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Jesus Christ has already paid the price for us to walk and talk intimately with God. For believers, it is a privilege, not a price. Only when we understand that can He become our greatest delight and His words our greatest treasure.
Psalm 42 is one of the most beautiful descriptions of what happens to believers. Verse 4 talks about being with the multitude, much as we would go to church to sing, rejoice, and pray; yet throughout the passage, the psalmist talks about being empty, hungry, and thirsty: “When I remember these things I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday” (Psalm 42:4).
“I’m longing for you,” the psalmist says. “People continually say 'Where is your God?’ but my soul craves for you as a deer in search of life-giving water.”
We try to do so many things to fill that emptiness, but nothing worthwhile happens until we decide to pursue God with everything we have. That only happens when we say, “I am going to pursue You, Lord. I am hungry for You.”
The Place of Safety
I can tell you from experience, when you become hungry and thirsty for God, the gates of hell will be opened and the enemy will begin chasing you. Satan does not want any believer hungry for God. The moment you long to be in God’s presence, the demons of hell will be unleashed on you.
The psalmist sang, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).
In Psalm 42:1, why is the deer panting after the water? The hart knows that the minute it finds water, its scent will be lost from the enemy that is pursuing it. Likewise, for believers the minute the scent is lost, the enemy can no longer find you. The only place you can hide is in God’s presence: “There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it” (Job 28:7-8).
There is safety in God’s presence:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (Psalm 91:1-4)
We all want the promises offered in Psalm 91, but those promises mean dwelling in the secret place, not making occasional visits. Those who “dwelleth in the secret place of the most High” make their address there.
God is looking for those who will dwell and abide in Him, and not just visit a time or two when it is convenient. Residing there requires much more than most people are willing to give.
A New Plateau
I remember when my oldest daughter, Jessica, was born. Being a new daddy changed everything for me. And when she was just a few months old, I was holding her, thinking about her, loving every moment of being her father. Suddenly, I heard the Lord speak to me: “One of these days you will be all mine.”
I was stunned.
“Lord,” I said quickly, “I’m Yours already.”
“Oh no,” the Lord said. “Now you are hers.”
Did you know that He is a jealous God? Still, I wondered from time to time through the years why He said that to me.
The years passed. Now Jessie has grown up, married, and has two children. Tasha, our second baby, has grown up, too. Joshua is eighteen and in school in Florida. And our youngest, Eleasha, has turned seventeen.
I was reminded recently what the Lord had told me when Jessie was a baby. Suddenly I was being drawn to a new plateau. It was like the Lord was saying to me, “I let you have those years for your children. Now it is time to move into a deeper relationship with Me.”
What is happening, dating back to July 5 of this year, is a powerful calling to enter into a much deeper realm with my Lord, much like the verse that says, “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me” (Psalm 42:7).
Frankly, I believe this is happening for many believers today. These are prophetic days. Something truly unusual and historic is taking place. So much is happening in the spirit. God is calling His children to abide in Him as never before, to go to a new plateau.
Many times in recent months and weeks, as God has revealed things to me, I have said, “Lord, I wish I would have known this back then.”
Now I know that I was not ready back then for everything that He is giving me now. Yes, I was lovingly preoccupied with my precious children. I was busy about my Father’s work, but there were many things that I had to do at the time.
Now that my children are grown, I am experiencing something new and glorious with the Lord. I cannot even describe with human words what “deep calleth unto deep” means to me now. It is truly like the waves and billows are rolling over me, much like the majestic hymn written over a hundred years ago by Samuel Francis and Thomas Williams:
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
What I can tell you is that there is a depth to my Lord Jesus that I have never known. There is a depth that I am discovering that is most heavenly. There is a love that is deeper and more real than I have ever experienced before.
A Greater Hunger and Thirst
The psalmist, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, explained how this place of sanctuary becomes richer and richer:
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. (Psalm 63:1-5)
Are you ready for this deep relationship with the Lord? It can belong to you if you are seeking Him early with a thirst and longing for Him that will be satisfied with nothing less than the fullness of His presence!
If you are starving for Him, desiring to see His power and glory in your life, you will be satisfied and joyful.
Then Shall We Know
Too often God’s people are starving and thirsty but not for Him. The Bible describes this:
Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.... Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish.... My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:1, 3, 6)
People are searching for truth, mercy, and knowledge, but they have none because they have been looking for these things in the wrong places.
The key is in Hosea 6:
Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.... For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:1-3, 6)
You cannot know God in His depth unless you “follow on to know.” It is a progressive walk. It is daily fellowship. If God moves, you move.
What happens if the Master moves on and you don’t decide to follow?
Suddenly you begin to die. The bondage is back. The devils are hounding you again. Everything is back that you thought you were free from, because the Lord Jesus has moved on and you decided not to follow Him.
God desires so much more from us!
Our Place of Safety
Just recently I was talking with the Lord and said, “Please, tie me to You and never let me go. I don’t care how You do it. Just tie me to You. Wrap me. Take hold of me.”
Sometimes we are too blind and deaf to what God desires for us because we are no longer close to Him. The psalmist shared where we should be in Him:
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.... My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:1-2, 5-8)
Waiting upon Him is crucial: “Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish” (Psalm 39:7-8).
How much waiting upon the Lord have you done?
Unless you are willing to spend time with Him, waiting in His presence, you cannot expect Him to be your place of safety.
The Calling to Communion
God is calling us into intimate communion with Him: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).
When the desire for fellowship with God and safety in His presence becomes greater than anything else in life, then we can begin to understand what it means to be one in Him. From that moment, everything changes.
And that is my prayer for you!
Appreciation for You
Once again, let me express my thanks to you. God is at work in our midst, but we continue to need your help with a financial miracle in order to avoid cutting some of the vital outreaches of this ministry.
Only with your help can I make these crusades, worldwide broadcasts, and mission outreaches continue to happen! I am asking the Lord to speak to you to stand with me and sow your seed to Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost around the world.
Finishing Strong
I am 56 years old. I have been preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ for 35 years, and I believe that God will give me at least 20 to 25 years of preaching that beloved Gospel ahead of me. I am asking for you to stand with me, now more than ever!
Let’s finish the race strong, glorifying His name together! When we stand before Him on that day, we will hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
Together, as co-laborers, we can continue to point lost souls to eternal salvation through the blood of our Lord Jesus.
Today, love Him with all your heart. Seek Him with all your being, and you will find Him. Give Him everything, and as you do, He will reward you so greatly that the Word of God declares, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38).
Be faithful in your part of this historic season as amazing doors continue to open. Plant your most generous seed in expectation that God will do something unprecedented and wonderful in your own life as He uses your gift to touch souls around the globe!
Also, send your prayer requests so I can pray for your most urgent needs. I will be leaving for Israel on November 1 and will take your prayer requests with me to intercede for you and your needs during the prophetic time there in the Holy City.
For we know it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6)…
Preaching the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ,
teaching the unchanging Word of God, and
expecting the mighty and miraculous
power of the Holy Spirit.
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