Following the Cloud and the Fire...

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During my recent devotional readings in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, I have been amazed at how present God was and how detailed were his directions. I kept wondering, "Since we are under a better covenant, why isn’t Christ just as present? Why doesn’t he give us detailed directions about building his Church, as he did about the construction of the Tabernacle of the Congregation?"

(3/14/2010). Sometimes it is claimed that now that we have the New Testament we do not need to hear personally from the Lord. This is not true. All of us are faced with decisions each day that the Bible does not address specifically so we know what to do.

Should a young person go to college? Whom should he or she marry? He has two job offers. Which should he take? You want to go on vacation. Should you go, and where should you go?

The Bible tells us to commit our way to the Lord and he, not the Bible, will direct our paths.

The Bible says the sons of God are led by the Spirit, not by the Bible.

It is impossible to enter the rest of God, mentioned in the fourth chapter of the Book of Hebrews, until we commit every decision of every day to the Lord, looking to him for guidance. The role of the Bible is to enable us to tell when we are being led astray by unclean motives or spirits. In this manner the written Word is a light on our path.

In addition to the numerous specific directions God gave to Moses and Aaron, there were the Urim and the Thummin, the "lights and perfections." These were some kind of device on the breastpiece of the High Priest at which a person could inquire and receive advice in a specific situation.

I came to the place where Moses asked his brother-in-law, Hobab, to help the Israelites find suitable camping places in the desert. Can you believe this? After God had been leading them so specifically with the Cloud and the Fire! When I read of Moses doing this I become angry against him, a person I truly admire.

"Moses, why in the world did you ask Hobab to guide you when God himself was specifically leading you by day and night? What nonsense is this!" (Behold how I vaunt myself against the elders!)

Then I thought about how, during the days of Samuel, the Israelites wanted a king they could see. They were not content with the Lord leading them through the Prophet, Samuel.

Believers want a pope, a priest, a pastor, an evangelist, who will pray for them and to whom they are willing to give their spiritual proxy. Then they can give him or her money and continue to live their own life.

Why is it that God’s people insist on being guided and ruled by human beings rather than being governed and guided by the Lord? But it has been this way throughout human history. It is God, not man, who is to be guiding all human activity—every element of it.

When we humans are left to guide ourselves through life we continue to do foolish, hurtful, destructive things. Every sane individual has love, joy, and peace as his or her goal. But we simply cannot trust God to direct us to our goal. As in the case of Eve, we believe we will gain what we desire by taking matters into our own hands.

Some might respond that now we are to live by faith, meaning God is not willing to speak to us. This excuse will not hold up. The "faith chapter" of the Bible is the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews. Every example of "faith" in this chapter comes from God’s heroes of olden times. Moses certainly was a man of faith, as was Noah. Yet God spoke to them clearly.

No, it is not because now we are supposed to live by "faith." Rather it is because we prefer to lean on our own understanding. We simply do not look to Christ to guide us in every aspect of our daily life, nor do we trust him to lead us to love, joy, and peace. We would rather continue with our own works than enter the rest of God in which God conducts our life.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5,6)

To every individual who is reading my words, and who would love to live a life directed in detail by the Lord Jesus, let me tell you it is not only desirable but possible and expected. It is the way I have learned to live, after serving Christ for over sixty years. Have I made mistakes? You bet I have. But I have learned from them and am pressing on the upward way.

The sons of God are to be led by the Spirit of God. The purpose of the Bible is to keep us on the right track, because there are numerous voices in the spirit world that strive continually to deceive us and lead us astray. But if we remain prayerful and patient, meditating in the Scriptures daily, we can make a success of the Spirit-directed life.

People, including Christians, often long to hear God more frequently than they do. Well, we can, even though this fact is often not emphasized in Christian churches, and sometimes is scorned as being a frivolous, dangerous area we should not investigate.

Perhaps it is true that in many instances Christian leaders do not tell their followers that they can hear from God personally each day, if they will ask and obey. In fact, the most exciting part of our discipleship is to hear from Jesus each day. Why don’t we tell the believers that such communication is possible?

All of our discipleship is by faith. But that faith includes and results in having a daily awareness of God’s will for us on each occasion. This requires continual prayer and looking to Jesus in every situation.

I trust in the promises of God found in the Bible and read them each day. In addition, I hear from Jesus at each point of decision of my life because I continually ask for such direction. This does not mean I always hear a voice. It means, rather, that I am guided in one manner or another.

