A New Way

It was the 25th December 2015, when in my time with the Lord in the word, He spoke to me from Ezekiel 1:4 about the north wind blowing as the visitation of the Lord to turn me, the Spirit abiding with me as a cloud, the fire burning away anything contrary to God's holy life and nature and then shining forth the glory of God as the electrum. I therefore shared with many saints and seekers on my WhatsApp. It has been my prayer that this word be a reality to me. And the Lord is faithful.

Three days later on the 28th, in my time with the Lord on my knees, the Lord really did turn me. A fresh consecration and a renewed burden to cooperate with His move ensued. The Lord's speaking was very subjective and crystal clear. Burden for prayer was renewed, and the goal for this coming year 2016 personally was made clear. 

Significant ones are the promise of the Lord for an academic research related to the service the Lord has assigned for me in the ministry of the word, in the literature service in general, and in linguistic in particular, in line with the present learning on Greek and English literature for the Bible translation. The university and specific line of research were also made clear. What He had promised concerning this matter of qualification upgradation for the gospel of the kingdom and also professionalism in the Lord's service are beginning to fulfill. This new light dawning was indeed the Lord's visitation; what passed through death is being resurrected, and has brought to me immense joy. Whatever I tried in the past to fulfill this promise was finally fine-tuned and channeled into what the Lord deemed best.

Besides, from the previous of experience of the Lord ushering me to spent fruitful time in the pursuit of the ministry writings, especially that of the collected works of Watchman Nee was further made clear. I thus began the pursuit, and the burden is to finish it in one year, within 2016. And my prayer for those on the prayer burden list to be specifically prayed for in a detailed way until a definite breakthrough in 2016; no more generic prayer, but be specific with goals.

Lord, praise your for Your speaking and turning.

The said speaking of the Lord is from the Holy Bible, Recovery Version.

Ezek. 1:4 - And I looked, and there came a storm wind from the north, a great cloud and a fire flashing incessantly; and there was a brightness around it, and from the midst of it there was something like the sight of electrum, from the midst of the fire.

Footnotes from the Holy Bible Recovery Version

Ezek. 1:4 1 wind As with the entire Bible, the book of Ezekiel uses visible, physical things to signify spiritual things. The storm wind here is a figure of the powerful Spirit of God (Acts 2:2, 4a). In the Scriptures the wind has both a negative and positive significance. In its negative significance the wind is a symbol, or sign, of God’s judgment upon man (Jer. 49:26; Rev. 7:1). In its positive significance the wind symbolizes the blowing of the Holy Spirit upon man or the descending of the Holy Spirit upon man to cause man to have God’s life (37:9-10; John 3:6-8; Acts 2:2-21). The storm wind here has this positive significance.

Ezek. 1:4 2b  north  Job 37:22;  Psa. 48:2;  Isa. 14:13;  cf. Jer. 1:14From the north means from God (Psa. 75:6-7a; Isa. 14:13). Whenever God visits us and revives us, His Spirit blows on us like a mighty wind to bring a spiritual storm into our life, into our work, and into our church, causing us to be dissatisfied and concerned about our spiritual condition and to have a turn in our spiritual life.

Ezek. 1:4 3c  cloud  Exo. 19:16;  24:16;  2 Chron. 5:14;  Psa. 97:2-3;  Ezek. 10:4The cloud here is a figure of God as the Spirit abiding with His people and covering them in order to care for them and show favor to them (Exo. 13:21; 40:34-35; Prov. 16:15; 1 Cor. 10:1-2). God comes to us as the wind, but He stays with us as the cloud. Together, the wind and the cloud are an indication that an important transaction is about to take place between God and man.

Ezek. 1:4 4  fireThe fire seen by Ezekiel signifies God’s burning and sanctifying power (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29). Whenever God visits us, His holy fire comes to consume in us everything that does not match His holy nature and disposition. This burning fire also causes us to be enlightened concerning our spiritual condition before God. The more the fire of the Holy Spirit burns in us, the more we are purified and enlightened.

Ezek. 1:4 5d  electrum  Ezek. 1:27;  8:2Ezek. 1:45 [1]  Following the rendering of the Septuagint and the Vulgate; others translate, glowing metal. “An unknown substance; some think a mixture of gold and silver” (Darby). Gold signifies the nature of God, and silver signifies redemption. The electrum, composed of the elements of gold and silver, signifies the Lamb-God, the redeeming God (see note 15 in Rev. 22). That the glowing electrum appeared from the midst of the fire indicates that the burning of the divine fire is for the manifestation of the electrum.

Ezek. 1:4 5 [2]  The spiritual history of a normal Christian should be a continual cycle involving the experience of God as the wind, the cloud, the fire, and the electrum. The more we experience the wind, the cloud, and the fire, the more the electrum is constituted into our being, making us a people who are filled with the Triune God and who manifest His glory. The issue of the spiritual transactions involving the blowing wind, the covering cloud, and the purifying fire is the glowing electrum—the radiant expression of the redeeming God.

Lord, blow upon us as the north wind, abide with us as the cloud, burn and sanctify us by the fire, that we may glow forth Your glory as the electrum.