I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (Exodus 33:19)
“Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below. There is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:37-39).
With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, the Lord had brought the people out from the bondage of Egypt into the wilderness with him (Psalm 136:12). He then fed them with manna from heaven and directed His beloved by cloud by day and fire by night. And, if that was not enough, He struck down great kings and gave them their land as an inheritance (Psalm 136:22). He dispossessed their enemies before their very eyes.
His purpose was to bless His people. Blessing is the opposite of cursing. While cursing brings death and destruction, blessing brings life abundantly -prosperity. As one commentary notes, “His blessing brings righteousness (Ps. 24:5), life (Ps. 133:3), prosperity (2 Sam. 7:29), and salvation (Ps. 3:8). The “blessing” is portrayed as a rain or dew: “I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing” (Ezek. 34:26; cf. Ps. 84:6).” 1
Part of the blessing to the people of God is that they dispossess their enemy. God tells Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies. And through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
And in Deuteronomy 28:1-2,7-11, Moses tells the people, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
Moses tells the people in Deuteronomy 9:1-3, “Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall- Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: ' Who can stand up against the Anakites?' But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
The Isrealites were not to think that it was because of their own righteousness that God was driving out the enemy before them, but because of God's judgment on the people of the land for their wickedness that they would drive out nations greater then them. While God was blessing them in their obedience, trusting Him and stepping forward into His promises, it was in their weaknesses (you are a stiff-necked people) that God was giving them the land to posses. God did not choose them because they were strong or righteous in their own right.
“After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Deuteronomy 9:1-6)
Throughout book of Deuteronomy, God was preparing the people for coming into their destiny. God had wanted to give His people possession of the territory of Canaan. His charge to them was to enter the land, claiming it in faith and His promise to them was that the enemy would be driven out before them as they stepped forward in faith. The size of their enemy did not matter, what mattered was that the people of God loved God, walked in obedience to God's commands and held fast to Him (Deuteronomy 11:22).
“If you carefully observe all thee commands I am giving you to follow -to love him and to hold fast to him- then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours...No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go” (Deuteronomy 11:22-25).
They would dispossess the enemy in faith and obedience because God was giving them the land. What had kept them out of the land in the past was fear and then, when they had remorse, trying to enter in their own self-sufficiency. They now had what they needed – faith and a dependence upon God. It was in God's timing and God's way that the generation chosen by God would enter the land that God had chose for them as an inheritance.
History majors will frequently tell you that they love history because the wisdom to do present life well lies in gleaning wisdom from the past. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Mike Bickle writes that “Our job is to press into the fullness of whatever God is offering His people in the season of history we live in. We should be like David, who 'served the purpose of God in his own generation' (Acts 13:36, NAS).” 3
Mike Bickle goes on to write about our generation, “I believe we are in the generation in which Jesus will return, which means we have the opportunity to experience the power of God that surpasses even what is written about in the Book of Acts.” He notes that we must contend for the fullness of God in our generation. He writes, “we must refuse to back down until the power of God breaks out in full revival." 4
“Spirit whisper a revival and send us rushing, Lord, send us rushing. Open hearts with hopes of unity, we're servants to love in lost humanity. Lord, send us reaching, yeah. Oh can you hear it? It's the song of the redeemed. The pursuit of passion for the one who set us free. O can you hear it? We're crying out for more. And listen to our song, it's turning into a holy roar, a holy roar, yeah. Can you hear it?” sings.
Revival is not meant just to be about Christians standing in the presence of God and taking it all in. This is not the fullness of the kingdom of God. How can we say we are 'revived' if we do not share God's heart for justice and salvation, then in turn, put our hands to what our heart prompts? As the worship leader, Paul Anleitner, so eloquently noted (and sang) at the prayer meeting I was at Sunday night, God's justice is at the heart of revival. When true revival comes, we will be empowered by the Spirit and sent out. The blind will see, the lame will walk, and the deaf will hear right before our very eyes.
When John asked Jesus to confirm if He was the One that they were waiting for, that the kingdom of God was really here, Jesus told John's disciples to “Go back and tell John what's going on:
God had came in power and the enemy was being dispossessed right before their very eyes. It was the power of God in demonstration that caused many to come to believe in Him.
