Today, I want to talk about going up the mountain. Is there anybody ready to go up the mountain of the Lord? Is there somebody ready to rise up from where we may have been, and begin to come into a new place with God?

This week I was reminded of something: The last time I was in Honduras actually a few years ago, it was such an exciting trip and a blessed time but one thing I'll never forget is this huge mountain that we had gone up to. And the day that we went up the mountain - it was the group that I was with, and it was the church that was in Honduras - and we were gonna go up this huge mountain and on the top of it, we would have all sorts of recreational time we would be able to play soccer together, pray together worship together, eat and just have an awesome time. But as we were leaving - we were in the city, and we’re all on these buses, we’re in the trucks and I remember, I myself and a few other people were actually in the back of a pickup truck just kinda holding on there for dear life. And as we were leaving, as we were getting ready to go up the mountain, I do recall that that day there was planned a huge protest.

So we know what happens with protests, right? A lot of people start to come out, the police are out there, and things are startin’ to look like they're gonna get pretty dangerous. Immediately. But as we’re going out - this stuff is all beginning - but we’re just making it out. Right in the nick of time right at the perfect timing, and we begin to head up this mountain.

Now going up the mountain, it was a bit of a trip - we had to drive just for a little bit. But I remember when we got up there, and being at the top of the mountain. I remember kinda peaking at the edge, and everybody knows that I’m not the best with heights, but I do like to take a peek. And I remember that although all the craziness was happening below, that everything looked so different. I had a different view of things. I remember breathing the fresh air, it felt so refreshing it felt good to just kinda stop for a moment, and to take it all in. I even remember that sense of safety. You know we were up high, we were in a different place. Now listen we were still technically in the same country, we were still technically in the same city the same town, but it was still a different place up here.

And that's what God is calling us to today: He's calling us to go up the mountain. But see it’s no normal mountain, He is saying, ‘Come up to the mountain of the Lord,’ - to come up to the mountain of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is that mountain? To be upon the mountain of the Lord is to be close to God. It's where again you may still be in the same town, you may be in Barnegat or in Manahawkin you may be still in the same place but all of a sudden you're seeing things of God clearer. That even though circumstances may happen because things will happen, it's okay, because we’re with God, and God is with us.

To be on the mountain is where we are able to breathe that breath of fresh air - the breath of the Holy Spirit that gets us ready for each and every day. He gets us ready for the things to come. On the mountain of the Lord we find that we, and even our children, are in a place of safety because we are with God, amen. And God is calling us upward, out of the worldliness today. He is calling us upward, out of the old things. He is calling us upward out of our flesh - out of our wickedness - to come closer to Him, to come up to the mountain of the Lord.

But who will ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who gets to go up? Who gets to go up - deeper into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, I find that many Christians don't even care to ask this question. That some of them don't care whether they’re in the valley, dead. And some of them don't care to think, ‘Am I on the mountain of God, alive?’ Just as long as, you know they're able to go about their business of living - happy to have the house the home the car everything else and kinda just go along. I realize that some even don't know the difference of what it may be to be on the mountain of the Lord and to be in the valley of the darkness of the world. They may claim to be a Christian, may claim to be in Christ yet powerless and empty - lost in the valley of depravity. Lost in the valley of chaos lost in the valley of everything else in this world, and far from God.

But see church today, there is a place that God is calling us. And our mother, our father cannot take us there. Our brothers our sisters our spouse cannot take us there, but there is One - He is the Lord Jesus Christ and He is calling us. He has made a way to go up! He is calling us to follow Him, to come out of the darkness of the valley and to arise with Him.

I believe that there are some even today that aren't willing to just stay down, but looking to go up - is that you today, church? Is there somebody in the house of the Lord looking for something different? Is there somebody in the house of the Lord ready to rise? Where listen you may be living here like everybody else, but there's a crying - a pure deep cry within your heart that goes up to God that separates us from the world. It separates us from the darkness and it takes you up, where there is this urging - this urging of the Spirit of God that's causing us not to remain the same but to move. Although listen you may be walking on earth, but you’re touching heaven because you're touching God! You're seeking to encounter His presence - you’re looking to go up with Him. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ has laid a path for us to no longer stay in the valley - to no longer have to stay in our wickedness to no longer have to stay in our darkness, in our darkness or worship of anything else but to rise with God!

