What does the Mountain mean to the Apostle?
I would like to begin by looking at exactly what the mountain is. What is the mountain? What does it represent in the apostolic calling?
What is the Lord saying to you when He says, "I am calling you up my mountain?"
To put it very simply, the mountain is a time of separation. Each of you is going to experience this sooner or later in your walk. And perhaps by the end of this chapter you will be able to gauge where you are in this process that the Lord will take you through.
A Unique Call
There needs to come a time of separation from the world. This is where the Lord can draw you to Himself for a time of intimate training, change and teaching, and the face-to-face relationship. You cannot move fully into the Apostolic Office until you have had this time of separation. This is because until you are able to hear the Lord's voice for yourself, you cannot move into all that He has for you.
If you, standing as an apostle and leader in the Body of Christ, are not able to hear the Lord's Word clearly and precisely, and know exactly which step to take next, you are not going to make it as a leader. At the first sign of opposition of deception, you are going to fall.
So this time is probably the central point of your apostolic training. It is going to dictate where your ministry is going to. It will show you what function your ministry will have and what track you are going to run on. Even now I can already see you in your mind starting to put the pictures together.
You are likely thinking to yourself, "I wonder what that means to me? I wonder what the Lord is going to show me? I wonder what track He is going to put me on?" It is important that you think in this way, because every apostle is different. Although our training is the same, each one of you is unique in the way the Lord has brought you to this point. You are unique in the way you think, speak and minister. There is no universal pattern, because there is a pattern just for you!
A Solitary Climb
You need to have a time of solitude. And one of the first conditions of climbing the mountain is that you climb alone. This is very important, because there comes a time of confusion where you feel that everybody has left you, and that you are the only one still going on. You feel alone and isolated.
Perhaps this is the Lord calling you aside to that time of separation, because when you climb up the mountain you climb alone. Nobody can tell you how to climb, and nobody can tell you how to hear the voice of the Lord. These are things that you as an apostle have to learn for yourself, because until you have learned them, you cannot teach them to others.
Until you can hear His voice, you cannot tell the people, "Thus says the Lord ..." Until you have received direction, you cannot lay out the pattern for the people. So you climb alone. And it is a lonely and sometimes misunderstood walk. You need to realize that if this is what you are facing in your life right now, this could very well be the Lord saying, "I am calling you to the mountain. Let it go and come aside alone with me so that I can share with you."
The Pull to Get into the Spirit
You need to be taken out of your natural circumstances. You need to be taken away from the things that influence you every day, and get into the spiritual realm.
When you are going to work, when the kids are nagging you, or when your wife is giving you a tough time or your husband is saying, "Do this or that," it is very difficult to get in the Spirit. When your boss is yelling at you and you are having pressure from all external influences, it is not easy to walk in the Spirit. It is not very easy to hear the Lord's voice.
That is why this time of separation is so very important. It is to shut of external stimuli that are pressing down on you and your mind, and confusing the message that the Lord is trying to get to you. The only way that you can get away from it is for a time of complete separation; perhaps even a time of fasting and prayer. The Lord will pull you away totally from all your natural senses, your templates, your daily schedules - everything that gives any kind of external influence on you from the outside.
If this is happening to you right now, then be encouraged. The Lord is putting you into a special, secret place, where He is going to build you up to be a magnificent leader for the Kingdom of God! But you must realize that you have to be pulled out of the natural. You cannot remain having those natural things coming at you, and still receive the Spirit of the Lord.
Hearing His Voice
Up until now you have not been able to hear His voice quite as clearly as you should be hearing it. As a prophet, if you have moved in the Prophetic Ministry you have come to a degree of hearing His voice and speaking in prophecy. But there comes a deeper level in the Apostolic Ministry, when you move beyond speaking for the Lord to speaking as the Lord.
This is why the words that you speak as an apostle are firstly very important because they bear on the situation, and secondly you had better speak right! You cannot afford mistakes standing as a leader in the Kingdom of God. Yes, do not worry, mistakes will come, but the Lord will bear you up in your mistakes. But there needs to come a clarity in your hearing from the Lord. That is why you need to be pulled out of your natural circumstances.
