Beloved Intercessors,
Love and greetings from Blue Mountain Christian Retreat in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania! Philip and I began coming here as Sister Gwen‘s road crew/praise and worship leaders in 1983. It’s one of our favorite destinations in the world! There is an open heaven, and the people come here ready to worship — and the Presence of the Lord comes and inhibits the place in a fresh anointing. We hope that if you live nearby, that you will join us this weekend. And if you don’t live nearby, you can join us as we live stream, hopefully to YouTube. If we are not there, look for us on Facebook. We have achieved over 1000 subscribers now, but apparently it may take a little while for YouTube to recognize that. Thank you so much to all who have subscribed to our YouTube channel! If you have clicked on the little bell, you will be notified every time that we go live, so you won’t have to miss anything!
Prepare the Way of the Lord: I have had this song by Jared Anderson in my spirit for weeks now.
Prepare the way
Make straight the path for Him
Let the King of glory enter in
Let the King of glory enter in
Who is this King of glory
The Lord strong and mighty
The Lord mighty to save
The earth is full of His glory
Creation calls prepare the way
His love endureth forever
His power is without an end
His strength is victory’s treasure
Let all who call His name prepare the way
So much of the time our minds are occupied with our earthly circumstances when the genuine reality is the eternal, spiritual side of things. People who have had a near death experience talk about how very aware they are once they’re outside of their bodies. They can think more clearly, and their senses are heightened, even though they have no physical eyes, ears, or hands to be able to touch things. We are focusing on the wrong reality!
In order for us to be able to prepare the way of the Lord, we have to realize that He is sovereign, and that He really, truly is coming soon!!! He is on His way, and He’s looking for people who are looking for Him!
Preparing to His way, according to Isaiah 40:3, calls for making a straight highway for Him. The Hebrew word translated “highway” is micellah (Strong’s H4546). It means “a thoroughfare (as turnpiked), literally or figuratively; specifically a viaduct, a staircase:—causeway, course, highway, path, terrace.” It is literally a raised road. In our generation, we think of highways in terms of roads for high-speed vehicles, but in biblical times the term literally means a road that has been raised up or made high above the land. So, in rainy conditions, a highway would have been built up in such a way so that the water would flow off of it and not tend to have muddy places and puddles. It improved travel. It required work to build it.
I believe that the Lord is calling us to prepare a road that is higher than our normal earthly ways. It is raised up so that we will not get bogged down or delayed under rainy conditions. He has promised an outpouring of His Holy Spirit that will begin with a breath, wind, rain, floods, and torrents. There will be a mighty harvest of souls and amazing miracles. If the way on which we walk is too low, we will be washed away in the move of God. We must build up the highway that is full of His ways.
Isaiah 55:9 declares, “For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Jesus gave His life to break the curse of sin that causes us to walk in low ways and think low thoughts. He sacrificed Himself to restore us to relationship with our Heavenly Father. We have the opportunity by His Spirit to rise into the original plan and destiny for mankind. The first Adam blew it and caused all of us, his descendants, to be broken and bent toward sin — born losers inclined to make wrong choices. But the last Adam, Jesus Christ, paid our penalty so that He could raise us up to walk with Him above temptation. He has empowered us to build up a higher way for Him as He comes to establish His Kingdom on Earth.
I’m receiving a whole “download” on this subject that I expect, God willing, to be the subject of the messages this weekend.
The Lord is also giving Philip an important message for Saturday morning, “Worship Your Way Out of Fear and Weakness.”
We hope that you will be able to join us either in person or online, and that the Lord will use these messages and the worship to help build you up, and that together we will build up the highway for the Lord!
Rainbow House of Prayer: We hope that you are all praying for us as we return to Niagara Falls next week. Please pray for the Lord’s appointments with His key people to resolve a question about the land in a way that will be pleasing to our Father. We love our neighbors and want to bless them and honor them as a people beloved of the Lord.
We are planning to have a fellowship dinner there with many friends and loved ones from the area on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. If you are in the area, please join us.
We also have a prayer request regarding some trees that need to be removed from around the house that are either dangerous or unsightly. We need the Lord’s provision ($$$) to take care of this matter.
Quarterly Letter: You should be receiving our 2nd Quarter Letter soon. I always love how the anointing of the Lord brings together His heart and His words to be a blessing to His people. We hope that you will enjoy it.
Thank you! We are so grateful for your prayers and financial help. When everyone obeys the Holy Spirit, it is easy to accomplish all He has given us to do. Thank you to each one who has been obedient to the Lord‘s instructions! We are deeply grateful!
Your handmaiden and servant,
Sharon and Philip