And so I ask again today: Who will go up to the mountain of the Lord? Who can come into the Lord like never before, and experience His wonderful presence? And I believe that here in the Word today God has answered this. God has laid before us the path of how and what to do. And so we’re gonna turn to Psalm 24. One of my favorite Psalms just declaring, you know, that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Declaring that He is the King of glory. And here, He calls us up to the mountain, and He is telling us who's about to rise up. He's telling us who is about to get up out of the valley, off the floor off the ground, and rise into the goodness of God, amen.

So we’re gonna be looking at verses 3 through 6. And the verse will be up and we’re gonna read and I just want to read the whole section of it together at first to kinda let it settle in our minds. And so it says, “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, God of Jacob.”

And so church, who will go up to the mountain of the Lord? First off, it is those with a pure heart. Those with a pure heart. We already read in the Scripture, right as God is saying who will ascend the mountain of the Lord, and He starts off saying those with clean hands and pure hearts.

Now many times when we think of ‘pure,’ sometimes we’re geared toward thinking of something on the outside appearance. Someone who doesn't smoke or maybe do something criminal, right? But a pure heart is more than that. A pure heart is an undivided heart. It’s when you’re undivided and you’ve made up your heart for God, you've made up your mind that you would serve Him you’ve made up your mind that you would search for Him that you would seek for Him with all of your heart and all of your mind. It's not that we’re trying to behave really well or stay away from bad people, but it's someone who's finished going back and forth with the world. It’s someone who's done with the excuses. Somebody that says, ‘You know, all my reasonings for my sin, all my reasonings for this and for that, I'm done I’m putting it aside. I am now ready for You, God.’ Pure in looking to find and to go up the mountain with the Lord.

Is that us today? Are we done playing around with the flesh? Are we done with playing around with the world, and ready to get serious with God?

"See religion cannot make you pure. It cannot cleanse the heart, and it cannot bring us up to the mountain of the Lord."

I found it so interesting that the Lord would say “clean hands and a pure heart.” And as I was thinking about this the Lord remind me of the Pharisees right of Jesus' day. The Pharisees they were so good at keeping themselves pure on the outside. They would wash their hands and clean their hands out of a ritual, right? And they were really good at doing all sorts of rituals that would present, or almost show, their purity. But see the sad thing is that although they seemed pure on the outside, within the heart - even though their hands were clean on the outside - within the heart, they were defiled and they were divided. They were divided between serving God and serving themselves. They were divided between serving God and serving men. You see you can't serve God and man. You can't serve the world and God. You can’t serve the flesh and ourself and call ourselves pure. Purity is this: That we would be undivided for God.

See religion cannot make you pure. It cannot cleanse the heart, and it cannot bring us up to the mountain of the Lord. God does not want us to kinda just clean ourselves up on the outside. He's not looking for a man or woman that's good at going through the ritual. He's not looking for the person that just makes sure they’re at church on time and they’re dressed really nice and they have a nice big smile. Listen those things are good and may be important, but God is looking for one who is pure. One with a pure heart that says, ‘Father, Jesus, You are the Son of God. Here I am. Lord, empower me. Lord I may feel weak but Lord give me the power and the strength to serve and to follow You and You alone. Father my heart is Yours! Here I am - take me God. Here I am!”

A pure heart is a dedicated heart. A pure heart before the Lord - you know, I think about this - is a heart where we’re dedicated to God. We’re dedicated for His purpose. Are we dedicated to Him today?

We look at the disciples these young men who literally transform the world. They literally transform nations because the message of the Gospel to them was everything. See there was nothing more urgent, there was nothing more important than the Gospel and what was the result? Each one of them went up to the mountain of God, and each one of them came down different. They came down transformed! Others transformed through what they brought! Others transformed nations transformed because they were so dedicated to God - they were pure.

