Extreme Living In God's River Of Glory
Todd Bentley
Part 1: Hunger for His Glory
What are you seeking in your Christian walk? Signs, wonders, miracles, healing, deliverance, freedom from poverty or lack, and a harvest of souls for your city? If you aren't experiencing extreme living in your Christian walk, the manifestation of God's power, try asking God what He wants. It might surprise you to learn, that above all else, there's one thing God wants you to cry out for, and that's His glory. Find out how to do just that in Part 1, and why it's a vital component to living a victorious life of supernatural abundance. Don't miss Part 2 of this exciting teaching. Find out how you can prepare your heart to ascend the holy hill, to meet God face-to-face, as Moses did. Learn how to apply biblical principles to your life for extreme living--living life victoriously and to the max in the river of God's glory.
Extreme Living In God's River Of Glory
Part One
Hunger For His Glory
What God Wants
There's one thing above all else that God wants from His people. That is to know His presence. He desires us to know His presence in our lives and He really is calling us to know that He is with us.
God's presence is His glory, and He is calling us into the river of His glory. God wants us hungry, desperate, and jealous for His presence. He said, "Todd, this is your job. Make My people hungry. I want you to make My people hungry. I want you to stir My people. I want you to make them desperate. I want them to be jealous for My presence. I want you to share with them the times that we have had together, and the ways that I have come to you in My glory, in My power, and I want you to do this because I want you to stir them, and make them hungry and jealous for Me. Jealous for My presence. Jealous to know Me."
Everything, yes, everything He does comes out of His glory. That's where the power is. The power is in the glory--the glory river of His presence.
Everything Is In The River
Do you know the glory of God as God wants you to know it? God wants to give you His glory! It's going to permeate, saturate, and cover everything you do. He's calling His church into the river, into the glory. Everything He does comes out of the river. Everything God is going to do will come out of that river.
Do you need healing? Soak in the river of His glory. That's where the creative miracles are--that's where the blind see, the deaf hear, and the mute speak--that's where broken hearts mend, and disease washes away. Are you contending for harvest? Get into the river, marinate in His glory. Harvest is there--not just one or two fish, but an abundance of fish. Are you in bondage? Jump into the river. Make a big splash. Do you need a financial miracle? Dive into the river. Evangelism is there, joy is there, and sins are washed away in the glorious river of His presence. When we encounter the glory of the living God, the glory presence of Jesus the Healer is manifest--we are set free from sickness, disease, sin, lack, and bondage.
All God calls us to do, therefore, is to go deep--deep into the glory, deep into the river of His presence. The power is in the river. In the river is everything. God is calling you into the river. He is calling you to desire that place more than any place, or anything else. And when you desire, hunger, and thirst for His presence, you will glimpse the face of Jesus.
How Badly Do You Want To See Jesus?
God's glory is manifesting on the earth and in the lives of hungry believers in a fresh, new way. I believe that desperate saints will come into the glory of the Lord and see Jesus as they've never seen Him before. They will talk to God face-to-face, as Moses did (more detail in Part 2). Listen, when you know Him and when you are obsessed with this one thing, that you would know Him, you'll know the power of His resurrection--"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection" (Phil. 3:10a). It will just happen. You will just manifest the power of God everywhere you go because God will trust you with it. God is calling you into the river. Jump in!
There Is A River--Locate The Source!
Where is the river? The river flows from heaven, from God's throne, where His presence is. If you want to experience the river, first contend for the presence of the Source by positioning yourself before the Throne. Position yourself before the One who is Life, the One who is the anointing. Get into the glory of God, into relationship, and into knowing Him. This is far and above your daily devotional time, far above duty or obligation. This is hungering to be in His presence more than hungering for His power, or the work of His hand. It is a hunger for HIM above ALL ELSE. It's saying, "Lord, even if I never know, see, or experience Your power, it's okay--I just want to be in Your presence. I want You for who You are, not for what You do." God is calling us into His glory to be ones satisfied by visitations of His presence, more than blessings or great demonstrations of power. He's calling us to know Him, to soak and saturate in the river of His awesome glory.
Much too often we seek other things first, and yet, the Bible tells us to "...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). God is asking us to seek Him.
Know The Glory
Many walk with God, but don't know the glory, or intimacy with Him. There are times in my bedroom where the glory of God comes and I think, whoa! I'm going to heaven! Knowing the glory is not knowing about Him, but knowing Him for who He is--the inner reality of who He is. It's about knowing the glory of the Lord in such a way, that the presence is as thick as honey--thick, rich, weighty. It's the kabod, the weighty glory of the Lord. It's about wanting His glory more than anything else--wanting to be with Jesus, for the Glory of the Lord is His manifest presence--Jesus. Kabod is the Hebrew word for glory, and it means literally, "weightiness" or "substance." There's a weightiness, a density, and a substance to God that is found nowhere else. His splendor is weighty and awesome.
