Tag: #Psalm97:11

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Ascended Mountain – Part 1

Friends, we serve a resurrected, ascended, seated and glorified Christ, who constantly intercedes for us from Heaven and is with us on earth in Spirit to empower us.

Who could ask for more?

The same Christ who makes Himself known to us and instructs us in our valleys is the same Christ who meets us on the mountaintop to set us above our enemies.

It’s where God, as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, brings us to the end of our suffering and lifts us overcomers to a new beginning as His strong leaders.

It’s where God’s provision of refreshing, understanding and strategy meets His faithful climbers to bring rest, definition and expansion (Josh. 15:5).

It’s a vantage point as God sees and releases His fresh vision and new wine to us. 

A pinnacle of truth, where our souls align even more with His reality of reconciliation.

A place to know Him beyond tombs of darkness and to begin new Kingdom work in His glorious light (Ps 97:11 TPT). 

And it can draw an army.

It did for Jesus.

They were called His disciples and apostles.

Saints.

His forgiven ones. 

Redeemed.

Made even stronger in Him as they devoted themselves to Jesus for worship that included faithful actions of service.

Matthew 5:1 AMPC reveals that Jesus, “SEEING THE crowds…went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.”

They seemed to understand the song of ascent in Psalm 121:1-2 TPT, which say, “I look up to the mountains and hills, longing for God’s help. But then I realize that our true help and protection is only from the Lord, our Creator who made the heavens and the earth.”

Jesus helped His disciples ascend to help others ascend—by walking out the Great Commission empowered by Holy Spirit, as He instructed them after His resurrection (Ac 1:1-10, Matt 28:18-20, Judges 4:9-10).

Acts 1:2-3 TPT reveal that “Just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus left instructions through the Holy Spirit for the apostles he had chosen. After the sufferings of his cross, Jesus appeared alive many times to these same apostles over a forty-day period, proving to them with many convincing signs that he had been resurrected. During these encounters, he taught them the truths of God’s kingdom.”

A study note for Acts 1:3 in the TPT Bible says, “Spiritual fruit and power” are the signs to the world that we have been spiritually resurrected.

Therefore, it’s important that we are progressively active in our faith, like the apostles and even like Deborah, who once sat and ruled as a judge, then sent Word for others to march into battle, then got up and went with an army herself to fight from victory (Judges 4:5-6, 10).

So, friends, “Who, then, is allowed to ascend the mountain of Yahweh? And who has the privilege of entering into God’s Holy Place” (Ps 24:3 TPT)?

The truth is God’s born-again believers, whose confidence is in God because of the finished, gracious work of our Lord Jesus. By His powerful grace from on high and from within, we can live out our redemption process beyond resurrection life into an ascended life, just like Jesus and His leaders. 

The way there is to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and His truths as commands for life, as we trust and obey them.

To live an ascended life with Christ is for our benefit and the benefit of His Kingdom-at-large, because He can be in more places than one by His Glorified Holy Spirit in us as we devote ourselves to serving Him.

1 Timothy 3:16 TPT tells us, “For the mystery of righteousness is beyond all question! He was revealed as a human being, and as our great High Priest in the Spirit! Angels gazed upon him as a man and the glorious message of his kingly rulership is being preached to the nations! Many have believed in him and he has been taken back to heaven, and has ascended into the place of exalted glory in the heavenly realm. Yes, great is this mystery of righteousness!”

In Matthew 13:11-12 TPT Jesus explained, “You’ve been given the intimate experience of insight into the hidden mysteries of the realm of heaven’s kingdom…For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

So, friends, pray with me if you will…

Dear Lord,

Thank You for dying on the cross for me. Thank You for Your resurrection and ascended life. Thank You for the promise of Your second coming (Ac 1:11). Thank You for Your Holy Spirit inside of me. Help me to serve you honorably as I devote my life to You. I trust You, the Name above all Names, to lead me to lead others. Show me the way, Lord. 

In Jesus’ Mighty Name.

Amen

Friends, may we always remember that our “…help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth” (Ps 121:1-2 AMPC) as we co-labor, rule and reign with Him.

And now I pray “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ep 1:17-18 NKJV).

To God be the glory.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.

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Revelation – Salvation: His Glory & Grace – Part 1

After a couple of days of studying for this video-devotion, my phone rang. 

It was a God thing… 

A divine appointment.

A dear friend had phoned to invite me to pray with her about her young-adult daughter. 

I listened to my friend’s story, and then we began to pray. 

Straight away, The Lord revealed that her daughter was heading away from Him. 

