ASCEND THE HOLY HILL OF THE MOST HIGH GOD
by Todd Bentley
"The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?" Psalms 24:1-3
The Lord wants to bring us into new realms of glory. He is calling us into the river of His very presence. It is His desire for us to gaze upon His face, and to abide in His glory. The river of God's glory flows from the Throne on high--His dwelling place, where His presence is. The river wells up under His temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12).
Have you ascended the holy hill? Everything you have need of is in the river that flows from the high and holy hill. Are you standing in the river of His glory? In Ezekiel's vision, the trees along the banks of the river were fruitful trees that would not wither, with fruit that would not fail, because water flowed from the sanctuary; from God's throne in Heaven, where His presence is. Find extreme, abundant living in the river of His glory. His presence will scar you. It will transform you.
How do we ascend the Hill of the Most High? How do we get what the rest of Psalm 24:5 promises: "...blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of (our) salvation."
1. PURSUE AND BEHOLD THE KING OF GLORY
"This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah" Psalm 24:6
God is raising up a generation of people who seek Him and seek His face, those not concerned about the hand of God and His power, but those who want to get a hold of who He is, so that His glory alone will transform them.
That's the heart of the Jacob generation. It's a people who will say, "O Lord, I want to see Your glory, I want to get a hold of You, and want You to touch me, change me, transform me." God is searching for those with the heart of Jacob. He's asking, "Who is hungry for My glory, who is hungry for My presence? Who will ascend the hill?" Those saints who hunger after Him--those who thirst and passionately pursue Him, will experience and stand in His presence.
So what is God saying? "I want to raise up a generation called Jacob. People who want My face, not My hand. Ones that want to get a hold of Me. Those who desire My glory to touch and change them, transform them into ones who will be princes with Me, to subdue the Kingdoms of darkness, and manifest My power."
God's power manifests through those who hunger for Him, not through those who hunger for His power. He won't pour out His power for our own ego or reputation. The power of the resurrection is for those who know Him and desire to know Him. It's for those who sit at the feet of Jesus, for those who desire nothing else save to be with Him.
Don't Move An Inch Without His Presence
In Exodus 33, Moses is commanded to depart from the mountain and lead the Israelites toward the Promised Land. God tells Moses that He is taking His manifest presence out of their midst, that His presence would not go before him. However, He told Moses that he could still expect the fulfillment of His promises, His blessings, protection, the anointing, and the power of His hand. He even promised an angel as their guide. But Moses wasn't happy with this. He wanted God's presence. He pitched his tent outside of the tabernacle and pleaded, "If I have found grace in your sight, show Me now Your way that I might know You."
Some people are satisfied with the type of Christianity that's all power, blessings, protection, and anointing. It's the "Yes Lord, just take care of my bills, give me my breakthroughs, do what you promised me in Your word, take care of the things that You know I have need of" mindset! It's the attitude of, "Anoint me so I can preach better, cast out devils, heal the sick, do all the Kingdom things." But God says, "OK, but if that's all you want, you can forget about My presence in Your midst. If you don't want My face, forget about My hand."
God's looking for those who'll say, with the same attitude as Moses had in Exodus 33, "I'll tell You something right now, God. I'm not going. I'm not going! I won't move in ministry if Your presence doesn't move with me. I don't care that You'll deliver me, or drive out my enemies. I don't care that You'll give me the anointing. I don't care that Your power is going to give me all that You've promised me. I don't care that Your favor is still going to remain on us to get us into the Promised Land. If I don't have Your presence in my midst, Your manifest presence, I won't go! I won't! Nothing matters without Your presence."
That I May Know You
In Exodus 33:13, Moses said, "That I might know You," but verse 11 says that the Lord spoke to Moses face-to-face as a man speaks to his friend. Why did Moses ask to know Him when they already had a close friendship, where they spoke with each other? I mean, Moses seemed far beyond us in realms of glory. He touched and walked in things with God that we've only dreamed about, and yet, there He sat in God's presence asking to know Him, refusing to go without Him. Moses wasn't even satisfied with just speaking to God; he hungered for still more of Him. He wanted to really know God.
