The Secret of Heaven

In this enlightening episode of Relentless Pursuit, we dive deep into the transformative power of building a friendship with God through prayer and fasting. Join us as we explore how these spiritual practices can unlock divine mysteries and reveal the "Secrets of Heaven."
What You'll Discover:

• The Heart of True Love for Jesus: We emphasize that authentic love for Christ begins within. It’s not just about our actions, but about nurturing a personal relationship that flourishes from the inside out.
• The Role of the Holy Spirit: Learn how relying on the Holy Spirit can bring about powerful revelations and insights in your spiritual journey.
• Prayer as a Catalyst: Explore the profound impact of prayer, including the significance of speaking in tongues, and how it can deepen your connection with God.
• The Journey to Discipleship: We challenge you to shift from being mere followers of Jesus to becoming devoted disciples, actively living out His teachings in your everyday life.
• Staying Focused on Jesus: In life’s storms, we discuss the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus and how this focus can lead to peace and purpose.

 This episode encourages you to embrace your relentless pursuit of God and to engage in a life filled with spiritual growth and divine knowledge. Discover how prayer and fasting can illuminate your path and empower you to be a beacon of light in the world.
 Join Us: Whether you're just beginning your faith journey or seeking to deepen your relationship with God, this episode is packed with insights and encouragement. Tune in and be inspired to take your spiritual walk to the next level!

Transcript

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Welcome to this week's episode of Relentless Pursuit. I'm so thankful that you're joining us this week. Our mission is to fan the flame of your desire to pursue God. And as he pursues you, I want to welcome you. If you haven't already, Watch this episode or haven't watched this podcast before I want to welcome you and Encourage you to go back to the previous episodes I know God has been doing so many great things through this podcast and also and Please like share this podcast To friends family let it impact and expand in that way But as we get started, I want to talk about a part two or the series that we're in. And I'll get more into it next episode. But this episode I'm wanting to talk about the secrets of heaven. The secrets of heaven. And so when you hear that, it sounds really mystical in a way, like it sounds like something that's out of the ordinary. And the reason why I felt strongly to do this is because people tend to make having a relationship with God very difficult. And in that we then bring confusion to a lot of people saying that or I don't even want to say confusion. Almost like an insecurity to their relationship, and it's not because we're wrong in that, but it's because we're conveying the wrong message. Loving Jesus is not from our actions. Loving Jesus is from our innermost being. Which then in a result will convey through our actions. And so it doesn't start with what you do. It starts from the faith that's within you. And so the mysteries of heaven, one thing that In order to reveal these mysteries, you have to be a friend of God. In order to reveal secrets, you have to be a friend of God. So if you haven't seen that episode last week, I really recommend you go back to watch it and then watch this one. But if not, then praise God. One of the secrets of heaven is the principle of prayer and fasting. And so in that, people like I said, convey this over spirituality when it comes to prayer. Prayer does not need to be just a heavenly language. And I know a lot of people outside of the church or in different denominations, they make fun of speaking in tongues. We don't speak in tongues because that's our word. We speak in tongues because that's another language, a heavenly language that conveys to God. And there's a difference in the Bible where the Bible says in Jude, it says it edifies our spirit. We are not prophesying, we are edifying our spirit. And this is a principle, a prayer. And really a branch of prayer. But prayer could be something so simple as to say, dear Lord, I love you. And it's just those simple prayers that can get you to the elevation that you're imagining or you're thinking about. See, I remember when I was in Bible college and I was so insecure to pray out loud. There were the, these people that were praying and they were on fire and they were going, they didn't stutter. They didn't say they didn't have those crutches that I have. And it used to be worse, but. As they were praying, I ended up getting a little bit more courage to pray. And so I started watching prayers. I started listening to prayers more, not so I can build my, my, my prayer life, but so that I could have more vocabulary to speak to God. But with that is a principle of prayer. That's lost a principle of prayer is lost because there is power in prayer. There is power in intercession. There is. Power in the growth through the intimacy with God, there is power in that. And because of this misconception of what prayer is, people have a tendency to lack prayer, but in that they also lack fasting because there's not a enough of self