I was reading an article the other day. And it's interesting because there was a man in the article, he's asking in there he says, ‘You know, whatever happened to the power of God? Whatever happened to the power of the Holy Spirit - does God still take man up the mountain? Is He still touching children? Is He still touching men and women and empowering them with the power of the Holy Spirit?’ And I stood there just for a minute, and I obviously wasn’t literally speaking to him, right? But I had to stop and say, ‘Yes! God still does move!’ But could it be today that many of us have not been ready to go up the mountain? Could it be that we've been so dedicated to finding the spouse? Could it be that we've been so dedicated to getting the promotion? Could it be that we’ve dedicated our children to the world and everything else not to be ready and groomed to go up the mountain of God? Could it be, church? And God is saying, ‘I cannot take you up! You cannot go up unless your heart is Mine! A pure heart, a dedicated heart for nothing else but for God?

If we look into our lives, if we look into the lives of our families and see that we’ve been dedicated to everything else but God then we must turn today church. We must repent and turn back to God - this is not a joke. You see at the end of our lives - the end of our lives when we look back to see and ask ourselves what have we been dedicated to, will it be the things of God? Or will it be the things of the world? We have to look at this today! And God says, ‘This is the day: Choose today. Choose today who you will serve. Choose this day who you will dedicate your life to.’

Now listen, I'm not saying that we don’t work hard in our jobs. I'm not saying we don't work hard in our schooling but what I am saying is that our jobs, our schooling, will never be able to take you into the Lord Jesus Christ. The boss, the job - everything else that we dedicate ourselves to - listen, cannot spare our lives and lift us out of the valley. It will never be able to transform us and give us power to overcome sin! It will never be able to give us the victory that only the Lord Jesus Christ can do! Do we know this, church?

Will we dedicate ourselves to Him, to be living in His glory and His presence?"

And so we must understand that a pure heart is a heart that is dedicated to God. Dedicated to being touched by His power, dedicated to serving Him and to serving Him alone. I praise God today that I was taught to work hard, yes, and to strive at everything that we did - even as teenagers - but all of it would all be only a means to God's end. Not a means to my own kingdom. Not a means to doing my own thing and living my own life, but my dedication would be to the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. See today church, I'm not looking forward for a fleeting trophy. I'm not looking forward to the fleeting cash in the bank account, but I'm looking forward to go up the mountain. And I praise God today. I thank God that He has called me to be dedicated to Him and to Him alone!

"We must be loyal in our trust of God."

I praise God for the amazing grace that has allowed me to no longer have to remain in the valley. It’s allowed me to no longer have to be so dedicated to the world, so dedicated to the devil - so dedicated to everything else that doesn’t matter, but to truly come into Christ. This is the purity that God is calling us to - will we go up the mountain of God? Will we dedicate ourselves to Him, to be living in His glory and His presence? And so he who has clean hands and a pure heart, they shall rise on the mountain of the Lord amen!

Secondly, who shall go up the mountain of the Lord? Those who are loyal. Those who are loyal, so we look at verse four again, and we realize that this says, you know, “The one...who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.”

Now think about this for a second: Not trusting in an idol, what does that mean? See it’s a call to a loyalty. We must be loyal in our trust of God. We look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, how He was so loyal to His Father right? Because He trusted God, He would do anything for Him. God would say, ‘Go here,’ He would go. God would say, ‘Speak this,’ right? And He would speak it - even to the point of going to the cross. He was just so loyal - so loyal that He could walk among sinners and not be defiled because He was so loyal, so trusting of His Father. Therefore you know what God had done? He lifted Him to the highest place in Heaven to be seated with God - above all glory, above all rule and reign - because He was so loyal to His Father.

And so now we can look at this verse, and we understand why the Lord says, “...[those who do] not trust in an idol.” And so we ask: What idols? You know, what do they look like? I mean are they little statues? I mean what do these idols look like? But here goes the thing, now we can ask the real question: Where does your loyalty lie? Where does your loyalty lie?

