"He is Making Us Ready, Luke 1:17" (New Book 9-14-10)
Posted: 2010-10-20 12:00:10 by: David Nelson
"He is Making Us Ready, Luke 1:17" (New Book by David Nelson (9-14-10))
Introduction
We are now being made ready, a people prepared for the Lord. (Lk. 1:17) We are the Bride, the Church, and God is removing spots and wrinkles, making us ready for Himself. This is the last day revival, this is the end-time move of God, and it is happening NOW.
The great revival we have been hearing about has been developing over the last 20 years and is growing stronger each day. At first we could not see it, it was not clear, many still do not fully realize what God is doing. It says in Isaiah 60:1-3 that the glory of the Lord is rising upon us, like the sun rising in the East and it is getting brighter. People are beginning to see the glory of God on us as we get closer to the Lord.
We are coming out of Babylon, out of the Babylon system which has also infiltrated the "established church." The glory of the Lord for some time now has been departing from the "Saul system" church. But the "Davidic or prophetic anointing" is growing and is being blessed by the Lord. The church, with its old wine skin, cannot hold the new wine God is giving and cannot contain what God is bringing. The rising prophetic people of God would be willing to help the church come into what God is now doing but many in the "established church" are saying NO to God. Are you part of the rising remnant who are willing to go with God wherever He leads? (They will follow the Lamb wherever He leads and love not their lives even unto death (Rev. 12:11 and 14:4)
In this book I will talk about the feast (the last day revival) that God is inviting us to. He is calling us to Himself, we must have ears to hear His call. The feast (this revival, this move of God) is God calling us out to meet with Him. Moses was invited out with the people into the wilderness to have a feast with God. (Ex. 5:1) They were also invited to Mount Sinai to hear God (Moses and all the people). Many said NO to God and wanted Moses to speak to them instead of God. (Ex. 20:19) But a few (not all), a remnant went up on the mountain and they saw God and ate with Him. (Ex. 24:10 and 11) Many years later King Hezekiah invited all the people by letter and by couriers (messengers) to "Come" to the passover feast. But again only a few said YES to God.
God wants His Church back. In Matthew 21 God sends messengers to say He wants back, the leaders of the churches said NO, so God said He will remove those leaders and give His Church over to those who are worthy. In Matthew 22 we are invited to the Lord's feast, but again many made excuses and said NO, so God was willing to take in "whosoever will," the good and the bad. Then Jesus said in Matthew 23, how often I have called to you to gather you to come under my wings (for My revival) but you would NOT.
God will have a pure Church, a pure Bride who will come after Him. He is callin us to something wonderful, and here and there, all over the world, people are saying yes to His call to come out and run after Him.
This book will also explain how the Tabernacle of David has fallen but the Lord is now lifting it up again. (Acts 15:16 and 17) What precious, refreshing winds are now coming from the presence of the Lord. We are tasting of the Lord as never before and we want more. There will be a restoration of all things as the Lord has always planned and desired. It is happening now. Please read on and I will explain.
Chapter 1 The Feast (The End-Time Revival)
I wrote two chapters in my book "Desiring One Thing" in 2006 entitled The Feast (chapter 4) and Corporate Revival (chapter 5), but I feel that I need to share more at this time.
In Exodus 24 Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and 70 elders went up on a mountain, God was calling them up to Himself. They saw Him on a sea of sapphire and they ate with God. We too must be willing to ascend to Him. Just as Joshua stayed in the Tabernacle longer than anyone else so that he might draw near to God (Ex. 33:11), we too must seek Him longer and press in to Him! God wants us to look for Him, He wants to be found, He is calling us to Himself, He will manifest Himself to us more and more if we will not give up and run after Him.
Jesus is outside "the church" at this time, knocking on the door, He wants to come back into the life of the church and have an intimate relationship with us, where He sups with us and we sup with Him. "The church" thinks it is rich and doing fine with God but it is dirty, poor, and not acceptable to the Lord. He will only hold down or stomach "the church" for so long and then He will spew them out of His mouth if they do not repent and get back to a real, living relationship with Him. That is the only way He can change each individual and bring those changed individuals together for the real end-time revival (the restoration of all things). (Acts 3:18-21)
The kind of meetings the Lord desires are so radical and so full of His glory that many are not ready to even get to "first base" in the things He has for us. But as we come out of all the man-made things we have been in, He will show us His things and make us ready for Himself.
