Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord! (May 2015)
After spending some quiet time with God this past weekend, the Lord gave me a dream.
In this dream I was in my home when I heard a loud noise. I walked to the back door and went outside. When I looked across my yard to the field by my house I saw two girls on a tractor. They were going around and around the barn, preparing the field.
I glanced away for a brief second and then looked back to the field. When I looked back there were hundreds of people going around and around the barn preparing the field. They were on tractors, tillers, plowing machines and every other piece of farm equipment you could imagine, all preparing the field. And they were moving around the field so fast it was amazing!
They were moving so quickly that dust was flying everywhere. As I watched I realized that they needed to get the field ready quickly, there was no time to waste and they were all hurrying to get it done in time. I knew it my spirit that there was no time to spare, it must be completed now. I woke up.
I knew this dream was from God and I began to pray and ask God for insight to what he was showing me.
After some time, I walked into my bedroom. As I did, I noticed I had a text message on my cell phone. The text was from a woman I know in Ohio, whom I had not spoken with in several months. The text said a short greeting and thank you for something I had given her and then it said: Prepare the way for the Lord. That you have done in a multitude of ways for many. More open doors are ahead for you. Walk forth head held high expecting to know/experience more of God’s favor and goodness. He cannot deny Who He is.
Those words hit my spirit like nothing I have ever known; I knew God had given me the interpretation of that dream. And I knew immediately the depth of that dream; I knew it was time for us, all of us, to prepare the way of the Lord.
I can’t think about preparing the way of the Lord without thinking about John the Baptist. The Bible says of John the Baptist in Malachi 3:1; I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me and the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple.
Matthew 3:1-3 says; In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ”
John cleared the way for the Lord by calling the people to repent and turn from sin. He compelled them to come to God and stop living a life of sin. Of course, this is necessary to prepare the way of the Lord. The very first thing we need to do in preparing a way for the Lord is to remove any and all sin from our life, repent and turn from sinful ways. Sin in our life is an obstacle for God, we have to remove all obstacles out of his way if he is to come and dwell among us. Hebrews 12:14 tells us that we must walk in holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. He is talking about holiness of heart, a singleness of heart, a heart after God alone.
What does it mean to prepare the way? It means to create an environment that is favorable for one to come and operate in your life or to make it easy for one to come and operate in your life. To do this we must remove every obstacle standing in the way of God operating in our life.
God sent John the Baptist to clear the way before him and I believe he is calling us today to once again clear the way before the coming of the Lord of the Harvest! He is telling us to hastily prepare the field. We are all working on the same field together, preparing the way of the Lord. However, the Lord is saying ‘time is short, there is no time to spare, work together and prepare the field, I AM COMING QUICKLY.’
The Bible says I am going to send My messenger to prepare the way and then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
I Corinthians 3:17 tells us that we are the temple of God. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
As we prepare the way of the Lord, the One whom we seek, will suddenly come to his temple, which is us.
Yet, the challenge remains to prepare the way of the Lord. Isaiah 57:14 tells us to remove every obstacle out of the way. Again in Isaiah 40:3-5; Clear the way for the Lord…make a highway for our God….then the glory of the Lord will be revealed.
We are quickly approaching the time in which the glory of God will be revealed. He is saying ‘make the way ready, prepare the field for harvest, I am coming, there is no time to waste.’
God is about to pour out His spirit in unprecedented ways, you do not want to miss this time in God! We must prepare for His presence. As people of God we must clear the way. We must remove every obstacle of sin, busyness, and distractions from our life. We must clear away the debris of disappointments and discouragement. We must get rid of everything in our life that is not pleasing to God. We must rid ourselves of any and all thoughts that do not line up with the word of God and what he is doing RIGHT NOW in our midst. We must prepare the way of the Lord.
You see, the field we are plowing is the field of our hearts, our lives. Jesus, the Lord of the Harvest is getting ready to sow into our hearts, into our lives and we must be ready when He comes. As we know from the parable of the sower, He will not sow into ground that will not produce a harvest, He will not sow into rocky ground or thorns, He sows in good ground, therefore our hearts must be found as good ground.
Hosea 10:12 says; Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
Sow righteousness, break up the fallow ground of your heart, it is time to seek the Lord, why? Because He desires to come and rain righteousness on you. What does that mean? The word ‘righteousness’ in this context means justice, what is right, vindication, deliverance, victory and prosperity. It speaks of a covenant keeping God coming in redemptive power to bring forth victory, prosperity and justice on your behalf! Have any of you been crying out for justice? Have you been crying out for vindication and deliverance? If so, it’s your time!
2 Chronicles 16:9 says; For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. This day, God is looking for those who have prepared the ground of their heart, He is looking for those whose hearts are turned toward Him and He is coming to show Himself strong on their behalf, are you one of those?
We must prepare for God to come and dwell. We must cultivate a favorable atmosphere for God to operate in. It must be an atmosphere of worship, and of faith. This is the time to seek God like you have never sought God before. If you have become weary, this is the time to ask God to give you fresh oil that will enable you to prepare the way of the Lord for you and your household.
Atmospheres are vitally important to God moving in your life…God cannot work in an atmosphere of doubt and unbelief. God only works in atmospheres of faith and worship. When you create an atmosphere of faith and worship in your home, in your business or even in your car, God is there in your midst.
He inhabits the praises of His people and He dwells where He and His word are given precedence.
Creating an atmosphere where God is pleased to dwell is indeed, preparing the way of the Lord.
God is ready to unleash the greatest outpouring this world has ever seen.
We must prepare for his presence to pour into our lives like never before. We must make our hearts ready for the glory that is to be poured out! As we do this, we will see the harvest because the Lord of the Harvest is saying ‘prepare the field, hurry, I am coming!’ We must prepare – time is short – time is now – prepare the way of the Lord!
