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 [^LDon’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.