Holy Boldness

4/10/2018

Everyone struggles with some aspect of their life that doesn't measure up. We all feel inferior and inadequate at times. For me, the partial deafness I experienced since childhood was a "thorn in my flesh" that reminded me continually that I was less than perfect: damaged goods. And yet God turned this disability in the natural into an ability in the Spirit: I learned (from John 10:27) that everyone can hear God. Silence helped me focus better. It was my encounters with a God I could hear that changed me from being fearfully insecure to being full of "holy boldness."

Isaiah had a similar transformation in God's throne room. (Read Isaiah chapter 6 for the full story.) He moved from being "undone" in God's presence to saying, "Here I am, send me!" Insecurity, weakness and sin were all removed when a coal from the altar touched his lips.

As I pondered this passage from Isaiah, the Lord reminded me of something I used to do as a child in school that helped me.

To hear what was being taught, it was imperative that I sit up front, as close to the speaker as possible, because I would miss things if I sat too far away. Although moving to the front was a definite pride-killer - (how embarrassing!) - it was the only way I could follow what was going on.

Today, I hear the Lord saying, “Position yourself! Position yourself near the throne of God so that you can hear what is happening in the Spirit!” As in Isaiah chapter 6, we must position ourselves regularly at the foot of the throne so that we can see and hear what is happening in the courts of God. We know that the voice of the Lord shakes the cedars and rocks the heavens with thunder, but when we are positioned at the foot of the throne, we can hear even the seraphim speaking, and Isaiah says their voices shake the posts of the doorways!

It is important that we believers rely not just on our gifts, but that we also are known for being positioned in the Presence of God!

Like me, some of you have said, "Lord, I'm deaf. I'm not even sure I hear You correctly. I'm not worthy of the things You are calling me to do." And the Lord is responding, "I want to release a HOLY BOLDNESS upon you! I am looking for people who will position themselves, as Isaiah did in the throne room and Deborah did in her classes, at the foot of My throne and STAY THERE until they hear what is going on in My heart!"

The key to hearing is intimacy. The only way you can be intimate with Father is by staying close enough to hear His whispers. In the Presence of God, we become aware of the glory that fills the temple. We realize that that same glory is designed to fill US, because we are New Testament temples of the Holy Spirit. Just as He did with Isaiah, God is in the business of sending out glory-filled firebrands, one by one, until the whole earth is full of the glory and knowledge of God.

This is not the time for false humility and self-deprecation; it is time for those who can honestly say, like Isaiah, "My eyes have seen the King!" - to rise up with a HOLY BOLDNESS and allow God to send you into all the earth, proclaiming the messages you hear as you position yourselves at His feet.

Remember what happened when people positioned themselves at Christ's feet:

- Mary poured perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her tears and her hair. This simple act of worship released a revelation of the forgiveness of God for the sinner. In fact, the Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner that day said, “If this man were a real prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

Jesus did know, just as He knew Isaiah was a sinner centuries before, and it was still more important to Him to release forgiveness, so that her message could be told throughout the earth. He who is forgiven much loves much!

-When crowds of people brought the lame, crippled, blind, mute and sick and laid them down at the feet of Jesus (see Matthew 15:30), He healed every one of them. Right positioning here released revelation of the heart of God concerning healing.

-When the Syrophoenician woman fell at the feet of Jesus and begged Him for deliverance for her child, it released the revelation that even a non-Israelite, Gentile nation could lay claim to the goodness and deliverance available in God’s Kingdom.

-In Luke 5, Peter’s obedience to reposition himself on the other side of his boat, casting down his nets a second time, resulted in the revelation of God’s glory through a miracle – he caught so many fish that the boat was sinking! When he then fell at Jesus’ feet saying “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” his recognition of Christ’s deity, along with his right positioning, released the further revelation that Peter was called to become a fisher of men – a new identity and mission.

It is my firm belief that God is saying several things to us today:

He’s calling us back into deep and intimate relationship with Him, not just a casual use of the gifts He has given us. It’s easy to use your gift. It’s harder to develop a life of humility and character as you position yourself at His feet and listen for what He is saying.

He’s calling us to walk in a HOLY BOLDNESS, knowing that although we are nothing but unworthy servants, we still have the amazing privilege of hearing things that previous prophets never heard and seeing things that He is now revealing in this hour. (See John 20:21 and Matthew 13:16.)

God is calling us to “come up higher,” as both Isaiah and later the apostle John did, to receive the fresh, new revelations we need to carry throughout the earth today.

We need not be "deaf prophets." We are hearing ones and seeing ones, not missing one precious word! I pray that your time near God's altar will cleanse every feeling of unrighteousness, fill you with God's glory and send you out with the HOLY BOLDNESS of a new identity rooted in Him.

Go deeper!
Listen to the video below from last week's Ascend conference I attended in South Carolina, where several leaders speak on related themes from Isaiah 6. Comments? Share your thoughts below.