Near To God

Do His words billow o'er my soul?
How would I last the day?
But that His Spirit falls on me -
This is what I pray.

And what if He should tell me
What I do not long to hear?
But if His Spirit falls on me
Then I know that He's drawn near.

With my head upon His bosom
There I lie in pure delight;
And words are never needed
Where my soul has taken flight.

Desire the High and the Holy thing -
What's done on heavenly sod.
Lie upon His bosom -
Rest upon your God.

- J. Pecoraro

The Removal of the Veil

 

 

All the world loves a ceremony. And surely there is an assortment of them that we’ve become acquainted with. From one culture to another they will vary. Nevertheless all reach the intended purpose at the close: A newborn has been dedicated to God. A hero is honored. One chosen by his compatriots has been sworn into office. A man and a woman become one through marriage. Of all ceremonies, no matter what type they are or what they signify, I believe there is one that is more sacred in the eyes of our Creator than all of the others. Also it seems to be the one that people are most moved by. It’s the wedding ceremony. But why would the Lord find the coming together of a bride and her groom of such high importance? Why would He honor it above the rest? The answer is simple. It’s because the marriage union is - and has always been - a type of the Son of God becoming one with His church. Christ is made the Head, while His bride comprises the many members of His body. Blessed by the hand of the Father, it is a union that will remain strong, sacred, and altogether complete throughout eternity.

Even the average wedding ceremony is likely to be rich in significance. The father of the bride, walking his daughter down the aisle to give her away, speaks of the fact that she will no longer be his, but will instead belong to another. Then there is the exchanging of rings. I myself am partial to the bride and the groom coming together to light a single candle. But there is an occurrence near the close that seems to draw little attention, though the symbolism is of some magnitude. I speak of the removal of the veil. What is the meaning behind it? The meaning is this. As long as the veil remains upon the face of the bride, the groom has no right to her. But once the veil is removed, for the bride to be kissed, she becomes his. No longer does anything separate the two; the veil has been lifted. She now belongs to her husband, and her husband to her. Soon the union will be consummated.

About thirty-five hundred years ago there was a great man of God who at times needed to wear a veil upon his face. His name was Moses. But why was it that Moses had to cover his face? It was because he had drawn more near to the living God than any other man of his day. He had in fact come so near that afterwards his face shone. Moreover it shone in such a mysterious way that his brother Aaron and all of the children of Israel were afraid to come near to him. Still, when it came time for Moses to speak with them they would have to behold him with an unveiled face, a thing difficult for them to do. When he finished speaking he again covered his face. Yet whenever Moses returned to the tabernacle of meeting, outside the camp, to be with and speak with the Lord, he would remove the veil until he departed from there.

We believers in the New Testament age, who have become known as the church of Jesus Christ, are also referred to as His bride. It is for this reason that Paul the apostle writes these words: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Yet this is what Paul writes of the Israelites in the wilderness: “But their minds were hardened. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

According to the third chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, the Israelites couldn’t keep their vision fixed on the unveiled face of Moses. Why? My guess is that they were not yet ready for the concept of mortal man becoming intimate with the Great I AM - even as a bride with her husband. Somehow I believe they saw the glory of that in the face of His chosen one. And when it became too difficult for them to go on beholding it, Moses would once again put the veil upon his face. But whenever he returned to the sacred tabernacle of meeting, where he would enter into intimacy with his God, he would remove the veil, since it was fitting for him to do so. Of all the children of Israel it was Moses alone who the Lord had prepared to come into so close a union with. Though fear and trembling may have had its place, how he must have relished those moments spent with the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Despite the scriptures teaching that this glory was but a passing one, I yet believe that Moses stood as the prototype of the New Testament church - the unveiled bride of Christ. And so the removal of his veil was a foreshadow of the true removal; that is to say forever removed. It is this happening that grants us today not only the liberty of the Spirit but access to God in the innermost sanctuary, where the barrier has been torn away; and this access is for ages unending. Moses’ experience with Him was only in part and for a time, since the precious blood hadn’t yet been shed. But when this occurred many centuries afterward, the union between Christ and His church had in truth become consummated, and that in blood - running down from His body and onto the earth. It would serve as the seed of the church. Once again we are taken from the womb of the earth - though now a bloodstained earth - and born a second time. Yet this time we are granted the life of the Spirit forever, as we now emerge from higher ground than did Adam - from out of a hill called Calvary. Here our heavenly Father bestows upon us the honor of dying with His Son, being crucified with the Head of the body, we ourselves the remaining members. But because He has risen and lives forevermore, then in His footsteps we will follow. And we will not lose our way, remaining near to Him who is the firstfruits of the dead.