denial in our spiritual life that we won't want to deny ourself, but that's a basic and fundamental Principle of a following Christ of being a disciple of Christ is you have to deny yourself and pick up your cross in the walk You have to die to yourself and it's not when we say fasting. It's not I don't want to get into that when we say fasting isn't something that should be hard It should be something that's easy but because Cut because you love God so much and when you're a friend of God, you're willing to fast whatever amount of days, whatever amount of hours, whatever amount of minutes, whatever you can do, you're willing to do it because you love God that you're willing to pray because you love God. We are agents of the light, bringing the light to the darkness. What? What the light and darkness represent is ignorance and knowledge, wisdom. And so when we understand these principles of prayer and fasting, we then can apply these principles in our day to day life, which will then lead these principles, or I'm sorry, lead our this transformation, and then it will be. eight. And then we will be able to be the light in the darkness. The Bible says that you are the light of the earth. The Bible says, yes, he is the light of the earth, but he is the light within you. That is going to expand it. For example, think about a light bulb. That light bulb isn't the source of light. The light bulb is an agent of the light, meaning it, the light doesn't come from the light doesn't start from the light bulb the light starts from the electricity feeding the light bulb, where then that light can expand, you get what I'm saying? And so when we understand these principles, we are able to be the agents or the witnesses of the light. And so Jesus, another, I want to say this, was the secret of heaven. So we have the principles of the secret of heaven, the secrets of heaven, and then we have the actuality of the secrets, or the actual secret of heaven, which was Jesus. When the disciples, said, who do the people say that I am? Some say that you're Elijah. Some say that you're the prophet. Some say that you're John the Baptist, but then Jesus turned to them. And then who do you say that I am? Jesus never specifically said, I am God. Why? Because he wanted you to have a revelation of who he was. He wanted you to have the wisdom and understanding and intimacy with him. So you could understand who he was, who he is, I should say because he is the son of the living God. And so the revelation to Peter was a secret that was unveiled by the Holy Spirit. Now, with that being said, what does that mean for us in today's life? Jesus said to Peter, flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but by the Holy Spirit. So in order to understand the principles of the secrets of heaven, in order to understand the secret of heaven, we have to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. We have to be intertwined with the Holy Spirit. I believe that so the Bible talks about how this we have a spirit of man that lives within us. And when we invite Jesus to live in our heart, what happens is the spirit of man links together with the spirit of God. And so our spirit and the Holy Spirit are then one if that makes sense. Not saying that we are God, I'm saying that because we have given our life to God. to God. We then are vessels or temples of the Holy Spirit. And the disciples asked Jesus, why do you speak to the people in parables? So I'm going to read that actually in Matthew 13, nine through 13, he said, who I'm sorry, he who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him be Consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing. Then the disciples came to him and said, why do you speak to them in parables? And he replied to them, to you, it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been given. We're going to pause right there. It has to be given in order for you to understand the secrets of heaven. You have to be a friend of God in order for you to have a revelation or even a fresh revelation or renewal, renewing revelation. You have to have a relationship with God. You have to be a friendship. You have to be in kinship. You have to be joint errors. You have to be linked together with the Holy spirit. It has been given. For whoever has spiritual knowledge to him will more, I'm sorry, to him will more be given and he will be a furnished, be furnished richly so that he will have abundance. But for him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is the reason that I speak to them in parables because having the power of seeing, they do not see. And having the Power of hearing. They do not hear, nor do they grasp or understand. There is a scripture in Isaiah chapter six. It says Isaiah sees the Lord right high and lifted up and the train of his road fills the temple. And this is his first encounter with the Lord. Now, why is that significant? Because this is Isaiah chapter six. This is not Isaiah chapter one. This is his personal encounter with God. And why is that so significant? Because when we have a personal encounter with the Lord, not only will we bow our head to worship him, but we will understand how much, not only we need him, but we want him. There is a difference between want and need. And I think I talked about it