I Prospered Under the Shadow of God – Nickson Lino Goves

This podcast is a repost, originally published on April 22, 2017.

Pastor Priji converses with Nickson Lino Goves on the essence of worship and being in the presence of God.

Transcript:

Pastor Priji Varghese: What does worship mean to you?

Nickson L Goves: Worship is a place to love God back the way He loves you. It is to love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He loved us for eternity and if I can give my seventy or eighty years of life here to Him, it is worth it.

When no one loved us He did. I come from a family that was hated from childhood. At that time, He met us. When we were not even ready for love, He loved us.

There was a time when there is a person sang a song, it used to minister to me. In worship, we get caught up in a realm of eternity. Worship opens a portal where we get caught up in a greater truth, a greater existence.

Pastor Priji Varghese: Has there been a time when God had to remind you of what you told Him in worship?

Nickson L Goves: I have running away from ministry. I felt God telling me to give up everything to serve Him, and I was uncomfortable with that for one reason -finances. I came from a poor home and wanted to earn well, never wanting to have to stretch my hand out for help. But He never let go until that moment when nothing mattered but serving Him.

In 2012, He caught me in such a way, I never wanted to go back. That is why I understand Jonah. He knew that he could never run away from God. That year, He let an accident happen with my leg and I remember limping into the House to worship God. He has lifted me from a man who was limping to someone who dances and worships and now is the director of that House. I’ve never grown anywhere fast as how I’ve grown under the shadow of God.

Pastor Priji Varghese: Do you think the church of today has taken worship for granted?

Nickson L Goves: Yes. It is so painful to see that. Mostly, people want to come and release their pain and want to hear what they desire.

Worship is giving God what He deserves. You worship the worth of the Person.

Worship is sacrifice. It is sacrifice of your feelings, your pain, what matters to you, etc. It is like David who said he will not give to God what costs him nothing. In today’s world, what costs us most is our own lives. We come to receive for our life, but we must give it up.

Pastor Priji Varghese: What kind of worship does God find authentic, sincere, genuine and real?

Nickson L Goves: Children love their parents, but that love does not lack reverence. To be a worshiper, you must become like a child.

The Father is looking for worshipers. . He received the best worship from Jesus, because He worshiped Him is not as a slave or servant, but as a Son.

He calls us to worship like Him. His love lacked no reverence. Respect comes from a relationship, not merely a revelation.

When His Spirit enters the room, He enables us to worship like Him.

For thirty years, Jesus did not signs or wonders, but He was a Son. Obedience is the best form of sacrifice.

Pastor Priji Varghese: What are the things that stop people from giving their hundred percent in worship?

Nickson L Goves: Pride. There is something called spiritual pride. The Devil was close to God, but pride entered in. You do not see that in Jesus. We must realise that we are never entitled to Jesus or anything in His presence. We do not deserve it.

Pastor Priji Varghese: If someone is going through a dry season being not able to worship, how would they get inspired to do so?

Nickson L Goves: The Spirit of God and your feelings are not the same. Your worship and your feelings are not the same. We are hosting our Father. Don’t host your feelings, host God. It does not matter how we feel.

We must take conscious decision to dethrone yourself and let God be enthroned over your heart. The seat of your emotions is your heart. Let God be enthroned and not your feelings.

Kneeling or bowing down to Him is not religious. You do it because He deserves it.

He inhabits heaven and all the angels worship Him in reverence with fear and trembling. Only we get the privilege to walk with Him and sit on His throne. How much more should we worship?

When I think of Him, all other things do not matter.

Inquire to know that God is good. One of the most difficult times to worship was in my mother’s death. I was angry with God when He took away my sister’s first child before birth. But she told me God is good, that He let the baby grow for eight months and was given a decent burial. I had to ask in every bad situation to show me that He is good, because I knew He is. But by the time my mother died, I said if He wanted to show me He’s good, then He can, but even if He does, I will still declare that He is good.

Pastor Priji Varghese: How has studying and teaching the Tabernacle in the internship changed your worship?

Nickson L Goves: Everything in the Bible, including building an altar and Cain and Abel’s sacrifice, was man’s effort to worship God. But for the first time, God visits man to say how He would like to be worshiped. There is a pattern to it. It is not about the Law and the do’s and dont’s but the revelation behind those things.

The Tabernacle was a shadow of the Man to come – Jesus.

It is not about tapping into God’s power but it is about entering His presence.

To get in touch with Nickson Goves or enroll for Worship Internship with Face2face Foundation contact the following:

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