Position Yourself for Encounter!

Recently, in an encounter with the Lord, I felt He was issuing a passionate invitation to position ourselves for powerful, life-changing encounters with Him. There is an urgency in the hour. Jesus, His passionate eyes blazing like fire, is intent on seeing His beautiful Bride, fully assembled, adorned and made ready for the great marriage supper of the Lamb. Even now, many are feeling the stirring, desperately longing for more, longing for change, and longing for a touch from Him that will shift and bring needed breakthrough.

Many may feel hungry for more and yet feel unsure exactly what it is they are seeking. There is a deep discontent, a KNOWING that there is more. There is an unrelenting longing that is only increasing as the days go by. That deep discontent, that knowing, that unrelenting longing is the Spirit of God at work within us.

The Spirit of God is intent on bringing us into the FULNESS that Christ already purchased. He comes as the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to bring us into deeper relationship and awareness of all that the Father has given to us, His sons and daughters. And now, Holy Spirit is issuing a similar call as He did through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 57:14, "...Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."

As we prepare the road in our own lives, we actively seek to remove any and every obstacle that would hinder us receiving the FULNESS that He has so richly given to us. Jesus has already purchased our complete freedom, lavishing His love upon us. But we must position ourselves to receive and step into all the He has provided and longs for us to experience.

Elijah Prepares for Encounter

In I Kings 19 we find Elijah at an extremely low point and in need of an encounter with the Lord. Jezebel was intent on destroying him. In spite of the fact that he had just experienced an incredible victory and display of God's power in the showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he was now running for his life. Elijah pours out his heartsick story to the Lord. The Lord then gives him instructions to prepare for an encounter with Him. Elijah obeyed and soon found himself experiencing powerful manifestations of wind, earthquake and fire. Elijah surely must have expected to see God in this amazing display of power, but the scripture tells us that the Lord was not in these things. It was only after the fire that Elijah heard a gentle whisper, the voice of the Lord to him.

God doesn't usually speak to us in dramatic ways like wind, earthquakes, and fire, but He does often speak to us in the still small voice, or gentle whisper. Many times His voice is so subtle and quiet that we can easily miss it. I feel the Spirit is saying to us now, "Incline your ear to hear." It is a time to lean in and hang on His words. We don't want to miss a single word that He speaks.

In Matthew 13:9, and a number of other passages, Jesus used the phrase, "Whoever has ears, let them hear." He wasn't speaking to a crowd without physical ears, but to those who had not yet developed a heart that was positioned and ready to hear what he was saying. When asked by one of the disciples why he would speak in parables, he went on to say these words found in Matthew 13:13-17:

This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

As believers we are a blessed people that His Spirit has awakened our Spirit so we can see with our spiritual eyes and hear with our spiritual ears. Still, our hearing can become dull and impaired as well through the hardening of our hearts, through disobedience, through distractions, and through lack of use. Again, I hear the Spirit of the Lord saying, "Incline your ear to hear".

The Purifying Fire of God

The Holy Spirit was poured out as recorded in Acts 2 and His baptism is available for everyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord. Since that initial outpouring there have been many subsequent revivals and outpourings of the Spirit. We now live in a time of promised outpouring and massive harvest that many believe has already begun. Part of this move includes a deep repentance, cleansing, and purifying of the Church.

The Spirit's invitation to position for encounter includes a time of humble reflection and a coming to the altar where we fully yield to Him once again. The door to the altar with Him is wide open but we must go low to enter this place of repentance and yieldedness, allowing Him to touch our lips with his live coal and our hearts with His purifying fire.

When we come to Him in true repentance we come ready to change the way we think. We come to acknowledge that He alone is Lord. Our heart and actions will then reflect that reality. The fruit of repentance is evidence that a change has truly occurred.

It has been said that we all have as much of God as we want. The Dove of God is wooing and beckoning the heart of His Bride in this hour, "Do you want more? Will you set aside the distractions and attachments that you have looked to for fulfillment? Will you assign your nuggets to the dust? Will you lay aside the trivial for the eternal?"

The Spirit is Rekindling the Fires of First Love

"Like the Church of Ephesus, many have allowed the fires of first love to wane. My Spirit is blowing on those fires and causing a rekindling to occur. Even now He calls to you, Nurture the flame! Nurture the flame! Repent and do the things you did at first. Rekindle the fire of first love. I am drawing you deeper into My heart. I am drawing you deeper, then leading you out. We will run together in unbroken communion. I have REST for you. Bring your heart to Me and I will love you to life again. You must make the exchange. Give to Me your weariness and brokenness. Give to Me your addictions and distractions. Give to Me your disappointments and unanswered questions. In exchange, I give you LIFE ABUNDANT. I give you HEALING, and My UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. I have UPGRADES for you. I'm calling you to STEP UP and STEP OUT. Step up into the identity upgrades I am speaking over you. Step out into the unfolding destiny I have planned for you. You must leave the well worn pathways and follow Me. My Bride will make herself ready and she will be adorned with the fine linen garments of righteousness, holiness and purity. My beautiful one, incline your ear to Me, and position your heart for encounters. I am the Bread of Life and I will nourish you. 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.'(Matt. 5:6)"