a little bit last week. There is a difference between want and need, and we need to change our need to a want. Meaning that we have to want God more than we need God because we need God. Yes that's a given. He's the source of our life. But if we want him more than we need him, then we'll be revealed and have fresh revelation that is constantly flowing through us. And then we will be continuously agents of the light. I want to say this. So God in a way dangles a carrot in front of you. So that you're so focused on the carrot that you won't be, you won't be aware of where you're going. Let me explain. Meaning, what is this carrot? The carrot is the secret of heaven. The carrot is Jesus. And God wants you to be so focused on Jesus, you will be unaware of the storm that's around you. Come on, Peter, get out of the boat, Peter. Come on, Peter, take a step of faith, Peter. Continue to walk on the miracle, Peter. Look, but while you're looking at me, your miracle will be sustained. But when you take your eyes off me, you'll understand where you are. And that you are not capable in the natural to do what you're doing in the moment when you take your eyes off of jesus So when we are doing I don't even want to say miracles when we are doing ministry when we are Praying when we are practicing these principles of prayer and fasting we can't be focused on what's around us Sometimes we need to throw our phone in the other room Sometimes we need to take ourselves away from any other food Sometimes we can't even smell it and so we got to put a little bit of Boop on our nose, because if we smell the food, we'll start to get hungry, and then all we'll think about is food. Sometimes, when we need to die to ourself, and maybe go into a car, and lock the doors, and not even turn it on. Not even drive anywhere, but just start praying in there. Because you know that if you're tempted by the smell of food, it'll begin to make you think of food, and your focus won't be on Jesus, it'll be on the food. And so God puts Jesus as our focus in order to continuously move us forward and grow without focusing on the destination, just focusing on him. And see, what we don't understand is sometimes when we go through our Christian walk, and a lot of times I should say, is that we don't understand that we are growing because we've been so focused on him. We don't understand or aren't aware that we're maturing in him until we realize that. I'm not where I used to be. Sometimes we don't realize that we went through all the valley of the shadow of death, but we've been so focused on the light that's been guiding our path. We don't realize that we're going. Traveling through the Red Sea because we've been so focused on who is leading us through the Red Sea. Sometimes we don't realize that there are giants in the land but we have such a boldness in us. And so focused on what God is saying and God is doing that we don't we can't even comprehend that giants could overtake us. Sometimes we're so focused that Jesus is the victory. I'm sorry. Jesus is our victory. Jesus is our way maker. Jesus is our miracle worker. Jesus is so gracious, merciful, compassionate and that we don't even realize that yes, we have the pressures of this world, but because we're so focused on Jesus that they will not overcome us and they will not put us down. And as a rabbit, I think a bug's bunny. And when I say I, when I was Getting this little, analogy or metaphor. I don't know. Yeah, metaphor. Whatever. I Anyways The rabbit I was thinking of Bugs Bunny. The rabbit chases this carrot without a care where he's going. And as friends of God, Jesus is dangling an invitation to dwell in his presence. Not so that we can follow, but so that we can be disciples. Do you know what's crazy to me? What's crazy to me is that there were 5, 000 men that Jesus fed with five loaves and two fish. What's crazy to me is that there were 500 people that he revealed himself to after he resurrected. What's crazy to me is that there were only 120 in the upper room. So the Bible says multitudes were coming to him that there was crowds and multitudes of crowds always around him. But see, the difference between a follower and a disciple is the follower will just want to witness what God is doing, but the disciple will want to be used. to what God is doing. Meaning, the follower will know that he's a good God and stay for the blessing. But when the blessing turns into the pressure, and the pressure turns into the anointing, he will miss the mark. But the disciple will be willing to deny himself, To follow what God is doing, but not only follow what God is doing, but be a friend of to what God is doing. And Jesus exposes the ignorance in religious while pulling out the wisdom from the broken. One of the craziest scriptures to me is that Jesus will use the foolish thing to confound the wise, meaning that I am a foolish man. I am a broken man. I am a hurting man. I have been through traumatic instances in my life. I have been through hate through my life. I have been through the craziest of craziness in my life, but God still uses me. I am one thing that is foolish that God is using to confound the wise and I thank him for it. But that's because I believe I am a friend of God. Amen. And so I encourage you, if you're not a friend of