When Moses said, "Show me Your glory," he was really saying, "Please show me the inner reality of who You are. Let Your glory come down and in that glory, let me know You. Let me know Your character by revelation. Then God showed Moses His glory, and started to reveal His character, "I am the Lord who is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger..." But make no mistake, this wasn't a crash course in God's character. It wasn't head knowledge Moses received. God didn't just say, "This is who I am." The instant God's glory fell, Moses ascended to a new level, and knew God as He had never known God before, by revelation.
Revelation is In the Glory
All I teach is by revelation received by God's glory falling upon me. It's a revelation whereby, I instantly know certain things. In a meeting one day as God's glory fell, I suddenly blurted out, "Someone here has a heart condition," and then I instantly knew who it was, and picked the person out from the congregation. There is a knowing in the glory. When we enter into the glory realm and operate in the atmosphere of Heaven, we receive revelation.
In that glory realm, the unbelievable happens. Kathryn Kuhlman ministered in the glory realm. She'd see what God was doing, proclaim it, and it would happen! This has occurred in my own ministry, where I'd see a deaf ear open and bam, someone's ear would open. Sometimes in this place, people are healed in their seats without even coming forward or having hands laid upon them. It's awesome.
Why would God tell Moses He was removing His manifest presence from their midst? Why did He say, "I'm not going with you?" It was because of Exodus 32. The children of Israel put an idol, a golden calf before God. There are golden calves in the church today. They are those things that we put before God. Even in the physical church, there are idols, such as rigid schedules that aren't flexible to what God wants to do.
Sadly, many churches today don't even know that they don't have God's glory, because the blessing of the Lord is still there, just as it remained for the Israelites. But it doesn't matter how many people pack a church, a conference hall, or crusade grounds; it doesn't matter how much power there is, if there's no glory, it's all empty. Outwardly, everything looks great, but many ministries today are so busy going about having God do what He promised He would do, that they don't even realize that God is not in their midst. Sometimes even ministry comes before the Lord.
I've been in communities and cities with hundreds of churches, some of them huge, with thousands in attendance, but there's no manifest presence there. If God's manifest presence were there, there'd be miracles, because when the glory falls, everything falls. God's glory is all a church or ministry needs. It doesn't need the attractive programs. It doesn't need hype. It doesn't need those things in the natural it thinks it does. It needs God. Seeker-friendly churches draw people, but if God's manifest glory were there, there'd be hundreds and thousands of souls saved, and hundreds and thousands of miracles.
Be Satisfied with Him and Nothing Else
Remember, Moses said, "I'm not satisfied, God! Even if you give me nations, I won't be satisfied unless Your presence is with me." Moses was at the pinnacle of his ministry. He led more than three-million people out of the bondage of Egypt and Pharaoh. Three-million followed him and yet he was ready to say, "Forget it, I'm not going anywhere. I'll lay it all down because I need the presence of the Lord more than anything else God would do for me."
This is not to say that you shouldn't ask God to heal you, or to provide for you, or to deliver you. The power of the Lord is with you, He will heal you, bless you, and set you free. But what God wants more than anything else, is for you to want Him, and to be satisfied with Him, and nothing else.
Is there an idol in your life that takes the place of God's presence? Are you too busy for Him? Somehow, you have to make time for God. It's not always easy, I know that. Sometimes I work 16-18 hours a day, but I still have to make time for God. In our ministry, we witness the blind see, the deaf hear, cancers and diabetes healed, miracles, signs, and wonders happen. We see the gospel in action. But do you know what? You can pour your very life into ministry, and see incredible acts of God, but it's all empty without His presence, without Him in our midst.
2. PURSUE GODLINESS
Yes, it's God's desire for us to be intimate with Him, but there's a condition to this intimacy, and that condition is godliness.
