"Let Us Go Up"
by Bill Burns
This is a spiritual season which creates for us the opportunities to begin again. It is an elevated spiritual time for new beginnings.
The Lord says, "I am preparing you for the next phase of life. The past is behind and has become part of your history, but it is not vital to where you are now. You will benefit greatly by staying connected to Me.
"Stay relevant to My plans and purposes for your life, and be sensitive to that which is required of you at this time so that you are free to forge ahead. I am with you every step of the way."
These are the "Days of Elevation." The clarion call given in both Micah 4:2 and Isaiah 2:3 is this: "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord."
Going up requires letting go of the past and its disappointments. We must do what the apostle Paul did: "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).
The Key to Reaching Forward - Stop Looking Back
Understand that you cannot reach forward until you stop looking back. Satan loves to hold God's people in the bondage of past failures. We must get over them and past them. Everybody has experienced failure. David had failure...remember Bathsheba? But, David remained a man after God's heart.
"I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul." (Psalm 138:1-3)
Here is the answer when you don't think you can begin again. David said, "In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul."
When the Impossible Becomes Possible
The Lord says, "When you seek and ask Me for wisdom, I cause you to be extraordinary. The impossible becomes possible. All you have to do is ask, believing that I hear and answer your plea. Do not waver in faith or purpose. Let Me show you the way to supernatural accomplishment. I can do in and through you that which you are unable to do on your own." (Photo via Unsplash)
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)
Understand this: Whenever God establishes a new season for us to move into, satan sows his seeds of doubt and unbelief over the promises of God. Doubt and unbelief will negate the promises of God.
"For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him amen, to the glory of God through us." (2 Corinthians 1:20)
...Yes and amen (it is so)—no doubt or unbelief.
Jesus on Faith and Doubt:
"So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.'" (Mark 11:22-24)
Mountain = big; problem = unbelief!
These times are times in which God is leading us up to a higher place (spiritually) and satan is trying to ground us.
It's Time to Stay Close and Move Forward – From Glory to Glory
"Times are changing, and you must adopt a mindset of flexibility. Be sensitive to My leading, and be ready to make changes that will ensure that you are where you need to be. My path is a narrow one, and your obedience is the key to walking with Me," says the Lord. "Stay close!"
So, stay close to God. Present yourself to Him in obedience. Believe God and reject the enemy's lies. Forgetting what is behind, give yourself a new beginning. Go with God into this season of faith.
The Lord says, "Get up from that place of doubt and unbelief. It is time to forget the hindrances that past failures have established. It is time for you to move forward again. The days before you will be filled with supernatural experiences...but, it is up to you. If you will respond in faith, then you can come with Me on this springtime journey. Do not forget this one thing: Every time you move with Me, the glory gets brighter and the blessings are more abundant."
"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)
"How to Go Up Higher"
by Marsha Burns
In a vision, I saw helium balloons rising up into the air, and I heard the Lord say that they represent how our thoughts and intentions, inspired by the Spirit, rise above the earth and are not subject to the flesh.
I was seeking God and suddenly encountered an unusual anointing; I felt a more powerful sense of His presence than usual. In that place there was only spiritual purity and goodness. There was no room for comparison or judgment. It was bliss.
"...you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
"In Him we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of trespasses, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)
Not of This World: We Have a Choice
"But he who endures to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13)
Redemption is a choice. We can choose to walk with God in the Spirit, or walk in the world and in the flesh. We make this choice every day, whether consciously or unconsciously.
In the world today, it seems to be harder and harder to stay on track spiritually and to live with the fire of God blazing in our hearts. It is much easier to sleep and go with the flow of dissipation by indulging the flesh. We can bail out at any time. We have the opportunity to walk with God all the time, yet we often resort to a low-level of thought and action. We live below our spiritual potential most of the time.
The Lord says, "Even though the world seems to be filled with evil and hatred, you are not of the world. You have the ability to create an environment of love and respect. How you feel and what you do will make a difference in your atmosphere, and it is more propitious to do what is good and kind rather than what is selfish and defensive. Let My Spirit lead you."
"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." (John 17:16)
When I was in that anointed place in God, at that moment, there was no evil...His love permeated the atmosphere. There were no comparisons and not even the possibility of criticism or judgment.
"For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." (2 Corinthians 10:12)
"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)
What is that plank in our own eye? Is it not a haughty spirit, one that is critical and judgmental – not to mention hypocritical? We measure ourselves by using those around us as a measuring stick. Very often we come to the conclusion that we are not as good as some and decidedly superior to others. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing the opposite. It is being disingenuous, dishonest, untruthful, and duplicitous. It is trying to make others believe you are something that you are not. This may be for the sake of acceptance or accolades.
Spiritual Perfection: Making the Better Choice
Our carnal nature tends to be prejudiced, judgmental, prideful, fault-finding, and without love, mercy, forgiveness, or compassion. We can make a better choice—to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh!
"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life..." (Philippians 2:13-16)
We need to forget about comparisons and instead try to live up to God's standard, which can only be met when we live and move in His Spirit. His standard is one of spiritual perfection.
"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)
We can only move higher if the Spirit of God moves us, and He will not move us when we are mired in the flesh. (Photo via Unsplash)
"[W]ho were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:13)
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." (Romans 8:5)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..." (Galatians 5:22-23)
"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Galatians 6:8)
Reach for the Prize
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
"Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
"Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things." (Philippians 3:13-19)
When we truly rise above the things of the earth, we will find that place in Spirit where there is only the pure essence of God.
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." (Philippians 4:8)
Consider Love. We tend to think of love as a feeling of affection, but love is a choice.
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails..." (1 Corinthians 13:1-8)
We are reaching higher, going beyond religious discourse, to do something real in the Spirit.
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Bill and Marsha Burns
Faith Tabernacle
Email:Â streamlining@gmail.com
Website:Â www.ft111.com
Bill and Marsha Burns are pastors of Faith Tabernacle in Kremmling, Colorado. Bill has a powerful prophetic gifting. His heart is to equip the Body of Christ for the work of the ministry. Marsha is a teacher and prophet with pastoral anointing. She has been commissioned by the Lord to prophesy to the nations through "Small Straws In a Soft Wind" sent out via the Internet.
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