I learn about Christian conferences, gatherings, and what the promoters hope will result. Have they actually heard from Christ that they should make such an effort? Or are they doing what they imagine God wants them to do? I remember overhearing a pastor and his associates planning a "revival" and who the speakers should be. The pastor said a certain individual should be invited because "he draws the crowds." Can you imagine the Lord Jesus saying such a thing to his disciples? Neither can I. As I recall, this "revival" did not accomplish much.

Jesus Christ said he would build his Church. When we attempt to build his Church there is confusion. Consider the multitude of competing denominations! Soon, I think, Christ will call to the dead bones and they will come together to form an army.

What do you think would happen if all the Christian leaders in the world stepped back for a moment from their programs and plans and listened to Jesus? What do you think Jesus would say to them? I believe the Holy Spirit is proclaiming today that the Christian people should turn away from their sinful ways and cease using grace as an excuse for their transgressions and rebellions. Is this what the leaders would hear from the Lord do you suppose? What we are hearing from the leadership is a renewed emphasis on saving the lost.

It is well that those who are called to evangelize go forth to preach the Gospel to the lost. But what about the Christians in America who are not growing in Christ? Is the primary emphasis of the Spirit of God in America that we should try to "save the lost," or is it that we should lead the Christian people from their infancy to maturity in Christ? If the primary emphasis of the Spirit is that of leading the believers to maturity, then the leadership is not hearing from Christ. It is not following the Cloud and the Fire.

Which is the greater threat to Satan’s kingdom: more people who confess Christ, or a Christian who has set aside his or her own life that Christ may live in him or her? Are we more interested in overcoming the accuser or in spreading our religion?

If a Christian who is setting aside his own life that Christ may live in him is more of a threat to Satan than numerous new converts, why are our primary efforts devoted to gaining more converts? It is this kind of misguided emphasis that is a direct result of making our own plans without hearing from the Lord.

From the standpoint of the Kingdom of God, would it be more important to gain more new converts to Christianity, or to impress on the current believers the supreme need of setting their own lives aside that Christ may live in them? There is a great need that each Christian in America come to understand that if God has called him to a high place in his Kingdom, he is going to have to die to his own ways. He is going to have to accept the fact that if he attempts to save his own life, to cause matters to go according to his own ways and standards, he may succeed in preserving his life; but in doing so he will lose part or all of his appointed inheritance.

It seems most Christian churches are implying that we should be led by the Bible. But the Bible itself states the sons of God are to be led by the Spirit. I think that people prefer to be led by the Bible rather than by the Spirit of God so they can remain in control. To be led by the Spirit we must ask Jesus to guide us, and we must obey him strictly when he shows us what he wants.

There is no adventure available to man on the earth more marvelous than that of walking hand in hand with the Lord Jesus through the minefields of life.

He will guide us through our times of sickness, trouble, financial distress, and also when the way appears to be simple and easy. We have to keep looking to him, asking him for help, and obeying what he directs us to do. If we don’t keep praying and looking to the Lord at all times, we won’t know when the Cloud and the Fire have lifted from the Tabernacle and we are supposed to move to a different place.

It is a common practice today to ask Christ for healing, for deliverance from trouble, for money. There are instances when such a prayer is appropriate and necessary. I am not referring to this common practice. Rather I am suggesting that we use each of our distresses as an opportunity to have close fellowship with the Lord. Sometimes he leads us in new and surprising ways to the victory we need.

We cannot be led by the Spirit and then expect to plan our own way. We must ask the Lord to help us keep all of his commandments spoken to us personally, as well as those we read about in the New Testament

Following the Cloud and the Fire can be like walking on the water. On some occasions, if we are not truly hearing from the Lord, the consequences can be severe. We must have courage as we learn to be led by the Spirit, and Christ will help us if we sincerely are seeking to do his will, just as he reached out and assisted Peter. It is kind of like flying by instrument, isn’t it!

It is acceptable to ask Jesus if we are permitted to step out of the boat. But we then do not proceed to do so. We wait until he says, "Come."

Not hearing from the Lord continually can lead us into attempting to duplicate a Divine visitation of the past. There is something of this tendency in the practice of the Israelites who were burning incense to the bronze snake that God on a previous occasion had given for the healing of those who had been bitten by snakes.

Most of us know how God spoke to Abraham throughout his life. Abraham ran ahead of God in the case of the birth of Ishmael. The Seed God had in mind came through Isaac. We always produce a wild man when we act apart from God’s leading.

I think the manner in which the living creatures, of the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, moved straight ahead without turning, tell us something about the life lived in the Spirit of God. We are not to be subject to momentum. Christian institutions appear to be filled with momentum. Once they get started along a certain line they continue on that same line unto the ages of ages—long after God has left.

