Tag Archives: deeper life

The Yielded Will: 

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How Walking before the Father as Surrendered as Jesus 

Results in God’s Design of Glory for Man

David speaking: “I hear the Lord saying, ‘I will stay close to you, instructing you and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with My eyes as your guide. So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make Me tug you and pull you along. Just come with Me!’” 

(Psalms 32:8-9 TPT)

…God raised up David to be king, for God said of him, ‘I have found in David, son of Jesse, a man who always pursues my heart and will accomplish all that I have destined him to do.’ 

(Acts 13:22 TPT)

As we recognize that God desires to direct every aspect of the course of our lives, let’s first consider to what end this is that we may wholeheartedly follow Him. We note that Paul, James, and the others positioned themselves as bondslaves of the Lord. Did they perceive something about Jesus Christ that we need to recover as they willingly gave the Lord the full ownership of their lives that He requested? Paul firmly stated to the early followers of Christ: “You should [L Don’t you…?] know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you and was given to you by God. So you do not belong to yourselves, because you were ·bought by God [bought] for a price.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20 EXB) What these bondslaves of Jesus knew was that Jesus had made the way to know delicious freedom from sin and its fruit, death. These followers also came into the ultimate fulfillment of being welcomed into the embrace of the Father, the Creator, who had revealed His nature as perfect love. No longer were they prodigals. They were reinstated sons of God. [Luke 15:17-22 TPT recounts the story of the prodigal who really didn’t know the Father until Abba “raced out to meet him, swept him up in his arms, hugged him dearly, and kissed him over and over with tender love.” The son admitted his waywardness—his sins against the Father. Further, the wayward son started to declare his unworthiness. Right then, the Father stopped the son from speaking of himself as unworthy by putting the best robe on his newfound son’s shoulders, a ring as a seal of sonship, and the very best shoes. Finally, the Father inaugurated a great celebration of the son’s redemption.]  The early church knew Jesus had inaugurated “the restoration and fulfillment of all things” by His work on the cross. (Eph. 4:10 TPT) Nothing the world had to offer could compare to the new life—indeed, a new creation that the Savior had delivered to humankind, and it still doesn’t. Once born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, these men and women of the early church were flowing in rivers of the supernatural zoe life of God. They were literally experiencing resurrection life from inside their bodies.

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Let’s Say “Yes” to True Freedom this Fourth of July Season

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“So, if the Son sets you free from sin, 

then become a true son [of the Father, the Creator,] 

and be unquestionably free!” (John 8:36 TPT)

In our nation now, the understanding of freedom that’s out there in the culture is deceiving many. Voices that are influencing the dear hearts and minds of our fellow citizens are saying freedom is doing and having anything and everything one wants. In other words, freedom is license. The headlines and the dysfunctional relational life of the population at large attest to the destruction that results from such pursuits. 

Let’s consider another understanding of freedom and the purpose of life for which we are designed. And let’s consider that freedom is recovering that design. 

First, let’s admit that deep down inside we know there is a God, a Creator. Can we know Him and what He is like? Is there an ultimate fulfillment? The Bible has answers that we can experience in a way that we know that we know that what it declares comes from the heart and mind of God. The Bible reveals that Jesus is the Promised Messiah or the way back to Eden. When one meets this Son of God as Savior or Rescuer, one encounters the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the [Source of abundant] Life. (John 14:6; John 10:10) Another Kingdom opens. 

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Overcomers are Ultra-Spirit Led

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A succinct way of thinking about those the Bible terms the overcomers is this: they are the ones who find the union life with the Lord and function according to *Romans 8:2.

*Romans 8:2 [AMP] “For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.”

Living by this “law” is living by means of the life of the Indwelling Christ now in union – Spirit-to-spirit – within those born-again of the Spirit of God. Those with regenerated spirits. [See Titus 3:5 AMP.]

A key part of their identity is found as well in *Revelation 14:4 [The Living Bible].

*Revelation 14:4 [The Living Bible] “…For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins, following the Lamb [the Lord Jesus Christ] wherever He goes.”

How do the overcomers stay so close to the Lord? For one thing, they posture their hearts and guard their hearts to stay sensitive to the Spirit’s communications and leadings.

