Yes, Life Existed Before the WWW

Do you remember the time before we had a plethora of digital devices instantly giving us the world’s knowledge right at our fingertips?

We actually used to talk to one another instead of to devices. We relied on others to read and interpret oversized road maps to us for directions instead of a GPS telling us where to go and what lane to get into. I grew up in rural Missouri, and I remember party lines on a crank telephone. I recall when we as a family got our first black-and-white Motorola TV set and we sat around and watched episodes of Lassie together. Times have changed.

It is hard for this present young generation to even imagine life without a smart phone or doing math with a lead pencil on a piece of lined paper. Now don’t get me wrong, I love our modern day technology and I personally do at least 50 percent of my shopping online. Now that it’s time for true confessions, I even talk to Siri (iPhone) and Alexa (Amazon Echo) almost every day! Yes, there was life before the “WWW.”

The Original WWW

God had the original WWW and it was not the worldwide web. It was and is His Word, His will and His ways. When we fully follow and surrender our lives to God’s WWW, the end result is seeing His glory. 

It seems to me that in some circles today, we treat God’s Word like it is a box of chocolates where we pick through the bunch to find our favorite one and leave the rest of the less desirable ones left sitting there. But according to God’s Word in Ecclesiastes 4:12, it is “a three cord strand that is not quickly torn apart.” We need all three strands of truth brought together so we can stand in the evil day (Eph. 6:13). O that we would no longer be tossed all over the place by every new fad or whim but rather truly grow into the full stature and maturity that Christ desires (Eph. 4:11-16).

This will only happen by adhering to God’s Original WWW. Let’s give ourselves to the ongoing process of digesting His Word, walking in His will and learning His marvelous ways.

The Foundation of His Word

In considering His Word, His will and His ways, the Holy Spirit continues to reveal the nature of God through His written Word to us. Man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). In a previous message, “God Still Speaks,” I outline the necessity of abiding in the written Word and thus the giving the Holy Spirit something to breathe upon to change the logos into the rhema.

Everything is built upon the foundation of His Word. Without the right foundation, your house will not be able to stand up against the wind and the waves of life (Matt. 7:24-26). Having covered the subjects of “God’s Trustworthy Word” and “The Uniqueness of God’s Word” in my Getting to Know God and His Word curriculum, I will move on to these two remaining aspects of God’s Original WWW by taking a glance at Exodus 33.

A Glance at Exodus 33

Many of us love the amazing truths displayed in the life of Moses as contained within Exodus 33. For a moment, I want to take us on a quick tour of this chapter but in reverse order. You will understand what I am referring to as this short lesson unfolds.

“Then Moses said, ‘I pray, show me Your glory.’ Then He said, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy'” (Ex. 33:18-19, MEV).

Moses prayed what many of us are asking for today: for the Lord to reveal His glory. God’s response to Moses’ earnest plea was to “make all My goodness pass before you.” Just imagine for a moment—the Lord answers Moses hunger for the glory realm by revealing the nature of His goodness. Incredible!

This is exactly one of the major themes the Holy Spirit has been emphasizing over the last decade. As many leaders have stated in our day, “The best-kept secret in the body of Christ is that God is in a good mood!“ The revelation of God’s goodness is breathtaking. God is good all the time! Jesus brought us the Good News! Acts 10:38 boldly declares, “Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.” I’m in agreement, how about you?

One of the most quoted verses in the entire Bible is Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good for those who love God and have been called to His purpose.” As Oral Roberts taught, “Something good is just about to happen!” So from His Word, we clearly find from both the Old and New Testaments, God is good—period!

Learning His Marvelous Ways

Let’s briefly consider what is probably the most overlooked aspect of God’s WWW—His ways. We find once again, that this was the cry of Moses’ heart. He didn’t just want to know about God, he wanted to know God. Moses wanted to be intimately aware of God’s nature, personality and His “wisdom ways.”

Exodus 33:12-13 remarks, “Moses said to the Lord, ‘See, You say to me, “Bring up this people,” but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You, and that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too that this nation is Your people.'”

Moses tied together the principles of finding favor in the Lord’s sight with the desperate prayer to know God’s ways. Why? That I might know Him! Isn’t that what your heart beats for? Then join me and thousands of others as we proceed in Passionate Pursuit of getting to know God by getting to know His Word, His Will and His Ways.

Walking in His Will

Maturity is doing God’s will without having to be told over and over again. I am a father of four and now a grandfather of four. I know the drill of child raising, “Now repeat after me.” Or “Listen and obey!” Sometimes you learn the stove is hot when you touch the stove. “Oooh, Daddy, stove is hot!” It is fun today to watch my grown adult married kids having children of their own. I watch at a distance as the grandchildren discover that is it really in their best interest to do what Mommy and Daddy say.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). According to Luke 22:42, in deep agony Jesus cried out, “Yet, not my will, but Yours be done.” Jesus walked in it. Moses taught it. We each must eventually learn, “I have come to do Thy will, oh Lord!”

His Requirements Precede His Glory

In His Word, His ways are revealed. One principle we find is that the Holy Spirit is looking for a people who will walk in God’s will no matter what it costs or looks like. When He finds such a people, He has no problem demonstrating the goodness of His glorious nature. So let’s take another look into Exodus 33.

Exodus 33:5-6 tells us, “Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you. So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.“

I, like many of you, have read Exodus 33 for years and prayed the prayers for greater glory like Moses. But only recently did the Holy Spirit highlight to me the principle that precedes the promise. “So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.” They did what? They stripped themselves of their external forms of identity and found their security in Him and Him alone.

If we want to truly see His glory, if we really want to walk in the fullness of His ways, if we want His will to come on Earth more than anything else, then we will joyfully strip ourselves of our ornaments and worship Him. He alone is worthy!

Let’s walk in His Word, His will and His ways! After all, God has the original WWW! {eoa}

Dr. James W. Goll is the co-founder of Encounters Network, a ministry to the nations. He has written 15 extensive Bible study guides and is the author or coauthor of fourteen books, including The Coming Prophetic Revolution and Praying for Israel’s Destiny. Goll is a contributing editor to Kairos magazine and speaks and ministers around the world.