King Hezekiah in the Old Testament knew he was supposed to invite people to the passover feast and that God was going to do something greater than ever before. Many laughed at and mocked the messengers inviting them and would not come, but God will have His Feast! Even if it is not by our dates (they were having passover in the wrong month), even if it goes on longer than we thought (the passover according to the law was one week, but they went two weeks), even if we are not completely ready (the established priests were not ready for this, but God was ready, and there will be some who are ready). (All this was happening in II Chron. 29:25- 30:27) He may bring people together for something suddenly, something with such great joy, with amazing music, with His words coming down from heaven into our ears, something that will make us shout, and fall down before the Lord, where heaven comes down and kisses the earth, where God comes down and tabernacles with us! Let us see in the next chapter what kind of music, words from heaven, dancing before the Lord, good tears, great joy and refreshment the Lord is bringing oue way as He comes to dwell in our midst!
Chapter 2 The Tabernacle of David
I'm sure some of you have heard about the "Tabernacle of David" ministries that are taking place in various cities around the United States. This chapter is not about these ministries. It is to give principles from the Word so that God can show us some of His thoughts. He will show us when and how He wants them applied. Please don't try and copy what is being done in other cities by other organizations concerning the Tabernacle of David. As you consider the things I share with you the Lord will show you what He wants you to do with these principles.
It is true that the Tabernacle of David has fallen and that in the last days God will raise it up again, but what does all this mean? (Acts 15:14-17)
I have seen in the Scriptures a recurring theme which has to do with preparation "times." Sometimes you see the phrase "3 days," sometimes "7 days." Often these are mentioned as preparation times for coming near to the Lord. Of course, the Lord can come to us any time, day or night, in one hour or after many days of seeking Him. As I have studied the Bible I have seen that sometimes He is preparing us each day a little more to receive more from Him. (3 days, 7 days, 40 days, etc.) In the Tabernacle of David there was established a 24 hours a day 7 days a week work of God. Just like there was a fire kindled in God's "holy places" that was never to go out, our relationship with Him is never to stop. As Acts 15 says and Acts 3:18-20 God is going to lift us up again and restore all that He wants for His Church. What did David and other prophetic people see and hear from God concerning the Tabernacle he made? What did God reveal from heaven to people like Gad, Nathan, Jeduthun, and other prophetic people? What does this show us about what God wants to do with us?
When David brought the ark of the covenant to the tabernacle he had prepared for the Lord, he broke into a very exuberant dance unto the Lord. (with all his might, as if he were before the Lord by himself) (II Sam 6:15 and 21). He was leaping into the air and twirling about. David said to his disapproving wife Michal, the maidens that you (Michal) think were offended by my dancing, they really understood what I was doing before the Lord, and I will I will do even wilder and more undignified things than this (however the Lord wants to lead us). God is calling out a people who will gather, with Him alone guiding them. He will be in their midst with no veil, and they will do only as the Lord leads them. He wants to bring us into a wonderful and uncharted territory together to show us the music, the dance, the joy, the intercession, and treasures of wisdom and knowledge from heaven.
When God began to reveal the details of the Tabernacle of David He showed people like David, Gad, Heman, Asaph, Nathan and other prophetic people what He wanted to do. They were to prophecy with harps (prophecy to music), with stringed instruments and cymbals. King David gave orders he had heard from God. (I Chron. 25:1-8) II Chron. 29:25 says (some 200 years after David?) at the time of King Hezekiah, that David and other prophetic people had given instructions what to do in the Tabernacle as the Lord directed them from heaven. (in music and prophecy and praise) And King Hezekiah did as the Lord showed him.
