Hello world! Haha. It’s been a crazy past few weeks. There have been ups but there have also been downs. Life here lately seems different and at times it’s been difficult. My walk with God has been an interesting one. There is a lot I have gone through in my past that has brought me to the place I am today but that doesn’t mean I don’t struggle still. Life has been a struggle lately. I feel as if I’m dying. I am dying. We all are dying but I feel a different type of death. It’s an internal battle that I feel that I have been fighting for ages. It’s an internal battle that we all fight…if we accept the challenge and command TO fight.
If we fight everyday then it gets tiring. But I am reminded of something that my father has said before. “It’s not battle to battle, but it’s victory to victory.” If we try to fight ourselves then it will be tiring and we will probably lose. But, with God, all things are possible and we win our battles because He fights for us.
If God be for me then who can be against me! So if I’m fighting with God by my side, then why do I feel like I’m dying?
You see, dying is a good thing. It’s a great thing. The struggle I feel is not My flesh fighting my spirit but my spirit killing my flesh.
God is calling us to a deeper level of intimacy with Him. He is drawing us closer if we desire to be closer. The question is: When we ask God for more and desire to be closer to Him, do we realize what we are asking?
God is an incredibly Holy God.
Before the veil was torn at the death of Jesus so that we could approach the Holy of Holies in prayer, before the tabernacle was put up, Moses spoke with God on a mountaintop and the mountain was deemed to be holy.
Exodus 19:9-13 “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Indeed, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and always believe in you.’ Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothes, and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. You shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves so that you not go up onto the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death. No hand will touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man. He shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.’”
This meeting with God is such a holy encounter that if people or beasts approached the mountain or boundary border before the trumpet sounded then they would be killed. It is not that God didn’t want His people in His presence; God couldn’t let uncleanliness in a holy place. Moses dwelt in the presence of God and talked with God. The people only encountered God after being sanctified. Thank God we are made clean by the blood of the Lamb!
We are cleansed by the blood and able to approach the inapproachable God boldly before His throne of Grace and speak to Him now. The veil is torn! This is an awesome thing, but we have made a holy practice into a common thing.
Praying to God has been so common that we approach God only when we need Him in times of trouble and pray to Him in that way. Have you ever just talked to God? Have you ever talked to Him in a way that is conversational instead of one sided? Have you ever talked to God with a Holy Reverence like we are supposed to?
In a relationship, there needs to be communication. Without communication, then a relationship could not thrive. In order to know someone, you need to communicate. In order to know God, you need to communicate with Him but we have forgotten how to communicate. We need to search the Scriptures and learn from the story of Moses and Jesus how to communicate with our Creator.
Prayer can be used to ask God for something, to tell God about things that are happening in our life, but also prayer can be used to hear from God. We must have reverence though when we approach God. Yes, God is our friend, but He is also our Creator. Hebrews tells us more about how Jesus prayed and how He was heard. “In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death. He was heard because of His godly fear. Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things that He suffered, and being made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him.” Hebrews 5:7-9
You see, Jesus was not heard because He was the Son of God. He was heard because of His godly fear. The people of God on Mount Sinai in Exodus heard God because of the godly fear they had. They saw God because of the godly fear. Where is the godly fear in us?
God is calling us closer into a deeper relationship with Him. He is Holy and as we get closer, we die just as the Israelites in Exodus would have died if they approached the boundaries. It is not our spirit that dies but our flesh. We can live by the flesh and kill our Spirit or we can live by the Spirit and die to our flesh. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if through the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
This brings me back to what I said earlier. I’m dying. I can feel it. God is bringing me deeper into the depths of His presence.
We ask for more of God but do we realize what we are asking? We ask God to teach us more about Him but do we realize what we are asking?
1 Corinthians 2:19-10 says, “But as it is written, ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”
In order for us to see and hear the things revealed we must go to God in prayer and not just ask God to do things but listen to God. Sometimes sitting in silence could be a good thing. Sometimes in silence, you are in a lonely place.
Jesus went to the lonely places.
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16
We too must go to the lonely places to converse with God and when we go we must revere Him.
This deeper relationship with God comes at a cost. We see others that seem to be really close to God and say to ourselves, ‘I wish I had a relationship with God like that.’ Well we can, but it comes at a cost.
If you’ve ever been to the beach you know that people like to lay out on the sand, wade in the waves and some like to snorkel out toward the sand bar.
Picture yourself on the beach. You’re looking out into the water and you see your friends are having fun in the water swimming under the waves and back up. You wish you could go out. It’s up to you. What will you do?
Jesus bids us to come out in the water and go into deeper levels of relationship with Him. We have a choice. We can stay on the shoreline or dive in and get wet. What will you do?
Once we get into the water God desires us to go deeper and deeper but sometimes we get scared.
