For eBooks click here

Prepare the Way

 for the Lord! 

Let’s Work Together to

Remove the Obstacles and

Make a Highway for God so

He can come to us freely! 

Help Prepare the Way for the Lord!

We need to learn to cooperate with what God is doing! We need to prepare the way. Even though we are different from one another, God is leading all of us to the same place in our growth. 

"In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation...You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established." (Exodus 15:13,17).

God is leading us to enter His heavenly sanctuary, now before we die. We need to cooperate with what God is doing by helping ourselves and others also.

To do that, we need to remove the obstacles and build a roadway for God so that He can draw near to His people freely, intensely, and without hindrance. 

The Bible says of John the Baptist, "...I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..." (Mal. 3:1).

Even though that promise came true in Acts chapter two, the promise still holds true for us today. I think John yelled these words as loud as he could.

"...Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight. 'Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight...’" (Luke 3:4,5)

The challenge remains because we still need to prepare the way for the Lord. We still need to clear a highway for God by removing the obstacles that keep us away from God and God away from us. Isaiah the prophet wrote, "And it will be said, ‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people’" (Isa. 57:14).

Isaiah also told us why we need to remove the obstacles and make a highway for God. It has to do with the glory of our Lord, 

"...Clear the way for the Lord...Make...a highway for our God...Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed..." (Isa. 40:3-5).

Certainly this passage was fulfilled when Christ came. But I believe God has something more in mind for our day. Quoting our Lord, the Bible says, "but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord" (Num. 14:21). I believe that God wants to fill the earth with His glory more and more as time goes on. I also believe He wants to "fill the earth with His glory" by what He pours on and through His church. 

I am convinced that this prophecy will be fulfilled when God's people learn to quench their thirst with His presence and not by earthly means. 

Let me remind you again that quenching our thirst with God is about receiving His presence continually so that we can more fully find refuge, glory, and strength in Him. Finding refuge, glory, and strength in God is about His presence being what reassures, soothes us, makes us confident, and secure.

Our need for God's presence never leaves us. We are constantly trying to fill our desire by "drinking" from something. The Bible promises,

". . .you will glory in the Holy One of Israel. The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the Lord, will answer them Myself, as the God of Israel I will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs. . .I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land fountains of water" (Isa. 41:16-18).

We need to cooperate with what God is doing. To do that, we have to remove the obstacles that keep us quenching our "thirsty desires" by earthly means. 

Jesus promised, "...If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink...But this He spoke of the Spirit..." (John 7:37-39). It also says,

"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new. . .I will even make a roadway in the wilderness. . .and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people. The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise" (Isa. 43:18-21).

I believe that when the obstacles are removed and many begin to quench their thirst with God then these prophecies will be fulfilled.

"...the nations will bless themselves in Him, and in Him they will glory." (Jer. 4:2)

"They raise their voices, they shout for joy; They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord." (Isa. 24:14)

 

If we Prepare the Way for the Lord, then God will Heal Our Land! 

All over the world, our unmet need for God’s presence is creating a tension that is mounting. Wars and lawlessness are increasing. People are feeling more and more desperate all the time. Sin is rampant. God wants to heal your land and mine, but He is waiting for His people to repent. 

The Bible says, "and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).

Do you want God to heal your nation? If ever there was a day for God’s people to repent, the time is now! You don’t have to waste your life trying to fill your desire for God with what you drink from earthly substitutes. It is time for God’s people to turn from earthly sources and turn toward the fountain of God.

The Need for Leaders 

Churches everywhere desperately need leaders who quench their thirst with God's presence and who teach the people to do the same. 

In contrast, Ezekiel 34 is a rebuke to religious "shepherds" who have not been leading people to the water of God so that the Lord can feed them. Of these shepherds it says, they are feeding themselves with the sheep.

Clearly, the shepherds in this scripture are those who have not been quenching their thirst with God. God is frustrated because it says, "Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.’" (Ezek. 34:10). This warning has troubled me greatly. It makes me hurt inside both for the shepherds and the sheep.

It is a deeply sorrowful thing that God should ever have to say He is going to take the sheep out of the mouths of shepherds who are not feeding people by directing them to the Lord. The passage continues by saying, "‘I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,’ declares the Lord God." (Ezek. 34:15).

I am praying this won’t need to happen in our day. Will you pray with me that God would lead us all, shepherds and sheep, to draw near to God and feed ourselves with His presence? Will you cooperate with His leading?

