When you reckon the words of the Lord to be true, when you believe what He says about you, when you begin to walk in that knowledge, when you combine that with the presence of God and the ability to come before the throne of grace, then you are changed from glory to glory. You mind is transformed, your intellect is enlarged, your wisdom flows from God, people are amazed at your walk, especially if you’re an unlearned man and they wonder how that all happened. They see a former broken man, a man from a broken background, a man from a generationally broken background and they see a new creature in Christ. Not a perfect man but a man who walks in the light of heaven. Who walks in the shadow of the Almighty, who now walks down the narrow path having been taken from the broad path of destruction and they cannot help but wonder and say to themselves ” surely there must be a God.”

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:13-16)

Brothers and sisters, what have you seen afar off? Have you glimpsed the glory of the living God? Have you seen behind the veil into that eternal place, the eternal holy of holy’s? Have you lifted up your spiritual eyes and saw beyond the limitations of this world? These are the things that can only be seen by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. If we only had eyes that could see only this world how miserable a creature would we be. Surrounded by fears and anxieties, wars and divisions overseas and at home. A corrupt political system that has culminated this year by backing us into a corner where the only way out is through people like Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. What a mess this world is in. Aren’t you glad you don’t belong to this world? Does your heart long after that heavenly homeland, that heavenly country yet to come? We know that God has prepared a place for us. A place without sin, without darkness, without weeping. A place that we come to by passing through the impenetrable light, made penetrable  by Jesus.

The hymn says that because He lives we can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone. These are true sentiments. It is because He lives that we know that the ground beneath our feet is solid ground. We stand upon the reality and the promises of the living God. And even though the world tries to press into that with its own reality, stand still brothers and sisters and do not be tempted to wander into the sinking sands of a world that is going down. In such times as we live, with the ever closing storm of affliction and persecution closing in, it is all the more important to lift up our heads and see the glory of the Living God. Not only should we lift up our heads, we should also lift up our voices in these days in which we find ourselves.

Every day the world grows more hostile to the Body of Christ. Yet the glory of God is eternal. The blessed hope of our Savior never changes. His power, His glory goes on forever and He draws us and beckons us to come up higher. As our enemies come in like a flood all around us, He says to us to come up higher. Lets take our eyes of the world and the storms that are raging all around us and lift them up to Him. Lets lift up our thoughts and our prayers towards that heavenly city. Close your eyes and see with Spirits eyes your destination. Go neither to the left nor the right but continue on that straight narrow path that leads us home. It awaits us saints.Glory to God.

Hi Saints, been writing this devotional for many years, kinda stalled out at the end of April, it may never be finished but here is what I have. I am starting at January 1 🙂 ….bro Frank

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Perhaps you have a family member or friend or loved one that seems to be in a hopeless situation, you may even have given up all hope for that person. Yet Our Lord is Hope itself. Hope is the wellspring that all of our joy flows from. We have two choices in this life, even as a Christian, we can live in hope or we can despair. Hope gives birth to joy and to life and to strength. It is because I am in Christ that my hope springs eternal. It is awesome to know that our Heavenly Father is willing to go to enormous lengths to fulfill His plans.

You can only see a snap-shot of your life but the Lord sees it all, from beginning to end. Keep on seeking the Lord with all of your heart. He will bring you out of this place that you find yourself in. Lift up your eyes today and see where your help comes from. Your help comes from the Lord. He sees the afflictions of your heart and He knows your pain. Be encouraged today saint, the Lord your God is with you and He wants you to know that. (January 1,My Highest for His Glory)

Unashamedness. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit is to be emboldened in a supernatural way that cannot be confused with someone’s personality. Peter is a great example of one who was denying Jesus with curses to one who spoke without any thought as to the consequences of the truth he was sharing and of course it did ultimately lead to his death.

A lack of shallowness. The enormity of eternity, the reality of the Kingdom which is now and is to come overwhelms the one taken up by the impartation of the Spirit.

I believe this depth comes from the actual experience of the presence of God. One moment before the throne ruins us for this life. And what I mean by that is that the things of this world grow strangely dim in the light of His glory. It is not that there is not beauty and love in this world, for there surely is, it is that in comparison to His beauty and His love all other things fall short, and that phrase is not enough. There is the the presence of God which is otherworldly and then there is everything else.

To be in that place before the throne is to be home, is to be one, is to be complete, is to be fulfilled. The Lord Jesus states in John 17 that the reason that He came was so that we could be one just as He and His Father are one, that we could be where the glory is. And so, for those who have experienced the ” glory,” then all other things simply fall into their natural place.

The strange thing is, that even although the things of this world grow strangely dim, they are only dim in comparison to His light. For the mountains and the rivers and the birds of the air and the waterfalls and the magnificent creatures of the earth are magnified in the hearts and minds of the saints, no one appreciates the beauty of the creator more than the saints because they can see through eyes that have been opened to the true nature of all things. The smallest bird to the great blue whale, we are captured by it all because we know the creator, we know the artist.

Yet, the magnificent glory of the Godhead, the magnificent presence of God only serves to compel us on no matter the circumstances of our lives. Because we know that we are headed home and no matter how difficult the journey, nothing shall stop us from putting one foot in front of the other for every single step brings us closer to basking forever in the resplendent glory of our heavenly Father. I can say with all honesty that I long for the day of my homecoming. I long for the day that I dwell in that place where there is no sin, where there is no shadow of turning, where there is only Him and His glory. Let us long together saints in this journey that we share and encourage one another with the great blessed hope that lies within us.

In the emptying process He removes the stones and rocks and the clods from our hearts and refines the flesh. The desires of the world lose all their allure as He draws us to Himself. If we yield to the process then He draws us closer. I would love to say that in my experience it has been a one-time yielding, but no, not so simple. Time and again the calling comes. The deeper and the closer we come, oftentimes the deeper the cut. Shall we yield to the surgeon’s knife? Shall we yield to the sculptor’s chisel? I would say that only a vision of heaven itself could draw us to such yielding.

Just one moment in His presence. Can a single moment ruin us for the things of this world? Is it possible that after that moment the world turns to black and white? Then another miracle happens. As we begin to look at the world through those captivated eyes, the color begins to return but it’s not the color of the world, it’s the color of heaven. Now one truly sees the sunset because one has been intimate with the artist. I can see a waterfall and my spirit soars because I know the hand that crafted it. The mountains raises me up to higher places,to the place where they were born. The stars in the heavens draw my eyes upwards and my spirit follows the path of my gaze and I find myself in higher places. The hand of a child, a single ray of sunshine through the clouds, a wave that crashes to the shore, soon enough I see my Lord in all of it. I see His beauty everywhere.

Yet the darkness prevails and time and time again it comes against the light. Yet, out of that moment, out of His presence there is born an eternal longing that no darkness can quell just as no hand could hold back the tide. He comes. Yes and He comes again to those who would wait upon Him. How long shall we wait? However long it takes. This is the kind of love that would wait a thousand years. The kind of love that would fill an ocean with tears. The kind of love that was birthed in heavenly places. And so we yield, and so we die to this world. And we are drawn ever closer to the next until the day comes when we step over into the world that has touched us and called to us.

There is glory in all of it. It is a grand tapestry and we are but a thread. Can we see the vision of the artist? Can we see the vision of the sculptor? It is not so important to see the vision of the artist or to see the finished sculpture, it only really matters that we see Him, Him who creates it all. And in seeing Him we see everything in a single moment. Now with eyes that have gazed upon the Master we see it all so differently. Have you seen Him? Can you see the world through the eyes of Him who made it all? It’s a glorious vision and it continually draws us.