Overcoming Hidden Pockets of Pride and Rebellion so as to Gain Christ;

Experience a Passionate Love Relationship with God;

Know Fruitfulness and Prayer that Prevails;

And Find Favor, Protection, and Soul Prosperity

Part One

The Father reveals the great dream in His heart for our inner life on earth in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He desires us to walk in an Edenic reality on the inside even as we exist in “the midst of a brutal and perverse culture.” (Phil. 2:15 TPT) Paul writes of this Eden within in his heavenly Epistle using these words: “that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” (Eph. 3:19 AMPC) We look back to the Psalms to capture how pleasureful this fullness is. King David, who gave himself to hours and hours in the Old Testament version of a house of prayer, talked of drinking from “a river of thy delights,” “a wonderful river,” and “a refreshing stream.” (Psalm 36:8 KJV, ERV, HCSB). One more translation says of knowing God and imbibing His zoe life: “You give them water from your river, that makes them happy when they drink it.” (Psalm 36:8 EASY) 

What is the key from God’s Book that will open this “richest measure” of “Thy delights” in our hearts? First, we take a close look at the way Jesus operated in His inner man to see how we are designed to function. Jesus walked among all manner of men fed by a hidden life with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He told us that as He walked through the cities, He lived “continually nourished and empowered by (the Father’s) love.” (John 15:10 TPT) Self was not His source as Jesus’ very words in John 14:10 reveal: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power].” (AMP) Jesus came to save us, but He also came as the Pattern Son or prototype for us —Christians—those indwelt by the Godhead in the regenerated spirit part of our being. Thus, we understand that we are designed to abide in God and completely depend on Him. He is the Person who is the supply of supernatural grace for us. We reign or overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil through His life inside us. John 15:5 declares, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.” (AMP) Jesus stated also that He existed as a man wholly abandoned to everything the Father wanted. The Pattern Son revealed how He functioned in John 5:30, “I am able to do nothing from Myself [independently, of My own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.” (AMPC) Another thing to note is the amount of time Jesus devoted to communion with God apart from the crowds and ministry demands. Though it was very fulfilling to do the works the Father had for Him, the priority He gave to basking in God’s perfect love and receiving prophetic instructions before each day started is needful for us to copy. Jesus so knew God is love, and that God gives wisdom. 

In contrast to getting comfort from God, Isaiah foretold the ill treatment that would come from fellow humans  to Jesus in 53:3: “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of deep sorrows who was no stranger to suffering and grief…. considered a nobody, not worthy of respect.” However, His interior life with the Father and the Spirit, saved Him from being damaged by the world. The Passion Translation footnote reads: “Yet Jesus was the most emotionally whole and healed man to ever walk the earth. He did not absorb the insults and rejections of even His own neighbors (Luke 4:14-30).” The point is that we can walk among people “nourished and cherished” by Jesus; we can know oneness with the Lord, the Great Lover, and overcome all hurts with nothing separating us from His Perfect nurture and love. (Eph. 5:29) 

Clearly, there was a union of wills in place with Jesus and the Father. And such a union is for us to live by as well. Paul and the others in the early days knew this level of consecration as they said yes to a bondslave identity to the Lord. They so knew that following Jesus Christ was the ultimate fulfillment that they kept their wills in line with His, losing their lives for His sake so as to find them. They kept their eyes on the eternal picture so as to overcome waywardness. Matthew 16:24-26 relays Jesus’ depiction of the choice before us:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].²⁵ For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]? (AMPC)

Part Two

We fast forward to our day and our church life. Deanna Deering, a prophetic writer with Voice Ministries in Osceola, Indiana published a word from the Lord for us entitled, “Entering in the Deeper Life.” Through Deering, the Lord speaks:

“Why are you holding on to everything,.…Do you know how much power and strength lies dormant within you as a body? But, because you all hold on to yourselves so much, you aren’t entering in…. I mean for Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20 to be a reality: ‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.’ What would happen if just a few of My children grasped this reality, and not only for one second, or one hour, or one whole day, but for a complete inner transformation!”^[1]

And Watchman Nee in his profound little book, The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit, wrote with great insight on the occasions of the Lord’s breakings and dealings in order to bring about the entire submission of our wills and hearts to Christ so that “the rivers of living water” flow out from our spirit or innermost place to touch others. (John 7:38) Indeed, these breakings can be painful, but as my mom taught me, “If we’ll let the Word break us, if we’ll obey the Bible, then the Lord won’t have to chasten us so much through circumstances.” Union is the goal of the Lord.

 The Holy Spirit is ever working to head up everything in Christ. Ephesians 1:10 tells of the blueprint: “[He planned] for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, [both] things in heaven and things on the earth.” (AMPC) This consummation will be such a glorious finale. Even now there are teachers such as Liz Wright calling for an identity not in self or in attainments —things that foster selfish ambition and competition. Instead, there is a call to see ourselves as the beloved offspring of God and the ones called to reflect the Divine nature of Christ who resides in us. We are to completely yield to Him. 