See many of us are so loyal to our boss. Why? Because we trust that he's gonna make sure I’m gonna get paid. Many of us are so loyal to our money because why? We trust that as long as we have enough money listen things can get bad, but that, you know, I’ll have enough money to kinda get me out of jams or anything bad that happens right? And I know listen this sounds crazy - but some of us are so loyal even to our cars. We make sure they’re shiny, we make sure the air pressures perfected right? I know some people, they’ll never let that gas tank go low. Some people will spend the extra dollar to make sure that the engine is running on the good fuel right? Because we trust that our car is gonna get us to the place that we need to be or that we want. But I ask you today does God get the same effort? I ask today, the same loyalty that the boss gets, the same loyalty that our job gets, the same loyalty that our schools get - do we give that to God? If not then we have not trusted Him. We’ve trusted in everything else but the Lord but I have to declare this today: Listen, your job cannot save you from hell. Your job will not be there on your deathbed. Your boss will not be there on the deathbed to save you. Only those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!

And God is sick and He is so done with the American church today that has learned to trust in so many other things! He is calling us and awakening us to say, ‘You will not be saved by your money! You will not be saved by your flesh! Only My power!’ And He’s calling us out to stop and to wake up to where our loyalty truly lies! If it lies in anything else, then we are on the outside! We will never go up the mountain of God! See only those who trust in God are truly born! I ask today, are we truly born of God? Are we born again? ‘Cause if we trust in anything else, then we are not in Christ.

This is where Paul calls us and says, “Make your election sure.” Church, are you sure? Am I sure that I'm trusting in anything else but the Lord Jesus Christ alone? If so, where does my loyalty lie? We must be loyal in our love to God.

See another thing I’ve really learned in my life is that you are loyal to the thing or the person that you love. See one of the translations of this same Scripture replaces the word “trust” with “long.” So another way to understand this it would say not just, “...[he] who [does not] trust in an idol,” but it says, “...he who does not long for idols.”

"Because rather than longing for God we long for the idol of our comfy lives."

Now this sense of longing is a longing. Where you deeply desire something you just love it. And, you know sadly we can look at the example of Israel in the Old Testament. You know, we see their downfall of their loving of all of their idols and although God made a covenant with them to love them to be with them, they were so disloyal. They were disloyal because of their love of their idols. And they paid a heavy price for it. You see, the price was depravity. The price was now to be lost in their wickedness, to be invaded by other nations. To not be able to win to not experience the victory of God. The price that even some of them would sacrifice their children to the very same idols that they served because they loved and adored them so much.

Now some of us think about that and we’re thinking, ‘Wow that's crazy! I mean they’re sacrificing their children I mean, they’re really giving up on God.’ But how often do we do the same thing? Rather than longing for the Lord, rather than longing, you know, to be in His presence, rather than making sure our children are truly following Him and seeking Him, we allow them to be sacrificed to the world. Because rather than longing for God we long for the idol of our comfy lives. We long for the idol of our comfy selves and all the things that we own and all the wonderful things that we have. So loyal to the flesh! The flesh that says, ‘Listen - you can serve God later. You can pray a little bit tomorrow - I know He’s speaking to you. I know He’s giving a Word but don't even worry about sharing.’ You know, just so loyal to the flesh and everything else but the Lord. With no concern of the state of our households. No concern with the state of our spouse, no concern with the church, no concern with the Kingdom - just me myself and I. And what is the result? Rather than going up the mountain of God and taking our children with us, we remain dead in our sins in our trespasses.

"Our loyalty is that we must be loyal to fulfill our promise."

But church, I believe God today is calling us to something bigger. Hallelujah, He is saying, ‘Cast down the idol.’ He is saying, ‘Cast down that thing that self - I will empower you and I will take you up this day!’ See the Lord Jesus Christ - hallelujah, I praise God today - He is able to transform a man. He is able to transform a teenager. He is able to transform a man, a woman, a child, and transform them into a loyal people - a pure people! A people so sold out for the King!