It goes on to say in II Chron. chapter 30 how God wants everyone to come together for His Feast (in this instance it was the passover feast in Jerusalem). But the point is, this passover was not kept at the right time of the year (the wrong month), it was not conducted by "the right" people, it was kept longer than one week (unheard of and against what the law stated), and that the joy and the music and the presence of the Lord were so great that it was said, there has been nothing like this before! (II Chron. 30:26) Their experience reached up to heaven, it was like they were in heaven, because the Lord came down to be with them. (II Chron. 30:27)
Even now, in the troubled times we live in, soon the anti-christ will be on the earth, but God's people will be here too, as it says in Dan. 11:31-35. It says in Daniel that they will know their God, they will be strong and will carry out great exploits. Some will be teachers with understanding to help others understand, but these saints will be persecuted and some killed. God will be refining and purifying them through all the things they endure. This will happen in very tumultuous end-times. In Rev. 12:13-17 it says that "the woman" will be persecuted by Satan but that she will be nourished and protected for 3 1/2 years in a wilderness prepared for her. "The woman" and her offspring are identified as being saved because the Word says they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 12:17) Even though the saints will be persecuted they will also be increasing in the glory of God upon their lives. (both the books of Daniel and Revelation say that the saints will be persecuted numerous times)
Chapter 3 Ascending the Mountain
Ascending the mountain is a metaphor or an analogy with a simple meaning, it just means getting closer to the Lord and finding more of Him. The verses to support this analogy are in Ex. 19:1-25, 20:18-22, and 24:1-18. God wants to come near to us but whop wants to draw near to Him? Most of the people in Ex. 19 and 20 didn't want to be close to God. But in Ex. 24 70 elders including Moses and Joshua did want to be close to God and they ascended a mountain where they saw God and ate with Him. In Jer. 29:13 it says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek for Me with all your heart."
As we "ascend the mountain" to get closer to the Lord He will change us and show us things and we will want more. Our seeking of the Lord will take some effort, it does not come at the snap of your fingers, we need to be willing to leave things behind and press in to Him. In my own experience I wanted to know more how the Lord feels, how He loves, I wanted to get more in tune with His heartbeat. The Lord can expand our hearts to love others more the way He does. We may find as our love for others grows that people don't love us in return or understand this kind of love. But the Bride will mature and become purer, loving the Lord more and loving others more.
As we ascend in our relationship with the Lord He will show us that He wants His Bride to become as one and be more connected. His goal is that we would come to love each other with the same kind of love and unity that flows between the Father and His Son Jesus. (This is taught in John chapter 17) This love will be an agape love that we will learn that will be steadfast and lasting through all the ups and downs of life. Because we are being changed into His likeness, we will talk and fellowship with others along many of the same lines. We will want some of the same things that the Lord wants, our sharing with each other will become sweeter and more pure. And this is as the Lord wants, for the world to see us love one another and be of one heart together. As we get closer to the Lord we will receive more refreshings from Him, and more melting or knitting of our hearts together. There will be nothing like it upon the earth, it will like it is in heaven and we will want more.
We will be getting together, a people who have been re-directed to run only after the Lord. We won't really care where we meet, we won't really care how many come, we just want God to be there, and for Him to be free to do with us exactly what He wants. And we will care about each other.
If we are too individualistic and we act like we don't really need each other what kind of Church does the Lord have and what does the world see? Surely not one that radiates love. But to get this real love and oneness cannot be created by us or by our man-made efforts. It will only come in each one of us as we abandon ourselves to Him. Then we will meet other precious, fellow pilgrims that have lost all desire for this world and for man-made church systems, and have tasted what the Lord is like in their growing relationship with Him. We will be touched in our hearts as we meet others who walk with God and we will see God in them. What will develop is a getting together here and there and God will bring us together for meetings and show us what to do.
Will there be any leaders in this movement? There will be some people who will be seen as more experienced or who know things for the benefit of others (their gifts will be seen). But I believe they will not care if they have the title (prophet or apostle or teacher) or be recognized as such, their only goal is that others understand what God wants, and they will lovingly and in a fatherly way try to move others toward what the Lord wants. Once people do "get it" the leaders have done what they were called to do. They will encourage others to flower in their gifts and keep helping as needed. Yes, the Lord will speak through some "older ones" but God will also speak through every person, young and old, the brand new ones and the older veterans. Whatever the Lord says we will all know that it is Him speaking and that He is showing us His ways.
Let us see how the Lord brings His Church together in these last days. There will be some natural, political, and economic catastrophes that take place here and there in the world (and they will increase) that will move us to come together. Let us learn to find rest in Him, let us cease from our own labors and plans, and we will see Him build His Church. Each of us must do the part we are given to do and we will work whatever He shows us to do. We all are longing for more of His truth, more of His presence, an increase in our love for Him, more gathering together, more love of one another, and the Lord will do all these things that we long for, just keep looking up and reaching for more of Him.