One time, God's kabod fell on me with such intensity, that it left me speechless--I couldn't muster any words, but that was just as well--they would have messed up the experience. His splendor weighed on me until I was breathless. It takes a long time to recover from visitations of glory.
The Lord spoke to me about bringing me full-circle. This was after a season of soaking in His presence for sometimes up to twelve hours a day. It was a time I would just lie in His presence and soak, saturate, and marinate in the glory. Visions, miracles, and our ministry were all birthed out of that time.
Cry Out For The Glory
At that time the Lord was saying, "Todd, there is a transition, I am bringing you into another level. You have growing pains--but you need to get hungry, even desperate. You're just not hungry enough, nor desperate enough. I want you to want Me more than anything."
I prayed and told Jesus how much I wanted His glory. I cried out to know Him. Suddenly, in the middle of seeking God--in my desperation, I felt His presence visit me. Thick! Oh it was so thick I couldn't stand. I lay on the bed and ah, man--the glory was like a hovering electric liquid honey cloud. I felt as though I was on a rollercoaster, just like, whoa! There was an electric current in the air, and excitement. The weight of God's glory enveloped me and hit me just below my knees. It felt like water, but it was electricity coursing through my body. It traveled downward and then filled me right up into my head. I lay on the bed convulsing, barely able to breathe, experiencing rapturous realms of joy, delight, ecstasy, and pleasure. This was the filling of the glory! It felt euphoric , awesome--a baptism of glory. I've had many God encounters, but I tell you, this was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. This was different. The weight of His glory was so intense.
Seek The Glory Above All Else
We have to want this weighty presence, this river, more than anything else. We have to live on Jesus. It's not the same as vision--I love vision, and sometimes I feel as though as long as I have vision, I can keep going, but that's a danger zone. The only way we can keep going, the only way we can truly live, is to live on Jesus. We cannot live on vision, not on demonstrations of power, not on daily, dutiful devotions, not on words of prophecy, nothing else, but desperation and hunger for the glory. Our appetites direct our lives. Why nibble when you can feast on God's glory? Does the passionate desire for anything of the world supersede your longing for God? Hunger for anything besides Him is dangerous. Only hunger for God assures victory. Drink deeply of God's glory.
Once, around one o'clock in the morning, I said, "My God, I'm hungry. I'm tired of a powerless gospel, of powerless Christianity. I'm not satisfied with how I've known You, and I need You to come down tonight." I was so desperate for Him, that I thought I was going to die. I tore at the sheets, clung to them desperately, and screamed at the top of my lungs, "God, I need You!"
I buried my face into the mattress, convulsing in tears. I had to have the glory realm! I had to have the atmosphere of heaven! I had to have the Kingdom of God in word. I couldn't handle hype any more. I couldn't handle talk. I had to have the pure glory of Jesus. I had to have it, right then, and right there! His glory, His presence had to be on everything I did. I had to have the glory . . . I just had to.
Breathing Glory
I took hold of God, and He took hold of me, for the presence of the Holy Spirit suddenly washed over me. I felt as though I was face-to-face with His presence and said, "Holy Spirit!" His presence was so rich, so real, whoa--and then it seemed as though a lightning bolt hit me, and it scarred me--transformed and changed me, in an instant.
I grasped the sheets of the bed, "holding on" until the sensation passed. Then, I rolled over on my side and my entire body was heavy, numbed by God's power. I said to myself, "I'm different." Most of us say, "God change us, I want to be different," but this time I said to Him, "I'm different." I felt it inside. I was different. This glory was so awesome, that it was as close as my skin. It was like breathing glory!
This is for you, friends. The glory of God is coming into the church. The glory cloud is manifesting. Gold dust, oil, dental miracles, gold flakes, feathers--they are happening. The Shekinah glory is coming. I tell you, the world is going to witness the sweeping power of the glory of Jesus and the Shekinah is going to change people in an instant.
Transforming Glory
Do you know what the Shekinah is? Shekinah is a Hebrew word that refers to the manifest presence of God. This presence is among His people. When King Solomon had finished having the Temple of God built, the presence of God came upon the Temple so powerfully "That the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD" (1 King 8:11).This presence is sometimes referred to as the Shekinah Glory. Do you know what happens when you come into the Shekinah? You instantly change. The Shekinah glory is so alive. The Shekinah glory is gloriously full of the brightness, the light, and the fire of God. One visitation of the Shekinah, the manifest weight of His glory, and it instantly transforms you. Instantly.
