Silas
Beloved of All
Your longing for God to rend the heavens and come down is the cry of Isaiah 64, and it is a good and biblical cry. You quoted it well, that He acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him, and that He meets the one who rejoices in doing righteousness and remembers Him in His ways. That is the pattern of Scripture. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He has not changed in His power or His holiness or His desire to be known.
You are right to ask for obedience first, before experience. The presence of God is not a light thing. Scripture shows His voice is powerful and full of majesty, breaking cedars and shaking the wilderness, and at Sinai the mountain trembled at His presence. The same presence that brings joy and power also brings holy fear. That is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It teaches us to hate evil and to love what is right, to walk in truth and obedience rather than seeking an experience for its own sake.
True holiness is not outward appearance. It is a matter of the heart, a deep consciousness that you live before God every moment. You never leave His presence. His eyes are everywhere, and whether you are alone or gathered with others, you are before Him. When that consciousness grows through meditation on His Word and communion with Him, holiness grows. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and the life follows. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, and the one who meditates on it and obeys it is made steady and fruitful.
You asked for humility, the fruit of the Spirit, and freedom from bitterness, greed, lust and deception. That is wise. Gifts are given, but character is formed often through suffering and waiting, and power without character has destroyed many. Asking for the fear of the Lord to keep your heart clean is the right protection. Those who fear Him speak often of Him, and the Lord hears. He preserves those who love Him and hate evil, and light is sown for the righteous.
You remember what God has done in past generations, and you long to see Him do it again. He can. He is the Lord who changes not, and therefore His people are not consumed. He still purifies His people beginning with His own house, that their worship may be pleasant to Him as in former days. He still hides His people in His pavilion in the time of trouble. Whom shall we fear when the Lord is our light and salvation and the strength of our lives. He Himself fights for His people, so you need not fear man.
Continue to seek strict obedience to His voice, not as a way to earn His presence, but as the response of love toOne who is already with you. Deny the flesh, take up the cross and follow Jesus day by day, walking in the consciousness of His presence. Pray as you have prayed for protection from temptation and evil, from lies and false teaching, from pride and deception, and from every false sign and wonder. God will answer that prayer when it comes from a heart that wants to be faithful.
I pray the Lord will deepen your walk with Him, establish you in righteousness and truth, give you a holy hatred of evil and a deep love for His Word, and keep you in humility and purity. May He grant you strength through prayer, fill you with His Spirit, and in His time and in His way, manifest His presence for His glory, that many more may be led to righteousness and that His name may be known. In Jesus name, amen.
You are right to ask for obedience first, before experience. The presence of God is not a light thing. Scripture shows His voice is powerful and full of majesty, breaking cedars and shaking the wilderness, and at Sinai the mountain trembled at His presence. The same presence that brings joy and power also brings holy fear. That is why the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It teaches us to hate evil and to love what is right, to walk in truth and obedience rather than seeking an experience for its own sake.
True holiness is not outward appearance. It is a matter of the heart, a deep consciousness that you live before God every moment. You never leave His presence. His eyes are everywhere, and whether you are alone or gathered with others, you are before Him. When that consciousness grows through meditation on His Word and communion with Him, holiness grows. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and the life follows. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, and the one who meditates on it and obeys it is made steady and fruitful.
You asked for humility, the fruit of the Spirit, and freedom from bitterness, greed, lust and deception. That is wise. Gifts are given, but character is formed often through suffering and waiting, and power without character has destroyed many. Asking for the fear of the Lord to keep your heart clean is the right protection. Those who fear Him speak often of Him, and the Lord hears. He preserves those who love Him and hate evil, and light is sown for the righteous.
You remember what God has done in past generations, and you long to see Him do it again. He can. He is the Lord who changes not, and therefore His people are not consumed. He still purifies His people beginning with His own house, that their worship may be pleasant to Him as in former days. He still hides His people in His pavilion in the time of trouble. Whom shall we fear when the Lord is our light and salvation and the strength of our lives. He Himself fights for His people, so you need not fear man.
Continue to seek strict obedience to His voice, not as a way to earn His presence, but as the response of love toOne who is already with you. Deny the flesh, take up the cross and follow Jesus day by day, walking in the consciousness of His presence. Pray as you have prayed for protection from temptation and evil, from lies and false teaching, from pride and deception, and from every false sign and wonder. God will answer that prayer when it comes from a heart that wants to be faithful.
I pray the Lord will deepen your walk with Him, establish you in righteousness and truth, give you a holy hatred of evil and a deep love for His Word, and keep you in humility and purity. May He grant you strength through prayer, fill you with His Spirit, and in His time and in His way, manifest His presence for His glory, that many more may be led to righteousness and that His name may be known. In Jesus name, amen.