"He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." Psalms 24:4-5
God wants us to pursue godliness. His word instructs us, in fact, to "worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." As we see in David's psalm, those who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place are those who have "clean hands and a pure heart," those "who have not lifted up (their) soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully." In fact, New Testament Scripture confirms this, "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord..." Hebrews 12:14
If you are going to come into the glory, you need clean hands and a pure heart, true godliness. True godliness is not you in your own strength and power trying to do all the right things you know you need to do. True godliness is letting God manifest in your flesh. When God is manifest in your flesh, you will dare not do those things that you know grieve and wound His heart.
The Bible says, "Great is the mystery of godliness." That is, the mystery that God has revealed to us in the gospel to make us godly. Those great things He revealed are that, "God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory." 1 Timothy 3:16
Godliness is the glory of Jesus manifesting in our flesh, so that we begin to look like Him, and talk and act like Him in all we do and say. That's true godliness. If sin is in your life, get into the river and let it wash away your sin. Jesus will manifest in our flesh when we behold His glory.
As we behold the glory, the face of Jesus, we are transformed into that image. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18
The closer we get to God, the more the light of His glory exposes our darkness. Will you ascend the mountain or stand afar off? Do you want to pursue holiness and be intimate with God, or do you love your sin more? Do you really want to see His glory?
THE KING OF GLORY IS COMING!
Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. Psalm 24:7-9
Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle! The King of Glory is the Lord of Hosts, (verse 10) and He is coming to those who will be like Jacob. The King of Glory is coming to those that will seek His face. The King of Glory is coming to those that desire godliness, that is, God manifest in the flesh. The King of Glory is coming to those who become like that which they behold, the image of Christ manifest.
GET READY!
The gates and the doors are the church--you are the gate and you are the door in which the glory of the Lord is going to manifest. The Bible says that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). People are going to know God. The sick, the lost, and the dying are going to know God. Those who need Jesus will know Him. Why? Because of His glory. Who is going to release His glory? You are! Why? You are the gate, you are the door, you are the temple from which the river of God's glory flows. Behold His presence, His glory, and then open the gate, open the door, and release His glory.
Friends, extreme living is not possible without seeing Jesus. Come to Him on His terms. Hunger for Him and worship Him in the beauty of holiness. Renew your focus and raise the glory level in your life!
Father, I want to see Jesus, I want to know Jesus. Lord, even if I never know, see, or experience Your power, it's okay--I just want to be in Your presence. I want You for who You are, not for what You do. Holy Spirit come with Jesus. King of Glory, come in. Touch me with Your glory. Let Your glory expose my sin. Let Your glory anoint me, that the glory of the Lord would bring forth change. Oh Jesus, Jesus, I need Your manifest presence. I want Your presence to fill my life. I want a relationship with You.
Forgive me for wanting Your hand more than Your face. I repent for not knowing You. Forgive me for not having intimacy with You. Forgive me for being out of hunger with You. I want to ascend the holy hill and stand in the river of Your glory. I want to be in fellowship with You, and I want to make You first in everything. I've been out of the glory, I want in! I want my heart afire and ablaze with passion for You. I want Your glory alone to radically change me. I desire nothing more than Your presence. I thank You for the glory of God filling my life anew. God, show me Your glory! In Jesus' name, Amen.
Todd Bentley
Fresh Fire Ministries
www.freshfire.ca
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Todd Bentley's Upcoming Itinerary:
August 4-5, 2006
Secrets Of The Kingdom-River Of God's Love Camp
Frontline Worship Centre
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Contact: flwc@telusplanet.net or 403-887-3313 or
www.frontlineministries-int.com/home.htm
August 9-12, 2006
Fresh Fire and Stand Firm World Ministries
Texas
Contact: office@sfwm.org or www.sfwm.org or 806-468-7179
August 16, 2006
Ministry Dessert Banquets
Bethel Pentecostal Church
1565 London Line, Sarnia; Ontario Canada
Contact: info@freshfire.ca or 604-853-9041
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