God is able to take us out of ourselves, and up the mountain. But He calls us to be loyal. Our loyalty is that we must be loyal to fulfill our promise. Now this really really touched my heart. It was the first time I read this Scripture this way - if we look at the last part of verse four that's up there, you know it says also he who does not, “swear by a false god.” And I really had to think about that I said, ‘What does that mean? You know, what does it mean to swear by a false god - do we bow before God specifically and say these words?’ And God really impressed and really spoke to my heart. He's basically saying, ‘Don't lie.’ Don't lie! Don't promise to do something, or to come through and not do it. Be loyal and uphold your word - uphold your commitment, uphold your dedication.

You see, we live sadly in a time where a man's word - the bond of his word means nothing anymore. Right? Many men speak now and half the things we hear we’re goin’, ‘I don't even know if I can trust it.’ You know we can look on the news, we can hear, you know speakers speak all these different things and we’re just thinkin’, ‘Man, is this really real or not?’ You know the bond of a man's word has just been really defiled and really means nothing today. But see church, as the people of God, see God's people - we are loyal to our word. We are men and women who are to uphold not only the Word of the Lord, but the words that we speak, the commitments that we give the promises that we make. Hallelujah God calls us to remain.

Yet how many times have we made a promise to God - promised Him something - yet broken it? Maybe God has spared your family, and you promised and said, ‘You know what Lord, because You've been so good I want to make sure my family remains in Christ.’ Maybe God has spared your marriage. Maybe He delivered you from some deep trouble, and you’ve responded to God just saying, ‘Lord I’m gonna serve You. I’m gonna worship You. I've realized there's nothing else like You there’s no other God like You. I mean God You are everything!’ - yet when it's all said and done, and we get back to our normal lives, we just take everything God has given and keep it to ourselves forgetting.

This is the disloyalty that has kept us from going up the mountain. You see we cannot be filled with the Spirit of God - we cannot be filled with the Lord Jesus Christ - if we are not loyal to remember His goodness in our lives. If we are not loyal to remember our words to Him, if we are not loyal to remember the promises we made, the things that we spoke in that secret place - the things that we spoke to God that day that He took you out of the hospital, those things that you spoke to God when He allowed your baby to make it, those things that you spoke to God when He took you out of the darkness! My true prayer today is that God would bring to remembrance those promises - those broken promises. That God would remind us so that we can repent and turn back to God and be a loyal people amen.

And I believe God can do that! Father, bring to remembrance where we’ve left off with You. Bring to remembrance any places of that disloyalty - I pray today that we may come into the Lord Jesus Christ and be those, as Psalm 15 says, those, “...who keep [their] oath[s] even when it hurts.” Even when the dreams seem closed off. Even when all hell seems to be breaking loose against you, even when you're seeking for a breakthrough and it's not happening - hallelujah it's okay, because we keep remembering the last thing I told the Lord. ‘Father, even if You didn't deliver me now, even if You don't come through I told You I would be praising You. I said Lord I would be worshipping!’

It’s where our prayer life isn't so dead, because we’re loyal to remember God's mercy and grace in our life. It’s where, you know, we don't need to be convinced of worship because we’re so loyal of how good God has just been! ‘God I just gotta praise You! I’m just remembering, Lord, I said that I would serve You all my days! Oh God hallelujah!’

"See to seek the Lord is to seek Him deliberately."

God is looking for a man for a woman for a child, a teenager somebody who would be loyal to fulfill their promises to Him. Somebody looking to go up the mountain. Is there somebody looking to go up the mountain today? To stop and say, ‘Lord, I remember the things that I've told You. I remember the promises that I made. I will not swear by a false idol. I'm not gonna come through but God, empower me. Father, I need You. Lord, I remember what I said. God empower me not to forget. Empower me to bring it all back. God give me what I need to bring a thankfulness. Bring me what I need to bring a prayer. Bring me what I need God to just keep praising You Father, for You are worthy! You are worthy and there is no one like You!’