God, then be a friend of God. And if you're a friend of God, then continue to walk in the friendship with the Lord and continue to build that relationship. When the secrets of heaven are revealed to us, or when Jesus is revealed to us, we then witness our insufficiencies. Meaning we don't just witness what we can get from him. We witness what we lack in without him. In Isaiah, being in the presence of God, he witnessed that his lips were unclean. He seen God, he seen his train of his robe. He seen him high and lifted up and he was a witness to him. He didn't count when he encountered him. He then realized that God, I need you. But then he goes on and saying My lips are unclean. He touches them with a call. And Jesus told Isaiah to go tell my people, you have eyes, but don't hear. I'm sorry, but you have eyes that don't see, ears that don't hear, and a heart that is callous. Now he moved from needing him to wanting him, and now he's, you being used by him. And so he unveiled the secret of heaven that the people have eyes but don't hear. Why do I, or eyes but don't see and ears that don't hear? Isaiah was in that. Was included in that. But what happened? He had a revelation with the Lord. He became a friend to the Lord. He became a friend to God. Isaiah 1, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 3, Isaiah 4. He was doing what the sons of Sceva did. In the name of Jesus that Paul preaches. In the name of the one that we know of, but we don't know. But then he had an encounter. He knew when he seen him with his eyes and heard him with his ears, his heart opened and begin to become a heart of flesh. And he opened his heart to Jesus and to God. And he had an encounter that transformed his life. And that transformation began to, to work in him. And it became a responsibility to not only convey the message that God is saying, but it became a responsibility to reveal the word of the Lord. In that moment, the secret that was promised. In that moment, the secrets of heaven were revealed through a promise. And so I want you to understand this and that God is not an insecure God. When you have questions that arise or God, why are you doing it this way? Why is this happening in this way? Why is why is this happening? Why did, why, what are you doing now? There are blessings in questions. And the Bible says, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of the father who gives generously. One of the secrets, let me actually, let me, when Peter asked, Why do you speak to the people like this? God then answered, right? There was a blessing in the question. There was a blessing in the question. And how many blessings How many secrets aren't being revealed to you or to me because we're asking the wrong questions or not asking enough questions. I can't tell you how many times that Jesus answered the question that I had about the Bible. I can't tell you how many times Jesus answered a question that I had about my life. I can't tell you how many times Jesus And the funny thing is, sometimes we take a no answer as a no. Or we take a no answer as he's not present. Sometimes in Jesus silence, that is his best and greatest answer. Because we are so antsy or anxious to do something. And be God is trying to say, be still and know that I will make the crooked way straight. Be still and know that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Be still and know that I am your God. And I want you to ask questions, continue to have this dialogue with God because that will not only allow you to be a friend of God, but that will also unveil the secrets of heaven in your life. And one of the secrets of heaven that, that I referenced in the beginning is speaking in tongues. There is it is utilized I Put something wrong in my notes, but I know what it is. It is a secret of heaven that is utilized by the children of God to communicate with God because the devil is ignorant to it. This is why it is a weapon. And let me explain this because the enemy and the devil. Excuse me, because the enemy and the devil don't under doesn't understand what we are communicating with God. We then are confusing the enemy and exposing the schemes that the enemy has. When the Bible says that the Holy Spirit, guides us in our prayers, directs us in our prayers. And so when we speak in tongues, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our prayers, to be more of a sniper like prayer, to be more specific through our prayers. And so we are allowing ourselves to be the vessels that open the doorways of heaven on earth. We are being the friends of God. We are actively being the friends of God. When we are utilizing this weapon that confuses the enemy and speaks directly to God, there is this book that I'm reading, and it's talking about intercession and intercession. How Excuse me intercession. How when you intercede on behalf of someone or something or another you then release the lightning. If you look in the whole Greek word, I can't remember everything right now, but the lightning of God is then released from heaven and specifically changes and directs and transforms what it hits. And when I say lightning, have you ever seen lightning hit a tree? It's not the same tree after the lightning hit. And so it transforms. It's completely different. It changes the atmosphere. And