A denomination has a large monetary and ego involvement in the revelation that was given it in the beginning. It is quite difficult for it to move when God moves. Thus the denominations are landmarks in the wilderness that show where God was at one time.

It happened in a church service that a man yelled "Hallelujah"! As soon as he did, the Spirit of God fell on the assembly and they had a great meeting.

Guess what he did the following Sunday? And guess what happened? You are correct: nothing!

I think sometimes church fill in with music the vacancy left by the absent Spirit of God. It reminds me of the Jews placing the Altar of Incense in the Holy of Holies because the Babylonians had removed the Ark of the Covenant. I like music, but music ordinarily does not form Christ in the believers.

Because we do not always have the immediate Presence, direction, wisdom, and guidance of Christ we may turn and begin to worship what God has done in the past. We may go to a place like Wales, or Azusa Street in Los Angeles, in the hope that God will repeat what he did previously.

A prominent evangelist was known to have gone to the grave of a person greatly used by the Spirit in the hope that her mantle would fall on him.

Sometimes relics are venerated.

We may study the Divine interventions in the lives and ministries of outstanding Christians of the past in the hope of finding what "works," that is, what draws in crowds of people. We do not appear to be equally interested that the Spirit of God builds up the believers in Christ. Thus our motives are suspect, aren’t they?

We just can’t seem to grasp that Christ chooses whom he will, when he will, how he will, where he will, and uses that person in the manner Christ knows will build his Church. We are not always willing to follow the Cloud and the Fire and send Hobab home.

I think sometimes if the present nation of Israel would look to God instead of to world opinion it would emerge in victory from the present distress. Israel needs a prophet who hears from God more than it does a statesman who hears from the United Nations.

It is such a delight to hear directly from the Lord Jesus, why do people insist on governing their lives apart from him?

I was taught in Bible school that the Apostles looked about for population centers, for the most advantageous location from which the Gospel could be spread. I never have found such a thing in the Book of Acts.

There is a human desire to solidify, to establish, to instutionalize an intervention of God. "Let us build three tabernacles." Why are we unwilling to look for the fresh intervention of God instead of seeking the past Glory?

There was the manna each day in the desert. There was the memorial jar of manna stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Do these teach us that God is willing to give us grace for the day; that as our days are, so shall our strength be? There can be a reasonable amount of planning in the life of a disciple, but he always must be looking to the Lord for every action, not taking anything for granted.

Yesterday’s manna has a bad smell.

I may be accused of being impractical. I am eighty-four years old and have been a disciple for over sixty years, so I think by this time I am a fair judge of what is practical and what is a fantasy. Actually, much Christian activity is impractical from a Kingdom standpoint, although humans may regard it as practical and understandable.

I must say, when the churches maintain when we die we go to live in a mansion with a backyard filled with diamonds, walk in our golden slippers on a street of gold and play a golden harp, and have no other responsibilities for eternity, they are in no position to accuse me of being impractical, illogical, or unscriptural.

I am ready to agree that it certainly is easier to pursue the activities of our religion than to wait on the Lord moment by moment. I think many of us would rather water the plants in the sanctuary than spend an hour in prayer before the Lord. How do you feel about this?

It requires considerable experience before we can avoid many of the pitfalls in the path of the believer who is seeking to be led by the Spirit. This is why there are elders in the assemblies. Experience is the coin with which we buy wisdom. By the way, God never will rebuke you for questioning spirits. You can test spirits all day long and God will not be insulted.

A statement by Jeremiah has remained with me through the years:

Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, "Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. (Jeremiah 32:8) "Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord."

Can you see in this statement how even Jeremiah tested his revelations against what actually took place? When thinking about following the Cloud and the Fire, it is necessary to realize the importance of learning to deal with deception. Because the power of Satan over people was broken on the cross of Calvary, Satan uses deception to gain control over people.

Satan is a master of deception. Sometimes Christians in their ignorance believe they cannot be deceived if they pray and read their Bible. I am here to tell you, based on personal experience, that you can pray fervently, read your Bible every day, and go to church on a regular basis, and still be deceived.

When we come to Christ we may have open doors in our personality through which Satan can work his works of deception. We may have a romantic nature, or a greedy, covetous personality. We may always be striving for preeminence or leadership, to be in control. We may have a murderous or hateful nature. The door to our personality may be along the line of intellectual pride.

Satan studies our personality profile. He estimates the best tactic to use to get us into his power. If we are a romantic person he will not use a crudity of some sort. If we have a hateful nature he probably will not seek to tempt us with money

We may have many dimensions of our sinful nature that can be dispatched readily if we are willing to follow the Holy Spirit as he points them out. We are to confess and renounce them with all our might, asking Christ to help us.

