Living Waters
Words of Faith for Young Believers
Volume One
Israel Eziedo
Patricia D.iddle
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great King of glory – the One Who is worthy of all praise and glory and honour and power and majesty and dominion, forever and ever, amen.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication
Table of Contents
Preface
#1. A Blessed Assurance
#2. Call From God
#3. If Anyone Thirsts
#4. Keeping The Right Focus
#5. Look, Walk And Live
#6. Teach Us To Pray
#7. Awakened To His Presence
Conclusion.
PREFACE
The Lord Jesus Christ has given the great love-commission:
Matt 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is what all volumes of Living Waters are about. The Lord has declared very expressly:
Hab. 2:14
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
The Various truths revealed by the Holy Spirit in this volume are centred on turning the hearts of every man to seeking the Lord Jesus personally and intimately; to have and experience the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. This is the desire of God – that every man will begin and continue to behold the glory of the Lord in His Word and so be transformed to become more like Jesus.
2 Cor. 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Rom. 8:29
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
It is my desire that through the articles compiled in this book, your heart will be stirred to seek the Lord Jesus Christ, to know Him personally and intimately even to know the love of God which surpasses all human understanding and so be filled with the fullness of God. This is what I have set my heart on; this is what I am calling you to – growing to maturity in Christ. May you heed this call wholeheartedly and so be eternally blessed, in Jesus name. Amen.
Ps: the articles in this book can be reproduced and or used as resource materials for magazines, workshops etc. To freely reproduce, contact the author:
Israel Eziedo:
+2348160983239
princeeziedo@yahoo.com
Jan. 2014
#1. A BLESSED ASSURANCE!
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
Beloved, it is a blessing to know that this precious promise which we are to consider is found in the very Word of the Living God. If such a promise were not from God, then we can throw it off as a mere lie, a false show of power or a mockery of one’s dire need. But we have God Himself to hold ransom if this promise fails and I praise God with all my heart because God can never fail! “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Deuteronomy 31:6
Before we go deeper into this beatitude, we must first establish that “righteousness” is Jesus Christ Himself. As the Scripture say in 1 Corinthians 1:30 “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption”. So what this blessed portion of Scripture means is that anyone who has a deep and sincere hunger for Jesus Christ WILL be filled! The Lord is well able to meet every want that we have, but He has not promised to give us every desire that crosses our hearts else we would not have to face trials or temptations! The only thing that God has declared in His infallible Word to give to us if we hunger for it is: the revelational and experiential knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” One of the strongest desires that fills the heart of everyone who becomes a child of God is the sincere desire to know God. This desire may not be so deep at the onset, but because the precious Holy Spirit has entered into that heart, the Divine fills that one with a desire to know His Father (Acts 2:38-42). This hunger that is in the heart of the new believer does not come from His own will or power for the Scriptures say that it is God that works in us to produce the will and power to do the things that pleases God (Philippians 2:13). This desire is indeed a blessed thing to have and if someone claims to be a child of God and yet there is no true hunger in his heart to know His Heavenly Father, then there is a great question as to whether that one is truly born again or not. Beloved, is there a sincere hunger for God in your heart? We cannot talk much about this Scripture with you if you are not a child of the Heavenly Father because you will neither understand nor appreciate nor apply it to your life as the Scripture hath said (1 Corinthians 2:11-14; Romans 8:5-8). So, you MUST be born again! Amen!
Believer, do you know of some great men in history; men who walked with God and had such deep and intimate knowledge of God? Do you wonder how they ever got to the level of spiritual height that they got to? The simple answer is in this blessed Scripture: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Once upon a time, they had a sincere hunger for the Word of God and that began an eternal adventure into God! Believer, Scripture does not say that those who go to Bible schools will be filled; it says those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” will be filled. So there is a certainty that a man can be in Bible school but if he does not have a genuine hunger to know Jesus, he won’t be filled. There is also an absolute surety that the lowliest of God’s children can rise up to be a pillar in God’s house; one filled with the wisdom and power of God, if he develops a deep hunger for the Word of God.