And so who will go up the mountain of the Lord? Those who are loyal. Loyal! Loyal to remember. Loyal to trust in the Lord, and to trust in no other. Loyal to love the Lord with all of our hearts.

Lastly, who can go up the mountain of the Lord? Those who seek His face. And I love this part. Let’s look at verses 5 and 6. It says, “They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, [oh] God of Jacob.”

"He is gathering those who have been waiting, and watching, and longing for God."

See to seek the Lord is to seek Him deliberately. Deliberately. God will bless those who seek Him, and listen, the blessing is to be able to go up that mountain, able to experience the presence of God - able to experience the power of God over sin and over darkness- the power of God to build His kingdom. Such is a generation who seeks the Lord. They will be a generation not of religion. A generation not of deadness but a generation who truly knows Him. Who is acquainted with the voice of the Lord, a generation who recognizes His presence. Not far unto the things of God. Able to know and to walk with Him.

And I believe church that this is truly a time - God is gathering His people, but He's not just gathering any old people. He’s not just gathering people just because they go to church. He’s not just gathering people just because they claim to be a Christian. He is gathering the seekers. He is gathering those who have been waiting, and watching, and longing for God. Deliberate to go after Him. Deliberate to seek His face!

It's important as we look at this verse, even though it says, you know, those who seek Him, I thought it was so incredible that he would also say, “God of Jacob.” Why would he say that? Why would Jacob be brought back up here? Because he wanted us to remember the way that He was calling us to seek Him. To remember, right, how Jacob sought the Lord. We remember how Jacob was - he was that wrestler right? And he was deliberate. He was gonna make sure he was in the right place at the right time. He was gonna make sure all other things were out of the way, and he was about to seek his God. Oh, I think that there’s some ‘Jacobs’ in the house of the Lord today. Are there some ‘Jacobs’ who are about to be deliberate? Somebody that's about to change things up?

Church, this isn’t a time to sit back and only hope and maybe wish that God would somehow come through and move in our lives. We must be a deliberate people, with our hearts set upon God. The apostle Paul says, ‘I don't run aimlessly! I don't kinda just punch as though I’m punching in the air.’ You know this means that we are deliberate with our day off. This means that we’re deliberate with the hour that we have with our friend, the hour that we have with our son or daughter. It means that we’re deliberate not to just waste time always looking to entertain ourselves - to find the latest this and that. The latest show, the latest movie, the latest song - but to be deliberate to seek His face! Nothing else matters! Who cares about how good the new series is if we’re not deliberate to find out how good God is?

My family has always been deliberate in seeking God. You know whenever we have a time together even if it's just a few hours, I find that even as we’re eating together and we’re walking and we’re kinda just talking, everybody is taking advantage of that time to be deliberate. We’re looking at each other's path and walk to make sure everybody’s goin’ up the mountain, nobody's remaining in the valley. And you know there’s just a deliberate seeking even together. Now listen, I don't know if I'll be here tomorrow. God doesn't promise me that I'll be here tomorrow - I don't know. Maybe the Lord will return, I may, you know, go tonight - I don't know but this is the point: I don't know if I’m gonna have another time or chance to be with my family and deliberately seek Him. I don’t know if I’m not gonna have another chance to go after God. When you go, when the day is ending, when you go to be with God there's no more seeking! The seeking time is over and so God is saying, ‘Today, will you be deliberate?’ Will you seek Him with all of your heart with all of your strength? Today is the day. Not tomorrow I don't know about tomorrow, but I know about today!

I think sometimes, we get so used to waking up. We get so used to being able to turn off that alarm and just go right back to work. And we walk about and go about our business as though we know what's gonna happen. But God is saying, ‘Wake up church! Wake up and be deliberate to take every last breath, to take every last hour - whatever that hour may be - and seek Me! Go up the mountain!’

To seek Him is to be persistent. You know we live in a time where we have so many options for things. If you're searching for something on the Internet - we all shop on the Internet - if you don’t like the price for something on one site, you literally have hundreds of other sites to go to. And even when you know, maybe we’re on our streaming app looking for a movie, right? You may be on one app, you don't like the movie? You can just, at the click of a button go to another app - one out of ten - to find thousands and thousands of other movies right? There really is no need to stay in one place. There's just options upon options - you don’t have to remain in one spot, you could just jump from one thing to the other. You don’t really have to persist in anything right?

