1. Being Heavenly Minded is Earthly Good
"Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ...Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights." (Exodus 24:15, 18)
Most of us have heard the adage, "You have your head in the clouds" meaning, you are tuned out. It's often used in the negative sense to tell people to "snap out of it". But did you know that there is a cloud that God wants your head in? When we talk about clouds, there are actually two different kinds of clouds, spiritually speaking. You have the oppressive cloud, which has many in bondage to grief, pain, misery, gloom and despair (you get the idea) – the cloud of heaviness.
Then you have the cloud of His glory that manifests the Holy Spirit in and upon our lives. This cloud lifts burdens and is light. The good news is that we get to pick which cloud is going to be upon our lives. God wants you tuned-in to His frequency, as you allow His bright glory cloud of light to envelope your life.
2. An Altitude Litmus Test
One of the most accurate ways to determine which cloud is upon your life is to ask yourself, "How easy is it for me to praise God?" Where is your level of praise? Do you have a hard time voicing praise to God? Are you subdued under heaviness?
"...The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3)
What is the consistency of your praise to God? Ask yourself these questions. Don't feel bad or condemned but rather, see the influences that may be surrounding you. The truth is your ALTITUDE is what determines your attitude (and the transformation of your mind). Go higher in worship and praise!
"But You are holy, O You Who dwell in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel
[are offered]." (Psalm 22:3 AMP)
God "inhabits" the praises of His people. If you are not praising and giving thanks to God, then there is no praise to be inhabited. God's presence is true substance and life. Give God some praise to inhabit! Create a steady diet of praise in your life.
3. Unleash the Prophetic Anointing
Praise is also very connected to our lives and prophetic anointing. The prophet represents the "voice of God" in the earth. The enemy always aims to shut down your voice. Our voice, anointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, is one, if not the greatest, weapon God has given us to shift atmospheres. We've been created with a voice. In the beginning God said, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3)!
The first thing God did was speak with His voice. This is a clue for us to see just how powerful the voice is – how powerful OUR voice is. We are created in the image and likeness of God. When we speak through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, there is power to shift atmospheres from darkness to light.
"Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will war against them with the sword of
My mouth." (Revelation 2:16)
Our voice is ordained to carry the prophetic power of God's Spirit, like a sword, to decree and manifest His Kingdom and will in the earth. Because of this, there is always an attack on your ability to praise, prophesy and release God's presence through your voice. God is wanting to invade the earth through your voice!
4. The Church Whose Head is in the Heavens
I remember a word by Bob Jones that is actually found on "The Eye of God Wonders" album that I was blessed and honored to produce. Bob was an incredibly tender-hearted, yet authoritatively strong voice, who spoke with amazing clarity from the Father's heart. In this word, Bob talked about the Church whose "head would be in the heavens" in a positive light. God wants our head in the heavens, in the glory cloud, so that we can accurately prophesy the life, Kingdom and will of God into lives – to be the carriers of transforming glory that will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas!
"...but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from Heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain." (2 Peter 1:16-18)
Get your head in the heavens – the glory cloud! Don't settle for an oppressive heaviness to be your portion. God has a better promise and portion for you that is His most excellent glory cloud where His lightness, inspiration, revelation and voice is revealed to you.
5. God Calls You to be Prophetic
"Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:11)
It was always God's intention for His people to be prophets and prophetic voices. Moses wanted all of God's people to be prophets. Jesus said the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet. Jesus was the Prophet of prophets. He told us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for so they persecuted the "prophets" who were before us (Matt. 5:12). Without the prophetic, there is no assault from the enemy because there is no threat. There is no threat because there is no voice speaking the oracles (the divine utterances) of God (1 Peter 4:11).
Connect with God in the cloud of His glory. Be inspired by His Spirit. Stir the river of His Spirit inside of you and welcome the cloud of His glory upon you. Then speak and shift atmospheres, even your own situations, by proclaiming His divine utterances under the unction and anointing of His Spirit. Don't seek as much to be relevant to men, but rather seek to be relevant to God, pleasing Him. Speak as one sent by Him to shift things on earth so they come under the transforming influence of Heaven. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
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