** In these following Scripture references, the one thread that ties these all together is the extent and steadfast persistence that our God will go to in order to bring forth even the smallest sliver of divine light upon His will and purposes to a heart seeking His face. There is a whole host of conflict and exposing of what is and what is not of Him. It can seem overwhelming and endless if not for even the sometimes faintest glimpse into His goodness and eternal promise to never leave and forsake those who are truly HIs.
DEUTERONOMY 31:8 YLT98
…And Jehovah [is] He who is going before thee, He himself is with thee; He doth not fail thee nor forsake thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.
** He knows that even the smallest shard of revelation and vision into His character and goodness, can thwart an ocean of darkness and mountains of defeat and unbelief.
JOHN 8:12,16-18 NASB
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life….
But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”
REVELATION 11:3-6, 11-13 NASB
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.....
But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
ISAIAH 6:1, 5 NASB
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple…
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
ZECHARIAH 3:1-5, 8 BSB
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan: “The Lord rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel. So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him, as the angel of the Lord stood by....
Hear now, O high priest Joshua, you and your companions seated before you, who are indeed a sign. For behold, I am going to bring My servant, the Branch.
JOB 42:2-6 NASB
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-9 NASB
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
** From start to finish the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, from the symbolic and figurative application and view, puts forth the entire purposes of God in the New Covenant condensed and illustrated in great detail. In this context, it can only be discerned and understood purely within the boundaries set by the Word of God, the testimony of Jesus and the language of the Spirit translated through our suffering in the flesh and death to self (Revelation 12:11). “Revelations” as it is often referred to, is completely defined within its actual title: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”. This is the enlightened power that caused multitudes in the day this was written to endure untold persecution and suffering with joy and expectation of knowing Him in a deeper and more significant way. We don't need merely more Bible knowledge to get through the next trial that’s right around the corner if we’re seriously desiring to follow His ways. What we do need is the surrender to His grace and His will to obey by His Spirit what has already been shown to us, but now on the ground of His strength and not our reinvention and resolve. HIs ways are not our ways; His thoughts, not our thoughts. It truly is another life altogether that He has provided for and bought with His precious blood.
REVELATION 1:1-2 NASB
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
DEUTERONOMY 4:39-40 NASB
Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.
MATTHEW 11:7, 9-10, 12 NASB
As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’ From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.
** There is a spiritual violence we know very little about and seem to often confuse it with our own initiatives and emotionally driven zeal. God's economy is not ours and there must be a continual surrender to His ways for understanding and wisdom to pierce this hardened shell known as our sinful nature – “the flesh”. God has anger but not as we do for our own selfish desires and purposes. Our confidence is prideful and swelling. From Him it is a confidence that is sure and steadfast only in relation to His deliverance and character, yet reserved. The word 1 reservoir (From the French réservoir (“collection place”) (fig.), réservoir (“storehouse”) (lit.). in turn from French réserver (“to reserve, keep”). It has with it the idea of having all the resources contained and at our disposal, yet only using them with the temperament and guidance necessary to meet the true need. It is a type of violence that occurs in our soul when we suffer in the flesh against the desires that war against our Spirit and what we know is the right course of action. It is also the violence of being torn away from what we once loved to follow another because it is not only the right thing to do, but a force of love within, compelling us to honor Him above ourselves.
Love is not as much a force and a power, but is the very essence of God that causes us to understand that our enemies are not the people around us but rather the inkling of our "devil flesh" that entices and drags us into the very behavior, responses and reactions that are contrary to everything we stand for in grace. This intrinsic nature and cornerstone of the Godhead, agape love, and the humility and brokenness that occurs when our stubborn nature must truly come face to face with wrongs done and attitudes that taint His name, can be a violent upheaval indeed. But there can be no compromise, excuses or “negotiating down” the true sinfulness of our deceitful self. And yet so much more, the grace of God that surgically and forcefully pinpoints this "missing of the mark", also testifies of the great price paid to not only cover our sin but deliver us from ourselves in real time to be genuine and sincere overcomers.
It's not just making due and keeping our heads barely above the rising tide, but swimming against the tide and rising above the raging swells that try to take us under. There are seasons in our walk where this violence and the need to persistently repent, confess and mourn over our sin and be restored, happens in an almost exponential and unrelenting way from one moment to the next. This in no way is intended to keep us feeling safe while habitually falling into the same selfish behaviors over and over again. But again there are stages and cycles in our spiritual well-being where the loving Hand of God will not be stayed or checked until the husbandman has pruned from the vine and skimmed from the refiners fire that which only saps the fruit and mars the purity of the gold of His unsullied character.
JAMES 4:8-10 NASB
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
ROMANS 5:20-21 KJV
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
LISTEN TO: “Be Exalted Oh God” by Maranatha Vocal Band
https://youtu.be/z50wZ0F-hWk?si=cr7w_ivhZ_DZ_tqq
“Burn Me Down” by House of Heroes
https://youtu.be/Z9aOv5YMVPI?si=EWNbZclS0kpz-4fM
1 Wiktionary
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
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