Today for the bride of Christ, all things have been made possible. For we have become of one body with He who is God divine. We have tasted of the Man and have drunk of his Spirit, and every obstacle has been removed that once stood between us. Unveiled before the Son, we have come to inherit all things with Him - an inheritance exceedingly rich and unending. With Him we have entered a union that even the angels weren’t created for. Therefore the writer of Hebrews wrote this: “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him?’” This “one” was David, who has left us with these words: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”



I think that we will never comprehend the glory and the magnitude, the richness and the splendor, of the calling that we who believe have in the Son of God. If forever we honored and praised our heavenly Father - if we worshiped and thanked Him for ages unending, it would never suffice; always it will remain that we could do no more than accept from Him everlasting waves of love and blessings flowing over our souls. Still we heap upon Him the fruit of our lips without end. Great glory and honor to the Living God; to the High and the Holy; to Him who is seated upon the throne.

J. Pecoraro

Louie Miceli - Truly A Special Guy

 

1988 - 2012

Louie was born in the winter of 1988. He left the many that loved him in the summer of 2012. So short a stay. So sad a parting. So great the breaking of a multitude of hearts - this evidenced at his wake. He came to us at Teen Challenge in the earlier part of this year. I’ll always remember the first time I saw him. I looked through the large office window into the conference room. There he sat alone. He had just gotten finished being processed in. His eyes were fixed on a student who was hugging a visitor out in the hallway. It was apparent how much he appreciated what he saw. I knew immediately that there was something special about Louie. Then as time went by it all began to unfold before me - not only to me but to all who came to know him, staff and students alike.

How was it that Louie was so special? Well, to start, he never discriminated when it came to who he’d choose to socialize with. I’ll put it this way. Usually when people find themselves in a setting where they have to intermingle, then much more than not will they gravitate to those who are like they are - who think the way they think, who share similar backgrounds, who have like interests, and so it goes. Whether it be on the job, institutionalized in some way, or whatever the case be, a person’s normal tendency is to seek out their own kind. It’s the case at Teen Challenge just as it is anywhere else. Teen Challenge is where I counsel and teach misguided men, and where Louie came to for help only some months ago. But as I already said, Louie wasn’t your everyday guy. He was different. Though the cliques formed, Louie spread himself around to everybody. He would even visit with the few loners we had then. He seemed to know how to relate to all; and genuinely did he care for them. Everybody loved Louie.

Louie had a heart of compassion. I remember the day that a man came to speak in the morning chapel hour. At some point in his sermon he mentioned how he and his family had fallen on hard times, and there was no guarantee they’d have a place to live the following week. Not long afterwards Louie left the chapel and came to the office. I was the only one there. He asked me if I’d let him take up an offering for the man. The only reply I could give was that senior staff alone could make that decision. And so he began searching for one of them, but to no avail. In the meanwhile the chapel hour had ended and the man had left. At that point most would have thought that they did all they could do but it just didn’t pan out. Not Louie. He ran into the right man, told him of the minister’s troubles, then asked if he had his cell phone number so that they could get him back. The plan was agreed to. When the man returned we put together a big load of grocery items for him and sent him happily on his way - all due to the big heart of a special young man.

If you’ve noticed, just saying the simple words I love you has become the thing to do today. More and more, whether it be in person or over the phone, people are ending the time they share together with those words - and that’s great. So often however you get the feeling that it’s being said just to be said. When Louie told you that he loved you, you knew that he did. It could be seen in him. And so I never had trouble returning those words.

