Higher dimension with God!
TAKE OFF!
Matthew 17:1 Six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
INTRO: Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aircraft goes through a transition from moving along the ground (taxiing) to flying in the air, usually starting on a runway. During this phase, the engines are run at full power during takeoff, now the pilot begins to climb higher and higher, at this stage he has to put full force. At the beginning of the climb phase, the wheels are retracted into the aircraft and the undercarriage doors are closed. This operation is audible by the passengers as a noise coming from below the floor.
Now I am going to share something exciting, following take-off, the aircraft has to climb to a certain altitude (typically 30,000 ft) this is called CRUISE ALTITUDE, from here the plane can cruise economically, smoothly, sweetly and coolly. Wow! I am already excited as I write this…
CRUISE ALTITUDE:
This New Year 2021, we should make all efforts, we need to have the propelling force to climb higher and higher until we get to this CRUISE ALTITUDE. How does one get to this cruise altitude spiritually?
• ISOLATION/SEPARATION
• PRAYER
• FASTING
• PASSION/HUNGER FOR GOD
• WORD OF GOD
There are no other short cut methods; however, the prayer, fasting and reading the Word that I am going to talk about would be on a higher level that requires you pray a price, are you ready for the TAKE OFF? Put on your seat belts….
SPIRITS THAT OPERATE IN DIFFERENT LEVELS:
Demons operate in the ground level, James calls them ‘earthly’ that we read in James 1:
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
However, at the cruise altitude, you can experience divine beauty, read:
17 wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
A) ISOLATION/SEPARATION:
In the above scripture, we see that Jesus selected just 3 disciples: Peter and James and John, to take with him up on the mount of transfiguration, not everybody can come with you, that requires dedication and determination. What makes you think going with Jesus to a high mountain would be easy? Tough Mentors produce strong disciples / followers! Strict Principal produces good students with good character! Anybody listening? I am talking about going to a higher dimension, you cannot give any excuses while climbing higher with Jesus, that's exactly why He took only three with Him, who would listen to Him, obey Him and be alert too. I was blessed with the sermon of Ps Abraham, Leader of Hosanna Ministries, Guntur, who shared his initial days with Ps Yesanna, Late Founder of Hosanna Ministries. When they together went for house visiting, as young servants of God, they would refuse food offered by the believers even if they were hungry. After they come home, Ps. Yesanna would give five rupees for dinner with which they would buy dinner each from road side vendors. Sometimes the food would be rotten; yet, Ps. Abraham had to swallow it fearing Ps Yesanna. Such mentors produce good leaders who do not lust for fame, power and money; today Ps Abraham is very blessed.
So once on the higher level with Jesus, they saw an awesome, spectacular vision, Jesus was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. Wow! On this level, you would be able to have visions, dreams and deep spiritual insights which a normal eye can never perceive. This kind of experience is not for personal gratification or excitement, this is to bless the body of Christ. Say Amen.
B) PRAYER:
Hannah was dwelling too long in the place of bickering and bitterness; however, God had to use Peninnah to propel her from this ground level, it is here that she wakes up from slumber, wakes up from misery, wakes up from her ordinary life, wakes up from bitterness, wakes up from barrenness; to enter into the Holy of Holies – CRUISE ALTITUDE. Praise God! God had to use Peninnah the other wife of Elkanah to nag and drag Hannah to the feet of the Lord. Have you seen the chisel that the sculptor uses? With the hammer and chisel, the sculptor gets the desired effect he wants. Same way, God had used Peninnah as a ‘chisel’ in the life of Hannah in order to disturb her from her comfortable position.
Though the Lord had closed her womb, Elkanah loved Hannah very much. On the day when he sacrificed to the Lord, he would give double portion to her, and while she wept, he comforted her saying, “Am I not more to you than ten sons?" Some of us are too comfortable that we do not want to move, it is now that God intervenes in the form of ‘various events’ to prod us into His Presence. her life and her barrenness. She now wakes up to make a deal with God! God nudges us and brings us to this stage where there is no turning back! No force on earth can intervene in your decision. I am speaking to someone out there! When you reach this stage, you will never ponder about resigning your job and joining ministry, there is a volcanic eruption on the inside of you that no one can understand. It’s you and God! If God wants you for Himself, no force on earth can stop it. Hallelujah! How rightly Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."(John 12:32)
God breaks the heart of Hannah at Shiloh through Peninnah, who harasses and hurts her deeply. Though much loved by her husband, she understands the true condition of If God wants to do a great work in your life, He first has to get your attention, and make you a vessel of honor to receive the blessing. Hannah deeply depressed, weeps bitterly and gets into the Presence of God. May be you would have wept earlier but that was out of self-pity, the ‘poor me’ tears, but now Hannah got up to weep at the feet of the Lord. When sudden disaster strikes your life, I dare you to look at the mess in your life and tell that mess, ‘you are going to bring me closer to God.’ If your marriage is on the rocks, your body is racked with pain, bankruptcy and failures are all means to bring you to the place where God desires you.
