After forty years of governing
Israel's people in the wilderness, Moses came to the end of his journey and
recorded a fateful discovery that prohibited his generation from entering the
Promised Land. He admonished them by reiterating the great and awesome deeds
and powerful demonstrations which the Lord had performed in their midst. He
also underscored a sad reality -that generation did not receive the promise
because:
To this
day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. Deuteronomy
29:4
What a valuable lesson for us to
heed in our day. Although we can witness notable expressions of spiritual power
and authority, these things in themselves are not enough. It remains imperative
for us to receive an impartation from the Holy Spirit to possess eyes and ears
open to His truth with hearts of understanding. Without that spiritual
endowment, we cannot enter the fullness of the promise. Not only do we have an
inheritance in Him, but He also has an inheritance in us. Our spiritual eyes
and ears must be expanded to facilitate that union.
The truest form of spiritual
comprehension requires the Holy Spirit, through the grace of God, to impart the
Spirit of Revelation. Those favored with this grace will begin to see with their
eyes, hear with their ears, and comprehend in their hearts the unveiling of
God's plan and ascertain willingness to participate in it. Apart from the
Spirit of Revelation, spiritual dullness will prevail, as has been historically
demonstrated.
Nonetheless, we cannot point a
condemning finger at our ancestors. Isolated from this grace, we would also
abort the birthing of God's purposes in our generation. Ideally, by a
reexamination of the reproof given to the generation typifying ours will
stimulate us to radically pursue and embrace having our hearts filled with
desire for intimacy with the Lover of our soul and with the passion to possess
illumined spiritual eyes and ears.
Discovering the Promised Land
The apostle Paul once prayed that
our eyes would be illumined with spiritual understanding. He continually gave
thanks and made mention of the Ephesian church, hoping they might possess the
ability to discover their rich inheritance in Christ by awakening to the Spirit
of Revelation. During a season of discipline, Jerusalem was chastened with a
closure of this realm when the prophet Isaiah said:
The LORD
has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the
prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers. And the entire vision shall
be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one
who is literate, saying, "Please read this," he will say, "I
cannot, for it is sealed." Isaiah 29:10-11
It is not the Lord's intent for
this generation to remain in a deep sleep. Rather, it is His aspiration to
enlighten us with prophetic insight and uncover our heads. He wants
governmental leadership endowed with Kingdom authority and power. To prepare us
to walk into our destiny, the seal is being broken and great mysteries of the
Kingdom are being deposited into the hearts of overcomers.
The Lord has promised once again
to deal marvelously with His people. Through the Church, God plans to openly
demonstrate that the world's wisdom will perish and the worldly discernment and
agendas of this present age will be concealed. God has a higher way, and it
will be confided in and expressed through His covenant people.
It is an important spiritual
mandate to have enlightened eyes to see where we are presently placed in human
history and in the unfolding of God's redemptive plan. It is equally important
to have eyes that can see ahead to our prophetic destination. From this
enlightened perspective, we can set our gaze on the goal of our faith and
recognize the enemy's snares that are intended to hinder us.
O Lord, Open His Eyes
On one unique occasion the
prophet Elisha, who had spiritual insight as to where he was and where he was
going, boldly stood before the king of Aram's armies. He could do so because of
the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that rested upon his life. When Elisha's
servant nervously recited what his natural eyes were seeing, the prophet
prayed:
O LORD, I
pray, open his eyes that he may see. And
the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:17
With that prayer, an impartation
of spiritual sight was given to his servant. Through that blessing, the servant
saw with spiritual eyes that Heaven's armies and fiery chariots surrounded
God's prophet.
With keen spiritual vision, fear
is replaced with faith; a comprehension is imparted that there are more for us
than for the enemy. Nothing really changed in this scenario except the vision
of Elisha's servant. Without question, after seeing with spiritual eyes, his faith
level soared. His countenance and courage were not based upon what he saw with
his natural eyes. His spiritual eyes provided clarity to the entire picture.
The Bible promises that to each
believer a measure of faith is given. However, a much higher realm of faith can
be accessed when our eyes and ears are expanded to see and hear the unseen
heavenly realm. According to Galatians 2:20, we need to begin walking in faith,
realizing that God's Spirit lives within us:
I have been crucified with
Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me,
and delivered Himself up for me.
This dimension of faith can only
be discovered in God's supernatural realm. The early apostles knew this reality
and did exploits full of God's glory. In formulating our objectives, the
apostle Paul once declared that we are not to consider things that are seen but
those that are unseen. Visible things are temporal and fleeting, while
spiritual and invisible things are everlasting (2 Corinthians 4:18).