Extreme Living In His Glory
The glory is the atmosphere of heaven. The glory is the very atmosphere where God dwells. In this atmosphere is extreme living.
I believe we are living in these extreme days--extreme days of Christianity and living. The supernatural is going to be natural--real, a common occurrence, in everything we do, and everywhere we go, as believers. God and His kingdom can so come, and Jesus can be so manifest, that the glory can change the spiritual climate of a meeting, of a city, or a region, of a nation! When we get into the river of glory enough, people will remark as they did to Peter and John, "You've been with Jesus--you've been with Him!"
I believe there is a place where you can get deep enough in realms of glory, and stay there, wanting nothing but the Shekinah glory to fill and refill you. When you pray, seek nothing but the glory, not His hand, but His face, and you can become so filled with the glory that you will carry it for all to see.
Show Me Your Glory! (Exodus 33:7)
I tell you, I want His glory to drip down the walls of my room. I want my carpet stained with my tears of holy desperation. How about you? After experiencing His glory, all I wanted to do was talk about it! Every time I'd try to preach on something else, glory came out of my mouth! I preached and talked about nothing but holy hunger, desperation, and seeking His presence for months--and I'm still preaching it!
How desperate are you? Are you willing to do what it takes to be in God's glory even if it takes days, even months, until the glory touches you? Some people just want the preacher man to wave his hand and give us a shot of glory, but it doesn't work like that, friends. You have to hunger, thirst, pursue the glory, and usually it happens in your quiet place, without distraction. Then, you don't have to worry what others are thinking--you can let loose, and go all out for God in your desperation.
But don't worry--you can seek His glory anywhere. It doesn't matter who's smiling at you when you look up into heaven and see your Father smiling, delighted with your holy desperation. Seek His smile--seek His glory. If you have His smile, His kiss, the river of His glory presence, nothing else matters.
In part two, we'll see that God is raising up a generation of people who aren't focused on the hand and the power of God, but rather, His face--those who want to get hold of who God is, so that God's glory alone will transform them, their families, cities, and nations. Who will stand in His holy place? Is it you? Find out how you can prepare your heart to ascend the holy hill, to meet God face-to-face, as Moses did. Examine the hearts and motives of Moses and Jacob, and understand how God's glory changed them, and then apply those principles to your life for extreme living--living life victoriously and to the max in the river of God's glory.
Conclusion
Ascend the Holy Hill of the Most High God
The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? - Psalm 24:1-3
The Lord wants to bring us into new realms of glory. He is calling us into the river of His very presence. It is His desire for us to gaze upon His face, and to abide in His glory. The river of God’s glory flows from the Throne on high, His dwelling place, where His presence is. The river wells up under His temple (Ezek. 47:1–12).
Have you ascended the holy hill? Everything you have need of is in the river that flows from the high and holy hill. Are you standing in the river of His glory? In Ezekiel’s vision, the trees along the banks of the river were fruitful trees that would not wither, with fruit that would not fail because water flowed from the sanctuary, from God’s throne in heaven, where His presence is. Find extreme, abundant living in the river of His glory. His presence will scar you. It will transform you.
Ascend The Hill Of The Most High
How do we ascend the Hill of the Most High? How do we get what the rest of Psalm 24 promises: “blessing from the Lord” and “righteousness from the God of [our] salvation” - v. 5?
1. Pursue and Behold the King of Glory
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah - Psalm 24:6
We covered hunger in Part 1, but I reiterate this. God is raising up a generation of peoples who seek Him and seek His face, those not concerned about the hand of God and His power, but those who want to get a hold of who He is, so that His glory alone will transform them. That’s the heart of the Jacob generation. It’s a people who will say, “O Lord, I want to see your glory, I want to get hold of You and want You to touch me, change me, transform me.” God is searching for those with the heart of Jacob. He’s asking, “Who is hungry for My glory, who is hungry for My presence? Who will ascend the hill?” Those saints who hunger after Him—those who thirst and passionately pursue Him, will stand in and experience His presence.
So what is God saying? “I want to raise up a generation called Jacob. People who want My face, not My hand. Ones that want to get a hold of Me. Those who desire My glory to touch and change them, transform them into ones who will be princes with Me, to subdue the kingdoms of darkness, and manifest My power.”
God’s power manifests through those who hunger for Him, not through those who hunger for His power. He won’t pour out His power for our own ego or reputation. The power of the resurrection is for those who know Him and desire to know Him. It’s for those who sit at the feet of Jesus, for those who desire nothing else save to be with Him.
