The other day I found myself before the Lord really wanting to lay hold of Him in a profound way. There I was, loving on Him, hoping to enter into a deeper realm of the spirit. I said, “Lord I want to impress You!” I thought to myself, “What am I saying? I can’t impress God.” In that moment I heard the Lord say, “You do Michael, you impress me very much.” I thought,”Wow, I do?”  I Immediately felt His presence all around me. So I asked, “How can I do that? You are so magnificent Lord." He quickly replied, “With your songs, with your faith,  with your love and childlike heart for Me.” I have to confess, I have never pictured myself as someone having a childlike heart for God. 

 Eventually, everything comes together into a clearer understanding of what I heard the Lord say. As I begin to write it down, the spirit of wisdom and understanding comes upon me, enabling me to see further than I have ever seen before. So here is a brief summary of that encounter. 

 The word “impress” within the context of my experience, means to impact God emotionally. Webster defines “impress” as “having an emotional or cognitive impact upon someone.” This means that our actions can lastingly and emotionally impact God in a positive or negative manner.

When I hear the word, “impress” I think of impression. Impression refers to “image.” This means that the actions of our lives have the ability to make to make an impression on God to such degree that He is left with an image or imprint of that experience. There are many memories of our past, both positive and negative, that leave some sort of lingering imprint in our minds or heart.

 I believe one of the greatest assaults against the body of Christ today, is the perversion of impressions. This occurs when people strive to impress one another more than impressing God. They try so hard to impress someone, anyone, as being the best singer, the best musician, the best prophet, pastor or entrepreneur, that they lose their ability to impress God in a positive way. Right now God is interrupting the religious impressions that have left the world with a false image of whom He really is. 

 These perverted imprints caused many to believe that the door of God’s kingdom wasn’t just narrow, but completely closed off; closed off to anyone who would question the ceremonial practices of ancient days. 

Because of these perverted views of God and heaven the new age movement was advanced. New Age doctrine capitalized on thousands of people who had been turned away by the religious system. They highlighted the church’s inability to break free from the shadow and types of biblical times. Thus, they presented the people with a new belief, that neither Jesus nor the church was the only way to gain access to the love of God. As a result, in their eyes, Jesus was no longer the only way to truth and life.