Louie was very mature for his age. He always did what was asked of him and never with a word of complaint. Never did I see him react negatively in a situation that I’m sure he saw as adverse. In fact, I remember telling my wife about him one day. Much of what I told her were the things I’ve already shared. I ended it all with letting her know that if God would have seen fit to bless us with a third son, I would have wanted for him to be Louie Miceli.

Did Louie make mistakes? He did. Did he stumble in the end? No doubt. And did he fall? All who knew him learned of his terribly unfortunate end. At only twenty-four years of age Louie was struck down, and on the great battlefield of the Lord did he succumb. But now I become minded of a very great man - a man who also made mistakes with some weighty consequences to follow. Old Testament Israel knew him as king David. David clearly had a tendency to steer himself in the wrong direction during crucial times in his life. Yet there was something that David embodied that caused his God to love him greatly through it all. That “something” was that his heart was right before the One who he ever worshiped and adored. And this was why he was after the heart of God. It was none other than his Creator who testified of that.

I happen to believe that despite wrong decisions made, Louie Miceli also walked with a right heart, and that before the Lord, who he truly knew and loved. I therefore am convinced that today he sits with the Son of God at the right hand of Power and in the highest heaven. There with every believer who has gone on before does he intercede for his brothers who remain upon the earth, doing battle and waging war against the darkness. And with his heart of love and compassion that his God alone had fashioned in him, will he intercede until the great gathering together of the body of Christ in the kingdom of God - a kingdom unlike no other. Through all eternity its end will not be found, but only its reign.

J. Pecoraro

One day while speaking of believers’ rewards in the kingdom yet to come, Jesus said these words: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” I’m sure we will all be in for a lot of surprises at the judgment seat of Christ. Some who headed up ministries that bore much fruit, their names known by Christians throughout the world, will not have abundant reward. Yet others, who had pastored simple storefront churches, their names known only by a small number of people in the neighborhood, will have great reward. But how can this be you may ask? It’s because God will judge us by our spirit man in that Day, and not by the man who can now be seen, the one who the world knows.

What if the one whose fame and popularity was unmatched had secret sins? What if he lived in adultery? On the other hand he may have been the ideal husband, yet loved money more than souls. Or couldn’t it have been that he was a wonderful husband, the love of money was not a vice, though his own personal relationship with God had grown o so cold; all but ceasing to have communion with Him any longer; too busy with ministry. He’d lost his first love - a thing we were all warned against by the Son of God.

Now what if there was a storefront preacher who ever searched his heart, fearing God, and whose greatest desire was to walk in a manner pleasing to his Maker all of the days of his life? To add, he was fully dedicated to the people that the Lord had put him over. However, living in an impoverished area made it impossible for him to be supported by his small congregation. He therefore had to work a forty hour a week job in an old and noisy factory. On Wednesday evening he’d head straight from work to conduct the midweek service. Most Saturdays along with some week nights were spent attending to church business or dealing with matters concerning the flock. Worn to the bone by thirty years of such devotion, and never seeing his congregation grow past forty in number, he quietly slipped away in his sleep one night, and into the everlasting arms of his Jesus. I ask you - will this man’s reward be lacking in the kingdom of God? I think not. I believe I’ve described a humble hardworking man who walked in a manner not of this world. Neither did he expect anything from it. Instead he had ever set his vision on a heavenly country and on its King, who would one day grant him glory, honor, and eternal life. On the day that we stand before Christ, I see this man in wisdom and lowliness of heart, taking his place in the shadows along with those who are of the poor in spirit. In the meanwhile there will be many church leaders seeking higher ground, while others will scramble to get as near to the glory as they can. But on that day the Lord will send His attendant to walk past the throngs and into the shadows. There he will take the hand of the storefront preacher and lead him to a seat of honor in a high place. And so the words of our Savior will come to pass: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The wise and humble preacher remembered and lived by a parable that Jesus once taught us: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

As I contemplated this one day, the Lord spoke to me. This was what He said. Son, don’t ever seek the place of honor. When you do, you’ll have no further ground to gain, but much ground to lose. Choose the low places. There you’ll have no ground to lose, but there will lie before you much to gain.

