Re 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, (Come up hither), and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
I believe that many believers today are hearing the call of the Holy Spirit to move positionally into a higher place in God, when we think about the word elevate automatically what comes to mind is that God is lifting up, God is raising up individuals for a particular purpose where position and rank is concerned. If we are to move into the things of God we then must be in a place spiritually to hear from Him. John said in Revelation 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.”
*I was in the Spirit on the Lord‘s day” when God speaks to us there has to be a special intensity of spiritual sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit so that revelation may flow, dreams and visions may be received and after the acceptance of what God is manifesting in our lives; we are then thrust into destiny. Like John God God has showed us that which was; now that we are in that which is; He wants to show us that which is to come. As John ascends into the celestial realm he is shown in a panoramic view the world and all of mankind as it is unrolled before him in one magnificent vision after another. As a result of what John saw he begins to write with authority of the things that God reveals to him as they had already happened. If we are going to get from the prophecy to the promise we are going to have to rely on God to get us from point A to point B.
When we look in the Old Testament God used His presence to move Israel they dared not move if God wasn’t moving so they waited until the Lord said move :
In Ex 40:37 it say’s ,“But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.”
In Numbers 9:19 it say’s , “And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.”
In Numbers 9:22 it say’s , “Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.”
All this was done to teach the children of Israel how to get from the prophecy to the promise, from the dream to the reality, from faith to sight.
It was to teach them that on the journey their provision and their guidance and their protection was all dependant on staying with the cloud.
One of the most important lessons it taught them was never get too comfortable.
Intentionally God would change the time that they would stay in a place, to teach them that no matter how comfortable or convenient a place it was, It was not the place He promised.
God did not tell them when he was going to move, he did not send advance notice
Because he wanted them to stay in a condition of readiness for change.
One of the greatest battles we fight is that of the familiar (that which we already know, that which we have already experienced), this is an area that a lot of people really fight in because even though something or some place may be dry, desolate, and difficult because they have become familiar with it they became comfortable with it.
Once it becomes comfortable to us, we resist anything that threatens our normality (being normal) or our familiarity (that which we already know, that which we have already experienced) .
Moving is one of the most interesting things:
There is in the moving process something called - (ordered chaos)
#1 Everything is chaotic, everything is moved out of it’s place, the familiar routine is replaced by what seems to be confusion and disorder.
#2 Nothing is convenient, everything you want seems to be the hardest thing to get to.
#3 Another thing is: When you start to move, you begin to realize all the things you have accumulated over the years, ( a lot of it just plain junk) or at least stuff that is outdated, and unnecessary
#4 It’s a time of shifting and sifting, it’s when you lighten your load, it’s when you separate the useful from the useless and the valuable from the worthless.
A lot of what you accumulate at one place you don’t need at the next place.
This is a Spiritual truth we learn from moving in the natural: As we move from one level to another there are things that we will leave behind.
I don’t know about you but there are some things I am ready to leave behind.
I’m ready to leave behind some doubts, and fears, and discouragements, and disappointments,
I’m ready to leave behind some enemies that I’ve been fighting, I’m ready to leave behind some traditions that have no power.
I’m ready to leave behind some excess baggage that’s been slowing me down.
Many times moving is difficult because you are leaving the familiar, the comfortable, the normal.
Example: Jobs, families, acquaintances, routines, lifestyles, experiences.
And you are entering the unknown =(The unknown zone)
(Unknown people, unknown Jobs, Unknown surroundings, new experiences)
Heb 11:8 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.
God is looking for some people that will follow him into the unknown
Isaiah 42:16-19 And I will bring (the blind) by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have (not known): I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant?
Is anybody ready to move on?
Is anybody ready to let go and let God?
Is anybody ready to go into the unknown?
Is anybody ready to obey even when it doesn’t make sense, to obey when it looks foolish, to obey and go when every natural instinct says stop?
It is said that the African impala can jump 10 feet into the air and cover the distance of 30 feet in a single stride, but this great animal can be imprisoned for the span of it’s life behind a 3 foot wall, because it will not jump (if it can’t see where it’s feet are going to land).
It refuses to go into the unknown.
This is what it means to be blind= to trust God.
To be able to jump when I can’t see where my feet are going to land.
To move into the unknown.
Re 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and (I will shew thee things which must be hereafter).
There are some things that are not going to happen until we make the transition into the unknown or we could just call it the faith dimension.
One of the greatest motivations for moving to the next level Is I am more afraid of staying where I am than of moving into the unknown.
This next level that God is calling you to is going to take a faith step into the unknown.
It has been said that there are various possible views. There is a worm’s eye view; there is a bird’s eye view ;there is a man’s eye view; and then there is God’s eye view.
Even So Come Lord Jesus!
by Bishop Charles Jones
