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Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Isaiah 7:11
Today, I would be talking about the rewards that comes from an experience with the deep. This is a topic I find very interesting and I am sure you will too. After reading this piece, I strongly believe that it will spur a hunger in you for a shift from your present state of spiritual level to a more intimate relationship with God.
Deep, the subject of discussion today can be described as, having a large distance to the bottom from the surface or highest point. It can also be described as going far inward from the outside or the front edge of something or to be located far inside something. In this write up, deep will also be likened to as an experience, an encounter, a conviction or a deeper level of understanding. Let me give us some examples to help me drive home the points I am trying to make here.
When Job made a statement “I know my redeemer lives”, it was birthed out of a personal understanding and a conviction he had. And I want us to note that word “I know.” What you know is something you are sure of or something you have experienced before or something you stand to believe in. And this helped him to stand the trying times. When the devil came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness “he said command this stone into bread” and Jesus gave him an amazing reply. See what He said “man shall not live by bread alone” He took the devil to a deeper place to make him understand that spiritual hunger cannot be satisfied with physical bread but by the word of God.
Don’t forget that He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit, what He needed to eat was bread of the Spirit not physical bread. And again we must also understand that spiritual things must not be mixed up with carnality. Jesus would have failed if, haven began to be led by the Spirit, ended up satisfying or gratifying the flesh. Every spiritual leader must take cognizant of these little leaven that can spoil the whole. Some things we see as challenge are actually nothing when you view it from a deeper perspective.
A leader that speaks from a depth of understanding would make more impact and would be relevant in his generation. A deep is far more than the normal physical human experience it is a spiritual reality that cannot be comprehended by flesh and blood. That was why Apostle Paul talking about his visions, revelations and mandate said “I didn’t confer with flesh and blood.” At a point king Agrippa said to him “too much learning is driving you mad.” It was not too much knowledge, He just listened to a man who spoke out of a deep conviction, a man who had a personal supernatural encounter. No wonder he was able to do great exploit.
If there is a challenge in your leadership endeavour take, it to the place of the deep. I mean a more deeper realm. It will have no option but to certainly bow. Let us look at few examples of men who had an encounter with the deep.
PETER
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Matthew 16:16-23
I am sure we are familiar with this Scripture, but there is something the Holy Spirit wants us to learn from here. Peter gave an accurate answer revealing the identity of Christ. And Christ immediately acknowledged that such an answer cannot come from the surface, it must have come from the deep secrets of God. And what happened afterwards? Christ Jesus gave him a promise of authority describing the heights and depths, the length and breadth of the capacity and power he would posses with that Revelation he got.
What does this tell us? The revelation of Christ you have will enable you to perform wonders. The more secret things you see in the place of the deep, the more relevant you will be as a leader. This was what happened to Peter later in verse 22 of the same chapter when Christ began to talk about His death and resurrection. Peter didn’t understand and he began to say “far it be from you Lord; this shall not happen to you!” He didn’t understand that he needed more revelation to comprehend the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection. And immediately he got a sharp rebuke from Jesus.
See what Jesus told him in verse 23. Firstly, you are an offense to me. Secondly, you are not mindful of the things of God but things of Men. Let me explain this. If you dwell on the surface without revelations, you will truncate purpose, you will stray away, you will be like a blind leader leading the blind followers and you will eventually end up in a pit. Jesus is saying you are an offense to him. He will see you no different from Satan or children of Satan, be careful that He does not cast you on a sick bed or spew you out . Thirdly, He told peter you are mindful of the things of men and not the things of God.
This simply means you have no difference with the Pharisees. You are a people pleaser, you seek to gratify the flesh and seek the opinion of men rather than God. You choose your own will over the will of God. Dare to go to the place of the deep that is the only place where you can draw out revelations that would bless the lives of men.
JONAH
Jonah, a prophet of God who was fleeing from his assignment and from the presence of the Lord and then encountered a great storm. And then in the process was casted into the deep. While in the deep he prayed a prayer of deliverance and God heard him. This shows that there is no depth or height to dark or too far for God to hear the prayers of His children. God said in Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear”
Sin is the only thing that can prevent God from hearing man. And after that experience, Jonah was prompt in obedience, preached a message with simplicity, clarity, precision, and authority which made the city of Nineveh repent and turned away from their sins. Jonah’s message was effective because he had an unusual encounter with God in the place of the deep. So when he got out he preached a message that he personally experienced not a message he heard about but a direct transfer of a message from God and an encounter with the deep.
Any spiritual leader who goes about carrying a message not born out of the deep especially, those who read Bible commentary to preach would never be effective. See the reaction of the people after Jonah’s message they fasted, put on sack cloths and sat in the ash. From the greatest to the least. This can only be a product of an encounter with the deep. In other to have such an effective message as that of Jonah, I would advise you to do the following; you must study yourself full, you must pray yourself anointed, you must hear from God directly in your Spirit, and finally preach a fresh new message from the study of the word and from personal experiences.
MOSES
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, standstill, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Exodus 14:13-16
Whenever you are confronted with a situation, you must take the posture Moses took. See what the Lord told him in verse 16 “lift up your road and stretch out your hands.” The rod you are required to raise signify the word of God and the stretching of hands signify total surrender, in the midst of all these you must not be afraid, stand still and take a posture of surrender in your heart, and lifting up the word of God and stretching it over your red sea. It will have no option but to divide and make a dry ground for you to walk.
Never forget; it may seem as if the red sea or the troubles and struggles are still standing on the way all you need to do is obey what God said in verse 15 “tell the children of Israel to move forward” you must move forward no matter what, that is the only way you can overcome. And in verse 15, an experience of the depth birthed a song of victory and praises to God. Every life transforming song is birthed from such an experience. Every leader who seeks to make exploits must relate his writings, preaching and everything to an experience of the deep he has had and encountered previously that he overcame.
The reward of an experience with the deep.
For Jesus, it was victory over satan, for Moses and the children of Israel it birthed a song, for Jonah it birthed repentance for the people of Nineveh, for peter it was authority and power for Apostle Paul, it was great exploits and revelations. I encourage you to maximize your experience with the place of the deep and all these will be your testimony.
How can a Spiritual leader get to place of the deep.
- Deep meditation. Psalm 119:97, Joshua 1:8
- Bringing the soul to a place of stillness. Psalm 4:4, Exodus 14:13.
- Song of Praise and Thanksgiving.
- Bringing yourself to a place of complete and total surrender.
- Acquire the right knowledge let the Holy Spirit brood on it.
You can bow your head and say a simple prayer right now and say “O Lord cast me into your deep and show me the things of the secret, teach me the ways of the deep.” Until you emerge out of the deep you can never be effective for God. Unraveling mysteries, speaking as a true oracle of God, commanding with authority and deciding destinies of demons can only be actions which had been drawn and backed up by words gotten from the place of the deep.
Thanks for the gift of your time. God bless you.
Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
