Spiritual Mountain Climbing

Spiritual Mountain Climbing

Isaiah 40:9
You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”

In Hebrews 11:8-10 it says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as [in] a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God.” As we have began our journey of faith we have started our spiritual climb up the mountain of God, at first the path may have seemed gentle and very pleasant. As we travel on we find there are very difficult and perilous places that we must pass through as we continue our assent. Continually the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are urging us on, but as we journey up the mountain we notice that many have turned off of the trail at various points. They have even put up dwellings and have set up house keeping on these lower realms of the mountain. At times we may have asked the question, “ Lord, haven’t I gone far enough? This seems like a pleasant enough place, can’t I just stay here?” But the Spirit of the Lord would say to us, “ to obtain My best, you must press into My highest.” It came to me that though these ones had chosen a pleasant and easy place to abide rather than press on up the mountain, they had left themselves very vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. They had no real cover or protection when they came under attack. So we press on, not knowing exactly what to expect or even the fullness of what we are pressing into. What we do have are the promises of God and we know that the more that we press up into the heights of this mountain, the more real and realized these promises will become.
There are times on our journey we become weary, discouraged and even scared. There are times that we experience the blessings of mountain lakes, streams and meadows and there are times we are inching our way along jagged rocks and perilous ledges. The thing that must continue to burn in our hearts is that the Lord is ever calling us upward.
In Revelations 4:1 the Spirit speaks to John on the Isle of Patmos where he was exiled, “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Every day there stands before us a door opened that speaks “Come up here.” It is the call of God upon our lives to continue pressing onward and upward into Him. We know that only in pressing onward and upward into Him that we will discover our destiny and calling in Him. Only by continuing our climb will we realize that He is the power and endurance in us to abide, to survive and to accomplish what He has designed our lives to accomplish. In those times when our body wants to give up, when our soul is discouraged, it is the Spirit of the Son that rallies within us and that reminds us that He has called us unto Himself. Where He has called us He has also gone before us and made a way for us. We are reminded that this journey and this climb are not in our ability, but it is in His ability through us as we press on in faith, believing that He is mighty within us. We are a called out people, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation. We are the overcomers of God set apart for the glory of His Name, but we must keep climbing and keep pressing onward, upward and inward. As we climb we are developing agility, wisdom, faith and strength. Even when we slip upon the path, we sense the unseen hand of His grace laying hold of us and helping us back up into the way.
Sometimes we sit for a moment to catch our breath and regain our strength, but we never want our eye distracted from following that path that continues upward. We know that at every bend and over every precipice we may catch a greater revelation of His glory and find new truth revealed. Everyday is an adventure, a challenge and a steadfast commitment to follow on to Know Him in a greater and higher way. He is saying to the weak and the lame, “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13″Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” Take courage you saints of God as you ascend the mountain and be renewed in the spirit of your faith and place confidence in the high calling you have in Christ Jesus. “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” 22But 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, 23to 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, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our “God is a consuming fire.””(Hebrew 12:18-29).
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

Blessings,
#kent

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The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm

Nahum 1:3
The LORD [is] slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit [the wicked]: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds [are] the dust of his feet.

Most all of us are familiar with storms in our lives. They often come at the most inopportune time and places. In the natural, over the course of the last few years we have seen numerous and devastating storms strike places all over the earth. When our perfect storm comes, that storm of storms or even the smaller ones that we face, how are we prepared to face our storm? Obviously if you see a tornado is approaching your home, you are not going to go out and shake your fist or beat it back or turn its course with any natural means. You know that in your natural self you are no match for such forces of nature. In the natural you would be a fool to try. You know that your greatest chance for survival is to seek shelter in a safe place. When the storms of life come we are going to seek our refuge and fortress from the storm not in natural places, but in the God we know and trust.
Psalms 91 is such a place of refuge for the believer. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge- 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Unfortunately, for many the Lord is like that lifeboat on a ship, the only time it gets used is when the ship is sinking. We don’t want our God to be our lifeboat; we want Him to be our life ship, the place where we continually abide. We have seen great storms come upon the earth, but they are but a shadow of what the last days hold and what will be unleashed upon the earth. The Lord tells us that earth is in travail and the natural is just a precursor to the spiritual. Our storms up to this time have been to prepare us and to teach us who our refuge and shelter is, but when that perfect storm comes who will abide the day of His wrath? Our peace, our refuge, our safety and our assurance is in knowing our God intimately and personally.
What did Jesus tell His disciples in the storm of Mark 4:37-41? “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”, but faith is also developed through exercise and experience. These same disciples that feared for their lives in the storm with Jesus in the boat are the same ones that bore testimony of Him resulting in their martyrdom and death. The preservation of our natural lives is not always our greatest concern. What we want to protect and preserve at all cost is our relationship and trust in Christ. Eventually, the natural man will perish in most every man, but the man of the Spirit, is the one that must be preserved. Our faith must stay in tact at all cost!
What is important is that when the perfect storm comes we know, not just with our head, but with our heart and every fiber of our being, who our Redeemer and Refuge is. No matter what happens outwardly, on Jesus Christ, the solid rock we stand!

Blessings,
#kent