A Missed Opportunity

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.