"You see God - He loves a persistent seeker."

Sadly, much of the church today has adopted the same expectation with God. We begin to seek God, maybe we persist for a day or two, but because we’re not getting the answer right away, maybe we’re not seeing something happen, we kinda just fold our hands up, get going and on to the next thing. We call it a day and get going. And see today God is calling us to break that spirit of laziness - to break that spirit of passivity! To break that spirit that doesn't persistently go and long for God - because it's the very same things that will keep us from ever getting anywhere with God! It will be the very same things that would keep us down and away from the Lord and dead in our darkness!

You see God - He loves a persistent seeker. He loves those who keep on asking. He loves those who keep on seeking. He loves those who just keep on knocking - not willing to take ‘no’ for an answer. It's where, listen, you may be seeking Him for a breakthrough, maybe you’re seeking Him for a touch of His Spirit, a healing - I don't know what it may be - and all hell maybe in your face saying, ‘You're not gonna go up that mountain.’ And it may just seem to be a day and another day and a week after week. And listen, even though you're not seeing, yet you’re believing. And you’ve chosen to be persistent. You’re gonna keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep going! And hallelujah listen! If you keep asking and knocking and banging on that door of Heaven and it’s not open, then you start the fasting! And if the fasting doesn't seem to work, then all of a sudden where two or more are gathered - ‘I need to grab a hand! I’ve gotta get somebody! I need to pray and we’re not gonna stop until God comes!

This is the persistency that God calls to in our lives. If we want to go up the mountain, then we must seek Him - but we must seek Him persistently. Not stopping until God moves!

"...the only seeking that really takes us up the mountain of the Lord is a desperate seeking."

I'm so thankful for not learning any other way to seek the Lord. You see for me, there's no other option. You see for me, I’ve got to come into His presence. I can't be without the Lord. I know what I am without Him. Therefore I have chosen to keep on asking, to keep on seeking to keep on knocking. Listen, even if it takes me a day. Even if it takes me a year. Even if it takes ten years, ‘God, I’m praying it won't be that long. If it takes twenty though God, I’m gonna keep going. I’m gonna keep going God and I’m gonna plead with You. Come, take me up to the mountain! Take my children to the mountain! Take my family to the mountain! Take my church to the mountain! God, we cannot live without You - we can’t go without You!’

Lastly, God is calling us to seek Him, but we must seek Him desperately. We must seek Him desperately. I’m learning that - truly in my life - that the only seeking that really takes us up the mountain of the Lord is a desperate seeking. Not a ‘cushioned’ seeking. Not a planned kinda ‘ordered’ seeking - but a desperate one.

I just can't help but to recall Rachel, the woman of God in the Old Testament, who would one day give birth to Joseph, but prior to that she was barren. Couldn’t give birth! Barren, dry, dead. Is there anybody in the house of the Lord today that’s dry? That’s barren, that's dead, that's still in the old, that's still in the valley? And so Rachel, she pleads and goes, ‘Give me children or I die! Give me children or I die! give me fruitfulness! God take me up! Do something God or this is not worth it anymore God! Father You’ve got to move!’ There was a desperation!

I recall the woman in the Gospels with the issue of blood! She knew that she needed a touch from Jesus! And He was walking probably in the opposite direction - she wasn't gonna sit back and wait but there was a desperation she moved the crowds out of the way. She moved the things - everything that could’ve just probably distracted and she reached out, and she touched the hem of His garment!

That’s desperation! That's a desperate seeking! And what happened? Hallelujah - Rachel gave birth to Joseph, who would be the father of the nation of Israel! What happened to the woman with the issue of blood? Hallelujah, she was healed! The doctors couldn't do it, the people couldn’t do it, but she was blessed by God!

"...unless we are desperately seeking His face more than the air that we breathe, we will never find Him!"