But we have some cautions of which we must take note. The first is found in Jeremiah 29:13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.”Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed…” (THE MESSAGE). I believe this is a definite caution for us to take note of. God is not going to start revealing His mind to us the very moment we have a hunger for Him. NO. He will start showing us the wonderful secrets of His heart when we start seeking Him with all our hearts. So here is a question for my own heart: do I really seek God with all my heart? Do I acknowledge that Jesus Christ is my one and only need? Do I truly seek Him as I would seek something that I cannot live without for a second? The Scriptures say that God will not reveal Himself to me if I do not seek Him with all my heart. As long as I see God as a spice of life and not Life Himself, I will not be filled with the Life of His Word!
The second is this: “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” 2 Corinthians 6:1. It may be so easy for us to take such great grace for granted and say something like, “Well, I can always get filled again with God’s Word anytime I hunger for it; so I guess I can relax in my pursuit of God for awhile.” The first danger in this is that we will be taking God’s grace for granted; it will be as though we were given God a slap on His face because we are playing with His emotions. It is like someone who said something to me some time ago when he was trying to get me to commit exam malpractice; he said that I can go ahead and sin in the exam hall and later ask God for forgiveness. So I perceive God warning me that though this assurance of being filled to overflow with the knowledge of God is so amazingly free, yet I must not take it for granted. I must not relax in my pursuit of God simply because I know He will raise me up when I return to seek Him. Indeed, He warns that I must seek Him while he may still be found (Isaiah 55:6). So there is one hundred percent certainty that I can miss out totally from His Kingdom if I do not remain at His feet every day of my life!
Also, I must be careful not to misuse this amazing opportunity and grace that God has given me. It will be a terrible thing for me to play and let this blessed promise pass me by! (Hebrews 4:1; Isaiah 65:2; Revelation 3:11).
Believer, how can we quantify the depths of the riches of this blessed assurance that we have from this portion of Scripture? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” We may well boast in Jesus saying, “There is not a question about the Bible that I have that He cannot answer and there is not a question that I will ask about the Bible that He will not answer!” The depths of God are unfathomable so it’s beyond our human mind when God says that we will always be filled no matter how long or how deep we search for God. He is not just saying that He is able to fill us; He is saying that He will fill us if we ask! Hallelujah! There’s not a confusion that I ought to have about God’s Word, not a doubt too. For according to God’s Word, all I need to do is to develop a hunger for the Word and search the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit will reveal all things to me!
O blessed be the day
In which my Lord sat on the Mount
And declared without a doubt
That I am blessed if I hunger
And thirst to know my God
Because I will be filled to the full!
O Lord, help my heart,
To seek you with all my heart
And help me O Lord
Not to take your grace in vain.
O blessed be the day
In which my Lord sat on the Mount
And declared without a doubt
That I am blessed if I hunger
And thirst to know my God
Because I will be filled to the full!
#2. CALL FROM GOD
“Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10
Friend, assuredly, you may have had many calls from God before now: the call to repent of your sins, the call to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, the call to be a Christian etc. I can understand why you have shut your heart against all these calls; at least, I know the very basic reason. You don’t really believe in GOD. You don’t really believe He exists. You don’t really believe what the Bible says He is. If you say to me now, “But I do believe in God”, I’ll simply say, “No, you don’t. You only believe what other people or your instincts have told you about God. You don’t really believe what God is saying about Himself in the Bible.”
See, here is your foundational problem. Because you don’t really believe in God, you don’t care about or believe what He says. For example, God says that you are a sinner bound to be eternally punished in Hell except you repent and be saved. But because you don’t believe in God, when you hear this, you throw it off with things like, “I’m not a sinner, I’m only a good guy who makes mistakes sometimes” and “Hell is not a real place, it’s just something Christians made up to frighten others into their religion” or “Hell is not a place you go to after you die in sin; it’s a feeling you have here on earth”.
But God loves you so much than to leave you in darkness. So He begins to convict your heart of the truth of His Word. He gives you an undeniable witness in your heart that you are believing a lie. He impresses it in your heart that only His Word is truth and only His Word can save you. You know this is real in your heart, but your heart is hardened against God. So when you feel you cannot bear this conviction again, you run to other men for help – other men of your kind. You run to them for advice, you read their books for counsel, you follow their paths for instructions but deep down within you, you are following them simply because you want to receive things that will harden your heart the more against God. These people and their books do just that. They tell you that God is not a person; He is everything and everything is God. When they want to appeal more to your ego, they go as far as telling you that you are God! That seems to put you at the top right? So you nod your head and agree. Something deep down in you is pushing against these lies but you accept and meditate on them simply because they help you shut your heart against God more and more.
