Seeing the Vision, Hearing God’s Word, and Having God’s Hand upon us to Meet His Need

Whenever a man on earth is fully open to God and is willing to be one with Him, the heavens are opened to him, he sees visions of God, he hears God’s words, and God’s hand is upon him to lead and direct him, causing him to take action to meet God’s need.

Unfortunately, we live so much in the self, taking care of our own things, that many of us may not even be willing to be those whom God needs today.

We need to pray: we need the kind of prayer that brings us into a trance, that is, that brings us out of ourselves and into our spirit, so that we may see a heavenly vision, hear the word of God, and take action according to His leading under His hand.

We need to exercise our spirit to no longer remain in the prison of the self; we have spent too much time being imprisoned in the self – we need to pray ourselves out of that imprisonment. We may be hungry, we may be tired, and we may not feel that well, but we still need to keep our prayer time with the Lord and pray out of ourselves into the spirit so that we may have a heavenly vision.

God doesn’t open the heavens to give heavenly visions to people in the flesh or in the self; He wants man to be fully open to Him, connected to Him, seeking Him, and desiring to be filled with Him, and then He comes to open the heavens, speak the word, and move His hand.

God has many things He wants to accomplish on earth, and even today there are many great things He wants to do, but where is the man who is fully one with Him for His move?

Where are the Ezekiel’s of today, those who do not care for themselves, those who don’t spare themselves, but care for God’s need, seek God for His interest, and are fully one with God to speak what God speaks and do what God tells them to do?

We need to be men of vision, men who hear God’s word and speak words taught by the Spirit – fresh words, instant words, words that the Spirit speaks to match what the Lord is speaking and what He wants to do.

May we be those who live before the Lord, live to Him, and are fully open to Him to have His express speaking, understanding the spiritual things and speaking the divine visions to men with the words taught of the Spirit.

May all the local churches fully receive the Lord’s words and fully submit to the Lord’s hand to carry out what He has spoken!

Having an Opened Heaven, Seeing the Vision, Hearing God’s Word, and Having God’s Hand upon us to Meet His Need

When God gains a man on earth who is fully open to the heavens, He opens the heavens to him, He speaks an express word, and His hand follows His speaking (see Ezek. 1:3).

Ezekiel was such a one; he was a priest functioning to seek God, contact God, be filled with God, and minister to God, and so God opened the heavens to him, showed him heavenly visions, spoke an express word to him, and His hand followed His speaking.

What God speaks, He will do; God will come in to do what He says and to work out according to His speaking (Psa. 33:9). He first opens the heavens for man to see heavenly visions; then, He speaks an express word to interpret that vision, and then His hand follows His word to lead man, hold him, lift him, and carry him so that man would take action and fulfill God’s purpose.

In Ezekiel’s case, God’s hand led him, directed him, and carried him to do what God wanted him to do; his every word and action was under God’s hand, and whatever he did and wherever he went was under God’s leading and directing hand.

A man who speaks for God no longer has his own freedom and can no longer do things according to his own convenience. If God’s hand leads him to go to a certain place, he must go there. If God’s hand directs him to do a certain thing, he must do it. His actions are according to the leading of God’s hand and are under the strict directing of God’s hand. Where he goes and what he does are not according to his choice but are under and according to the leading and directing hand of God. This requires the one who speaks for God to pay a considerable price. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 21-22)

If we are willing to be those to whom God can speak and show what is in His heart, we need to realize there’s a price to pay; once God reveals to us the vision and speaks to us His word, we have no more freedom to do what we want to do or care for our own convenience.

This may be a constraining, but it is out of love and under the heavenly vision, and God’s hand is upon us; this is not something negative but it is the glorious freedom of the sons of God – we are free to be one with God for the accomplishing of His purpose, and this makes our life full of meaning and purpose!

God’s hand upon us is for leading and directing us and for causing us to take action; those who know their God will show strength and take action (cf. 1 Kings 18:46; Dan. 11:32b; John 7:6, 8; 2 Cor. 5:14-15).

The Lord needs us to be vital, living, and full of activity in spirit; our action should come not from our natural zeal and desire but from the Lord’s hand moving us and directing us.

May we be the persons the Lord needs today, those who have an open heaven, see God’s visions, receive God’s words, and have God’s leading and directing hand upon us.