　

J. Pecoraro

　


 

　

　

　

　

What Do You See God Doing?

                           

Once in speaking to the Jewish authorities, Jesus said these words: “The Son does nothing of Himself, but only what He sees the Father doing.” The very words that He uttered should also go for every believer. Fortunately for us, we have been given room to fail, time to grow, and abundant grace to cover us through it all. Never could I count the times that I have acted on my own, not seeing what the Father was doing, but only what my flesh was dictating. Have we not all blundered here? I’m sure it isn’t I alone who has taken falls. In fact, who is it that can total up their sins? But I’d really like to center in on the second part of Jesus’ statement: “ but only what He sees the Father doing .”

How often do we see what the Spirit is doing in our lives, and then go on to walk right in step with Him? And in the end it is we ourselves who must be certain that truly it is God who walks beside us, and not a deceiver. For we know that we couldn’t turn to the world to support our conviction; they cannot understand the things of the Spirit. And there may be times when few, if any believers, will support the stand that we choose to take. What then? It is for this reason that we must be fully convinced that God has spoken. Whether it be to move forward, stand still, or backpedal, we must be convinced. In this we can surely believe that Jesus never failed, even as He never failed in any of His comings and goings. Do you remember the day when He received a message that His good friend Lazarus was sick? Nevertheless He remained where He was for two more days. This may have confused some who were with Him. They may have felt that He appeared cold or indifferent in light of the news. But it wasn’t that at all. It simply had to do with the statement He once made: “The Son does nothing of Himself, but only what He sees the Father doing.” On that day, as always, Jesus saw what the Father was doing. He was remaining still. He moved not from His place. However on the third day the Father arose. It was then that the Lord spoke to His disciples, saying, “Let us go to Judea again… our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” The disciples interjected that if he slept he would get well. It was then that Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”

But how was it that the Son was always aware of what the Father was doing? Was he able to follow His every move simply because he was His Son, or because he himself was divine? Divine or not, it’s written in scripture that Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered. I think that we believers would be fooling ourselves if we thought that obedience was all that he needed to learn. We may tell ourselves that Jesus was fully God and fully man. Though somehow I believe that our focus is much more on the God part. Our Lord was quite human also. And because he was human, he had to learn many of the things that humans have to learn. When he was a young boy he no doubt had to learn how to pray. I doubt that when he was a child that he was having some otherworldly quiet times with his heavenly Father, just because he was the Son of God. When he was a young man there must have been times when he had to learn to be patient in prayer until he sensed the presence of the Spirit. Before his life was over we can be sure that he came to know all of the difficulties familiar to the human race. Yet because of his closeness to the Father, through the Spirit, he overcame each one. Still, the closeness wasn’t a given - not for Jesus the man. He would only become intimate with the Father through the same vehicle by which all men could do so. This would be through a life of prayer. And in this he never failed.

The number one thing concerning every believer’s walk with God, is and has always been, a good healthy life of communion with Him. Everything else will stem from this. As our time in His presence goes, so will we come to know Him; as we come to know Him, so will our relationship with Him be. If the time we spend before the Lord each day is pleasing to Him in quality, quantity, and depth of communication, then He will open up to us. He will reveal much about who He is, about who we are, and how we fit into the grand scheme of things. He may even unfold mysteries, those which His beloved apostle Paul spoke of. According to what we put into our time spent before the Almighty, to this degree will we receive of Him. If it is little, we’ll be granted little in return. But if much, then the same will we reap. Not only this, but we will see what He is doing. We will see it because He chooses to reveal it. We then will know when to move and when to be still; when to cast our pearls before another and when to withhold; when to speak and when to hold our tongue. At times God will even show Himself to us on another’s path. Often this is because the one to who the path belongs cannot detect Him; the reason being that their vision is poor; their vision is poor because they do not exercise it in the moments that He calls for them to sit and behold Him. And so, He turns to His child who sees, so that they may relay a message. Unless the one whose vision is weak is among the newborn babes of the kingdom, with eyes barely opened, this would truly be a sad picture of the believer. Ideally the Lord would love to speak directly to every soul born of Him, but it cannot always be.

