Deuteronomy 5:4 says, "the Lord spoke with Israel "FACE TO FACE" on the mount OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE FIRE...v.5. I (Moses) stood between the Lord and you at that time to show you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the FIRE and you did not go up into the mount!"
All of Israel was there on the side of the mountain with Moses and the Lord and they did not recognize God's "FACE TO FACE" encounter with them. They recognized "the fire of God"... but did not recognize "God in the fire"... instead they said:
Deuteronomy 5:25 "For this great fire will consume us"... and v.27 "Moses you go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say; and we will hear and do it!"
Not all want to See God
Not everybody wants to see God. And because some are not interested in "seeing" God for whatever reason, they become more and more numb to the closeness of God. Many are simply young christians and have yet to mature in their walk with the Lord. Others are, for one reason or another, just flat out rejecting God. .Jesus called the Pharisees "hypocrites" because they could not discern the time they were in. They claimed to be the ones who knew God, yet they didn't recognize Him even when He was standing right in front of them! As sons of Abraham they claimed they knew God personally but were more interested in building their own kingdom.... not the Kingdom of God! He said to them, "You hypocrites. You can discern the face of the sky but cannot discern the time you are in". He was extremely critical with them only because they claimed they knew God but didn't. They claimed they could "see" yet they were filled with unbelief.
We don't want to miss God. We need not be like Israel saying "We see the cloud we see the pillar of fire but we see no form... that can't be God! We need to be careful what we are calling "Not God". Scripture teaches us "What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not even entered into the heart (mind) of man all that God has prepared for those who love Him and obey Him gratefully recognizing His benefits". I Corinthians 2:9
IT'S BEEN PUT WITHIN OUR GRASP TO KNOW THE VERY PERSON AND THE POWER OF GOD AND WE NEED TO FIND HIM. HE IS WITHIN REACH AND IS NOT FAR FROM EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US!
"And He made from one common origin all nations of men to settle on the face of he earth, having definitely determined their allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation. So that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us."...Acts 17:26-27
Recognizing a Visitation from God
Firstly, it's important that we learn to recognize when God is in our midst or when we are having a season of a visitation from God. Secondly, it is equally important to not only recognize Him but our need to reach out after Him. He may intend to pass us by. Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water in the 3rd watch of the night intending to pass by! Mark 6:48-52: "And after He had taken leave of them, he went off into the hills to pray. Now when evening came He was on the land. And having seen that they were tormented in their rowing in the wind he went to them about the fourth watch of the night (3:00 to 6:00 am). He came to them walking on the water and He acted as if He meant to pass by them. But when they saw Him they were filled with fear and shrieked in terror. He said to them Take heart! I AM! And He went up into the boat with them, and the wind ceased and they were astonished.
The disciples were filled with fear because of the storm and they were concerned that they would perish at sea.They had completely forgotten the miracles that had just taken place on the other side and had become callous and dull and had lost the "power of understanding" (Mark 6:52). Remember, fear will kill faith and shut down the work of the Spirit and transformation in our lives. Fear ultimately works to pluck out the eyes of faith and causes us to forget even the most recent demonstrations of power we've witnessed.
I wonder what would've happened if they had not called out to Jesus. Would He have passed them by? He was looking to see in this unusual set of circumstances if they would call out to Him or not. Jesus doesn't always come the way we think. If He manifests Himself differently than we are used to seeing Him will we call out to Him or let Him pass by?
Manifestations of the Holy Spirit of God are merely an evidence of God's presence and power reaching toward us. His face is constantly being revealed in and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If we're willing to look for Him in the outpouring of His Spirit, He can then begin to wonderfully reveal Himself to us in many ways far beyond our experience and understanding!
