Up to the Mountain

As pioneers and visionaries, there are times when God will call us to the Mountain that we might take hold of Supernatural plans. Songs unsung; dances not yet stepped; races not yet run; creations not yet created.

And then we will be released to em-barge upon the low lands, bringing those who sit in darkness, to the light. Creating in them a new heart; dream; vision, lifting them to their own hinds feet that they might run the slopes of greatness.


"The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hind's feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." ~Habakkuk 3:19


God has high places for each person to walk. He does not want any of us living a meager life without passion and purpose. He desires that we be aglow with the Spirit ... alive unto good works and screeching with passion.

He wants us to be so equipped that we will rise above adversity, landing on our feet in a higher place than the enemy can rise up to. He wants us to be like the eagle who mounts up and flies (soars) above every storm, with vision that is incomparable to most others.

Where there is no vision, the people will perish. ~ Pro. 29:18

Well it stands to reason, if people perish without vision, then people will live and thrive where there is vision.

Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech often known as "I've been to the Mountain" said,

".... I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

—Martin Luther King, Jr.


When we will go to the Mountain with God allow him to impart both vision and a plan of action. We are at the cusp of our greatness. But we also must be willing to lay down our lives for that dream (that cause) ... that is when dreams and vision become reality.

We are not ask to die for God as Christians, but to live for Him. We are to live a life that aides others and in turn benefits ourselves, bringing Glory and Honor to the Lord. To do this we must be willing to come to the end of ourselves. Then and only then can we yield to the Spirit and soar to greatness.

Moses went to the mountain. One of our forefathers of faith who saw the promised land. He could see a place he longed for ... a good place. This was also a place that could benefit others, so it was not enough to go alone, his plan must include others.

Once vision is imparted ... it is still in the distance, it burns within, you long for it. You can envision it until it is nearly tangible. When you eat you taste it, when you sleep you dream it, when we walk about it is forever with you.

But it is not enough just to long for it ... you have to head toward it. Your hinds feet ... (those feet ready to move steadily and speedily above adversity), must also be shod with good news that comes from God.

This land must be accessed ... so you pray, and meditate until you get directions. Then you prepare for it, and take purposeful faith steps toward it.

You know there is a gap between where you are and where you want to be.
You know there are hills and valleys to master. Therefore, your desire must be stronger than these obstacles and time lapsing gaps.

You have to stir yourself up, and loose your faith daily. You do not become co-dependent upon people, but you do become interdependent with a strong self sufficiency. You connect with people who inspire you, and lift you.

You also have to know the enemy, and understand that on the inside of you there is a greater one. You are gifted with authority and wisdom to skillfully uses that authority.

You must learn to allow adversity to bring you to new strength and character. To cause you to bloom and become a sweet aroma. Some things can only be acquired from the north sides of the mountains (from what seems to be the place of disadvantage, adversity or difficulty).

Think about some of things that Moses endured. The elements; the murmuring people. The need to feed people when there was no naturally no food; to give them drink when there was no signs of water.

He dealt with the people's lack of faith, focus and commitment to God.
He dealt with immature leaders ... who did not know the difference between God in the camp, and idolatrous flesh. But these things did not detour him from pressing toward the promised land.

Moses desires was fervent ... his prayers serious ... so serious he trekked a mountain with the aide of only one confidant, in order to hear from heaven. There he sat alone day after day, night after night, just he and God. Forty days waiting in the presence of the all mighty. His waiting, for the good of others. His desire to get them to the promised land.

Your payer at times must be from high places ... it must be in solitude ... with fasting and seriousness. Crying out on the behalf of others.


Think about Martin Luther King:
He dealt with riots, threats, slander, persecutions, cursing, flying stones and bullets; adversity on every side.

• "You can't ride the bus."
• "You can't drink the water."
• "You can't come in this place."
• "You can't swim in the pool."
• "You can't be educated." >> I could go on and on.

In these men:
... were dreams and desire to do the will of God.
*Love compelled them.
*Anger haunting them, reminded them of their flesh weaknesses and the fallacies of men, in need of forgiveness.

• On the inside was a greater one.
• On the inside was faith.
• On their knees prayer was made.
• On their feet steps were taken.

In the face of the hovering mountain personal sacrifice was made, faith was loosed, words were used skillfully, the enemy was dealt with properly, love for a people and a promise ignited, and miracles happened.

Mountains are impressive, they can be scary to us.

God has allowed them to exist in the geography of the topography of this world.

And though People can fear them, they climb them, master them and move them.