That fallen human stronghold of pride and that pull to go our own way was largely dealt with at our new birth. Yet there can be hidden pockets of self-centeredness and rebellion barring or slowing the progress “from glory to glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) How can we walk free from self and run after the Lord? How can we keep our focus on “the victory-prize” of union with Jesus as Paul did? (Phil. 3:14 TPT) The apostle wrote in Phil 3:14, “I keep ·trying to reach [pursuing; chasing] the goal and get the prize for which God called me ·to the life above [heavenward; ^Lupward] ·through [or in] Christ Jesus.” (EXB)

Paul’s key to a continual “yes” to the cross and a continual experience of losing his life so that Christ and His selfless purposes became the apostle’s life was his knowledge of the Word. He knew he could daily gain Christ if he would but obey. And having known the darkness, this “chief” sinner determined there was no going back. (1 Timothy 1:15) This intimate of Jesus wrote: “Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).” (Phil. 3:8 AMPC)

We, too, can have revelation via the Word of the glorious results that union with the Godhead will produce. And going ever deeper in the Word and the superior pleasures of the truth can keep us from compromise. We must live to see God’s heavenly goodness released on earth and disavow the carnal. 

A passionate love relationship with the Creator is ours to know through alignment with His heart and mind. The Bible communicates that God is love and always acts in love. He ever works to restore His nature of love in us. 1 John 4:16 states outright: “And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.” (AMPC) Obedience to the Word equates to gaining the union with the Lord of love we are designed to know. John records Jesus as saying in 14:21 of his Gospel, “The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me, and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]” (AMPC) And John concurs with Jesus in 1 John 2:5, the verse that truly spurs us on, as it reveals our perfection to come. “But he who keeps (treasures) His Word [who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety], truly in him has the love of and for God been perfected (completed, reached maturity),” the Scripture reads.  

Union is not only to experience the God who is love within, but it is also the key to prevailing in prayer and great fruitfulness. The Father wants this for us. He desires our lives to make a difference for eternity. A couple of verses attest. John 15:7-8 promises, “If you live in Me [Jesus] [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.” (AMPC) And John 15:16 adds, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I Am], He may give it to you.” (AMPC)

Then there are the greater works for us to walk in that are the fruit of union. John 14:10-12, for example, tells us of the great potential of power that’s ours through realizing the level of union that Jesus walked in with the Father. Jesus foretold, “but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power)….  I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.” (AMPC)

Promises of favor, protection, and soul prosperity comprise our final area to explore for those who pursue oneness with God. We, followers of Jesus, have a privileged position John 15:15 declares: “I (Jesus) do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]”(AMPC) And we are the winners in the end. We are being groomed for glory. 1 John 5:4-5 decrees, “You see, every child of God overcomes the world, for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world. So who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” (TPT) 

Also, the condition for the protection promised by Psalm 91 can be understood as union with God. The Amplified Classic phrases verse 1 as “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand.]” God is a refuge and fortress to those who are His verse 2 offers. Verse 8 prophesies, “Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.” (AMPC) And verse 10 adds, “No evil shall befall you.” What a great position can be ours!

All the more, the whole Bible tells the story of the magnificent covenant that’s ours in Christ. It’s loaded with the blessings and benefits of alignment with our Maker’s heart and mind. A focus on what union will produce puts a “yes” in us to go forward—a “yes” to the cross and the denial of self. 

The bliss of our destiny with God is explored in the Song of Songs and in Revelation 21-22. Both are sections of the Bible that can keep us pressing through to the God who is bringing us to completion. Two verses to hold onto in conclusion are:

The Lord exclaims in Song of Songs 6:4a, “O my beloved, you are lovely. When I see you in your beauty, I see a radiant city where we will dwell as one. More pleasing than any pleasure, more delightful than any delight.” (TPT)

And John penned this reality again in the Book of Revelation, “And every curse will be broken and no longer exist, for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there in the city. His loving [bondservants] will serve Him; they will always see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads…. Wonderfully blessed are those who wash their robes white, so they can access the Tree of Life and enter the city of bliss by its open gates.” (Revelation 22:3, 14 TPT)

Postscript

Prophetic words by Deanna Deering:

“Divine union is what I seek in the lives of every one of My children. Union of the soul with Myself, My heart, My life. This is impossible to achieve on your own. It is a divine work given by Me, but initiated by the soul’s request. Oneness. What power rests in Oneness.”^[2]

“I offer you union with Me. This is a deep but very mighty concept for you to grasp. So many of My followers will leave this world still struggling with control over their lives. They will never experience “union” with Me; therefore, neither will they experience My power.”^[3]

If this blog blessed you, and you’d like to support my writing labors, please consider donating via PayPal or Venmo (@Katherine-Bell-micro.)
Blessings in return—

---

^[1] Deanna Deering, The Masterpiece of the Wilderness, (Osceola, Indiana: Voice Ministries, Inc., 2005), p. 24.

^[2] Deanna  Deering, The Masterpiece of the Wilderness, (Osceola, Indiana: Voice Ministries, Inc., 2005), p. 21. 

^[3] Deanna  Deering, The Masterpiece of the Wilderness, (Osceola, Indiana: Voice Ministries, Inc., 2005), p. 81.