A Clean Slate
There is another condition that is probably more difficult than being pulled out of your natural surroundings. This relates to the fact that when you go up the mountain you cannot take anything of this world with you. When Moses climbed the mountain, he did not take his tent, his wife or his cattle. He didn't even take any food and water! At least we have it lucky and get to keep our food and water.
He left everything that he was, everything that he had and everything that he had accomplished in this life. Even the people that he was leading were left behind. He could not even take them up! He had to leave them to their own devices.
As you go to the top of the mountain, you will not be able to take your degrees, your doctorates, or your great leadership skills. You are not going to be able to take your great ability to influence people with emotion. You will not be able to take up your great big shows of supremacy and your ability to speak so well. You cannot take them with you. Because you see, God sees right through that.
You are not going up there to seek the face of man. You are going up there to seek the face of God, and He does not look at what degrees you have. He does not look at how well you speak or how magnificent you are. He looks at your heart. If you think you are going to approach God with, "Oh Lord, I'm such a great leader, and look what a wonderful thing I've done in your Kingdom," expect to trip over the first stone! That is one of the first things you are going to leave behind.
You are coming to God on your hands and knees and with your face on the ground. That is how you are coming to God - as Moses did, in humility. You are not coming with your great speech and your eloquence. You are not coming with all the accomplishments that you have done in the Kingdom of God. In fact, I will tell you this now by the Spirit of God. Take everything that you have done in ministry and in your life up until this point, and scratch it! This is because before the mountain and after the mountain are two different lives.
Take everything you have accomplished in ministry, and everything you have accomplished in life and in this world, and just sweep it to one side, because it does not exist anymore. When you come down from the mountain, the old you will not exist anymore, therefore that old life will not exist anymore. You are coming down in new glory! You are coming down in power! Do not expect that what happened back then and what worked back then is going to work now. You are going to come down a different man or woman of God.
Receiving the Things of the Spirit
Why does the Lord call us to this? 1 Corinthians 2:9 and 10 says:
However it is written, No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those that love him. But God revealed [them] to us by the spirit: the Spirit investigates everything, even the deep things of God.
Why do you need the mountain? Because you need to get into the Spirit, apostle of God. You need to put away the soulish mind, because the soulish man does not perceive the things of the Lord.
You cannot approach this with your mind. This is not something you can comprehend with intellectual thinking. This goes way deeper than the mind! It goes into the Spirit. For you to touch the spiritual realm of God, you have to bring your spirit into control to dominate your flesh and your soulish mind. And sometimes it is the most difficult thing to bring into submission.
You can force the flesh to submit. You can fast, and with willpower you can put yourself beyond into extreme situations. But to control the soulish man is an entirely different area! Perhaps even now as you are reading this, you are facing death in your mind, emotions and will. You are having to let go of that intellectual way of thinking, because the soulish man does not perceive the things of the Lord.
What is the Lord saying to you when He says, "I am calling you up my mountain?"
To put it very simply, the mountain is a time of separation. Each of you is going to experience this sooner or later in your walk. And perhaps by the end of this chapter you will be able to gauge where you are in this process that the Lord will take you through.
A Unique Call
There needs to come a time of separation from the world. This is where the Lord can draw you to Himself for a time of intimate training, change and teaching, and the face-to-face relationship. You cannot move fully into the Apostolic Office until you have had this time of separation. This is because until you are able to hear the Lord's voice for yourself, you cannot move into all that He has for you.
If you, standing as an apostle and leader in the Body of Christ, are not able to hear the Lord's Word clearly and precisely, and know exactly which step to take next, you are not going to make it as a leader. At the first sign of opposition of deception, you are going to fall.
So this time is probably the central point of your apostolic training. It is going to dictate where your ministry is going to. It will show you what function your ministry will have and what track you are going to run on. Even now I can already see you in your mind starting to put the pictures together.
You are likely thinking to yourself, "I wonder what that means to me? I wonder what the Lord is going to show me? I wonder what track He is going to put me on?" It is important that you think in this way, because every apostle is different. Although our training is the same, each one of you is unique in the way the Lord has brought you to this point. You are unique in the way you think, speak and minister. There is no universal pattern, because there is a pattern just for you!
A Solitary Climb
You need to have a time of solitude. And one of the first conditions of climbing the mountain is that you climb alone. This is very important, because there comes a time of confusion where you feel that everybody has left you, and that you are the only one still going on. You feel alone and isolated.