A chief means of maintaining such sensitivity is to stay ever so sensitive to the Word. If the Word seems dull or fails to penetrate the heart, hardness of heart is setting in. The overcomers recognize this and are quick to invite the searching gaze of the Holy Spirit so as to ascertain the reason for any dullness, hardness, or distance from God that may be occurring. The operative truth is: “For the Word that God speaks is alive and active; it cuts more keenly than any two-edged sword: it strikes through to the place where soul and spirit meet, to the innermost intimacies of a man’s being; it exposes the very thoughts and motives of a man’s heart.” [Hebrews 4:12-13 J.B. Phillips]

Also, a practice that brings the constant companionship of Christ is that of inviting Him into every relationship and every situation. Invite His wisdom, invite His thoughts according to *[Psalm 139:17-18 The Living Bible], and invite His full orchestration of events.

*[Psalm 139:17-18 The Living Bible] “How precious it is, Lord, to realize that You are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day Your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, You are still thinking of me!”

Revelation 3:20 [J.B. Phillips] promises a spiritual feast inside by way of this practice. Christ’s promise is, “See, I stand knocking at the door. if anyone listens to My voice and opens the door, I will go into his house [manifest Myself within his inner man], and dine with him, and he with Me.”

And a word picture from the Psalms well portrays this sensitivity that God is after in His saints. Psalm 123:1 [The Living Bible] reads, “We look to Jehovah our God … just as a servant keeps his eyes upon his master or a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.” The overcomer desires close places in Christ; in a word – intimacy. Thus they choose to walk in an ultra-Spirit led way. Like David, their heart cry is, “As for me, I get as close to Him as I can!” [Psalm 73:28 The Living Bible] They say to the Lord, “Tell me where You want me to go and I will go there.” [Psalm 86:11 The Living Bible] Also they declare, “I long for Your instructions more than I can tell … Make me understand what You want; for then I shall see Your miracles.” [Psalm 119:20 The Living Bible] [Note the Psalm 119:20 key to the in-breaking of miracles out of God’s glory realm.]

In conclusion, a couple of writings further illustrate this ultra-Spirit led existence. The introduction to Bill Britton’s classic essay, “The Harness of the Lord,” defines the overcomer as one in “absolute confinement to the perfect will of God” i.e. the overcomer’s will is “harnessed” to that of the Lord. And in Britton’s parable, though “the training got harder than ever… he [the colt] was rapidly learning more and more how to obey the slightest wish of the trainer, and to respond to even the quietness of his voice.” Wearing the harness turns out to result in rest in God and a secret feeding and drinking from Him.

In Blessing Your Spirit by Sylvia Gunter and Arthur Burk, the ultra-Spirit led life with its instant obedience to the movements of the Lord also turns out to be a life of blessing. They write:

“I bless you with fulfilling the call of God on your life and living out the fullness of His will. I bless you with being in your Father’s time, not running ahead and not lagging behind, but knowing His will and doing His will in the right time, the right place, and the right way, with the right people alongside you. I bless you with knowing the things that He has called you to do. I bless you with … doing God’s work, God’s way….

Your Father will bless you with the right closed doors, because your enemy will try to get you to do the things that God has not designed you to do – good things, legitimate things, profitable things, honorable things, but your Father has not designed you to do them….I bless you with…being able to invest fully where God is positioning you….Your Father will bless you with open doors to walk forward in in His time, in His calling, for you to experience the joy of fulfillment of being everything He has called you to be at the right time and in the right place.”

“…I will guide thee with Mine eye.” [Psalm 32:8 King James]

For further reading:

“The Harness of the Lord” by Bill Britton. Search online.

Blessing Your Spirit by Sylvia Gunter and Arthur Burk. Available from https://thefathersbusiness.com. 

How to Walk by the Spirit by Mark and Patti Virkler. Available from www.cwgministries.org.

The Great Mystery The Heart of Christianity: We no longer live – Christ lives through us by Mark and Patti Virkler. Available from www.cwgministries.org.

Led by God; Led from Intimacy. Strategic verses from the Psalms compiled by Katherine Bell. Request by email from katherinefbell@me.com.

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Blessings in return—