John 2:11 says, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” And John 2:23 says, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.”
And in John 24:12, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
In Acts, when the power of God fell on the people, Peter stood up and preached the gospel and three thousand accepted Christ in their hearts that day (Acts 2:40). The power of God continued to be demonstrated as believers sold all they owned and lived in community together, giving to anyone who had need (Acts 2:44-45). Daily there were new Christians added to their community (Acts 2:47). And in Acts 3:7, a lame beggar walked.
It takes the power of God for the lame to walk, the leaper to be cleansed, the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the dead to be raised.
In Leviticus 13:45-46, it was commanded of those who had leprosy, “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean! As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”
However, they were never meant to be left outside the camp. The priest was to go outside the camp to check on them. And when they were healed, the priest was to assist them with the cleansing process and to make offerings and atonement for their sin (Exodus 14:1-32).
And in Exodus 19:6 it says of all the people of God, “You will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Over and over in the gospels through demonstration and parables such as the good Samaritan, Jesus confronted the attitude of separating oneself from those in need. He teaches us to move toward rather than away from those who are outcasts or viewed as unclean.
In Matthew 9:11-13, The Pharisees asked his disciples why Jesus would eat with tax collectors and sinners, "On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"
In Matthew 10:1, as Jesus sends out his disciples, he “gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” he told them, “As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (Matthew 10:7-8).
Mike Bickle writes that there is more to God than sound doctrine and a holy life. He writes, “That's only part of the equation. We must also have the power to deliver the oppressed and needy.” He says, “We need all three -lifestyles of radiant righteousness, sound doctrine, and the power of God to deliver the oppressed." 5
Mike Bickle writes that in our times, it is popular to seek God's face in intimacy but to shrink back from the blessings He provides, including the release of His power. We hear statements such as seek His face (intimacy), not His hand (power). However, Mike Bickle writes, “Scripture never instructs us to put intimacy with God in an adversarial relationship with God's power in ministry. They are not at odds. Rather they are partners. We seek God's power to set the captives free so they also might experience intimacy with Jesus.” 6
A longing for more of God's face will leave us with an unquenchable desire to see more of His glory (manifest presence) through demonstration of His power. We long to see His working justice for those who need it as we share His heart for those who are broken and in need.
Moses, who stood at the top of the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and spoke to God in a thick cloud (Exodus 19:20), asked God in Exodus 33:18 to show him His glory. The Lord answered, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Exodus 33:19).
As the Lord placed Moses in the cleft of the rock, He passed in front of Moses proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
Seeing God demonstrating His mercy and compassion to those in need, is seeing His glory pass by in front of us. David cries out in Psalm 63 as he was earnestly seeking and longing for God's face, “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands” (Psalm 63:2-4).
In this generation, as the generation of the past, we must be willing to fully enter into the promises of God, by faith and obedience. As we do, He will bless us and dispossess the enemy before us. One article notes, “God's people will begin to possess their inheritance (everything promised them in the Word of God) as they dispossess the enemy. This possession of the kingdom of God will be in direct proportion to the dispossession of the strongholds of the enemy, both personally and corporately.” 7
Mike Bickle writes, “God is not waiting to be convinced to release His power -He is waiting to convince us. He wants to give us the fullness of power for our generation, but only after He has established an intimacy with us so that we are able to handle it.” 8
Isaiah 30:18 (AMP) says, “And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you: and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless unbroken companionship]!”
“Not to us, but to Your name be the glory” sings in the background.
Mike Bickle suggests that we enter into His power through weakness not by our strength, trying to manipulate God to move by our obedience (performance resulting in self-righteousness). 9 As noted above, God told the people in Deuteronomy it was not because of their righteousness that He dispossessed the enemy from their land but because of the wickedness of the nations they were dispossessing.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul said, But he [the Lord] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Jesus demonstrated a willingness to embrace weakness/poverty for our benefit. In 2 Cor. 8:9-10 it says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Mike Bickle notes that we enter weakness through a lifestyle of fasting, prayer, serving and bearing up under persecution. We do these things not trying to manipulate God to do something, trying to force Him to act. But as Mike Bickle notes, we fast (and I would also add pray, serve those in need, and bear up under persecution) because God has already moved on our hearts. 10
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter -when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 58:6-8)
We press in for the fullness of God in faith and in dependence on Him, trusting that as we obey, He will dispossess the enemy before our very eyes and we will see all His goodness pass before us. He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom He will show mercy!