Perhaps this is the Lord calling you aside to that time of separation, because when you climb up the mountain you climb alone. Nobody can tell you how to climb, and nobody can tell you how to hear the voice of the Lord. These are things that you as an apostle have to learn for yourself, because until you have learned them, you cannot teach them to others.
Until you can hear His voice, you cannot tell the people, "Thus says the Lord ..." Until you have received direction, you cannot lay out the pattern for the people. So you climb alone. And it is a lonely and sometimes misunderstood walk. You need to realize that if this is what you are facing in your life right now, this could very well be the Lord saying, "I am calling you to the mountain. Let it go and come aside alone with me so that I can share with you."
The Pull to Get into the Spirit
You need to be taken out of your natural circumstances. You need to be taken away from the things that influence you every day, and get into the spiritual realm.
When you are going to work, when the kids are nagging you, or when your wife is giving you a tough time or your husband is saying, "Do this or that," it is very difficult to get in the Spirit. When your boss is yelling at you and you are having pressure from all external influences, it is not easy to walk in the Spirit. It is not very easy to hear the Lord's voice.
That is why this time of separation is so very important. It is to shut of external stimuli that are pressing down on you and your mind, and confusing the message that the Lord is trying to get to you. The only way that you can get away from it is for a time of complete separation; perhaps even a time of fasting and prayer. The Lord will pull you away totally from all your natural senses, your templates, your daily schedules - everything that gives any kind of external influence on you from the outside.
If this is happening to you right now, then be encouraged. The Lord is putting you into a special, secret place, where He is going to build you up to be a magnificent leader for the Kingdom of God! But you must realize that you have to be pulled out of the natural. You cannot remain having those natural things coming at you, and still receive the Spirit of the Lord.
Hearing His Voice
Up until now you have not been able to hear His voice quite as clearly as you should be hearing it. As a prophet, if you have moved in the Prophetic Ministry you have come to a degree of hearing His voice and speaking in prophecy. But there comes a deeper level in the Apostolic Ministry, when you move beyond speaking for the Lord to speaking as the Lord.
This is why the words that you speak as an apostle are firstly very important because they bear on the situation, and secondly you had better speak right! You cannot afford mistakes standing as a leader in the Kingdom of God. Yes, do not worry, mistakes will come, but the Lord will bear you up in your mistakes. But there needs to come a clarity in your hearing from the Lord. That is why you need to be pulled out of your natural circumstances.
A Clean Slate
There is another condition that is probably more difficult than being pulled out of your natural surroundings. This relates to the fact that when you go up the mountain you cannot take anything of this world with you. When Moses climbed the mountain, he did not take his tent, his wife or his cattle. He didn't even take any food and water! At least we have it lucky and get to keep our food and water.
He left everything that he was, everything that he had and everything that he had accomplished in this life. Even the people that he was leading were left behind. He could not even take them up! He had to leave them to their own devices.
As you go to the top of the mountain, you will not be able to take your degrees, your doctorates, or your great leadership skills. You are not going to be able to take your great ability to influence people with emotion. You will not be able to take up your great big shows of supremacy and your ability to speak so well. You cannot take them with you. Because you see, God sees right through that.
You are not going up there to seek the face of man. You are going up there to seek the face of God, and He does not look at what degrees you have. He does not look at how well you speak or how magnificent you are. He looks at your heart. If you think you are going to approach God with, "Oh Lord, I'm such a great leader, and look what a wonderful thing I've done in your Kingdom," expect to trip over the first stone! That is one of the first things you are going to leave behind.
You are coming to God on your hands and knees and with your face on the ground. That is how you are coming to God - as Moses did, in humility. You are not coming with your great speech and your eloquence. You are not coming with all the accomplishments that you have done in the Kingdom of God. In fact, I will tell you this now by the Spirit of God. Take everything that you have done in ministry and in your life up until this point, and scratch it! This is because before the mountain and after the mountain are two different lives.
Take everything you have accomplished in ministry, and everything you have accomplished in life and in this world, and just sweep it to one side, because it does not exist anymore. When you come down from the mountain, the old you will not exist anymore, therefore that old life will not exist anymore. You are coming down in new glory! You are coming down in power! Do not expect that what happened back then and what worked back then is going to work now. You are going to come down a different man or woman of God.
