"It is the high praises that will break us into the Heavens and break us out of earthly concerns and circumstances."

 Crested Butte

The Lord spoke to me about "invitations and tickets to Crested Butte." I thought to myself, "Crested Butte?" What's up with that? I pondered a little and thought, "Well, I'm recovering from a little shoulder injury, but hey sounds like a deal! I'll take some free tickets!"

For those of you who don't know what "Crested Butte" is, it is a ski resort in the mountains of Colorado. To be quite honest, skiing is not really my favorite thing to do. Especially right now when I desire some springtime/summer action concerning the weather. Give me a surfboard, and I'll go ride the wave! But I pondered a little further and decided to look up the words "crested" and "butte" that the Lord spoke to me. These words are definitely personal, but I believe they have across-the-board application to His Body.

Here are the definitions:

Crested--The highest part of the mountain.
Butte--An isolated mountain abruptly above, surrounding land.

The Mountain Peak

God is calling us to the very highest point of His Mountain--the Mountain of the Lord. This is a Heavenly call. He is giving us hinds feet for His High Places. It is a very clear call, but all the same, with any invitation that God gives, it requires us to respond with an invitation to Him--that He might take us on the journey to His places. With every invitation there must be a response.

Habakkuk 3:19, "The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places."

The definition for "Butte" really speaks in terms of the mountains He puts before us. There is a place of isolation that God prepares for us. As the Mountain is before us, it is not an easy task to climb and pioneer the raw terrain to the top. It is not a convenient or "feel good" situation, but somewhat abrupt, steep, and unexpected. Yet, His grace does make the journey a lively experience!

There is much adventure, encounter, and learning that happens on this trip. And though we do walk a good portion of the way, God does offer us tickets to get on His own "lifts" that take us up the mountain much quicker and beyond our expectations, while we get the benefit of enjoying the scenery as well! While we ride, we get to "view the things of Heaven" and have "Heaven-to-earth perspective" on things.

Lift Tickets

Praise, Throne Room worship, and the joyful shout will cause us to ascend to the mountain.

Psalm 149:6, "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand."

It is the high praises that will break us into the Heavens and break us out of earthly concerns and circumstances. High praise and worship are the tickets for these lifts. When we "lift" up our voice, we will be "lifted up" into higher glory and Heavenly reality. The spirit of revelation will fall, and we will be freshly endued with strength to ascend the mountain, hearing His voice, and reigning over our enemies with power and authority.

Led to the Mountain

"It is on the mountain that we receive our affirmation from the Father as His sons."

Another word that I investigated somewhat was "mountain." Apparently, Jesus loves mountains because He often went up to them.

Matthew 5:1, "And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him."

We also find divine attraction from the multitudes when Jesus came down off the mountain, as well as Jesus being spiritually prepared as He came down:

Matthew 8:1, "When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him."

There are many other passages where Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. Of course, He was transfigured on the mountain. He also released divine commands to His disciples as He ascended down from the mountain (Matthew 17:9). We see also that "He led" His disciples up the "high mountain" by themselves to be with God (Mark 9:2). This is another picture of the place that God prepares for us, and He leads us there to be with Him so that we may be holy conduits of His glory and grace.

It was in the place when He was alone with Peter, James, and John that He was transformed before their eyes. That mountain experience transformed all three of them and marked them for the rest of their lives. Peter, the apostle, refers to the experience:

2 Peter 1:17-18, "For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from Heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain."

After this encounter, they were never the same, for they had seen Jesus in His glorified state. This does not mean they experienced it all, but they did taste another level of His glory. This taste is a deposit for a deeper desire for more of the realities of Heaven. Not only that, but the mountain experience is where Jesus was affirmed in His Sonship before them all. And it is on the mountain that we receive our affirmation from the Father as His sons. We are being manifested as the sons of God in the earth and clothed with His glory as a testimony to all creation.

Matthew 17:1, "Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves."

Enjoy the Ride

We all come to certain places on the mountain in our journey with God. There are plateaus that we rest on, and then God calls us to come up higher! He says to us, "You have rested. Now get'er goin!" In other words, He tells us, "It is time to move onto a higher place in My Spirit, in My Presence, in desire, in hunger, in commitment, and in consecration." Maturity is a process, and we will be maturing our entire lives.

So just enjoy the ride, rest on the plateau when you "need" to (and you will), and then venture on further by His strength and grace. We cannot make this happen in our flesh. Just like any army has to rest, so do we. We must enjoy the journey and allow Him to carry us. Because if we think "we" are strong, that is deception. Let the "weak" say, "I am strong in the Lord and His power!" That is why Paul only boasted in his weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest upon him.

Our strength is found solely in Him. What we do is choose, obey, follow, say yes, and ask for His help. Then He will take us from that point of admission of weakness and dependency upon Him, to that place where His strength fills us--to enjoy the ride.

John Belt
Living In His Presence Ministries
www.liveinhispresence.com
To contact John, click here

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John Belt's Itinerary:

March 17-18, 2007
Lakewood Chapel
13303 Madison Ave; Lakewood, OH
Contact: For more information click here

March 29-31, 2007
Topeka Storm Conference
Ramada Inn
420 South East 6th St.; Topeka, KS
Contact: For more information click here