“I see a mighty breaking in of revival” sings in the background.
Lord, You are a God that is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. I am so grateful for the work that You have done in my life. It is more than I could ask for or imagine.
“Come sing the song of freedom, sing every morning and every night... You got to tell everyone in the land. Tell every girl, boy, woman and man, that God's been good, yeah, good to me. I been forgiven and it feels so free” sings in the background.
I deeply long to see this same demonstration of power in the lives of those who need mercy most around me. I often feel so helpless as the needs are deep and can only be met by Your power. I long to see all Your goodness pass before me in greater measure. Forgive me for resisting weakness in my own life. Forgive me for complaining about persecution. I did not see it as a blessing so I have grumbled about it and done everything possible to minimize it. Help me to fully embrace weakness. I ask for more of it in my life.
“I will follow wherever You lead me, wherever You are underneath these stars is where I wanna be” sings.
Lord, give us Your heart for justice, your hands of mercy and compassion, and your strength to embrace weakness. We want the fullness of all you have for us in this generation. Let all your glory pass before us.
"Show us Your glory!"
1-2. Vine, W. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. (1997, c1996).
3-6, 8-10. Bickle, Mike. After God's Own Heart: Becoming a David Generation. Charisma House, Lake Mary, Florida. 2004.
7. Burns, Bill. The Battle Belongs to the Lord. Located at: http://ft111.com/battle.htm Last Accessed: May 3, 2010.
With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, the Lord had brought the people out from the bondage of Egypt into the wilderness with him (Psalm 136:12). He then fed them with manna from heaven and directed His beloved by cloud by day and fire by night. And, if that was not enough, He struck down great kings and gave them their land as an inheritance (Psalm 136:22). He dispossessed their enemies before their very eyes.
His purpose was to bless His people. Blessing is the opposite of cursing. While cursing brings death and destruction, blessing brings life abundantly -prosperity. As one commentary notes, “His blessing brings righteousness (Ps. 24:5), life (Ps. 133:3), prosperity (2 Sam. 7:29), and salvation (Ps. 3:8). The “blessing” is portrayed as a rain or dew: “I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing” (Ezek. 34:26; cf. Ps. 84:6).” 1
Part of the blessing to the people of God is that they dispossess their enemy. God tells Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies. And through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
And in Deuteronomy 28:1-2,7-11, Moses tells the people, “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
Commentary notes that blessing is meant to be a gift or present. 2 It is nothing we earn or deserve but it is out of His love and as scripture tells us, in reward for obedience, that God gives His blessing. It was fully the work of God as a gift to His people. As they stepped out in faith and 0beyed the Lord, they would possess the Promised Land. He would bless them, dispossessing the enemy from the land He was giving to them as their an inheritance.… The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity -in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground -in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you...”
Moses tells the people in Deuteronomy 9:1-3, “Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall- Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: ' Who can stand up against the Anakites?' But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
The Isrealites were not to think that it was because of their own righteousness that God was driving out the enemy before them, but because of God's judgment on the people of the land for their wickedness that they would drive out nations greater then them. While God was blessing them in their obedience, trusting Him and stepping forward into His promises, it was in their weaknesses (you are a stiff-necked people) that God was giving them the land to posses. God did not choose them because they were strong or righteous in their own right.
“After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.' No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Deuteronomy 9:1-6)
Throughout book of Deuteronomy, God was preparing the people for coming into their destiny. God had wanted to give His people possession of the territory of Canaan. His charge to them was to enter the land, claiming it in faith and His promise to them was that the enemy would be driven out before them as they stepped forward in faith. The size of their enemy did not matter, what mattered was that the people of God loved God, walked in obedience to God's commands and held fast to Him (Deuteronomy 11:22).