Receiving the Things of the Spirit
Why does the Lord call us to this? 1 Corinthians 2:9 and 10 says:
However it is written, No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those that love him. But God revealed [them] to us by the spirit: the Spirit investigates everything, even the deep things of God.
Why do you need the mountain? Because you need to get into the Spirit, apostle of God. You need to put away the soulish mind, because the soulish man does not perceive the things of the Lord.
You cannot approach this with your mind. This is not something you can comprehend with intellectual thinking. This goes way deeper than the mind! It goes into the Spirit. For you to touch the spiritual realm of God, you have to bring your spirit into control to dominate your flesh and your soulish mind. And sometimes it is the most difficult thing to bring into submission.
You can force the flesh to submit. You can fast, and with willpower you can put yourself beyond into extreme situations. But to control the soulish man is an entirely different area! Perhaps even now as you are reading this, you are facing death in your mind, emotions and will. You are having to let go of that intellectual way of thinking, because the soulish man does not perceive the things of the Lord.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pastor B. Jamal Broadnax on
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Awesome. Thanks for sharing from the heart of God. This is definitely challenging me to go on to another level!
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Permalink Reply by Apostle Jerry A. Howard on
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Pastor,
Thank you for the reply.
Apostle Howard -
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Permalink Reply by Apostle Randy E. on
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My Brother. It is a True Blessing to see how Our God is doing a great work in these last days. This is a short shout out from a teaching I wrote serveral years ago.
This is a teaching using Abram, who becomes Abraham for his OBEDIENCE. His empowering comes after he leaves some behind, while moving ahead toward his mountain top experiance with his purpose along side him.
There are times in our lives, when we, must leave the asses and those who may come between the fulfilling of our call behind, so we can become chosen for service. There are many who would try to hold us back from God's will in our lives.
Please notice these seven steps to maturity:
1.) Answering the call (Geneses. 12:1-3,4)
2.) Preparation (Geneses 12:14-20)
3.) Separation (Geneses 13:1-4)
4.) Designation (Geneses 13:14-18)
5.) Purpose (Geneses 15:1-6)
6.) Fulfilling the call (Geneses17:1-7) with (Geneses 22:1-14)
7.) Rewarding of the call (Geneses 22:15-19)
Further explanation for these steps.
1.) Answering the call. Isolation is necessary, for if we can not find solitude, we will not find intimacy.
2.) Preparation, brings us into intimacy with God, in order to prepare us for service.
3.) Separation places us in a place for impartation, so that we can receive from the Lord Himself, and be inspired for service.
4.) Designation, creates the opportunity for change, change will bring forth usefulness, and usefulness will impart direction.
5.) Purpose is revealed by or through designation, but this is at a cost. We must be able to distinguish the true voice of God in order to be able to fulfill our calling.
6.) Fulfilling the call can only be accomplished by departing from deceptive influences, moving away from the crowds, and those known to be parasitic in nature. You must protect your relationships at all cost. Know those you befriend.
7.) Rewarding of the call comes only after one has demonstrated faithfulness and faithfulness will be counted as righteousness, thereby one becomes chosen.
Did you notice that it took time to show Abraham (Abram) that he had a purpose, and through that time God was ever proving and maturing his servant for service.
Just as it was for Abraham so it will be for you, it just does not happen that one day you recognize you are a minister for God and then begin to do the work.
You can see this truth in the ministry of Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, David, John the Baptist, The Apostles, Paul the Apostle, and many more.
This same scenario can be even applied to Jesus Christ and His walk on this earth (read the Gospels). Selah.
Now as we begin our journey in study of the obedience of a servant, we must prepare to seek His guidance in all that we desire to do, and learn about His word.
For in this study I believe God will open to you a door of understanding so that you may be empowered for service and may be well able to fulfill your calling and receive your Blessings for your OBEDIENCE.