Don’t Move an Inch without His Presence
In Exodus 33, Moses is commanded to depart from the mountain and lead the Israelites toward the Promised Land. God tells Moses that He is taking His manifest presence out of their midst, that His presence would not go before him. However, He told Moses that he could still expect the fulfillment of His promises, His blessings, protection, the anointing, and the power of His hand. He even promised an angel as their guide. But Moses wasn’t happy with this. He wanted God’s presence. He pitched his tent outside of the tabernacle and pleaded, “If I have found grace in your sight, show Me now Your way that I might know You.”
Some people are satisfied with the type of Christianity that’s all power, blessings, protection, and anointing. It’s the “Yes Lord, just take care of my bills, give me my breakthroughs, do what you promised me in Your word, take care of the things that You know I have need of” mindset! It’s the attitude of, “Anoint me so I can preach better, cast out devils, heal the sick, do all the kingdom things.” But God says, “OK, but if that’s all you want, you can forget about My presence in Your midst. If you don’t want My face, forget about My hand.”
God’s looking for those who’ll say, with the same attitude as Moses had in Exodus 33, “I’ll tell You something right now, God. I’m not going. I’m not going! I won’t move in ministry if Your presence doesn’t move with me. I don’t care that You’ll deliver me, or drive out my enemies. I don’t care that You’ll give me the anointing. I don’t care that Your power is going to give me all that You’ve promised me. I don’t care that Your favor is still going to remain on us to get us into the Promised Land. If I don’t have Your presence in my midst, Your manifest presence, I won’t go! I won’t! Nothing matters without Your presence.”
In Exodus 33:13, Moses said, “That I might know You,” but verse 11 says that the Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face as a man speaks to his friend. Why did Moses ask to know Him when they already had a close friendship, where they spoke with each other? I mean, Moses seemed far beyond us in realms of glory. He touched and walked in things with God that we’ve only dreamed about, and yet, there He sat in God’s presence asking to know Him, refusing to go without Him. Moses wasn’t even satisfied with just speaking to God; he hungered for still more of Him. He wanted to really know God.
When Moses said, “Show me Your glory,” he was really saying, “Please show me the inner reality of who You are. Let Your glory come down and in that glory, let me know You. Let me know Your character by revelation. Then God showed Moses His glory, and started to reveal His character, “I am the Lord who is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger . . .” But make no mistake, this wasn’t a crash course in God’s character. It wasn’t head knowledge Moses received. God didn’t just say, “This is who I am.” The instant God’s glory fell, Moses ascended to a new level, and knew God as He had never known God before, by revelation.
Revelation is in the Glory
All I teach is by revelation received by God’s glory falling upon me. It’s a revelation whereby I instantly know certain things. In a meeting one day as God’s glory fell, I suddenly blurted out, “Someone here has a heart condition,” and then I instantly knew who it was, and picked the person out from the congregation. There is a knowing in the glory. When we enter into the glory realm and operate in the atmosphere of heaven, we receive revelation.
In that glory realm, the unbelievable happens. Kathryn Kuhlman ministered in the glory realm. She’d see what God was doing, proclaim it, and it would happen! This has occurred in my own ministry, where I’d see a deaf ear open and bam, someone’s ear would open. Sometimes in this place, people are healed in their seats without even coming forward or having hands laid upon them. It’s awesome.
Why would God tell Moses He was removing His manifest presence from their midst? Why did He say, I’m not going with you?” It was because of Exodus 32. The children of Israel put an idol, a golden calf before God. There are golden calves in the church today. They are those things that we put before God. Even in the physical church, there are idols, such as rigid schedules, that aren’t flexible to what God wants to do. Sadly, many churches today, don’t even know that they don’t have God’s glory, because the blessing of the Lord is still there, just as it remained for the Israelites. But it doesn’t matter how many people pack a church or a conference hall or crusade grounds, it doesn’t matter how much power there is, if there’s no glory, it’s all empty. Outwardly, everything looks great, but many ministries today are so busy going about having God do what He promised He would do, that they don’t even realize that God is not in their midst. Sometimes even ministry comes before the Lord. I’ve been in communities and cities with hundreds of churches, some of them huge, with thousands in attendance, but there’s no manifest presence there. If God’s manifest presence were there, there’d be miracles, because when the glory falls, everything falls. God’s glory is all a church or ministry needs. It doesn’t need the attractive programs. It doesn’t need hype. It doesn’t need those things in the natural it thinks it does. It needs God. Seeker-friendly churches draw people, but if God’s manifest glory were there, there’d be hundreds and thousands of souls saved, and hundreds and thousands of miracles.
