I was awakened by the Lord one night in early December. I just love those moments where His presence is so strong and His voice is like honey; I live for those moments! In this instance, He came with both “revelation” and an “invitation.”
I was taken into a vision and saw a dimly-lit cathedral, filled with statues and other religious artifacts. Then I watched as the Lord began opening up all the windows and doors from every corner of the building. As He did, I noticed a beautiful and glorious light begin to shine, but it was not streaming in from the outside, but from within. I watched as this incredible glory filled every space and every room before it suddenly burst and flooded to the outside.
God said to me, “This is My church, and she is coming into her fulfillment season of Isaiah 60, where she will shine with My glory like never before in the earth and a harvest of harvests will come. But first, I am pouring out My glory in a greater measure. I am opening up the windows and doors of the heart of the church so I, the King of glory, can come in!” (Read Isa. 60:1-3.)
Then He spoke to me about Psalm 24:7-10 and said, “Nate, open up, you gates, swing wide, you ancient doors, so I can come in and burst through your life!” I was suddenly aware of a level of His abiding presence and majesty I had never known before and replied, “Yes, have Your way, Lord!”
The Fire of God Pruning Us
To my surprise, I suddenly came into a time of both heavy warfare and the fire of God pruning me very deeply. God was speaking to the very depths of me, the often overlooked corners and nooks of my heart. There, He was pouring out His ever so wonderful yet confronting, powerful love. It was arresting areas in me that were holding me back from moving into this greater place I was hungering for.
The warfare I experienced was the darkest I have felt since I was in my teens – when the enemy tried to take me out. I woke up in cold sweats, had nightmares and every day for weeks I was fighting an irrational fear and was in anguish that just didn’t seem to go away. At the same time, my well was drying up. Almost all revelation was evaporating completely, and I felt frustrated and muzzled.
“But God,” I would say, “I am in ministry. I can’t be facing this stuff, I see people healed of this!” Yet even in the middle of that I felt a deep, deep longing in me begin to cry out. It was a cry of a son wanting more of His Father. It was a craving that wouldn’t and couldn’t settle for anything but Him. I lost all desire for anything else, and I had zero capacity for anything but just being with Him. Again, He whispered to me, “Do you really want more of Me?” Still I said, “Lord, it’s all I want!”
One morning, a few weeks ago, I woke up and sensed the same consuming fear trying to come over me. It was like what I had experienced for the five weeks prior. I heard the Lord say to me, “Play your harp, David!” So I went to my piano and began worshipping the Lord until His glory filled the room. In that moment, the fear left completely! Instantly my voice came back, revelation returned and a peace like a river flooded me again.
What I realized in that moment was that the cathedral I had seen in the vision was indeed what God was saying for the body of Christ, but it was also for me. He was opening up the windows and doors and revealing His greater glory. Yet it was because I had asked Him to do it in me that He did! What God was doing in me was detaching me from mindsets of limitation, poverty, doubts and fear that would not enable me to cross over into the wide-open space He had prepared.
Have you also been in the tension and the wrestle of the crossover? Have you been facing attacks of debilitating fear and anguish from the enemy trying to distract you from seeing that the wrestle was actually God advancing and increasing you? This is the invitation before us.
The Greater Glory or the Fading Glory?
“Even the ministry that was characterized by chiseled letters on stone tablets came with a dazzling measure of glory, though it produced death. The Israelites couldn’t bear to gaze on the glowing face of Moses because of the radiant splendor shining from his countenance—a glory destined to fade away. Yet how much more radiant is this new and glorious ministry of the Spirit that shines from us! For if the former ministry of condemnation was ushered in with a measure of glory, how much more does the ministry that imparts righteousness far excel in glory. What once was glorious no longer holds any glory because of the increasingly greater glory that has replaced it. The fading ministry came with a portion of glory, but now we embrace the unfading ministry of a permanent impartation of glory.” (2 Cor. 3:7-11 TPT)
The greater glory is we, the church, coming into the full revelation of being sons and daughters of righteousness. We are crossing over into a season of seeing the church arise and shine in the freedom of simply being in Christ. This greater glory shines the light on our powerless and lifeless beliefs that are still attached to the law; the glory brings us into fullness of life in Christ Jesus.
“We can all draw close to Him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into His very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18, TPT)
I believe we are in an hour where the greater glory is being poured out, which means the church has a decision to make. Where God is highlighting the invitation for more of Him, He is also creating a distaste in the mouth of believers for the fading glory. We just can’t operate how we once did, camping around methods and messages that simply do not carry this greater glory of the gospel of Jesus.
As the glory of God begins to manifest, there will be a rising dissatisfaction to do ministry “modus operandi” (our habits or methods of operating). This means doing things in our own strength, chasing our own idea and a self-promotion that seeks its own glory apart from God. But God is giving an opportunity for those who have been running on their own steam—to lay everything down and be filled afresh. It’s His glory or nothing! His glory purifies and heals and He is purifying so deeply in this hour. He’s doing it not to expose or shame, but to align our hearts with His again, so we can run strong.
Allow Him to Come In
Right now, He is taking hearts like dimly lit cathedrals, filled with old antiques, and turning them into glory-filled temples. You are His glorious temple, His resting place—His habitation. He is asking today if you would allow Him to come in and open up the windows and doors of your heart so He, the King of glory, can come in and have His way.
I see the Lord shining His glory-light on dusty, dry bones piled up in the corners of hearts, and dormant manuscripts are littering the floors inside once-active and vibrant dreamers. They are manuscripts of songs that are meant to be released, but have been lying dormant and unsung. Passion and zeal for the lost are buried under the stones of defeat. Let His glory flood your heart today.It’s time to arise from the ground and shine! {eoa}
Nate Johnston is a revivalist and worshipper who has a heart to see sons and daughters unleashed into passionate friendship with God and an effective supernatural lifestyle. Through his ministry “Everyday Revivalists,” he teaches on intimacy and hearing God’s voice which was birthed from a hunger for authentic, real, and powerful relationship with Jesus. Christy Johnston was born and raised in Australia. After living the majority of her life plagued with insecurity and fear, she came to learn the power of her identity in Christ. She now lives with the mandate to breathe fresh hope and life into Gods sons and daughters through her passion of writing, uncovering the truths of living in Grace and freedom through our identity in Christ. Nate and Christy have two daughters, Charlotte and Sophie, and currently live on the Gold Coast in Australia.
This article originally appeared at elijahlist.com.
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