Father

Jesus Is Our Rest – Sheila Burrier

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Matthew 11:28-30 New Living Translation

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

May we bow to nothing and no one, but the Father Himself.
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Not to feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, or addiction.
Not to the opinions or approval of others.
Not to the ways or the weight of this world.
Not to the stagnant or victim mindset.
Not to toxic generational behavior.
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Nothing.
Let all that we are be a posture of complete surrender to the One who is truly worthy.
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If you’re feeling weak these days, check your posture. You might be bowing to the wrong things and our shoulders aren’t big enough to carry the burdens that God has asked us to lay down.

From Generation to Generation – Karen Austin

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Psalm 78:6-7 “For perpetuity God’s ways will be passed down from one generation to the next, even to those not yet born. In this way, every generation will have a living faith in the laws of life and will never forget the faithful ways of God.”

The theme “from generation to generation” has been resounding in my spirit. All through scripture we read that God instructed His people to tell their story of how He intervened in their lives to their children and to their children’s children. One example of many is after Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on dry land, God instructed them to erected memorial stones.

Joshua 4:5-7 “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

The Father says over and over to tell your “God” stories to the upcoming generation. We can only imagine the stories that Adam told his great-great-great-great grandson Enoch about walking with God. The Word states that Enoch’s son, Methuselah, lived 693 years after Adam, So we can easily conclude that Enoch knew and learned from Adam, who actually lived another 237 years of Methuselah was born. I somehow sense that Enoch took these stories to heart and didn’t just observe then as something that happened to grandpa. He may have concluded, “If it happened to him, it can happen to me”! Well, we know that Enoch did just that. He walked so closely with God that God just took him and Enoch did not experience death!

I sense that through the generations we have let “God” stories of past generations pass away with them. In this way, we have allowed generations, especially of late, to go through life without knowing the omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of God. I would say, it has been in the last one or two generations that we began to let these stories of healing, deliverance and provision die. We failed to let the following generations know He is a God of relationship and a God of love.

These stories of His goodness are our rich heritage that we are to pass down to our children and our children’s children. If we do not, they will not know or will forget if we just mention once of his miracles of the past. The result is they will not trust him and not know how to believe Him in faith. The Hall of Faith in Hebrews is a list of people who trusted God. The generations following us must know that these are not just stories in the Bible, but He has made Himself real to us. This opens them to believe “if it happened to Nana, Grandpap, Dad or Mom, it can happen to me!”

We are seeing a generation of youth and even many adults who have no grid for God. They believe being self-serving as the way to live and being their own “god”. They have become a generation of entitlement and lack of respect in many, many areas. For this, I believe the church, parents and grandparents need to repent for those who failed to pass on the “God” stories of the past. In doing so, I sense that the Father is ready to pour out His goodness upon this earth, along with His righteousness and justice, which are the foundation of His throne. It is His goodness that leads to repentance.

I believe He is not only visiting other nations in their dreams, but He is going to begin visiting our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren in their dreams. They will go to bed one way, and wake up another way—woken up to the reality of a living God who loves them!

If you have held back and not shared your “God” stories, now is the time. How will they know of Him if we don’t tell them. Then, when they are in bad or drastic situations, they will remember your “God” story and will turn and cry out to Him who will deliver them. Let your “God” story stand as a memorial in your family lineage, passed down from one generation to another.

Psalm 78:3-4 “We’ve heard true stories from our fathers about our rich heritage. We will continue to tell our children and not hide from the rising generation the great marvels of our God—his miracles and power that have brought us all this far.”

A Wedding of a Bride – Frank Work

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Many years ago I performed my first wedding since being ordained more than a year and half. This isn’t earth shattering in the grand scheme of things, pastors, ministers of the gospel, keepers of the 4th flower, twice removed to the east honeysuckle humming bird church of the passionate No. 2 pencil, marry people everyday. So why does this particular wedding hold so dear to my heart? Glad you asked.

The young lady who asked me to do this most honorable occasion is someone who I have literally known since she was born. She was born in the same year as my son, in the same state, on the same island of Oahu. Her and her future husband are both teachers who I believe are striving to make a true difference in the heart and minds of those they teach. I only know a few teachers personally. All of whom are passionate about the children they have taught or will continue to teach. So I am very blessed to have been asked to be the one who will marry this young couple, especially as my first wedding.