Our body can only take so much when we go under the water. Our lungs need oxygen. We could die. God wants us to die. He wants our flesh to die and our Spirit to live. He wants to draw us closer into deeper levels of faith, love, and the presence of God.
“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:17
Just like there are different levels of faith and levels of God’s glory to get closer to Him, there are different levels, or zones, of the ocean.
The first level is called the Epipelagic Zone. This is also called the Sunlight Zone because this is where most of the visible light exists. It ranges from the surface to 200 meters or 656 feet. There are various temperatures throughout this level. In this level we have Christians who live safely in the light on the shore or wading a little bit in the water but not all the way in. The ones who declare to be Christian but don’t live the life also reside here (various temperatures). In this level professional divers will usually not go farther than 400 feet. If a person goes down in the ocean without any protection or help then they will start to feel the effects on the body as they go deeper. At a depth of around 100 feet, you would have four times the amount of normal pressure pushing down on you. Your spongy tissue that is a part of your lung begins to contract, this give you only a small supply of air that was inhaled before you went under. A diver response instinct is then triggered in the body. This constricts the limbs and pushes blood toward the heart and brain that needs it. This extra blood expands the blood vessels in the chest, which balances out the pressure from the outside water. We would not be able to survive this for long. We could die from bleeding into the lungs, or pass out from the strain that the redistribution of blood puts on the heart. Just as we get closer to God, the blood is redistributed and covers us. The blood covers our sins and the bad is removed from us. Our flesh dies and our Spirit lives. In parts of this level we can live safely here and know Jesus a little bit but don’t you want to know Him more? He is calling you to go deeper. There are risks. But He will be with you and help you. He is bidding you to come closer. Will you?
The second zone is the Mesopelagic Zone, also the Twilight or Midwater Zone. In this zone we get to see more strange and bizarre creatures and things. This level is 200 meters or 656 feet to 1000 meters or 3,281 feet. We also begin to see twinkles of bioluminescent creatures. If you read in the book of Revelation there are many bizarre and strange looking creatures and throughout the Bible God asks His followers to do some strange things (Ex. Jeremiah hid his underwear in a rock and put a cattle yoke around his shoulders). The twinkle of the bioluminescent creatures are the Christians who are starting to let the light within them shine as they have gone to their secret place. What is a bioluminescent creature? A bioluminescent creature is a creature who emits light from within their bodies. There is not any other light except the light that is within them. In this level we grow closer to God and the light within us increases but so does the call to go light the dark world. Many people are scared to venture out this far and this close to God.
The third level of the ocean is called the Bathypelagic Zone, or Midnight or Dark Zone. In this zone the water pressure is really heavy. There is water pressure that is 5,850 pounds per square inch and despite the pressure there is a large number of creatures who survive. This zone ranges from 1000 meters, 3,821 feet to 4000 meters or 13,124 feet. In this level the only light is from the Bioluminescent creatures and their light is brighter than the latter level. In this level Christians who have grown close to God have become the light they are intended to be in the dark.
The next level is the Abyssopelagic Zone, or Abyssal Zone or Abyss. This comes from the Greek word meaning ‘No Bottom.’ In this zone it goes from 4000 meters or 13,124 feet to 6000 meters or 19,686 feet. There are creatures that live here even still. ¾ of the ocean floor is here at this level and is still needing to be discovered. In this level Christians begin to learn more about eternity and that no matter how close they get to God in the relationship, there is no way to know everything because He is an eternal being. There is no end just as there is ‘no bottom’ in this zone. In order to know God we must dwell for longer periods of time and eventually dwell in His presence in Eternity.
The final zone is called the Hadalpelagic Zone, also known as the Forbidden Zone. In this zone there is a water pressure of 8 tons per square inch. It goes from 6000 meters or 19,686 feet to the deepest parts of the ocean. The deepest point found so far is off the coast of Japan in the Mariana Trench at 35,797 feet or 10,911 meters. Life can still be found here. In this Forbidden Zone the Christians have reached the throne of God in Eternity. Touching Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 was forbidden until a certain time. Going into the Holy of Holies was forbidden by some. Now, the Holy of Holies is open and we can go from glory to glory to glory by the blood of the Lamb.
“(In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also He who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.)” Ephesians 4:9-10
In order to go higher, we must go lower. We must dive down into the depths of His glory and presence. We must seek more of God, die to our flesh and live by the Spirit. The struggle is real. We have grown attached to life so much we have forgotten how to really live. In order to live we must die.
God is calling us to a deeper intimacy with Him. He is calling you. Can you hear Him? Can you hear the waves? It’s time to dive down. It’s time to go all in. It’s time to go deeper.
Thank you to all of my supporters! You have been such a big help in getting to where God is calling me. I challenge each of the readers to take time and reflect on your relationship with God. Is it where you want to be? Are you closer to God than you were a month ago? What does your prayer life look like? God is calling you to come closer, to go deeper. It’s time to heed the call and go.