But then there are these kings!

The kings are kept shut up in the Cave at Makkedah, so to speak. When the Lord sees we are strong enough to withstand his dealing with our kings, he brings them forth.

Sometimes Christ lets us wrestle with a king of our personality throughout our discipleship. This is how we gain a conquering personality. We never yield to the king, but he just doesn’t leave as readily as some of the lesser traits.

On occasion the Lord permits us to be deceived. Satan reasons with us until we accept the king as being of God, even though the Scripture lists him as unclean. If we remain prayerful in the midst of our deception, Christ finally will bring us out. We have learned a hard, hard lesson that we will not soon forget. This is the manner in which Christ may deal with a major aspect of our sinful nature.

Deception comes through our mind, our reasoning. We may be well versed in the Bible, and this usually is helpful. We may be determined to serve the Lord. But it is our personal cross that is the wall against deception.

We become deceived when we attempt to make our life pleasurable. "God is so good! Surely he wants me to have her, or him, or this thing, or that circumstance." Be exceedingly careful with anything you crave—that you simply have to have in order to be happy. This is the arena of deception.

God has promised to give the desires of their heart to those who delight themselves in him and his righteous, holy ways. And indeed he shall! He is bound by his unchanging Word to do this. But every such burning desire must be slain, and then raised in Christ, before we can receive it without being bound by it.

Before, it was an idol. Now it is an enlargement, a blessing, and no sorrow shall be added to it.

Deception is very prevalent among Christian people. Regular church attendance helps. Often a person who is deceived will receive spiritual assistance just by being in the company of other praying people.

However, it is in faithfully carrying one’s cross of self-denial that by far is the best protection against deception. This world is not Heaven, and any attempt to make it Heaven will almost certainly lead the believer into deception.

If you suddenly realize you, a devout Christian, have been deceived, maybe for years, do not panic. Go to Christ, ask him to forgive and deliver you. He may require some sort of restitution. If he does, pray and ask his help as to what he wants you to do.

Sometimes it is nothing more than to withdraw from what you have been doing and go on your way in victory. On other occasions the Lord will direct you and help you to make things right if you have stolen something or offended someone.

If you have sinned against your wife or husband, it is best that you do not confess what you have done to the injured partner just to get rid of the feeling of guilt. You may really hurt him or her unnecessarily.

Or if you have hated someone. You do not have to confess that to a person. Keep your confessions to a minimum and just work it out with the Lord. Satan will try to take advantage of you and urge you to do something that will hurt someone, or otherwise cause unnecessary trouble.

The thing is, you have learned a hard lesson. Get right with the Lord and go on your way, a sadder, wiser Christian. Christ will help you to do just that.

I also might mention "passivity," another trap into which the person may fall while attempting to follow the Cloud and the Fire. This error is made by the fervent believer. He desires to be an empty vessel, filled with God and moved by the Lord just as a puppet would by one holding the strings.

One of the signs that the believer has fallen into the trap of passivity is that he cannot stay with a decision. He makes a decision, and then he changes his mind. This going back and forth continues until he is disabled.

When a believer is climbing out of this pitfall the solution is to pray, make a decision, and then stay with it even though he "feels" he is not doing what the Lord wants or what is best in the circumstances. He is to keep staying with his decisions until his will is razor-sharp. In order for this procedure to work correctly the believer must continually be looking to Jesus and committing everything he does to the Lord.

The Lord does not want empty vessels. Just be yourself. Keep on pressing forward and accept your chastenings. You will be cast down and frustrated on numerous occasions. Keep praying and pressing forward in Christ.

A sailboat cannot steered until it is in motion. Commit your way to the Lord constantly and do what is before you if it is reasonable. If you wait for the Lord to speak you probably will wait for the rest of your life. God does not like being forced to speak.

Pray much. Take one small step. Look at the fruit. If it is good, take another small step. Look at the fruit. Keep praying. If you are going in the wrong direction, Jesus will correct you.

But if you go in your closet and pray all night, it is possible nothing will happen. If it does, it probably will not be the Lord.

This especially is the case with young people. Go to college. Get a job, Follow your desires after you have prayed. If you pray and fast, asking the Lord to speak to you, you probably will be deceived.

Get out in the educational or work realms of your culture. When the ungodly correct you, listen to what they say. They probably are giving you good advice. If you can see it is good, wholesome advice, don’t reject it because they are ungodly.

We Christians tend to be smug and conceited. We think we know more than the people of the world or people of other races or religions. We often are incorrect in this. We need to listen to their comments and weigh them carefully. They may be correct in their judgment of us, and we need to humble ourselves so we can profit from their observations.