There is something else that God has spoken to me about concerning this wedding. There is a movie called “Four weddings and a Funeral“, and I honestly have never seen this movie, but it caused me to reflect on my own time as a minster of the gospel. My first 3 duties after being ordained was to preside over 3 funerals. The first funeral was for my daughter -inlaws grandfather. My second funeral was for a 10 month old child. My third funeral was for the babies mother who committed suicide. First let me say that I was very honored to be asked to do these services and be a part of honoring them. It’s no small thing I believe when you are asked to oversee a funeral, especially from family and friends. I bless those families who have lost loved one, yet can be assured that their loved ones are seated securely with the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

So I was doing my first wedding, watching the bride who will be dressed in all her regal attire, preparing herself for the moment when she will say “I do” to her bridegroom. I have only seen a small part of the preparation period of this bride to this point. It is now a frantic time period as the wedding draws closer, that the “details” of the wedding are starting to stack up. “Did we do this? Do you want this and that? What’s your thoughts on this part of the wedding?” And the questions continue to stack up as the moment draws closer.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus was crucified, buried and rose on the third day committing himself to be sin on that cross, so that we as God’s children would be able to come to the Father in Heaven through the sacrifice and blood of Jesus. It’s only because of that blood, that life giving blood, are we saved from the fires of hell that we honestly deserve. So get to your point Frank. Alright I will. I believe that God was showing me through this time,  that death has to occur so that life, the life of Jesus can come fully through you and I. That we must have a mindset that Jesus wants to kill the carnal nature of who we are so that our spirit man can rise up and take hold of the destiny that has been placed within each one of us, since the time of our conception.

Side note: I believe that the Holy Spirit is implanting and speaking destiny to us as we are conceived in our mother’s womb. That we as infants in the womb are truly fellow shipping with our Lord and Savior so closely that our spirit man remembers that, and yearns to be in that state of relationship again. Hence the reason our flesh is never satisfied.

Seeing the process of the bride’s preparations helps me to understand in a small way, the way the bride of Christ should be preparing for the bridegrooms return, who is Jesus. Details. Matthew 25: 1-13 gives us a great picture of those who were concerned about the details those who were not. Preparation is essential and required of the bride to prepare for the coming of the bridegroom, whether down the isle or Jesus coming, both to me require preparation and effort in order that the bride is presented without spot or wrinkle. “He will love me regardless of what I look like.” This is true, the bridegroom will love the bride, but the bride must honor the bridegroom by preparing herself for his coming, and not take advantage selfishly, of His love for her.

This young lady, whom I had the most dubious honor in presiding over her wedding, is preparing to present herself as a bride whom her bridegroom will eagerly say the words, “I will”.

I am reminded that I the three funerals I was a part of is symbolic of the days of death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus and that we must die to ourselves in order that He may live fully in us. I pray the power of the Holy Spirit and the life giving love of the blood of Christ will bless this couple as they begin their journey.

I believe that prophetically the time of preparation is upon us. We are not to assume anything in our time on this earth. That we prepare for His coming as though it was going to happen tomorrow, today or within the next few seconds. That the time of morning who we were is past and the time of embracing who we are is upon us. I believe that we will start to see the remnant of the bride of Christ start to make herself manifest in power and understanding in the days to come. That no longer will the bride be satisfied with average, but that there will be a an excellence in spirit to prepare herself for the bridegrooms coming. Come to the wedding feast and adorn yourselves in the finery of the blood of Christ. The time of the light that will shine through His bride is upon us. In the coming days we will see the manifest presences of the Lord Jesus in our midst. We will see the power of the Holy Spirit releasing the captives from addiction, sickness and pain. We will see the love of the Father welling up in the hearts of the bride. I believe that we will see the power of God in such a way that it will change towns, cities, regions and countries. I know that God is looking upon His son’s bride and sending forth the angels of the Lord to carry out the missions that have been set before them in preparing the bride. Children of God will be crying out not in pain, but in victory as the angels are giving their marching orders concerning the bride. I believe that we will see a physical manifestation of the power and glory of our Lord Jesus in such a way, that there will be no way in denying it. That in the coming months we will be seeing and living

Matt 6:25-34

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

I know that I personally fall short in many area’s of my own life, but I also know that I have to keep trusting in Jesus and realize that He loves me and believes in me because of the blood that covers me. Blessings

Overshadowing of His Love – Karen Austin

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Our focus upon love has been good – wanting to love as He loves. But you see, we can only love because we know we are loved by Love Himself. The Father is inviting us to focus upon His love for us. This is an important foundation for our next assignment. Motives are very important to the Father. He looks upon our hearts. Love must always be our motive

The Father desires that we spend time soaking in His love. When we read the Word – look for His love. During our day, look for His love. For in being loved – we will love. Prepare to be swept off your feet by His love. .