Don't be hard on your pastor! Don't blame him for not leading you to the fountain of the Lord. It is likely that he has not even known it was possible. Be patient with Him. Old ideas that seem new can be threatening. Some things take time to soak in. Pray.

It is Time to Fight for Freedom!

The real struggle is with the unseen enemy!  

Within us, it is our thirsty soul, the weakness of the flesh, and the ways our hearts have been trained toward earthly things, that keeps us in bondage. But outside us, are the forces of evil. Sometimes demons will even sink their claws in and ride around on Christians. Either way, we are what they "glory in." 

Demons work hard to keep Christians from believing—and they try to get us to find protection in doubt and fear. They work hard to keep us drinking from a cup of discouragement—to glory in rebellious sin—to reassure ourselves with what we find in the refrigerator. They steal our hope of glory—our hope of having something to glory in. Then, they drink from it! Like leaches, they suck it up. 

They party.

It is time to stop allowing the demons to glory in our bondage as Christians! Now is the time for the church to rise up and stand strong! It is time to rise up and fight for freedom!

It will be a fight because the demons, don’t want to be forced to give up what they glory in. They love boasting in our bondage—just as tenaciously as we love the sources we drink from.  

Fight by directing your heart toward God! Fight by praying for yourself and for others.

We need freedom so we can glory in the Lord! We need freedom to glory in our God, without hindrance from the enemy trying to snatch away the truth that has been sown in our heart. We need freedom to be able to cling to our Lord and nothing else. We need freedom for each of us as individuals and for the church as a whole.

It is time to fight for freedom and to help each find freedom to draw near to God!

Don’t you long to see freedom for people who are overwhelmed with guilt? Don’t you want to be among those who give people a mantle of praise, instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3)? Don’t you want freedom for people who have lost all hope of having something to glory in? Don’t you want freedom for people who are cowering inside and afraid to drink the Holy Spirit because of fear. Don’t you want freedom to see where it says, "...the nations will bless themselves in Him, and in Him they will glory"?

These are freedoms worth fighting for.

God’s way is that we believe in Him and depend on His being close to us—and not in ourselves. 

For hurting and thirsty people, the path that I am describing is much more effective for spiritual growth. One practical reason it works is because God's presence is much more effective as a means of being reassured. It is also right to depend on Him.

But are you the kind of person who motivates yourself with threats and self-contempt? If so, you are likely trying to help other people in similar ways. Be careful. Rather than helping them be able to draw close to God, you could push them away by creating more fear. Remember that fearing God is only the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). 

Encourage people with what is possible, but don't set yourself as a standard to achieve. Don’t make the presence of God seem like something Christians should have to achieve or earn by being more spiritual. 

Encourage people to believe their access to God. Instead of trying to motivate people by making them feel bad, help them find the freedom they need to draw near to God. Help them rest into believing and faith. Encourage them to "drink" because of joy about their access into the throne room and because of delight about the grace and the abundance of God to whom we are drawing near.

Stand in the Gap!

The Bible says that God is looking for people willing to "stand in the gap" before Him: "And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." (Ezek 22:30). 

The Bible explains that standing in the gap involves entering before the Lord and standing in the gap between God and those who are yet unwilling to draw near to Him. It says, "...drink your new wine...those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary. Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples." (Isaiah 62:10).

God is looking for people willing to "go through the gates" and "clear the way" for His people to do the same.

Will you follow where He is leading? Will you stand in the gap while praying for others? Will train your own heart so that you find freedom to let the Holy Spirit flow through you. Will you let the Holy Spirit minister by flowing through you and working in those who have yet to find freedom to enter the throne room and stay before the Lord? Will you help them?

Let’s work together! Let’s make a highway for God into the hearts of thirsty people. Let’s do it first in we who are His church. 

Much more is possible than what is common in churches today!

What God wants to do in our day isn't possible for one person. He is going to use all of us! We are going to have to work together. 

Let's help each other. Let's fight for the freedom we need to take God at His word and receive His glorious presence because of His grace. 

Let's work together to fill the earth with God's glory because of the river that flows through us.

Rise up church! It is time to build each other up and remove the obstacles so we can repent and turn to God!

For eBooks click here

I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

     Repentance Home Page — Continued...

E-mail the Author...

(C) Barry Hall 1999

Information on this site may be reproduced for personal or for instructional purposes if it is not being used for resale. If a page is distributed for instructional purposes, the web address must be included. Printed quotes must include the authors name and the web address. Quotes for use in publications intended for resale need the written permission of the author. All rights reserved.

Scriptures are taken from the updated NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. 

Other scriptures are from the New International Version or Amplified Bible as noted.