Remember, Moses said, “I’m not satisfied, God! Even if you give me nations, I won’t be satisfied unless Your presence is with me. Moses was at the pinnacle of his ministry. He led more than 3 million people out of the bondage of Egypt and Pharaoh. Three million followed him and yet he was ready to say, “Forget it, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll lay it all down because I need the presence of the Lord more than anything else God would do for me.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t ask God to heal you, or to provide for you, or to deliver you. The power of the Lord is with you, He will heal you and bless you and set you free. But what God wants more than anything else, is for you to want Him and to be satisfied with Him, and nothing else.
Is there an idol in your life that takes the place of God’s presence? Are you too busy for Him? Somehow, you have to make time for God. It’s not always easy, I know that. Sometimes I work 16-18 hours a day, but I still have to make time for God. In our ministry, we witness the blind see, the deaf hear, cancers and diabetes healed, miracles, signs, and wonders happen. We see the gospel in action. But do you know what? You can pour your very life into ministry, and see incredible acts of God, but it’s all empty without His presence, without Him in our midst.
2. Pursue Godliness
Yes, it’s God’s desire for us to be intimate with Him, but there’s a condition to this intimacy, and that condition is godliness.
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation—Psalm 24:4, 5
God wants us to pursue godliness. His word instructs us, in fact, to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” As we see in David’s psalm, those who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place are those who have “clean hands and a pure heart,” those who have not lifted up [their] soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.” (v. 4). In fact, New Testament scripture confirms this, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord . . .” (Heb. 12:14).
If you are going to come into the glory, you need clean hands and a pure heart, true godliness. True godliness is not you in your own strength and power trying to do all the right things you know you need to do. True godliness is getting God manifest in your flesh. When God is manifest in your flesh, you will dare not do those things that you know grieve and wound His heart.
The Bible says, “Great is the mystery of godliness.” That is, the mystery that God has revealed to us in the gospel to make us godly. Those great things He revealed are that “God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory (1 Tim. 3:16).
Godliness is the glory of Jesus manifesting in our flesh, so that we begin to look like Him, talk and act like Him in all we do and say. That’s true godliness. If sin is in your life, get into the river and let it wash away your sin. Jesus will manifest in our flesh when we behold His glory.
As we behold the glory, the face of Jesus, we are transformed into that image. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).
The closer we get to God, the more the light of His glory exposes are darkness. Will you ascend the mountain or stand afar off? Do you want to pursue holiness and be intimate with God, or do you love your sin more? Do you really want to see His glory?
The King Of Glory Is Coming!
Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.—Psalm 24:7–9
Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle! The King of Glory is the Lord of Hosts, (v. 10) and He is coming to those who will be like Jacob. The King of Glory is coming to those that will seek His face. The King of Glory is coming to those that desire godliness, that is, God manifest in the flesh. The King of Glory is coming to those who become like that which they behold, the image of Christ manifest.
Get Ready!
The gates and the doors are the church—you are the gate, you are the door in which the glory of the Lord is going to manifest. The Bible says that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). People are going to know God. The sick, the lost, the dying are going to know God. Those who need Jesus will know Him. Why? Because of His glory. Who is going to release His glory? You are! Why? You are the gate, you are the door, you are the temple from which the river of God’s glory flows. Behold His presence, His glory, and then open the gate, open the door, and release His glory.
Friends, extreme living is not possible without seeing Jesus. Come to Him on His terms. Hunger for Him and worship Him in the beauty of holiness. Renew your focus and raise the glory level in your life!
Father, I want to see Jesus, I want to know Jesus. “Lord, even if I never know, see, or experience Your power, it’s okay—I just want to be in Your presence. I want You for who You are, not for what You do. Holy Spirit come with Jesus. King of Glory, come in. Touch me with Your glory. Let Your glory expose my sin. Let Your glory anoint me, that the glory of the Lord would bring forth change. Oh Jesus, Jesus, I need Your manifest presence. I want Your presence to fill my life. I want a relationship with You. Forgive me for wanting Your hand more than Your face. I repent for not knowing You. Forgive for not having intimacy with You. Forgive me for being out of hunger with You. I want to ascend the holy hill and stand in the river of Your glory. I want to be in fellowship with You, and I want to make You first in everything. I’ve been out of the glory, I want in! I want my heart afire and ablaze with passion for You. I want Your glory alone to radically change me. I desire nothing more than Your presence. I thank You for the glory of God filling my life anew. God, show me Your glory! In Jesus’ name, Amen.