There is a harvest coming unto us of the love we have sown. When we sowed love and did not receive love in return. As we bask in His love, He will overshadow us. He will be our covering so we will not fear of the days ahead. Did He not say that His perfect love casts out fear? We shall not only be ones who shall not fear, but we shall be ones who cast out fear around us. How? It is because we release His love. We will become a bearer of hope and love, joy and peace because in His Presence, there is always fullness of joy. In His Presence there is always peace, His hope and His love.

So He is saying to rejoice, for the door is open to His heart. At times, not only will it be times of joy unspeakable, full of glory – but in this place of His love – it shall also be times of love unspeakable! We will be drawn further into intimacy with Jesus, and as an overflow, we will draw others into intimacy with Him.

Love overcomes all. That is why the enemy fights love so much. When he sees love in manifestation, it reminds him of God – of what he lost – being in the Presence of Love Himself. So our warfare is against love. Jesus still loved the disciples who left Him in His greatest time of need. Jesus still loved even those who crucified Him. Love is one aspect of why He walked in the power that He did. If He had allowed even one speck of hate, then He would have given the enemy a place in Him. “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” John 14:30.

This enablement only comes by walking in the grace of His love; which only comes by being loved. This is the place of Bridal Love that He is calling His Bride. Receive His unabandoned love for you. Bask in it. Drink it in for it shall be nourishment for your soul. It is in this place of love that He will cover us

Watch for the Seasons of the Lord – Karen Austin

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As I have been contemplating about this that we are facing and the timelines being set by those in authority, I keep coming back to His seasons never change. The enemy manifesting through man may try to change the days and seasons, but His Word and His seasons are forever settled in Heaven. But many in the church are not aware of the times and seasons of our Father. Many desire things to eventually go back as they have been.

I sense the Lord say “Things have shifted – a new season is upon you. My Kingdom rule and My Kingdom rein through those who are Mine is now the time you have entered. Many have said, have prayed, “Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven”. But they have not embraced the part of My Son’s prayer “Your will be done”. The heart of many in My church is for Heaven to come so they may live a life of ease. For nothing to interfere with their life plans and schedules to further My Kingdom, but I have said in My Word, in this world you will have tribulation.

For your enemy is a legalist and My people are blind to the things that have given him a legal right. But I am raising up a company of those like Jeremiah who will uproot and will plant. I am giving sight to those who seek. I am causing those to raise up a standard as they come into agreement with Heaven. For in this time, there will be those with not only Heaven on their minds, but Heaven in their heart. It will be from this place of abiding in My will and My purpose that a path will be formed for others to follow. I am raising up forerunners who hear even the whispers of My heart. They are becoming so sensitive in this season to My desires that when they see them come to pass such joy will fill them such as they world can give; because they will know for this they prayed, for this they contended.

I say there is a river of revelation coming and this is what will cause My people to rise above the cares of this world, to begin to rule and rein from their Heavenly position. This will cause faith to come to a new level because they trust in Me. A partnering with Heaven is at hand and I desire you to be a part. Will you submit your desires to Me? Will you allow My desires to become your desires? I desire to trust you with the secrets of My heart. I have chosen you to be alive in this space of time, choose wisely.”

Don’t Social Distance from God – Karen Austin

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I am sure we have all heard the new buzz words “Social Distancing”. Even though that is what the experts are advising and I concur with this advice, I sense these are the same words Holy Spirit is saying. Not that we do not have a social life or social contact in one form or another, but that we distance ourselves from bingeing on social media and instead spend the time praying and seeking His face. Of course, we should catch the latest updates from our nation’s leaders, but guard against the temptation for 24/7 media gorging. It is so easy to get caught up in that.

We have been given a parenthesis in time from other activities which we say prevent us from spending time as much time as we would like in the Word and with Him. We have entered a new era and can no longer move along our spiritual journey by being on rote. It would behoove us to distance ourselves from hours of intake of Facebook, fear and doom statements from some news media, and enter into His chambers to obtain His wisdom on how to maneuver spiritually in these days and hours that lie ahead. Holy Spirit will share with you what to do to be healthy He will lead you as to where to go or not to go. We must be a people led by the Spirit and a people of peace. After all, He is the One who knows all things! He knows how this will end. I do sense, however, things have changed from now going forward.

We need to social distance ourselves from those who speak nothing but negativity and fear into our lives and have no desire to change. We certainly pray for them, but do not continue to expose our self to their draining negative opinions. Guarding our ear gates and our eye gates will be very important.