so it's a doorway to open to the kingdom of heaven. And now one thing that I want to say in a different avenue, sin blocks revelation. That's why that God was so adamant on sacrifice. He said that you, in the old Testament, that you needed to sacrifice the lamb every year and you need to continuously sacrifice these lambs because you needed to cover the sins that you had because they blocked you or us from my Lord Jesus, take the will for a relationship with him. Meaning that sin blocks you from being a witness. Sin blocks you from being a friend. And that's why in the Bible there was a man who carried who was carried by his friends, his four friends. And they were like, and they were going to Jesus who was in a house and he was preaching. He was like, ah, spit fire. I just can only imagine this is how I imagine in my head that it was like a Southern Baptist preacher, Jesus. It was just like, wow, he was going crazy, right? And it was just an amazing message because there were so many people there, right? And they were like we are desperate for Jesus. We are desperate for an encounter. So we're gonna relentlessly pursue and the Avenue plug right there. We're gonna need to relentlessly pursue every Avenue that we can in order to get in front of Jesus. So the front door that's not an option. The back door is not an option. The there's no room inside the house. There's no room to even get towards the house. So let's do this instead of make or instead of having a way that's already open to us. Let's make a way to get in front of Jesus. Can I tell you right now? That encounter with God was not made by man. That encounter with God was ordained by the Holy Spirit. That encounter with God was made by the Waymaker. There was an opportunity to get onto the roof, and they could. Clawed open the roof and the part of the roof and they lowered their friend down that was right in front of Jesus You know the accuracy that you have to have you don't know where Jesus at is that in the room? But you are able to claw right in front of him and lower your friend down where he's then now right in front of Jesus But what we can go from the first book Perspective but the thing is that Jesus saw this man and he didn't say he didn't say get up and walk He didn't say be healed and go know what he said is your sins are forgiven Because he knew this man his this man wasn't going to be just a regular man This man wasn't just going to be a follower. This man was going to be a disciple This man was gonna be so on fire after this encounter that he would want to tell this message of what Jesus had done for me And sometimes the secrets of heaven contradict the natural. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. But the thing is that Jesus will say this. I am the light of the world to the blind. Jesus will say, follow me and deny yourself, but you're paralyzed. Jesus will speak to your future man after the miracle. Follow. In order to impact where you are now. Sometimes God makes a mess in order for you to get your breakthrough. And so what he did for the man that he was blind, he said, I am the light of the world. And so he picked up some clay and he spat on it, put on his eyes and what happened? He was making a mess. But what the man didn't understand is that he needed that mess in order to get through his breakthrough. He needed to understand that. Yes, God, you can do whatever you want, but I'm focusing on that carrot, understanding that I need to get to my miracle. I need to get to my breakthrough. I need to get to my, to, to my encounter with you so that I can overcome the physical limitation that has been set on me. And so God, whatever you're going to do it. Do it. I will encounter this. I will have this mess. I will allow this mess because I know this mess will lead me to my breakthrough. And so what he happened is he spit on the ground or he spit on the clay and he put it on his eyes and he went and washed himself and washed after he washed himself. He was then able to witness the light. He is the light of the world. And because he is the light of the world, it contradicts sometimes the natural. That man could not see the light of the world, but after an encounter with God, he cleansed the, or he washed the mess and the mess led to the breakthrough. And so I pray that today, not only you had an encounter, but I pray that you had revelation in this message. I pray that God continues to call you by name and that you continue to want him and long for him. I want to thank everybody for joining this week's episode of Relentless Pursuit. I'm believing for God to do great things through you. I'm believing for God to do amazing things through your relationship with him. And I encourage you to continue to follow him, continue to be disciples by him, continue to want him. He is so good. And His goodness and mercy follow you. And so just be available for whatever God has for you. I want to thank you again. And don't forget to follow, share and subscribe to all our social media platforms. I'm believing for God for so many things, but specifically for relentless pursuit to expand its influence. I'm believing that God will continue to use relentless pursuit to help others and to encourage others on their daily walk with God. So see you guys next week. I can't wait.