A young man named Eric at age 13 lost his eyesight ... but gained his vision. With this vision he mastered Mt. McKinley. Since then he has taken 4 other mountains ... including Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Eric's story is one of having vision to dream big; and the courage to reach for the what seemed to be the impossible.

Another fascinating story of Sir Ranulph Fiennes and His wife, Ginny.

One day Ginny was standing at the kitchen sink peeling a potato ... as she went around this potato, she thought, I wonder if anyone has ever circumnavigated the globe, on the zero meridian, through Greenwich, over the polar caps, and back to Greenwich.

When her husband came home for dinner she shared her epiphany. He said, "Well, let's raise the money and do it." So they raised the money and Prince Charles saw them off, and they were the first to circumnavigated the whole globe.

Later this same man tried to climb Mt. Everest .. but had a heart attack.

He tried again ... had a heart attack.

Finally he desired to be healed and knew the only way to recover was to take that mountain. Nothing will mend a sick and broken heart like fulfilling the dream within it.

On the third attempt ... he mastered that mountain. He then went on to literally run his race ... he ran marathons, seven to be exact. Yes he ran seven marathons in seven continents, in seven days.


More great historical recordings of the great significance of Mountain experiences are listed below:

• Abraham was told by God to take Isaac to the mountains of Moriah; that was an epic event. In this place God provided.

• Noah...his ark landed on the mountains of Ararat, at the time he was to multiply.

• Moses...and the people of Israel heard God's voice from Mt. Sinai while heading to the promised land.

• Elijah defeat the prophets of Baal...on Mt. Carmel.

~ We come to the New Testament

• Jesus gave His great Sermon, on the Mount.

• We also know that just before His crucifixion Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives and prayed. * this was before he took ... Golgotha.

• He also gave men vision on the Mount of Transfiguration.

BE FILLED

The Holy Ghost was promised to us by Jesus as we all know from the beginning of the matter when Jesus spoke to the original disciples concerning the coming of the comforter (Holy Ghost)
~ John 14-16, and then breathed upon them saying receive ye the Holy Ghost ~ John 20:22.

Jesus told the disciples even after breathing upon them to go an wait in Jerusalem to be endue with power from on high ~Acts 1-4. And as they waited on the Lord … there came a sound from heaven like a might rushing wind and it filled the house where they were sitting and there came the appearance of cloven tongues which sit upon them an they were filled with the Holy Ghost and begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

These were not con artiest and fools playing games. These were devote (serious respectable) men from every nation, who were filled with the Holy Ghost. The same Holy Spirit we receive today.

Here we find they waited on the Lord. They were not just sitting in the upper room knitting and whittling. No, they were waiting. They were praying and in expectation about one thing, the promise of God. They were focused and anticipating and their expectation was not in vain. They received the end of their expected promise.

The reason I bring this message is that we might be reminded to be continually filled with the Holy Ghost. To be filled with the Holy Ghost is to be filled with power to witness. It is to be filled with love and all love’s attributes. ~ Gal. 5:22


A. W. Tozer wrote and I repeat:

--Ephesians 3:19
...To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Pentecost means that the Deity came to mankind to give Himself to man, that man might breathe Him in as he breathes in the air, that He might fill men.

Dr. A. B. Simpson used an illustration which was about as good as any I ever heard. He said, "Being filled with the fullness of God is like a bottle in the ocean. You take the cork out of the bottle and sink it in the ocean, and you have the bottle completely full of ocean. The bottle is in the ocean, and the ocean is in the bottle. The ocean contains the bottle, but the bottle contains only a little bit of the ocean. So it is with the Christian."

We are filled unto the fullness of God, but, of course, we cannot contain all of God because God contains us; but we can have all of God that we can contain. If we only knew it, we could enlarge our vessel. The vessel gets bigger as we go on with God.

Our prayer should be:
"Enlarge my vessel, Lord,
and fill me with more and more of the fullness of God."

But it is not enough to be filled, we must be willing to pour out. If we pour out into the lives of others.

~ Acts 2:17 Peter begins to share about all that was happening as the people ran into the streets pouring out the good news They were like men so full of energy they had to run, men so ablaze they must rush about the streets.

The reason a person does not run today, sharing all their heart with others; The reason they do not romp the streets in gladness is because they are not full … they are not firing well. They are simply coasting through life, as a car would coast if it ran short of fuel, or one that’s battery is failing to fire.

The filling of the Holy Ghost is like tanking up your car. It is like recharging your battery. If your car is out of gas it will only coast so far and then it will come to a stop. If your battery is low it will soon fail to faire completely and you will be stranded.