I am convinced that the reason so many today do not hear from God is because the quiet times of the average believer are sporadic and without a lot to say. However, to sit before Him daily, in meditation, praise, supplication, and to just speak to Him of all that’s on our mind, will be more valuable to our spirit man than we’ll ever know. Still, not only are our times before the Lord sporadic, but when we do come before Him we speak only of the big things: What ministry should I be involved in? Touch me with your healing hand. Bring salvation to my loved ones. These are definitely valid requests and I am not making light of them. Yet it is wrong to want to hear from God where it concerns only what appears to loom large. He is not always taking giant steps as He walks with us. Don’t despise the small matters - that which seems to us rather trivial, even though when the words were spoken we knew that they were His. They may be words He’ll build upon in the future. And enjoy the pleasant strolls with the Lord; savor the places of rest. Too often are we in a hurry when we come to Him. We come simply to say what we have to say, and depart. Our aim is to take four giant steps and be on our worldly way. Yet His desire for us is to sit back, settle in, and soak in His Spirit for a good long while. This done on a daily basis will change our lives, even to the overflowing of our souls.

The union that is depicted in the bible between our heavenly Father and His child is surely one of intimacy. In fact, we can safely say that no relationship that we are acquainted with in our world could be more intimate. However, the marriage union would come closest. Here we’ve been clearly shown in scripture that God takes a man and a woman and makes of the two, one. Yet in the spirit world the believer is brought into a oneness with the Triune God, thus surpassing what has been done on earth. This great mystery occurs in places far more supreme and superior to what we have come to know in the shadowy land in which we live. This oneness has not to do with the flesh but with Spirit and Truth; for it is into high places that He has called us - even into His Person.

Surely this must describe the union with God that every Christian longs for. But how is it attained? How do we ascend to those secret places on high, even as the psalmist wrote of? Salvation is free; of this there is no doubt. But all who have come to abide under His shadow, and into the secret place of the Most High God, have gotten there by no other means than by striving for it. It must be sought out diligently day after day. It is no other place but here that we will be surrounded by a fortress of angels, and where deliverance becomes our daily bread. Here is where the child of God is not moved by fears and doubts, for truly he has come to trust in the One whose wings he takes refuge under. He will witness the demise of many, though he shall be kept with strength unfailing. The one who comes to the secret place will never fall prey to evil, but instead he has thrust the darkness beneath him. Valiant is he in the warfare to which he has been called, and victory is his strong drink; he masters the sword and the shield. Truly he has been set on high, for he has drawn near to his God; he calls to Him and the answer is without delay. Forever he is shown the wonders of His salvation, even unto life everlasting.

He who has come to dwell in the secret place of the Most High is also the one who lives life abundantly, just as our Savior once stated. His hope for the future is forever bright, while faith soars to worlds unknown. Lastly, it’s the attribute most exalted that the Father sets upon his head - the golden crown of love. And it makes the man a king.

No doubt it is difficult for many to believe that such a life can belong to one who is earthbound. Nevertheless the writer of the 91^st Psalm declared it so. Not only this, but he in no way suggests that the high places are restricted to spiritual giants or perfect Christians, of which we know they do not exist. Our God loves the common folk. It is the common and humble people of the earth who have set their vision on Him, that He desires to lead to the secret places. Still, all of it depends on us. In actuality it takes nothing more than a strong union with Him, which comes from a life of unbroken communion; to press in until we have found our place in the Son; to turn from this world and raise our vision to the heavens. From all this will grow intimacy, through which will sprout faith and love. And these will ever flourish in accordance with the life that has been set apart to Him.

How He longs to reveal to His children the things that He has ordained - even the deep things. But He cannot. We come and go too quickly from before His presence; and so He speaks little to us. But for all who linger there, that they may know Him - for these He unveils hidden treasure, and they themselves are hidden on high. It is in those high and holy places that they’ve become abandoned to their God. And there do they always perceive the things that the Father is doing.