Feed yourself on His Word. I can tell you after our son passed, I had very little physical strength or emotional strength from the long season of continual high stressors. When I began spending time in His Word, I would come away from those times actually feeling physical strength coming into my body. It was what made a marked difference in my journey back to health.

My prayer is that a fire has begun in His church and will continue to grow…that His church will not go back to being lukewarm after this virus issue is solved, as in former days. May you and I be a catalyst of His Holy fire spreading faster and more powerful than any virus ever can and this HOLY FIRE brings LIFE!!

The Father’s Heart in Prayer – Frank Work

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I don’t know about many of you, but this past several months have been a real time of seeking the Lord on decisions and paths that are in front of us. When I say, “us” I mean my wife and I. Before I was saved, my wife was the spiritual head of the household. She did all the things she possibly could do to maintain the presence of God in our home. It was a battle for her, a real struggle, especially since I was in the camp of the enemy. So here you have this spiritual struggle in a home, a home divided against itself, while all the time, our children were trying to figure out what their role was in all this. Prayer is not an easy task, and quite frankly I don’t think it’s supposed to be. The act of “praying” is easy. Assuming the position of prayer, head down, eyes closed mumbling away the prayers that you have listed out that day or come to mind at that moment, and then I’m done.

Here let me outline the prayer I do with my wife in the morning to give you a better perspective of what I mean;

Father we thank you for this day; I ask that you watch over and keep us, guide and direct us, be with us as we go about the task of the day. We ask that you watch over. Watch over our two children and their spouses, watch over our 3 grandchildren.  Watch over our parents and family members. We lift up our home, our vehicles and our finances. Help us to be good stewards of those things you have placed with in our hands. Open our eyes to see and our ears to hear what You are doing in and around us so that we may follow the path You have for us this day. We thank you Lord for your sacrifice on the cross for our sins and help us to be in remembrance of that as we go out this day. We thank You and give You the glory, in Jesus name, Amen.

Now I don’t think that is a bad prayer, I covered all the bases as far as our personal life and gave God the glory at the end. So I should be set for the day, right? Problem is, if that is my first conversation with the Lord in the morning when I first wake up, I am missing so many facets of Him, and the very essence of who He is. I am never really getting a true sense of direction for the day that lies ahead. What I am doing is hoping that He will hear what I am praying and answer those prayers according to my expectations.

I still believe that Jesus was giving a command when He spoke the following words, “This is how you should pray.”

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen”

When Jesus refers to “them” he is speaking of the heathens who use vain repetition hoping to be heard (Matt 6:7). Prayer to me is an intimate communication between myself and Jesus. Prayer isn’t just asking for something selfishly, but it’s aligning my heart with the heart of the Father. Yes there are moments when we can come before the “Master to Petition Him” (Luke 18) He listens to His children and would never turns His back on the elect which are covered in the blood of His Son. Selfishly praying will not yield a fruitful prayer life, but only disappointment and eventually mistrust in Jesus that He will not accomplish anything in your life. This is a direct assault of the enemy against the body of Christ. When we see our prayers not answered, the enemy, who is Satan, will begin his assault on our hearts and whisper to our spirit man, “You see, He doesn’t care about you, He won’t answer you because He has no time for your request.” The enemy is relentless when it comes to attacking the body of Christ, he will never cease, there is nothing he wants more than to draw your focus away from God, and onto yourself.

Finally here to me is the clearest direction on how we pray and how we can align our hearts with His and to know without a shadow of a doubt what the Fathers heart is concerning any situation in our life.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

This is the best description in my opinion of what it means to have the desires of your heart answered. Because it’s not about us at all, it’s about the Fathers heart for us. When we line our hearts up with His heart and His will, the Holy Spirit will cause our hearts to line up with His heart. At this point, His desire will become ours and we will be praying in line with His will for us. The keys to this are in the scripture I just shared, “Trust in the Lord, Feed on His faithfulness, Delight yourself ALSO in the Lord, and THEN He will grant the desire of your heart.”

If we as Christian really do give our lives to Jesus, then we are saying we trust in fact that Jesus knows a better way for us to pray and ultimately serve in a “right spirit” in His kingdom.

Whats Eating at You??? (Part 1) – Gary Florence

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Romans 8:1 says “That there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ” yet so many of us find ourselves living under that very thing and more times than not you will find shame and guilt lurking around condemnation. In Heb 12:24 it says “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood (Jesus’), which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Why is it than we can easily find ourselves stuck under the old when we have before us something new?

