We come to God for many reasons. He is worthy of praise, He is worthy of worship; He is worthy of our time. We also come to get filled up and recharged; we allow Him to revive us and restore our hope. In the last week, the Lord began highlighting another reason we come to Him: we come to Him to learn.
"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants--from this time on and forever," says the LORD.
Isaiah 59:21
Here the Lord makes a covenant, with us! I feel this covenant is for all who believe. And He says that His Spirit will always be on us, and His words will always be on our lips. He says that He will always teach us--us and our children forever!
So, we come to the the Lord and He imparts to us knowledge--He gives us the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Ephesians 1:17). He teaches us about Himself and His character. And He also teaches us how to apply His thoughts to this current world. He gives us divine inspiration.
Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Micah 4:2
Now, this is a future prophecy yet to be fulfilled, but we can attain to it symbolically even now. We come to the Lord, and we ascend with Him. Remember that Jesus ascended, and He was the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29). We, too, can go up to His mountain! And that's where we learn. He will teach us His ways so that we can walk in His paths! Wow!
This mountain top is also where we hear God most clearly. The Law of Liberty dwells here, and so does an atmosphere of clarity. There's an atmosphere of clarity and praise. This is where the word of God, the hearing and knowing of His mind, comes in. God speaks a word so that He can dwell among us (John 1:14). He teaches us and speaks to us so, and then we can come down from that high place and encourage other believers to go up for themselves.
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” Zechariah 8:20-23
Here is another literal prophecy that is also yet to be fulfilled--yet we can take so much from it symbolically. If we've been on the mountaintop, if we've been taught by God, if we've heard Him speak to us--then we will draw other people in! Now, we won't draw everybody in...but those with softened hearts will be drawn in and captivated by what God's done. People will know that God is with us. And then they will be motivated to go up and learn from God for themselves!
This is testimony-based evangelism, and this is what God wants us to do. He wants us to learn and grow based on what we've learned on His mountain! He wants to tell us great and unsearchable things (Jeremiah 33:3) and provoke others to holy jealousy. He wants us to gather around Him.