　

　

-J. Pecoraro



　

　

　

　

　

　

O GREAT DAY

Upon the clouds – where hearts run Free,

And with the Fairest Lover,

There rode a cosmic cavalry

And Glory was their cover.

How songs rang out on the Newborn Day.

They were songs of Joy and Power,

As all sat Tall in vast array,

Each rider like a Tower.

Hope was once their weary test

Concerning the Great Day.

But now all hope was Manifest

As their Captain led the way.

Such Majesty upon His Head

Could Ne’er be told nor written.

And with His Sword so marked by dread

All foes would soon be smitten.

How His Eyes burned o so bright.

They’d lay each rebel Bare,

Exposing in them what was night

And Knowing every hair.

He wore a vesture dipped in Blood;

This to His enemy’s shame.

Yet by that Flowing Crimson Flood

This Warrior gained a Name.

His Name to none He could not show –

Not to those who knew Him best.

For God and God Alone would know

His Triumphs and His Quest.

 

Now there filled the endless skies

Innumerable white steeds,

And fierce, resonant battle cries

While attesting to the Creed.

Columns advanced side by side –

No, none could see their end.

They rode as Deep as they were Wide.

Now Conviction would not bend.

Then all did halt at His Command.

Throughout heaven there was Silence,

As the Captain gazed on a Bloody land

And beheld the peoples’ Violence.

  

To all He signaled – to Far and Wide.

Into a canter broke each steed.

One matched another stride for stride;

Was Glorious indeed.

Suddenly the pace sped up

And hard they all did ride.

Heaven’s Wrath had Filled the cup

With earth no place to hide.

Now the horses Rent the Skies

With pounding hooves of Thunder.

Lightning Flashed, blinding eyes,

And clouds were torn Asunder.

They rode with Fury, every man,

Hearts never so Awoken.

Though as Filled with Fire they ran,

The ranks were never broken.

Soon would start the great descent

To touch down in the east,

A mighty army Heaven-sent

To lay hold of the Beast.

As they alighted on the earth

The Nations were Amazed.

So long they’d heard of a mass Rebirth –

Still, minds were Sorely dazed.

Dismounting from the fairest steed

In the presence of Perdition,

The Captain glared at Satan’s seed

And at all his coalition.

To the Dark One it was shown

That now had come his Final hour,

As they bound him to a Great millstone

And Stripped away his power.

Then the Captain turned to a Weary World

And He vowed that Peace and Love,

Would be upon the earth Unfurled –

He had brought it From Above.

His army raised His Banner high.

He wiped the world’s Tears –

The Prince who rode down from The Sky,

And He Reigned A Thousand Years.

-  J. Pecoraro

In The Mount Of The Lord It Is Provided

We do not know all of the thoughts that raced through the mind of Abraham as he journeyed with Isaac and two of his servants on the way to the land of Moriah. There he would truly be tested. Was he submitted so fully to his God, that he’d sacrifice to Him the son of his love? The journey to Moriah would be at least two days long. During that time, did every one of Abraham’s thoughts have to do with faith? Was there none of doubt, fear, or suspicion? It is however evident, that by the time Abraham left his servants and started for the mountain, that he was fully convinced of Isaac’s safe return with him.

In my heart I believe that his God had already seen that His prized servant was prepared within for the moment just ahead. He saw in Abraham a man who had come to full stature in the Lord of his calling. At this point in time Abraham was beyond looking for escape routes from the perfect will of God. And so, now he knew that he must come to grips with the most difficult thing that he’d ever undertake. No more does he look or hope for a fork in the road as when he was young. There is no other way than what the message to him had declared: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering ...” There was a day when Abraham sought out what his Lord would permit, though in his heart he knew that it wasn’t the more excellent way. Then he spoke, thought, and understood as one not yet whole in spirit. But now he would not allow doubt or fear to enter while he pondered a monumental task before him. Abraham would climb up into the mountain, his heart and mind steadfast on the offering up of his son – the son of his love - through who was to come the promise.

