can't articulate it yet, but I ain't never going to be the same. Hallelujah.
All I know, because of what I carry, it is a threat to every demon force on the planet. And you carry the same thing. I am not limited to carry this. You have made your mind up that you are a carrier of his flames. Hallelujah. You are a carrier of his presence. Hallelujah. And the more you grow in his presence, the more you're going to grow in grace and peace, grace and peace. You know what that means? That means you can live life and not have to worry about whatever 'cause you got the Lord of whatever. And because he lives in you and you carry him, there will be times that you will pray and before you can even pray it God has already done it, why? Just so he can just blow your mind every now and then to let you know, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am still God. Your seminary schools have not outdone me. I know more than what they think they know".
See, some people know more than what they understand. I don't want to know more than what I understand, I just want to know him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You're already, these are the last days. These are the last days. People talking about, "It's over with in the church of"... Oh, no, no, no, no. God's getting ready to raise up a mighty armor of people who believe him and trust him. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Do you think God's just going to sit back and let the devil get away with what he even, what he been doing? No, no, no, no, no. He got to deal with the intercessors. He got to deal with the name of Jesus. He's got to deal with the Word of God. He's got to deal with those who carry his flame and release his fire. He's got to deal with those who know their God, and they that know their God will do exploits. And I don't know about y'all, but I'm ready to go. Ooh, Jesus. Ooh, Jesus. I know him. Hallelujah.
I spent years learning about him and sometimes all the knowledge I had about him stopped me from knowing him, but I know him. I sense him. I sense him in this place right now. I sense him, number one, 'cause he came with me this morning, but I sense him, number two, 'cause it's like you bought him with you too. Hallelujah. And I sense healing going over this place right now. Somebody just felt something in your body, hallelujah, and you thought it was a chill. That was the hand of God going up and down that thing. I'm telling you we're in the presence of the Holy Ghost, and that's not going to be like we saw in the past 'cause last week we closed the circus and we got rid of all the clowns in the aisles. We ain't playing church no more. This is real.
Now, if you don't believe me, go home and spend some time with him. He'll touch you right where you are all by yourself. He will take a man that ain't never cried before in his life, and he'll touch you on the inside of you and all of a sudden you will be weeping and don't know how to turn it off and how to stop it because his presence brings everything you'll ever need. You will never be in need as long as you carry his presence.
Now to some, well, it just becomes another Sunday. That's another word 'cause they hadn't tapped in yet. They still trying to understand God from here instead of let God do what he want to do here. You got to let him in your heart. He right there by you, but you got to receive him. You got to receive him when you don't want to. You got to, let me back up 'cause you got to want to 'cause you got to free, you're a free moral agent, you see. But you got to receive him when you don't feel like it. It's not when I feel happy that I receive him. It's when I don't know which way to turn. It's when I'm seeing stuff with these eyes that you're not supposed to see with these eyes. It's when I'm hearing things with these ears and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. It's when I'm standing back and I'm looking at the whole thing take place and I'm trying to figure out what's happening. It's when demons try their best to take me out and attack me, but they move with caution because they know me. Oh, glory to God.
Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Every demon ought to know you. Every demon ought to walk up to you and call you by your name. Hallelujah. It's going to get so serious up around here. Oh my goodness. No more this play church. God going to give us show and tell after show and tell after show and tell until you are convinced that he is God in the building, outside the building, at your house, on your job, in your front door, at your back door. But this ain't no like church-playing game. You got to walk with him just like I got to walk with him, and I'm trying to show you how. Amen. Glory be to God. You know, sometimes people use emotions. I ain't got nothing to say nothing about nobody. They do the best they can. But when you know him, you don't have to use things to try to manufacture his presence 'cause sometimes his presence is smooth and cool.