“If you carefully observe all thee commands I am giving you to follow -to love him and to hold fast to him- then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours...No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go” (Deuteronomy 11:22-25).
They would dispossess the enemy in faith and obedience because God was giving them the land. What had kept them out of the land in the past was fear and then, when they had remorse, trying to enter in their own self-sufficiency. They now had what they needed – faith and a dependence upon God. It was in God's timing and God's way that the generation chosen by God would enter the land that God had chose for them as an inheritance.
History majors will frequently tell you that they love history because the wisdom to do present life well lies in gleaning wisdom from the past. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Mike Bickle writes that “Our job is to press into the fullness of whatever God is offering His people in the season of history we live in. We should be like David, who 'served the purpose of God in his own generation' (Acts 13:36, NAS).” 3
Mike Bickle goes on to write about our generation, “I believe we are in the generation in which Jesus will return, which means we have the opportunity to experience the power of God that surpasses even what is written about in the Book of Acts.” He notes that we must contend for the fullness of God in our generation. He writes, “we must refuse to back down until the power of God breaks out in full revival." 4
“Spirit whisper a revival and send us rushing, Lord, send us rushing. Open hearts with hopes of unity, we're servants to love in lost humanity. Lord, send us reaching, yeah. Oh can you hear it? It's the song of the redeemed. The pursuit of passion for the one who set us free. O can you hear it? We're crying out for more. And listen to our song, it's turning into a holy roar, a holy roar, yeah. Can you hear it?” sings.
Revival is not meant just to be about Christians standing in the presence of God and taking it all in. This is not the fullness of the kingdom of God. How can we say we are 'revived' if we do not share God's heart for justice and salvation, then in turn, put our hands to what our heart prompts? As the worship leader, Paul Anleitner, so eloquently noted (and sang) at the prayer meeting I was at Sunday night, God's justice is at the heart of revival. When true revival comes, we will be empowered by the Spirit and sent out. The blind will see, the lame will walk, and the deaf will hear right before our very eyes.
When John asked Jesus to confirm if He was the One that they were waiting for, that the kingdom of God was really here, Jesus told John's disciples to “Go back and tell John what's going on:
The blind see,Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!” (Matthew 11:4-6, MSG)
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.
God had came in power and the enemy was being dispossessed right before their very eyes. It was the power of God in demonstration that caused many to come to believe in Him.
John 2:11 says, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” And John 2:23 says, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.”
And in John 24:12, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
In Acts, when the power of God fell on the people, Peter stood up and preached the gospel and three thousand accepted Christ in their hearts that day (Acts 2:40). The power of God continued to be demonstrated as believers sold all they owned and lived in community together, giving to anyone who had need (Acts 2:44-45). Daily there were new Christians added to their community (Acts 2:47). And in Acts 3:7, a lame beggar walked.
It takes the power of God for the lame to walk, the leaper to be cleansed, the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the dead to be raised.
In Leviticus 13:45-46, it was commanded of those who had leprosy, “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean! As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.”
However, they were never meant to be left outside the camp. The priest was to go outside the camp to check on them. And when they were healed, the priest was to assist them with the cleansing process and to make offerings and atonement for their sin (Exodus 14:1-32).
And in Exodus 19:6 it says of all the people of God, “You will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
Over and over in the gospels through demonstration and parables such as the good Samaritan, Jesus confronted the attitude of separating oneself from those in need. He teaches us to move toward rather than away from those who are outcasts or viewed as unclean.
In Matthew 9:11-13, The Pharisees asked his disciples why Jesus would eat with tax collectors and sinners, "On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"
In Matthew 10:1, as Jesus sends out his disciples, he “gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” he told them, “As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (Matthew 10:7-8).