Since the release of PRESSING THROUGH THE VEIL INTO THE CLOUD OF HIS PRESENCE ... Part 1, we've ministered in several key meetings in several states where the manifest presence of the Lord came in the wonderful and unusual ways. The Holy Spirit has been revealing the face of the God in ways far beyond my experiences. Recently in a service in Ohio, the Lord powerfully healed many with physical needs...... eyes, ears, extremities etc..and then began to pour out what appeared to be a golden oil of the Lord that covered everyone in the room. This oil was not only manifesting on our hands, arms, faces etc... it was coming out of us. Much of it turned into flakes of gold, red, blue, green.... every color of the rainbow. And to top it off, many in the meeting had received dental miracles of brand new golden crowns! We rejoiced greatly in the Lord!
Several days later in another meeting in Plymouth, Michigan, during the message the wind of the Spirit began to blow so hard in the room we couldn't help but stop and take notice. It was quite warm in the auditorium and the temperature dropped a good 7 to 10 degrees as the swirling wind from heaven passed through our midst. As we pressed further into the Lord, many received not only one golden dental crown but 5, 6, 8, and even one lady 12 golden crowns from the Lord! A woman who had her ear drum removed 20 years ago received her hearing as she passed through the fire tunnel! God literally created a new ear drum for her!!
Signs and Wonders are the Knocking at the Door
I began to share with the people that we are in a season of the "knocking" at the door. The "Signs and the Wonders" that appear are merely the knock at the door of Revelations 3:20. Jesus is wanting us to open the door to intimacy with Him so He can reveal Himself to us. Jesus said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will "sup" with him and he with Me." We must not only hear, but listen and act by responding to Him.
First we "sup" with Him... then we reign with Him. First we open the door to intimacy and relationship with Him then He reveals the Kingdom to us. We're in the season where the Body of Christ is beginning to understand it's place as sons and daughters of the Kingdom and that our heritage and our inheritance is to rule and reign with Him. God is looking for mature sons and daughters that will be the inheritors of "all things."
The Lord was counseling the Laodicean church (which was the last of the 7 churches addressed ...symbolic of us) in Revelation 3:18 to "purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire that you may be truly wealthy." We are in transition as the Body of Christ from the Laodicean age (which literally means "governed by the people") into Kingdom age mentality. This Kingdom age people are a people who are governed by the King and are called to "come up here" (Rev 4:1). They will do great exploits and demonstrations of power because they have the very nature or DNA of God flowing in them and through them. These Kingdom age people have full understanding that "it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom"!
A HIGHER TRUTH
Jesus warned his disciples saying "Be careful what you are hearing... The measure of THOUGHT and STUDY you give to THE TRUTH YOU HEAR will be the measure of VIRTUE AND KNOWLEDGE that comes back to you"... There are different levels of truth available to us and we choose what level of truth we focus on and set before our eyes. For example, all of the camp of Israel saw the pillar of fire that burned before them as a convincing manifestation of the presence of God, however, they missed the "Higher Truth" that it was indeed the very person of God speaking to them from out of the midst of the Fire!
Jesus was saying in Mark 4:24, whatever you give yourself to in thought and study (even good things) will be the degree that comes back to you in "virtue" (Power) and "knowledge"(revelation). So set your minds on the Higher things...the more excellent things. Set your affections above!
If you are after the power and revelation of God, then set your minds on the truths that will feed your faith in the reality of those truths and keep it there until those truths manifest and bring about the fruit of it!
...Set your minds and heart ... (thought and study) on these things and keep them there and you will reap the benefit of beholding the higher things of God. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:6, "Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do IMPART A HIGHER WIDSOM , the knowledge of the divine plan previously once hidden."
God wants to reveal Himself to a people who will in turn reveal Him to the world. We are on the same mission as Jesus; to reveal the Father. Jesus said; "Father I have manifested Your name on the earth"John 17:6 and "Just as the Father has sent me...so I am sending you"! John 20:21 .....with the same power and authority given to Jesus!
I love the Glory of God. I love to experience the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. It's not so much that the Glory fills the physical house of God in Haggai 2:9 which is tremendous and awesome in itself, but rather it's the Glory of God being revealed and "MANIFESTED" in and through a people and in a generation of people that have set themselves to seek out and to know the very powerful and beautiful face and nature of the living God and to know by experience the reality and power of God!
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