Keep praying, take your knocks and learn from them, get up and press forward in Christ. He loves this kind of courageous, consistent, determined attitude.

I have been in the Pentecostal movement for many years. I have heard much prophesying. Some of it was from the Lord. Some was not. I do not say this to discourage any believer who wants to launch out in prophesying. But I will say when something you state does not bear witness with other Christians, or does not come to pass, admit that you need to be a bit more careful. It was prophesied over me that I was going to die. This was many years ago. Just remember, when it is God who speaks, the rooster crows.

Our Lord Jesus is our example of how to live in the Presence of God. Christ did nothing, thought nothing, said nothing, apart from the Father. This is the rest of God toward which we are to press.

We can get a flavor of this perfect obedience to the Father in the following expression:

Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. (John 11:6)

The Lord Jesus knew that Lazarus was sick and would die, but he did not go to Bethany immediately. He waited for the Father to tell him when to go. This is how we should make our decisions—always waiting to hear from Christ.

Notice in the following passage how Christ was following the will of the Father closely. Every one of Jesus’ steps was ordered with great care. So will ours be, if we ask God to carefully control our actions.

We see in the passage that this was not true of the disciples:

Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. (John 7:6)

When learning to follow the Cloud and the Fire, it is helpful to learn to live in the "now," not in the future or the past. Just make it a habit throughout the day to ask the Lord for the next step, even though you are in the midst of your work routine. It might save your life someday!

We are not to go to the mulberry trees at the next battle just because we are too lazy to seek the Lord afresh! Joshua was tricked by the Gibeonites. He didn’t ask the Lord about them. This is why we are to pray about everything and not take anything for granted.

"Do whatever he tells you," Mary said. This is the whole idea, isn’t it?

Don’t forget, your life on earth is a pilgrimage, just as was true of the camps of Israel in the desert. You may stay at one place a short time, or a long time. If God has moved you to one place it does not mean you are to stay there forever. Follow the Cloud and the Fire.

The Lord Jesus wants us to have a happy heart, confident that he will take care of the future. This may be difficult to do, especially in times of trouble or sickness. But if we ask God to create this happy, confident, cheerful spirit in us, he shall do it. Such optimism is not carelessness, it is based on God’s faithfulness.

The book, Godwill Castle, was given to me as I followed the Cloud and the Fire. The piano composition, "God Is My Salvation," was given to me as I followed the Cloud and the Fire. As for the publishing of these, that will be up to Christ. He will take the initiative in this task in his time, should he desire they be published. Only one life ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done by the Lord will last."

In our day the Ark of God is coming down the road, so to speak. If we lay our hand on it, attempting to assist or modify it, we will die spiritually. If we just let God have his wonderful way we will live and experience great blessing.

In the new world of righteousness God will bring into existence, every citizen will be living in the Spirit of God and not according to his or her thinking or ambition. We can begin our preparation for the new world by looking to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, for every aspect of our life.

All who choose to accept the Kingship of Christ and are willing to be directed by him shall be saved.

All who choose not to accept the Kingship of Christ and who refuse to live by Christ’s will rather than their own will, are now, and forever shall be, lost to the Presence and blessing of God.

You, dear reader, can inherit all the glory of Christ’s Kingdom. But you absolutely have to set aside your own life that Christ may live in you.

If you choose to do this, the Lord will help you. You will be so glad that you have made this most important decision of all. If you do not choose to be part of Christ in this manner, you will be shaken out of the Kingdom in the coming days. Only what is part of Christ will survive the shaking.

With Christ’s assistance you can follow the Cloud and the Fire until you reach your land of promise, your unique destiny, your own castle.

And now I want to sound the trumpet to all believers in America. If you wish to survive during the coming days of Divine judgment upon America you are going to have to know how to follow the Lord one step at a time. If you attempt to use your own judgment, wisdom, training, or any other source of direction, or take anything for granted, you very well may run into danger thinking you were escaping or going to a place of safety.

I say also to other people, including Muslims, Hindus, agnostics, atheists, and all other leaders and followers —I say to you that in the days of trouble that are coming, if you seek Christ and ask for his guidance and help, he will help and guide you. You do not need to join another religion or throw away your Scriptures.

I am not speaking about a religion. Christ is alive. I will not bear a false witness. I have followed this Man for over sixty years. He is alive and I am living what I am teaching here. He has great power and wisdom. He will help you if you call on him. He has helped and still is helping me. Try it and see for yourself that whoever calls on the name of Christ shall be saved.

Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, "Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you." So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island." (Acts 27:23-26)

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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