Hannah through her deep affliction makes a vow, 1 Samuel 1: 11 "O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head." After this prayer, she leaves the place with peace and joy. Do you know the reason? God filled her with peace! She was not the old, bitter Hannah any more. She had changed in the presence of the Lord! Hallelujah! It was not over, after the birth of her son Samuel, she keeps up her word and delivers the boy at the feet of the Lord.
Now the young mother Hannah sings a beautiful song of praise. It was no lullaby as the other mothers sing for their babies, but here it was a song of praise. She sings, "There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2)
High form of worship arises when you are at a higher altitude with God! Say Amen. If a worship leader has spent time in this ‘high altitude’ with God and then he gets up on the pulpit to worship, then he does not have to tell the people to raise their hands and close their eyes , automatically all that happens. We see here an absolute high form of worship by Hannah, it was not only a thanksgiving song of praise but it was a prophetic song of praise as well. Her heart swelling with love for God, we can see her just going crazy over God. She has just tasted the goodness, kindness and faithfulness of God through the birth of her son Samuel. In the path of affliction and humiliation, she encountered God. An awesome revelation of God draws you to your knees, strips you of all dignity and takes you to the Holy of Holies where nothing else matters, it is just GOD and His beauty.
As Hannah praises God, she does not make any reference of the ‘gift’ (Samuel) she received from the Lord but her eyes were on the GIVER. Oh, how lovely! He is adorable! All praises and glory were showered on Him! She goes on to say, “there is none besides you!” After an encounter with the Almighty, you become oblivious to the world and the surroundings! After the birth of my miracle son Joshua, my eyes lingered on the beauty of my Lord, who saved my life and also gave me a son. Within me I sensed a serenity that was unfamiliar; somehow, I knew in my heart, that my life would never be the same after this. I had a new and voracious appetite for the Word, and I read from the Bible every spare moment. As a young mother nursing my son, I turned into a vigorous missionary. No force could stop me, within a month I went on the road, market place, anywhere and everywhere, to share the miracle I received in my life. I never knew that I would turn into a full-time servant for God! God used the affliction in my life to bring me to His appointed place!
Like the disciples of Jesus, let us ask Him:
Luke 11:1 “And it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray….”
C. FASTING:
Acts 9:9 “And he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank.”
Saul was operating in the ground level of hatred, violence and anger, God had plans to take him to the ‘cruise level – higher altitude’ therefore, he had to send a flash from heaven that changed his life. When he arose from the ground, he was NOT THE SAME MAN. In one flash second, God crushed his plans and replaced it with His plans. God knocked him, humbled him and made him obey His voice instantly. This is what the anointing of God would do a person! God had to strike him blind and make him follow Him. After meeting Jesus, Paul left his plans behind and decided to wait for God’s further plans for his life. That’s exactly we need to do also. God has a way of getting our attention. God calls us out of our comfort zone, to make major adjustments and join Him in His work. Now watch this, verse 9 says,” And he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank.” Why did Paul refuse to eat or drink? What happened in the place, where he was blind and locked up for three days without food or water? God speaks to a man Ananias in verse 11 and says, “….Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.” Yes my friend, Paul lay without sight, without food and water for three days and he was praying to God. He had started his fasting and it is HERE that he received the power to start his ministry with a bang.
Paul’s training begins here in the room, where he was LOCKED UP WITH GOD, blind, without food and water. I guess God struck him blind so that he does not get distracted but keeps his focus only on HIM. God has to strike us blind, in order to get our attention! Do you know how it feels to be left alone with God for three days? Have you ever tried sitting with God for this many hours? Particularly without food or water? Specifically when you are aimless and lost in the direction of your life?
After I resigned my job and joined the mission field to work full-time for the Lord, I did not have a ready-made Ministry on hand to walk into. I just had nothing, I had no plans and no agenda but I had the promises of God with me. Along with my husband, I decided to go on three days fasting without food and water to know God’s plan for our ministry and future. I had to decide on so many things, we had to shift our house, my little four year old son’s education and my daughter’s education had to be taken care of. My relatives and my family wondered, how are we going to maintain the family and children, having walked out from a well paid bank job! I decided to lock myself up in my prayer room for three days without food and water. Having always been a busy person and having worked in many top companies, this was a new experience of having to wait on the Lord.
