Greetings;
God has not called us to merely know some revelation of God or some revelation from God. He has called us to a living relationship with God and with one another because of a revelation of God. Relationship is the point of life and it is the point of Christ in humanity. Our focus cannot merely be ministry or prophetic revelation. Our aim in life cannot be an experience with the power of God. Our aim must be community that comes because of the power of God and that true power is one of God’s love. The manifest presence of God and the supernatural power of God is essential for this to happen, but it is not the end goal. The end goal is covenant relationships that endure the shakings of life. I am 63 and the only thing that I have found to be unshakeable in life is love! If we focus on something less than the power of God’s love, we will fall short of God’s glory. We will find ourselves in some cave, where humans do not gather. A cave is a hiding place from the community of life. It is not a residence for a community of life. Satan wants us to retreat to the isolated spaces of being cave dwellers apart from the community of Christ. This is why relationships are targeted by the enemy of our faith in Christ. Sometimes it is easier for a believer to relate to someone who is not a believer, because Satan is an accuser of the brethren and he seeks to blind the eyes of believers towards one another. He seeks to deceive them to become accusers of one another. This is because there is greatness in the relationship of believers with one another. They are the place of God’s habitation. The enemy sees the value of our relationships and he seeks to damage them, corrupt them, and destroy them in some way. For this reason, New Covenant leaders must lead others into community and not merely a knowledge of the power of God.
God is powerful! He is supernatural! But the purpose of God’s power is to destroy the things that prevent us from having an intimate relationship with God and with one another. The Old Testament prophets lacked the understanding of the mystery of the fellowship that we can now find in Christ. They sought the power of God, but they lacked the internal understanding of a revelation of love that comes by Christ within. Elijah was such a prophet.
1 Kings 19:8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” 11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” 15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
When we retreat to a cave of isolation and separation we become blind to the faithfulness of others. Our own objective in all things must be faithfulness to God and to others, not some power of work of God. Ministry is far less valuable than the reason for which we minister. Our goal must be the testimony of Jesus. Signs and wonders are to follow the believer, not to lead them. The wind, the earthquake, and the fire happened because God was present, but God was not in them. The power of God was demonstrated on the mountain before Elijah, but a relationship with God was more important than any demonstration of His power. If we expect the sign and wonder to lead us, we may plunge from the peak of powerful performances to the pit of self-pity and pessimistic death-wish praying.
1 Kings. 19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
I alone am left – no one understands me.Anytime we start thinking that way, we are headed to a cave. We are headed to the despair of some pit. A pit is a hole in the ground. It is a dead spot. There are only two things that God will say to a prophet in the cave! Prophet, what are doing here?” “Get out of your cave and on the mountain before the Lord and listen for the voice of God!”
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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