God showed me a vision of her walking far out into the otherwise barren night, toward a tiny guardhouse, that was set on the edge of a geographic border.

When the daughter arrived at the guardhouse, a guard walked out. He reviewed her I.D. and handed it back to her. He refused to allow her to cross the border. Then he walked back into the guardhouse. 

The daughter stood there alone. She didn’t push back. She didn’t even look upset. She simply stared down at her I.D., perplexed, facing her own void in a remote place, not knowing what to do next. 

This young-adult daughter had come to the end of the line God had set for her.

After a moment, she quietly turned back from where she came. She was oblivious to the night all around her, as though it were her normal.

Still looking down at her I.D., she stepped forward slowly, almost mindlessly.

As she did, light began to increase around her. Gradually.

The light grew brighter with each step.

At one point, she looked up, taking her eyes off herself. She became aware that her surroundings had changed.

They were lighter.

She felt lighter.

Realizing this, the daughter sped up her walk until, finally, the bright light of revelation came on in her conscience: Suddenly, she knew beyond a shadow of doubt that she was headed toward Jesus.

When she received this revelation, she took off running a very short distance, right into His arms.

Luke 11:34 TPT tells us, “The eyes of your spirit allow revelation-light to enter into your being. When your heart is open the light floods in. When your heart is hard and closed, the light cannot penetrate and darkness takes its place.”

This daughter ultimately returned (repented) to her loving Jesus, full of glorious light, love and victory.

Friend’s, this is where we are all called to live—close to Him.

Through this vision, The Lord reminded me that He can post His angelic guards at boundaries that prevent us from going too far from Him. God can post angels to help us and our loved ones return to Him. 

The one thing up ahead in our dark night, can prove to be the beginning of a mighty turning point toward God’s glory. 

I believe that daughter’s angel awaited her arrival, as Jesus’ eye was upon her the whole time. 

My friend and I now declare salvation over her, as we all await her return. 

Salvation means to defend, deliver, help, preserve, rescue, be safe and avenge. And, we know God’s Word will not return without accomplishing His will. 

The day after this vision came forth, Holy Spirit added to the message…

He further revealed that, while He would enlighten the conscience of my friend’s daughter, He would simultaneously boost my friend’s confidence to trust Him implicitly with her. While my friend awaits her daughter’s return, He will grow her trust in Him to do that which only He can do. Both mother and daughter will come to know Him in a new way.

God often works in parallels, and this was His plan! 

Holy Spirit highlighted Psalm 97:11 AMPC to me in regards to my friend’s daughter, which says, “Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].”

In regards to her mother, Holy Spirit highlighted Luke 1:17:

Luke 1:17 AMPC says, “And he will [himself] go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn back the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient and incredulous and unpersuadable to the wisdom of the upright [which is the knowledge and holy love of the will of God]–in order to make ready for the Lord a people [perfectly] prepared [in spirit, adjusted and disposed and placed in the right moral state]. [Isa. 40:3; Mal. 4:5, 6.]”

When I saw the Word “unpersuadable” in this verse, I realized God was about to give my dear friend a revelation of faith. He was about to reveal Himself as trustworthy and prove Himself as faithful. He was about to awaken her and her daughter and persuade them both.

Both will be made stronger in Him.

When the daughter returns, God will be at the center of their relationship, and they will see more of Jesus in each other’s hearts. They will be grateful, because they will know that He alone delivered them and set things right.

The Lord used this vision to highlight a particular precept to me for this hour:

We are beginning to see what His Word describes in Habakkuk 2:14 AMPC, which says, “But [the time is coming when] the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. [Isa. 11:9.]”

God is unfurling His plans in our lives to establish us more deeply in Him with awesome wonder. 

Isaiah 11:9 TPT says, “On all my holy mountain of Zion, nothing evil or harmful will be found. For the earth will be filled with the intimate knowledge of the Lord Yahweh just as water swells the sea!”

This is a new beginning for all of us, as we continue to yield to God’s plan, and come increasingly into His marvelous light. 

Hebrews 8:11-12 TPT assure us by saying, “And the result of this will be that everyone will know me as Lord! There will be no need at all to teach their fellow-citizens or brothers by saying, ‘You should know the Lord Jehovah,’ since everyone will know me inwardly, from the most unlikely to the most distinguished. For I will demonstrate my mercy to them and will forgive their evil deeds, and never remember again their sins.”

Join me next week for part 2 of Revelation – Salvation: His Glory & Grace.

This video-devo was graciously re-posted by the Salem Web Network, which includes iBelieve.com.