Many today in the church are going no where … they are stranded.

*Noah Webster defines stranded as:

• To drift or coast into a strange and unfavorable place.
• It is to depart from favor and from one’s desired course.

Some of the effects of being filled with the Spirit are:

1. Holiness of heart and life. This is not the perfection of the human nature, but the holiness of the divine nature dwelling within.

2. Fullness of joy so that the heart is constantly radiant. This does not depend on circumstances, but fills the spirit with holy laughter in the midst of the most trying surroundings.

3. Fullness of wisdom, light and knowledge, causing us to see things as He sees them.

4. An elevation, improvement and quickening of the mind by an ability to receive the fulfillment of the promise, We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

5. An equal quickening of the physical life. The body as well as the mind and soul was made for the Holy Spirit.

6. An ability to pray with the Holy Spirit. If He is in us there will be God's working in the world through us and around us.

• if you are not living a pure hearted life … loving others and desiring their good. If you are not being led toward any good work in life and drawn daily to prayer … you may be adrift.
  

• if you dry, depressed or sad all the day, you need a dose of the Holy Ghost.

• If circumstances are ruling you and situations keeping in heavy laden … you need a fresh infilling.

• if you argue with God by being critical of church leadership as the children did with Moses in the wilderness … you are coasting away, and need to return to God by pray and supplications of the Holy Ghost.

• if you see yourself only a grasshopper, no good, stupid or useless … you need to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Your tank is empty.
  

• if you are ailing all the time. I have a headache, my back hurts … I can’t sleep. If you are worrying and fretting all the time … you need to turn again to the person of the Holy Ghost for a good quickening of the body and soul.

• if you do not have a mind to pray, and thus you have not had a heart to serve others, your battery is not firing … favor is waning … you must being to press your flesh and wait before the Lord for a wind of the Spirit to rush through your soul and a fire again.

To those who have not be filled with the Holy Ghost I admonish you to be filled. I admonish those who have been filled to be, being filled.

“…. God is like a bottle in the ocean. You take the cork out of the bottle and sink it in the ocean, and you have the bottle completely full of ocean. The bottle is in the ocean, and the ocean is in the bottle. The ocean contains the bottle, but the bottle contains only a little bit of the ocean. So it is with the Christian.” ~ A. B. Simpson

Enlarge our vessels Lord, fill us with Your fullness!

What About The Forerunners

Forerunners are often the abstract in nature, looking as different as a fish surviving out of water. They often recoil to isolated places to spend time alone in the presence of God. They are not social butterflies, but soar like eagles with a power from within, and they can put on pages winds that will set others assail.

Habakkuk 2:2-
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

The message translation reads like this:

"Write this.
Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
pointing to what's coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
And it doesn't lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
It's on its way. It will come right on time.

Forerunners are planners. They get a hold on a God idea, put it on paper and into the hands of those whom will be inspired enough to run with it.

Throughout history we read of forerunners. Those whom God has used to put his plan into motion in the earth.

Forerunners are not afraid to decrease that others might increase. They understand that they are the very agent that ignites others to get them moving toward greatness.

John the Baptist is the famous forerunner who said to his own followers ... "I must decrease that He might increase" and yet he came ahead of Jesus to baptized him with water. But in doing so, he was sure to express that what he was doing was small potatoes in the light of what Jesus would be doing. Forerunners are not self serving, they serve and benefit others.

Forerunners are the portrait of king of humble. They know how to plant vision in others while being seen and followed, but also know how to do the will of God when they are seemingly invisible.

They are uncompromising and bold. They will speak the truth to their own hurt, they are motivated by values and vision. They know how to take the rap and lay down their headship for God's will to transpire.

They are not moved by delays, hardships, or the voices and opinions of others. They are concrete and difficult to distract. Forerunners are direct, and can often appear arrogant to those who don't know or understand them.

They are the John's, the Joseph's, the Deborah's, the Ruth's, the Mordecai's and Paul's. They are the winds, the flames and the strengths of those who run, they are foundational people whom don't mind being on the bottom to get to the top.

• Do you feel like a square peg trying to be shaped to fit in a round hole?
• Are you mouthy and load ... often confrontational?
• Do you see the need for change nearly everyday in some area of life?
• Do you find yourself dreaming and thinking with paper and pen in hand often?
• Are you often out meditating or praying about the many things that are running through your innermost being?

If so, I am hear to encourage you ... you may be a much needed forerunner. Don't conform, but allow God to transform you to your purpose!