As Jesus passed through the gate, the blind Beggar on the side of the road Turned to someone standing nearby and asked a question:
"Is that Him? Just tell me, is that Him?"
"Yeah, yeah, Bartiaeus; that's Him."
"Then you better get out of my way because I'm about to lose my dignity."
Hear me, friend. You can't preserve your dignity and seek His Deity. You can't save your face and seek His face. At some point uyou are going to have to lose your spiritual manners.
You will have to leave your Pentecostal, Baptist, or Presbyterian protocol behind you. You need to forget what you are supposed to do when, where, and how. You will have to reduce it down to the basics: "is that Him? I think He's in the building! I think He's close." I don't know how you feel, but I refuse to let Him get that close to me and pass me by. "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!"
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would Jesus pass us by? Absolutely, Jesus would have passed by the disciples when they were rowing a boat across the sea of Galilee in the darkness of the night, but they cried out to Him. (See John 6:16-21.) He would have walked past the blind man, but Bartimaeus called out and kept calling out until Jesus turned aside to see him. Jesus would have walked past the woman with the incurable bleeding problem too, but she stretched out her hand and touched the hem of His garment by faith. (See Mark 5:25-34.) In the end, Jesus walked through Jerusalem countless times over the course of His brief life on earth, but the religious people of that ancient city missed the moment and the hour of their visitation.
One of the Keys to turning visitation of the spirit into habitation of the spirit is recognizing Him. Has it been so long since you've "seen" Him? Would you embrace His visitation in humility as much as in power?
Would you believe me if I told you that someone is knocking at the door of the church right now? He is literally knocking at the door of His own house because He has given us the Key. I don't want to see the church miss her moment or hour of visitation. If somebody would ever open the door to Him, we won't be left to talk sadly about what He smelled like "the last time He knocked at out door." We will be walking with Him and fellowshiping with Him. Perhaps you sense something gripping your heart that malways you want to shout, "Lord, don't pass me by! Jesus, have mercy!"
"Father, I pray right now for a spirit of Bartimaeus to grip your people. May we lay aside the garments of pride that identify us with the blind and lift our voices in worship, 'Jesus, son of David!' We lift our voices in repentance, 'Have mercy on us.' We worship and repent and cry out, 'Don't pass us by!' "
Why don't you forget about your manners right now? It is time to lay aside your religious protocols, the things that dictate what is supposed to happen and when. God has always preferred spiritual hunger over spiritual ritual. Are you going to miss your moment? If you can feel Him edging closer and closer, then don't let Him get this close and pass you by, even while reading this article. Remember that God is shopping for a place to break out. He is knocking at the door. I can almost hear Him say to us, "you know what happens when I visit a church. You've not yet seen what happens when I visit a city. Open the door and let Me in!"