In my spirit I can see the Holy City in the midst of a mighty desert, a wilderness place. Now I know that in my flesh I would avoid deserts. The vision in my spirit would, I suppose, be metaphorical for the narrow path that leads to life. Now it makes no sense to think that if I was seeking life that I would go seek it in the desert. Yet there it is, the church of God, surrounded by a mighty desert.

There is no way to the heart of it but by striking out and heading deep into a place where my only resource, in fact life itself, will be God. If He does not go before me I will die, I will never get there. If He is not a cloud over my head then the sun will kill me. If He is not a fire by night then I will surely freeze to death. If He is not my rear guard, then the jackals and other predators of this hostile place will sneak up behind me and kill me.

You see brothers and sisters, there is nothing attractive about the desert. It is not an alluring place, in fact quite the opposite. Will you journey there? Can He be found on the narrow path? Will He be found in the desert? Yes. A burning bush and some sand can be transformed into Holy ground, for where the Lord is, it is Holy. We go where He can be found. We are drawn by the Spirit to a place of splendid isolation. Not like the monks of old, not an actual physical isolation, but in the midst of our very lives. Being in the world and not “of,” it. That word of in this context drips with depth and meaning. To be not of the world is a splendid isolation. To be apart from all of its cares, all of its worries, all of its temptations and noise and distraction. To isolate yourself with God causes you to be alluring. And so, by being in the world and not of it causes you to be a light in the very midst of darkness and draws those who are lost and desperately seeking the Lord.

There is a generation of desert dwellers being raised, a generation of wilderness dwellers ready to rise up and come forth. A generation of saints who have counted the cost and been drawn away into the deep. Whose only desire is to seek Him with their whole hearts. They will see the glory of their God. They will behold His glory and His majesty. And they will make declarations from that place. They will, like John the Baptist declare to the world “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” Yet, this generation also gets to say “Behold the lion of Judah who rides on a white horse with a two-edged sword in His hand. He is coming, the King is coming! Lift up your gates ye ancient cities and lift up your doors for the King of glory is coming and He is coming soon.

This is the purpose of God’s remnant saints. We will make such a glorious noise in the desert of worship to our King. We will sing hallelujahs to His glory. The anointing of the anointed one will be upon us and the world will look into the desert and hear such a strange and glorious noise, a noise such as they have never heard before and a light that shines out of a place where no light and no life should exist, and they will be perplexed and confounded but5 in all of it God will be glorified.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.