What an incredible illustration
of the importance of making decisions that are not merely based upon those
things we observe with our natural eyes. We need the anointing of the Holy
Spirit to remove the veil from our spiritual eyes, so we may see and comprehend
our supernatural provisions. Without the Holy Spirit's anointing, the natural
realm will strive to steal our faith and the reality of our birthright.
A Present Opportunity
One of the most prominent
invitations being offered Christians is the admonition to "come up
here" (Revelation 4:1). This expression denotes a divine call to proceed
through an open door to a heavenly realm that can be accessed in this
generation. Throughout history we have discovered a few individuals who were
forerunners to this secret place in God.
Many saints journeyed beyond that
door and walked with the Lord in profound and supernatural ways. These
individuals serve as prototypes of a company of men and women who will
characterize the latter days.
At certain times throughout
history, this door into the heavenly realm has been opened to those who pressed
into the Lord and obtained a favorable testimony from God. Like Jacob, some saw
the Heavens open and a stairway with heavenly hosts ascending and descending.
It was their privilege to discover
significant mysteries of God's Kingdom, in ways similar to that of the apostle
Paul. He was esteemed with divine favor and was granted numerous visions,
revelations, and appearances of Jesus Christ. Entrance to the third Heaven was
granted to him; he saw the unveiling of God's Kingdom before the throne. In our
generation, a greater awareness of this dimension will come to those who bring
forth their revelation of the Kingdom from God's throne.
The Friends of God
The Scripture says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. And he was called the friend of God." (James
2:23, NKJV)
What higher privilege and
experience could be granted to humankind than to be granted admission into the
company of those called God's friends? God first established the forum for
divine/human friendships to exist. It would be inexcusably presumptuous for any
person to say, "I am a friend of God" unless God had first identified
that being His friend was possible. As part of our heritage and spiritual
inheritance, we are given this unthinkable privilege that must be pursued and
attained through God's grace.
Our generation will be remembered
as the season of friendship with God because of the numbers of people who will
discover that reality. Numerous pioneers went before us to blaze this spiritual
trail. They became acutely conscious of the presence of God. They gave
everything to maintain that realization for the remainder of their lives. Men
and women like A. W. Tozer, Maria Woodworth-Etter, John G. Lake, William
Branham, Alexander Dowie, Walter Beuttler,
and many others who perhaps were never known publicly - men and women who
tasted union with God and discovered His rest.
Human history records the amazing
power for good that God exercised in those who ascended to the experiential
reality of friendship with Him. These men and women walked in conscious communion
with the tangible presence of God and lived with the mindful conviction that their
prayers were expressed to someone perceivably present. In our day, this alone
is our highest aspiration and one that will be attained by many.
An Experiential Reality
The Bible stresses that we are
positionally seated with Christ in heavenly places. Once that heritage becomes
an experiential certainty, our conscious awareness will be centered in that
place of residence, rather than in our natural surroundings. Our decisions and
actions will be dictated by the understanding we obtain in the eternal realm.
Like Elisha's servant, when our eyes are illumined to the spiritual domain, our
perspectives will change.
In our day, a first-fruits
demonstration will accompany this reality. Like spies who venture into the
Promised Land to discover the grapes of Eshcol, many will taste God's good word
and the supernatural powers of the eternal age to come (Hebrews 6:5). The
outcome will be a representation of Kingdom dimension, and authority displayed
through humble and contrite vessels. This expression of the Lord's grace will
awaken the body of Christ to her destiny and cause her to abandon all else to
pursue Him, the true pearl of great price.
A joining of the Head to the body
must occur. Jesus is described in the Scriptures as the Head and His followers
comprise His body. Through us, He will articulate the Father's thoughts and
desires. Unity can only function from a position of compatibility between Jesus
and His body.
Focused concentration is now
required on each person's nature and character in order for him or her to
experience divine visions and revelations in the manner of the apostles Paul
and John. This privilege is offered to every believer. However, grooming and
proper equipping is necessary to inhabit these high places in God.
Possessing the desire and
desperation to comprehend this reality is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Our
earnest prayer should be for the Holy Spirit to "make us ready,"
without guile or tendencies to corrupt His sacred place. It was once spoken of
Nathanael that he was an Israelite in whom there was no guile. Our prayer
should be for the Lord to make such a proclamation about us and grant an
awakening to our eyes and ears.
Paul Keith Davis
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