May we be those who are for God’s need on earth, meeting God’s need by being one with Him for the carrying out of His purpose!

Lord Jesus, grant us to have an open heaven, see God’s visions, receive God’s word, and have God’s hand leading us and directing us for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Make us those who meet Your need today. We want to be fully open to You and absolutely one with You, caring for nothing but Your interest on earth. Lord Jesus, constrain us with Your love so that we no longer live to ourselves but to You, paying the price to be under Your leading and directing hand to meet Your need on earth today!

Seeing the Desire of God’s Heart and His purpose as Unveiled in Ezekiel 1

Ezekiel chapter 1 is the deepest chapter in the Bible; it is full of symbols, types, and spiritual significance, and what this chapter unveils to us is the desire of God’s heart and the purpose that He wants to accomplish (see Ezek. 1:4-5, 26; Eph. 1:5, 9; 3:10; Phil. 2:13; Gen. 1:26).

Because God gained a man – Ezekiel – to whom He can freely show the vision, speak the word, and move His hand, He unveiled the desire of His heart and how He will accomplish His purpose. This chapter removes the veil from what is in God’s heart.

In this chapter we see the throne above a crystal clear expanse, and one like a Man on the throne; this Man is Jesus Christ, who fulfills God’s intention in creating man – He expresses God and reigns for God. We need to see the throne, for all the decisions are made on this throne; the throne decides who is the next president or prime minister, the throne is in control over Brexit and the European Union, and all decisions are taken at the throne.

There is a man on the throne – Jesus is the Lord of the whole universe! And on earth, as seen in Ezek. 1, there is a corporate expression of this Man: there is a beautifully coordinated group that moves in oneness with Him, carries out His move, and expresses Him (the four living creatures).

In Ezekiel 1 we see the fulfillment of God’s purpose in creating man: image and dominion, a built-up group of vital people on earth who correspond to the heavens and are moving in coordination under the throne. God wants to have a corporate expression by working Himself into us to bring us under His direct rule so that we live in the reality of the kingdom to represent Him.

In Eph. 1:5 we see the good pleasure of God’s will; this good pleasure is the desire of God’s heart, which is to gain a corporate man on earth that corresponds to the heavens to express God and represent Him.

God’s will is according to God’s good pleasure (Eph. 1:9); God is a living, loving, and purposeful, and as such He has a heart’s desire, a good pleasure. We as human beings have a good pleasure – how much more God has a good pleasure, and He desires to satisfy His pleasure.

The desire of God’s heart, His good pleasure, is to work Himself into a group of people to make them His expression so that they may represent Him with His authority as they live the church life in the reality of the kingdom today.

May we be those who see the desire of God’s heart, care for the purpose of God, and are fully one with Him for the fulfillment of His purpose!

Lord Jesus, cause us to see the desire of Your heart and be fully for the fulfillment of Your purpose. May the good pleasure of Your will be unveiled to us, and may we align our will with Your will and thus be one with You today. Lord, it is Your desire to work Yourself into us and bring us under Your direct rule that we may live in the reality of the kingdom to represent You! Accomplish Your heart’s desire in us. May the desire of Your heart become the desire of our heart. Make us fully one with You for Your good pleasure!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother Ron K. for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 21-22 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Ezekiel (1), msg. 1 (week 1), Visions of God and the Unveiling of God’s Purpose and the Desire of His Heart.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Thy way, not mine, O Lord, / However dark it be; / Lead me by Thine own hand, / Choose out the Path for me. / Smooth let it be, or rough, / It will be still the best; / Winding or straight it leads / Right onward to Thy rest. / I dare not choose my lot; / I would not if I might: / Choose Thou for me, my God, / So shall I walk aright. (Hymns #393)
  # Savior, select my pathway; / Choose it, dear Lord, for me. / I have no other longing, / Only Thy will I’d seek. / You have ordained my pathway, / However hard it be; / Lord, for Your heart’s good pleasure, / I’d follow willingly. (Song on following the Lord)
  # The church is Christ’s deep longing / And His good pleasure too. / His every word and action / Is made with her in view. / His heart’s love is established, / And nought can Him deter; / Before the earth’s foundation / His thoughts were filled with her. (Hymns #1229)