For most of my Christian walk I was under this very thing. Every time I would sin this guilt, shame and condemnation would just eat at me and eat at me. Please do not get me wrong when we sin we should have a healthy conviction stir up within side of us but the key word is “healthy.” I would find myself days even weeks later confessing the same sin over and over knowing deep down in my heart that God had already forgiven me the first time I confessed it. The shame, guilt and condemnation was overwhelming. It would consume me at times. Then what would really confuse me is that even though I would feel unworthy to be used by God, He would still use me, sometimes it even felt like He would use me even more in people’s lives when guilt, shame and condemnation was screaming louder in my head.

I would be like “God how and why would you continue to use me to speak in other’s lives when it feels like my life is spinning out of control?” Many times I would just take myself out of the “game” and say to God “I am going to sideline myself until I get this “sin” under control” because the guilt, shame and condemnation would ramp up the intensity when I would step out in spite of it. Does this sound familiar to anyone reading this, do you find yourself shaking your head in agreement with what I am saying?

If this is you I want to let you know that there is hope for you to get out from under shame, guilt and condemnation. We will continue our discussion the next time we get together.

Peace as a Weapon (Part 2) – Karen Austin

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When we continue to abide in the peace of God, regardless of our circumstances, it crushes the enemy’s plot to use those circumstances against us. Abiding in His peace also allows us to see God’s plan and, at times, His purpose in them. Our Father is not in heaven wringing His hands. He knows the end from the beginning. His plans and provision are already in place to turn the situation around. Just as the enemy has a plan for our situation, our Father has a greater plan! All our days are written in His book [Psalm 139:16] and we will succeed if we come into and remain in agreement with His plans and follow His instructions, no matter how much they may offend our mind. If we are abiding in Him and seated with Him in heavenly places as we been given access, we have ability to remain in perfect peace.

The attacks of the enemy are first intended to rob us of our peace. The secret is abiding. So how do we abide? The word “abide” is a word that means to “remain” or “stay”. 1 John 4:16 says that we abide in Him and He in us. To abide in Him is to remain in constant fellowship, our hearts fixed by trusting Him and resting in His ability to keep us in all our ways.

“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.” Philippians 4:6-7 TPT

Isaiah 26.3 “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You and hopes confidently in You.” AMP

Peace (Shalom) means being safe, well, happy, friendly, also our welfare, good health, prosperity, favor, perfect peace, rest and wholeness.

I believe we can all use more peace!

~~to be continued

Divine Signals (Part 2) – Karen Austin

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There is a pure river of revelation flowing to those who are pure in heart. Contend for this. Rid yourself of the tares in your soul. It is time to release those things that hinder our walk with Him.

There is a higher way that God is calling His Bride; one that will cause her to walk above that which is to come upon the earth. As a child, when our father wanted us to move along quickly (such as we needed to get out of the way because a car was coming or when we were playing instead of getting ready for school) our father may have said to us, “No Dilly Dallying!” This is what I sense the Father is saying to the church, “No Dilly Dallying with what I have told you to do!”

There are things coming that He needs us to be in a certain position and it is getting late. Things are changing quickly. Things have been set in motion to happen soon upon the earth. They will not wait for us to get into the place He has been calling us to. The Father needs us to be in position, in that place of freedom from the past that would hold us back – hold us down from the place of elevation that He is bringing His Bride.

He is calling His Bride to a place upon the mountain as He did with Moses. Sadly, some will chose to hold onto the things of this world and therefore cannot go. He is sounding the trumpet to assemble, to prepare and to ascend into the Holy Place.

For it shall be there that He will give us instructions for the times that are coming. As we climb higher, as we maintain our clear signal from Heaven, He will send us forth as He did Moses to cause the enemy to Let His People GO! The methods we have used up to this point have been good, but He, from upon His holy mountain, will grant deeper insights which shall enable us to quickly set ones free from deception, sickness, disease, oppression, depression and possession – so we will be able to set multitudes free with a greater effectiveness – for it shall be necessary.

So you may say, “How do we climb this Mountain?” The Father says to you,”It is a mountain that you will climb in worship. It shall be a Mountain of Worship in which you will ascend into the Cloud. In this place, He will speak to us face 2 face, heart 2 heart. Instead of writing His instructions upon stones, He will imprint them upon our hearts.

As we descend from this place, I sense He was showing me that man will come to us and say “Where did you learn this?” and you will simply smile and say, “The Glory, in the Glory of God.”