- 3 DAYS OF ESTHER FASTING:
I would like to share here my first experience of Esther fasting which is three days without food and water. I prayed for three hours at a stretch and then I started feeling exhausted. For those who have not done hard praying, would not understand what I was going through. People who do not have any dire need would never exert themselves to pray hard. Some do not trust God and hence they do not strain either, as for me, I trusted only in Him, I believed my future was in the Hands of God and I did not want to make any wrong move in my life, hence I humbled myself to fast and pray. As I sat there in the presence of God, my head started aching badly. I tried to ignore it, but it was getting intense and severe. I tried applying relief balm, but the pain was just increasing. For the next few hours I kept speaking in tongues. I was not able to read the Bible because of the pain but I kept singing songs, praising Him and speaking in tongues. I went to bed that day with severe headache. The next morning I got up with pain. I felt physically weak, but I did not show it to my children, I cooked for them, sent them to school and again entered my prayer room. On the second day also I was able to only speak in tongues because of the physical fatigue and pain. On the second day, I developed stomach pain too, yet through it all I entered the third day of fasting. In the afternoon I became very weak and so I cuddled in the mattress in my prayer room itself. I was not able to pray powerfully, read the Bible or be strong. I refused to come out of the prayer room and at 4 pm I came out and prayed for one hour along with my husband and broke the fast at 5 pm by drinking water and juice. It was a splendid and wonderful experience and the joy of having beaten satan’s devices to discourage and exhaust me was simply fantastic. Just with one glass of juice I was jumping, crying and singing, not because I can eat now, but because I had defeated satan. He tried all means to attack me physically and emotionally, but God taught me valuable and rich lessons of endurance, patience and strengthened me spiritually. Dear friend, we need the steel and zeal to confront the massive pressure that satan and the world would bring on us and we get that ONLY THROUGH FASTING. Is anybody listening?
When I go around the cities preaching, I was appalled to see many who did not know about fasting and I was even more horrified to see even church leaders not bothered to get deeper in fasting. Many did not have the experience of fasting for three days without food and water. No wonder they lacked the spiritual strength to resist temptation, pray long and operate under the anointing of the Holy Spirit!
Now I want to tell you what happened after I fasted for three days without food and water. Though I did not hear any trumpet sound from heaven during my fasting days, nor did I have any supernatural experience during those days, except pain and suffering, yet God had been there very close to me and ministered to me. I was not even able to read the Bible those days, yet my very determination to fast, endure pain and stay steadfast until the end, surely touched the Master. The rewards and the joy I experienced after three days, is just unexplainable and divine. I felt charged like a powerful engine, that for the next several hours I kept praying, singing and reading the Bible. I felt drawn very, very close to Jesus! Through midnight and early the next day, I sat writing devotions and penning new songs. The devotions that I wrote after my fasting had depth and were rich and saturated with anointing. Hard-hearted people repented and God was stirring the heart of people. My preaching also was never the same after such fasting days. God took me to the next higher level, after my first experience of being “locked up with God for three days without food and water”.
D) Hunger for God…..
Nehemiah 9:3 “And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day, and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God.”
In the days of Nehemiah, the people of God stood and worshipped the Lord; bowed down before Him in prayer and supplication, and when those 3 hours were over, they didn’t get into their cars and ride to McDonalds and Pitzza Hut for a big breakfast; they were hungry for more of the Word of God, so they stayed for 3 more hours. In many Christian homes, Sundays are reserved to eat more and feel hungry more.
Have you ever allowed your pet dog to lick all over your face, jump over you and wag his tail looking at you as though you are the only person that mattered to him, likewise, we need to go to God. While I was worshipping in the church one day, filled with gratitude towards God, suddenly I felt myself just hugging Him, holding Him and just telling Him, “thank you Jesus” and I want more of You. Tears were flowing down my cheek and I was crying my heart out to God. . I now recall the powerful, enigmatic words of the world renowned preacher, Charles Spurgeon, “My first discovery of Christ’s injured love was overpowering, and its very hopefulness increased my anguish, for then I saw that I had slain the Lord who had come to save me. I saw that mine was the hand that had made the hammer fall, the hand that had driven the nails which fastened the Redeemer’s hands and feet to the cruel tree. This is the sight that breeds repentance. When the Lord visits us, He humbles us, removes all hardness from our hearts and leads us to the Savior’s feet.”
I was shaking all over, oblivious to the massive crowd around me. It was an intimate moment of God and me, nobody knew of my joyful personal encounter with God. I did what my children did to me, I was not going to leave Him! I embraced Him with my arms and I placed my head on His shoulders! Can you be this intimate with God? Yes, you can! I left the church “more hungrier” for God! Well I guess this was divine discontentment! I already determined my heart to go on three days fast and sit with God and wait to hear His heart beat. Some of us feel satisfied while we leave church, but I want each one of you to be immensely filled with God’s love, that you would leave the place “still hungry for God”. H.G.Wells says,” Is it any wonder that this Galilean is too much for our small hearts?” And yet the heart of man, though small, is big enough for Christ to live in, if man will only make room for Him.” I want to ask you a question…when was the last time that you really pursued God? When was the last time that you pursued God, as if your life depended on Him?
E) WORD OF GOD:
The Word of God is so important that the Lord said:
Deuteronomy 6:8”You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
The Word of God is mentioned as a double-edged sword, in Jeremiah 23:29 "Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” Not an ordinary hammer that drives nails but one that breaks rocks in pieces! Phew! Let’s understand the power in the Word of God!
Friend, there are believers who pray a lot and leave Bible reading or they would read the Word but not pray much, no..no..no..this is wrong. You need to have a balance of both, at the same time, you should read both the New Testament and Old Testament simultaneously every day so that you understand clearly.
Did not the Bible say:
Psalm 1: 2: Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Our website:
https://worshipjesusministriestrust.org/
My email:
worshipjesusministries@yahoo.com
God bless you