Your servant in Christ Yeshua
Apostle Randy E. -
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Permalink Reply by JUANITA JAMES on
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BLESS YOU MAN OF GOD. I AM GOING THROUGH EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE EXPRESSING AND I FEEL AS THOUGH I FEEL GOD PULLING ME AND CALLING ME TO THE MOUNTAIN. I EVEN TURNS THE TV AND PHONE OFF DURING THIS TIME ...I COULD NOT EXPLAIN TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHY AT FIRST.WHEN THEY ASK ME.BUT,I KNEW THAT IT WAS GOD AND I WOULD JUST SAY OH ! GOD IS TALKING TO ME .AND TIMES I FEEL LEFT OUT OF LIFE. AND I MUST ADMIT IT FEELS LONELY. IAM STARTING TO HAVE REVELATIONS MORE OFTEN NOW AND PRAYING FOR OTHERS AND IAM NOT PERFECT BUT I HUMBLE MYSELF BEFORE GOD. IAM NOT TRYING TO BE NO BIG WONDER ,I JUST WANT TO BE USED BY GOD. NOW AS I READ YOUR BLOG I BEGAN TO SEE WHY GOD PLACED ME UPON YOUR HEART. GOD IS TEACHING ME COMPASSION. AND I THANK YOU ! BE BLESSED.
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Permalink Reply by Apostle Deborah Anderson on
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This is a very heart-to-heart and true admonition to humility as the way of the ministry anointing and life of an Apostle. Indeed, the marks of a true Apostle are evident in the experience of the truth you've shared in facing this mountain to which I, for one, can so relate. So many are mislead into believing the office is something that can be self-attained and one to be desired for some higher glory, honor or recognition. The truth, which you have so compassionately and realistically conveyed, exemplifies a life of complete separation, isolation and a loneliness that cannot be compared. Paul says it best in his letters: "Your life is not your own; ye have been bought with price; The life I now live I live in Christ hidden in Him." Our encounters with God on this mountain, going up and coming down, have been on our face with more tears than accolades and honor receptions; more rejection and misunderstanding than applause and appreciation. But I praise God for the lessons the mountain has taught me, the discipline of hearing God clearly before conveying, and the power of God that rests upon His servants to endure hardness as a good soldier. Yet we rejoice all the more giving thanks to God always through it all. Thank you for telling it just like it is - the truth! This College is going to bless nations! I love too that you brought out the fact that not all Apostles minister the same and there are different administrations of the gift, and the importance of understanding your function as an Apostle. Many believe that the central function of an Apostle is to build (brick and mortar) church buildings. Looking forward to the regional meetings of the Apostles to hear and see the diversity and pattern of the plan of God for the advancement of the Kingdom. Texas is being established!
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Permalink Reply by Apostle Vincent R. Pool, Sr. on
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This is very sound and timely word, my brother. Every Apostolic gifting need to hear the heart of God in this word. Thank you for sharing.
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Permalink Reply by PASTOR CHRISTIAN MAWUKO on
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I LOVE THIS.GOD BLESS YOU APOSTLE.
PLEASE LET ME HEAR FROM YOU SOON.
PASTOR CHRIS,GHANA -
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Permalink Reply by Pastor,E.Ray Hardy on
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Thank,God for the mountain top!
Apostle this is really good teaching,i've enjoyed this.
Bless You Man of God! -
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Permalink Reply by Apostle Dr.H. S. Gibson:Chaplain on
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We bless the LORD for the truth. For in a few days 2 other Apostles and I are heading to the mountains for God to reveal to us the next level that He wants this ministry to move in. What bless me most is to remember Matthew 17:5
For I have surly come to listen to what is to be done. God bless -
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Permalink Reply by Apostle Marc Richardson on
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WOW.....this hit me right on time....My God My God....This posting is all over me...I wish I could share with you all where I am....I am wearing this blog....My God!!! THANK YOU LORD JESUS...I THOUGH I WAS GOING CRAZY AND LOOSING MY MIND!!
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Permalink Reply by Prophet Gary Becton on
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Wow Apostle God is truly moving upon you as he did with Isaiah. Right now Isaiah 11th chapter is witness to what God has spoken through you. ISAIAH 11:1-5, ANDTHE ENTIRE CHAPTER, IS WHERE I AM FASTING AND PRAYING FOR THESE NEXT 10 DAYS.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn I. Latula, MA on
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I am ready to mount up my wings and fly. Praise God! Great Word and continue to let the Lord work through you Man of God.
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