All believers, who by their lives threaten the kingdom of darkness, will have trouble; there’ll be mountains to ascend to, all of a different sort. It will be inevitable. Yet they must take courage. That haughty part of the landscape, that they’ll dread to think of or look upon, will turn out to be the very place where the answer is hidden. In other words, the victory comes to us only on the mountain. The key to unlock the door that stands defiantly before us, to stop our progress in the Spirit, will be found in the heights. However, our human nature will tell us that the solution to our trial may be found in more favorable places. We may feel that all can be made right again beside a peaceful running stream at the foothills of our mountain. Or possibly we will imagine that a healing of some dreadful thing within us will come on a place of level ground, just a short way up the mountain, where the sun seems to shine in such a warm and pleasant way. But much more than not these are the voices of the flesh – the Ishmael in us - stating that our troubles and our sorrows can be faced and defeated fairly easily, without much energy spent or time wrestling with God in prayer. Remember; that was how Jacob received a great blessing from the Lord.

If the spirit man within us is not tested and proved - and at times sorely – then how does he grow? How does he become strong? How does he accumulate wisdom and understanding where it concerns the warfare we have all been called to? It is the Lord who has formed the paths of each and every heir of the kingdom, and they have not been drawn up according to our wishes or on our own terms. There was a time when Abraham took the smooth and easy route. Coming to where the road forked, he would select what was level and not too rough to trod, or perhaps the way with the more pleasant surroundings. “Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!” Abraham once pleaded with the Lord. After all, it was the simpler way. Ishmael had already been born to the patriarch and was now fourteen years of age. Let’s not complicate matters, were his thoughts. Let well enough alone. This was no doubt his thinking. But our thoughts are not His (God’s) thoughts, Isaiah once wrote.

God tests the spirit man so that we may know if faith abounds. The birth of Ishmael did not test Abraham’s faith in the Almighty, since in that birth there was nothing more involved than that which was to be expected. But now Abraham needed to believe that a child would be born to both he and his wife, neither of who were capable of reproducing any longer. Was he prepared for this? The fact of the matter is that until we’ve become a whole man – in proportion to the place we’ve attained to in the Spirit – then the way that is smooth and where the sun shines brightest will normally be the direction we’ll head for. And God will allow it. He is gracious and full of mercy. He sees the weakness of our frames. But for all who desire strength, wisdom, courage, and are bent on putting the arrow in the bull’s-eye before their time in this world is gone – for these He will shatter every prop, so that faith alone in the One True God becomes their only path. For them there is no permissive will afforded from on high; it was taken out of the way on the day they came of age, now leaving but a single road to look down. It will take them to their mountain. This is what Abraham travelled with Isaac in the hour of his most severe testing.

So often do God’s children go after the way of the flesh, just as our forefather Abraham once did. If we have a choice, it’s the easier path. After all, then we ourselves can have a hand in bringing about the answer we are looking for. But if that answer must be Isaac, and not Ishmael, then at this point God alone has to be trusted; at this point we need to lay our own reasoning down; and we may need to take up a cross. This is Isaac. This is where there is no fork in the road. Our heavenly Father sees we are grown enough to overcome the mountain ahead. Was this not what Jesus was talking about when He spoke these words to Peter: “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.”

If we are adamant in getting our way, then we just may toil beneath the heavy weight of a guilty conscience, while expending much energy to boot. But many prefer this to truth. In such cases the Lord will often sit back and let us learn a difficult lesson here, but usually not immediately. Following a time of hard labor, there’s a good chance that all will go well with us, and with no mountain to climb. However, there’ll be deep waters afterwards. This scenario will be reversed when we go down the road that the finger of the Spirit has pointed to. First comes the test to break the heart. Then afterward we are flooded by the peaceable fruit of righteousness; our feet have been put in open spaces at the top of the mountain to which we’ve ascended.

When the mountain calls, it is always best to sacrifice to Him the thing dear to us. There we must put a knife to it, though it be difficult. This will eventually result in the birth of something far more glorious than what was slain; something not of the bondwoman but of the freewoman; not of Ishmael but of Isaac; something that must be believed for from our God, for it will not be of the flesh but of the Spirit. In the mount of the Lord it is provided. Great is our God.

- J. Pecoraro