Recently, I had a prophetic experience while driving my car—in the natural, I saw the road in front of me and was very conscious of the semi-flat landscape all around. In the spirit, however, I saw a large mountain. And then I immediately heard the voice of God say, "If this generation doesn't come to the Mountain of the Lord, they will try to put Me back in a box and put My commandments back on stone."
Following this experience, I understood God wanted His people to come to His mountain to hear His voice and listen to what He is saying. Obviously we can never literally stick God in a box, but we can limit Him to a box in our minds. It's not as much what He has said, but what He is saying. The sober reality is that our lives and future may very well rest in our aptitude for hearing and heeding what the Spirit of God is speaking to us in this hour.
Immersing Ourselves in His Presence
The key to hearing the voice of God is learning to saturate and immerse ourselves in the presence of God. When we come into His presence, the rest simply happens.
At times, we can find ourselves confronting thoughts and mindsets contrary to the will and nature of God, which are oftentimes exposed by the light of His presence. But remember this, "…whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:16). So it's important to first recognize these thoughts as opposing the truth, and then take them captive to the obedience of Christ. Clarity is found in His presence!
Our lives will be transformed, but primarily after our minds are renewed (see Romans 12:2).
However, if we choose not to heed the leading of the Spirit and become proactive in renewing our minds, it is possible that we will limit God's power and anointing from flowing through our lives because of these unrenewed thinking patterns. This is why it's so important that we have the mind of Christ.
If we do not come to the Mountain of the Lord to hear His voice, we will endeavor to put His commandments back on stone—setting up religious alters and embracing old wineskins—and be found gripping tightly to ritualistic rules and regulations of legalism. "So, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…'" (Hebrews 3:7-8). It's not about the dos and don'ts of Christian living, but walking in fellowship with the life-giving Christ!
Come to the Mountain and Hear His Voice
God is speaking today—can you hear what He is saying? Our daily bread is the Word of God—we cannot live off of yesterday's manna.
In my vision, the Lord was referring to Exodus 19:5-6 when He said, "Now, if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation…"
God's original intention for His people was that they would be a Kingdom of priests. A priest's first responsibility is to minister to the Lord, and then second, to minister to God's people. God's desire is that we, as a generation of priests, would come to His Mountain to speak directly with Him and hear His voice.
After Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery, they approached Mount Sinai where God was. When God's people heard the thunder and saw the lightning, they were overwhelmed with fear and told Moses to be the mediator. This is one of the saddest passages in Scripture: "The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:21). God never intended for just one person to approach His presence; He wants all of His children to come near to Him.
Much later in the story, Moses came to the base of the mountain after encountering the Lord; he found the children of Israel making sacrifices to false gods and worshiping a golden calf they had made. The children of Israel witnessed incredible miracles by the hand of God, yet they still fell away. Signs, wonders, and miracles are part of our inheritance as Believers; we need to continue believing and contending for greater breakthrough in this arena.
However, witnessing the miraculous does not mean we are not capable of losing connection with God. It is still very possible to witness God's power and even minister under the anointing, and then fall away to worship idols. What separated Moses from the children of Israel? Why did Moses remain faithful while the others turned away from God? The answer is found in Psalm 103:7: "He made known His ways to Moses…"
He Makes Known His Ways
Moses witnessed the power of God, but he also learned the ways of God. If we don't come to intimately know the ways of God, we will always question His motives: "Can I really trust You?" When led out of slavery, the children of Israel complained because they didn't have any meat to eat like they had in Egypt. They didn't understand the ways of God, so they thought they were being punished. But in reality, God was teaching them to put their trust and faith in Him. He wanted to reveal Himself as a faithful and good God who provides.
Jesus Christ is our High Priest. His Blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat so we can come boldly before the throne of grace, obtaining mercy and finding grace in our time of need (see Hebrews 4:16). God has made a new covenant with us through His Son, Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant.
"For this reason Christ is the Mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."—Hebrews 9:15
Understanding the Love of the Father and the Fear of the Lord
As Jesus hung from the Cross, He cried out, "It is finished!" The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. We now have access to the holy of holies where the presence of God dwells. As sons and daughters of God, we are invited to come into the very real, very tangible, presence of God.
I used to have a difficult time understanding and believing that God wanted me to enter into His presence. I thought to myself, "God is Holy, I am not. If I go into His presence He's going to kill me, or at least be mad at me!" Thankfully, the Holy Spirit began to reveal to me the love of the Father. I'm God's son and He loves me and is pleased with me. And I also began to learn that there is a healthy type of fear of God.
"When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'"—Exodus 20:18-20
God is Love and He is our Father. First John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." Fearing punishment comes from the enemy, not from God. God's love drives out fear, but not the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a healthy type of fear which is actually for our benefit. Jesus is our example, and the fear of the Lord rested on Him; He even delighted in it (see Isaiah 11:2-3).
Moses responded to the people's fear by telling them not to fear. He then went on to say that the fear of God that is with them would keep them from sinning. "To fear the LORD is to hate evil…" (Proverbs 8:13). Fearing God produces a righteous hatred of evil and adoration for things which are pure.
To fear the Lord means to revere Him or show Him respect. I've been concerned with my generation regarding this issue. I've listened to several people deep in sin say that God knows their hearts and will love them even if they continue walking in disobedience. This is true, but being truly saved means we no longer desire to sin because it hurts the One who loves us. Paul teaches on grace in the New Testament, but tells us not to use it as a license to sin (see Romans 6:1-2).
Come Up to the Mountain of the Lord!
It's essential that every person comes to the Mountain to experience the presence of God. The story of the children of Israel proves that we can witness God's power, but if we don't know God experientially, we can fall away. Mount Sinai was where Moses encountered the Lord. As we read above, it was a very scary sight. Look at the mountain that we're invited to:
"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in Heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled Blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."—Hebrews 12:22-24
The blood of Abel cried out vengeance. The Blood of Jesus cries out mercy and forgiveness! This Mountain is warm and inviting—a place where angels welcome us. Jesus is the Mediator of this new covenant and has made a way for us to come into the very heart of God. The Father is inviting an entire generation to come to the Mountain of the Lord to worship Him there and hear His voice. Will you come?
Ivan Roman
A Friend of God Ministries
Email: ivan@afriendofgod.org
Email: www.afriendofgod.org
Ivan Roman has a passion to see the Body of Christ walk in intimate friendship with God. Ivan moves in a prophetic and healing anointing that flows out from a heart of love. He has traveled the nations seeing signs, wonders and miracles almost daily. After one year of traveling, Ivan attended Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry under the leadership of Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton. Ivan currently travels around North America and the nations; he also oversees the Jesus Revolution ministry here in Albany, Oregon that began in August of 2007. Ivan and his wife Erica have two children.
No comments:
Post a Comment