It's all because they didn’t come to God lightly. They didn't sorta know, ‘You know there's some issues there’s some situations. You know but we kinda got it under control. We know things are happening.’ And approach God just sorta like, ‘You know maybe it'll pass by, maybe God’ll just move when He's ready.’ They were desperate! But are we desperate today church - are we desperate to ascend with God? Are we desperate to go up? If not there is no other way. If not we remain on the ground. God is calling us to go to another level today! He is calling us to go up!

But it cannot be, ‘Yes I see my children, you know they're not on the mountain.’ It cannot be, ‘You know yeah, I know I’m not fully on the mountain I’m kinda not there. But I've been here before and we’ll kinda see what happens.’ It cannot be, ‘You know, God’ll just work it out, and somehow things will be fine.’ No church we’ve got to wake up! We’ve got to wake up and realize that unless we are desperately seeking God, unless we are desperately seeking His face more than the air that we breathe, we will never find Him!

Are you desperate today? More desperate than the mortgage being paid? More desperate than your car getting cleaned that you didn’t get the wax this week? More desperate than the money that you need in the bank account? More desperate for everything else? Because if not, God will never be able to move in the way that He desires, but church I believe for bigger things for us! I believe God is stirring somebody up today. And if not I pray even now God that You would move, that there would be a desperation!

Why would we not be desperate? Could it be that we’re so self-sufficient? Could it be that maybe nothing bad’s happening right now? That we’re so okay because listen even though things are not as good as I would like it, I still got the house. I still got the car, I could still come home. I could still sleep in my bed and and kinda just go about. See what does it take for us to become a desperate people for God? What else needs to happen church? I look on the news for literally two minutes, and it makes me more desperate than ever. I watch the television just for a moment just to catch up and see what's happening in the nations, and I can’t help but to walk away going, ‘Father, I'm desperate for You. I can’t go on in this world without You. Father, my children will not survive unless You touch us. Father, I’m not gonna make it unless You bring a revival in my heart. I’m not gonna make it unless You bring a revival in the church. Father, we’re not gonna be okay unless You touch us. We’re not gonna be okay in the valley. We’re not gonna be okay with the same old things anymore we gotta go up, God! Will You take us Lord - desperate! Desperate!’

Who will desperately seek God, just for God? Who will desperately go after God just for Him? Beyond the deliverances, beyond all the wonderful things that He can do - who will be looking just to go up the mountain because you know that He is so great? Because you know that there's no other God like the Lord? That there's no other high places - the Bible said there's no other mountain like the mountain of God. See, it matters that we look at this to be a life or death situation. Where if we don't meet with God, if we don't come into something deeper with Him - if we don't go up the mountain - we’re not gonna make it we’re not going to be alright church this is serious. We've got to go up!

You know I’m just thinking now for a minute, that mountain when we were in Honduras - man, what would've happened if we didn’t go up? The protesting I remember looking at police starting to line up and already bottles thrown in the air. I was watching tires on fire rolling through the street. Can you imagine? And we look at that and we understand it, but think spiritually with me for a second: Can you imagine if we never ascend the mountain of God? Our children burning up in darkness! Can you imagine never ascending with God the church remaining dead and cold? Never attaining to the Kingdom work of the Gospel! Never attaining to touching the world and the nations? Never attaining to live in households that are not in religion, but households who are full of the Spirit of God? Can you imagine?

Church it's time to go up. It's time to go up the mountain. You see God is about to differentiate in this world. I really believe it. It's gonna really be clear those who are His and those who are not. Those who are on the mountain, and those who are at the bottom. Those who have ascended to something different, out of the worldliness out of the flesh. Those who even if it's just by one arm you're climbing up there, God is honored, the seeking and that pulling and that wrenching saying, ‘God, I don't know if gonna make it but I’m pulling. And if I die trying, God if I lose it all trying I’m coming God, help! But I’ve gotta go up the mountain today! I’ve got to be with You, Lord! There's nothing else, otherwise we die - give me children or I die!’