Don't mistake people, don't judge people 'cause they ain't moving like you. Sometimes they're just sitting down bathing in his presence. Glory to God. Sometimes they're just sitting there soaking in his presence. They're not saying hallelujah, they're not shaking their hands, but, you know, they're sitting there and, see, the presence is something. They're sitting there soaking in the presence, and oh, and you have to catch it now because they're not doing that thing that you learned to do at your church; a lot of that stuff you learned to do. Praise God. I ask God to help me to unlearn some stuff. I don't want to be caught up in the traditions of men and then labor the Holy Spirit based on religion. I want to know you to the point that you can whisper something and I can hear it and know that it's done. Hallelujah.
Y'all better get ready. You better get ready. The stuff that some of you've been trying for the last, I heard it, 5 years, God's going to settle it in 2 months if you stop presuming that you know more than he do. "All right, Lord. All right, come on and go with me now and then I'm going to go on and do". No, no, no, no, no. You don't want to take him to the door and leave him here. Let him go on there with you. "Yeah, but I have a tendency when the Holy Ghost comes in that, you know, I can't control myself". You've been lied to. You can control yourself. The spirit of prophet is subject to the prophet. See, that's that tradition coming in telling you something that's not true, and that's why we got to undo all that. Some of y'all have never seen demons come out of people. That's what I want to show you that so it's real, okay? And then they'll go back and try to get one stronger than the one that came out because if we don't hurry up and fill that house with God, then something else going to come in. And then some of y'all carrying a little demon right now and you don't even know it, but we're going to make sure you get cleaned before this is over with. Hallelujah.
That's that little demonic voice just saying little stupid stuff to you right now and you trying to keep it quiet. It will come out in a minute, after a while 'cause I'm believing that the presence of God is going to drive it out. Look at y'all. Y'all scared. How can you be scared when you have the presence of the Holy Ghost? Hallelujah. You getting ready to find out about this unseen realm that you've not seen 'cause even the unseen world knows that things are coming to the end and the church is not going to be on the sidelines playing circuses. No. We're going to be right slap dab in the middle of it. Somebody said, "Does it mean we come to the build". I'm not talking about when you come to the building. A lot of this stuff going to happen where you at. You might go on vacation next week and have an encounter on a beach. Someone might come around you and say...
You say, "Hey, hey, hey, hey. In the name of Jesus, loose her free right now". And y'all have an encounter on a beach. And since the water right there, you might as well going to baptize them right there in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, which is none other than the name of Jesus. Some of y'all might have it at the gas station as you fill in your car and God says, "Go over there and get that person a tank of gas," and something supernatural happen and they fell out under the power of God right under the pump. Praise the Lord. And the presence of the Lord met you at the gas station. Who do we think we are trying to determine where God ought to meet us and where God ought not to meet us? I'm telling you he's ready to go with you wherever you go, not just on Sunday morning and not just in the Dome. Your God is real. You remember that old song, "Yes, I can feel him in my soul". Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Somebody say, "What's going on with him today"? Oh, we're ready. We're preparing for the showdown. Your attitude toward the devil, I'll be hug bear. "Come on, you want some of me? You want some of me? What? What? Showdown. Showdown. I have put up with this, and I have put up with that, and I have carried this, and I've been worried about that, and I've been heavy over this, and I've been trying to figure out where that money's going to come from. Oh, I've been hurt from that. I haven't been able to cover from this for 30, 40 years". Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. All of this is over. Somebody shout, "It's over". Oh, y'all sense the Holy Ghost in here. Don't you? Y'all sense the Holy Ghost in here, huh?
Lift your hands up and say, "Thank you, Holy Spirit. I receive you. Thank you, Holy Spirit. I receive you. Thank you, Holy Spirit. I receive you". Hey, hey, hey. All right, now watch this. Look at this now. Go to John 1, verse 1 and verse 14; John 1, verse 1 and verse 14. Glory be to God. Hallelujah. I'm praying that people meet the real God. I don't want them to die in religion, die playing church, die thinking they are anointed and don't even know who God is. The most powerful thing we can do is pray. You know why? Jesus got up and prayed every morning. Now, if Jesus got up before, the Bible says great time before day, to pray, how you feeling we need to do that?