Mike Bickle writes that there is more to God than sound doctrine and a holy life. He writes, “That's only part of the equation. We must also have the power to deliver the oppressed and needy.” He says, “We need all three -lifestyles of radiant righteousness, sound doctrine, and the power of God to deliver the oppressed." 5
Mike Bickle writes that in our times, it is popular to seek God's face in intimacy but to shrink back from the blessings He provides, including the release of His power. We hear statements such as seek His face (intimacy), not His hand (power). However, Mike Bickle writes, “Scripture never instructs us to put intimacy with God in an adversarial relationship with God's power in ministry. They are not at odds. Rather they are partners. We seek God's power to set the captives free so they also might experience intimacy with Jesus.” 6
A longing for more of God's face will leave us with an unquenchable desire to see more of His glory (manifest presence) through demonstration of His power. We long to see His working justice for those who need it as we share His heart for those who are broken and in need.
Moses, who stood at the top of the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and spoke to God in a thick cloud (Exodus 19:20), asked God in Exodus 33:18 to show him His glory. The Lord answered, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Exodus 33:19).
As the Lord placed Moses in the cleft of the rock, He passed in front of Moses proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
Seeing God demonstrating His mercy and compassion to those in need, is seeing His glory pass by in front of us. David cries out in Psalm 63 as he was earnestly seeking and longing for God's face, “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands” (Psalm 63:2-4).
In this generation, as the generation of the past, we must be willing to fully enter into the promises of God, by faith and obedience. As we do, He will bless us and dispossess the enemy before us. One article notes, “God's people will begin to possess their inheritance (everything promised them in the Word of God) as they dispossess the enemy. This possession of the kingdom of God will be in direct proportion to the dispossession of the strongholds of the enemy, both personally and corporately.” 7
Mike Bickle writes, “God is not waiting to be convinced to release His power -He is waiting to convince us. He wants to give us the fullness of power for our generation, but only after He has established an intimacy with us so that we are able to handle it.” 8
Isaiah 30:18 (AMP) says, “And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you: and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless unbroken companionship]!”
“Not to us, but to Your name be the glory” sings in the background.
Mike Bickle suggests that we enter into His power through weakness not by our strength, trying to manipulate God to move by our obedience (performance resulting in self-righteousness). 9 As noted above, God told the people in Deuteronomy it was not because of their righteousness that He dispossessed the enemy from their land but because of the wickedness of the nations they were dispossessing.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul said, But he [the Lord] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Jesus demonstrated a willingness to embrace weakness/poverty for our benefit. In 2 Cor. 8:9-10 it says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Mike Bickle notes that we enter weakness through a lifestyle of fasting, prayer, serving and bearing up under persecution. We do these things not trying to manipulate God to do something, trying to force Him to act. But as Mike Bickle notes, we fast (and I would also add pray, serve those in need, and bear up under persecution) because God has already moved on our hearts. 10
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter -when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 58:6-8)
We press in for the fullness of God in faith and in dependence on Him, trusting that as we obey, He will dispossess the enemy before our very eyes and we will see all His goodness pass before us. He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom He will show mercy!
“I see a mighty breaking in of revival” sings in the background.
Lord, You are a God that is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. I am so grateful for the work that You have done in my life. It is more than I could ask for or imagine.
“Come sing the song of freedom, sing every morning and every night... You got to tell everyone in the land. Tell every girl, boy, woman and man, that God's been good, yeah, good to me. I been forgiven and it feels so free” sings in the background.
I deeply long to see this same demonstration of power in the lives of those who need mercy most around me. I often feel so helpless as the needs are deep and can only be met by Your power. I long to see all Your goodness pass before me in greater measure. Forgive me for resisting weakness in my own life. Forgive me for complaining about persecution. I did not see it as a blessing so I have grumbled about it and done everything possible to minimize it. Help me to fully embrace weakness. I ask for more of it in my life.
“I will follow wherever You lead me, wherever You are underneath these stars is where I wanna be” sings.
Lord, give us Your heart for justice, your hands of mercy and compassion, and your strength to embrace weakness. We want the fullness of all you have for us in this generation. Let all your glory pass before us.
"Show us Your glory!"
1-2. Vine, W. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. (1997, c1996).
3-6, 8-10. Bickle, Mike. After God's Own Heart: Becoming a David Generation. Charisma House, Lake Mary, Florida. 2004.
7. Burns, Bill. The Battle Belongs to the Lord. Located at: http://ft111.com/battle.htm Last Accessed: May 3, 2010.
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