But when you look into the organised church, that doesn’t really help does it? When you want to get answers from some so-called pastors and Christians, all you get is a wooden-dry and stony religious pack thrown at your fore-head. What is worse? When you look at some also, or listen to some messages or read some books, what really comes out of them is nothing but “money – prosperity – fame – self-exaltation etc”. You don’t really see any life in there do you?
Poor soul, it is no wonder the struggle in your heart. It is no wonder the restlessness in your soul. It is no wonder the fear and paranoid that grips and eats you. But will God leave you in this condition? Certainly not! God loves you so much than to leave you in darkness.
There are so many questions in your mind. They are so many that I’m sure even you cannot ask them all at once. But there is one question in every heart – the deepest question in every heart, “Who is God and what is He really like?” I will not try to answer the question for you here; God has promised to answer the question Himself! He said, “Be still, and know that I am God”. When He says this, what does He really mean? He means be still: stop hardening your heart against Him and against the reality of His existence. He means stop seeking and searching for the answers to your question in lying men and false books and vain philosophies. He also means for you not to run around going to pastors and Christians to seek help. He means it just as He said it, “Be still”. God has actually promised to reveal Himself to you personally if you will only be still. I don’t need to give you further assurance on this; God Himself made the promise, let He Himself fulfil it.
He wants you to come to the place where you are sincere with yourself and say, “There is a deep and real hunger in my heart to know God. I will not harden my heart anymore. I will not run to others to tell me about God anymore. If God is real, let Him reveal Himself to me. If He is real, let me hear His Voice in my heart and come to know Him personally and intimately”. Friend, it is as though God Himself is saying, “You have had many wrong thoughts about Me. You have ran to others to tell you about Me. But now, I want to reveal Myself personally to you. If you will sincerely and diligently seek Me, I will surely reveal Myself to you and you will know that I AM GOD”.
Are you sincere? So while you have put away those books and things and thoughts and people that you have had before now, there are two things that you must begin to do:
PRAY TO GOD:
“This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it-the LORD is His name: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know”
Jeremiah 33:2-3
Here is a direct Word from the Lord Himself. From this, I hope you can see that I am not the one giving you prescriptions on how to know God. I am merely pointing you to God’s daring and loving promise as written in the Holy Scriptures. “Call to Me” He said, “and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know”. Now you do not need me at this point to tell you how to go about the prayer. All I can say is this, be truly sincere in your heart and talk to God as openly and plainly as you would speak to a good father on earth. Talk to Him in the name of Jesus.
SEARCH THE HOLY SCRIPTURES (THE HOLY BIBLE)
“…The Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by God and is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching how to live right.”
2 Timothy 3:15-16
“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart”
Jeremiah 29:13
God calls and challenges you to seek Him diligently by reading and meditating on His Word. This is the only possible way you can truly know God personally and intimately. Read the Bible for yourself and God will be there to tell you what it means!
The question is not, “will God reveal Himself to me?” the question is, “am I truly sincere in seeking to know this marvellous Person called GOD?” You will know Him personally if you are truly sincere. So get on with knowing God personally and come join me work to save others!
#3. If Anyone Thirsts
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” John 14:12-13
God did not create us to be casual observers of history while we live here on earth. There is nothing casual about God! He is extreme, and He has called us to live extreme lives as history makers who live in constant increase as we go about transforming the world for His glory and Kingdom, just as Jesus did!
Jesus was extreme and He branded and seared everything He touched with the Father’s glory. He never settled for or experienced partial success. The Son’s legacy made it possible for us to do the very same things that He did; the great and even greater miracles. Through the Holy Spirit, we have access to the very same fullness, wisdom and counsel that Jesus had.
His (Jesus’) divine legacy of miraculous and enabling power is our privilege. Even if we’re in what the world may view as a pit, if we’re suffering with infirmity or disease, losing everything – we’re still living on that same plateau that Jesus laid before us!
“But you shall receive power (dunamis: dynamite miraculous power, force, might, strength, enabling power through the Holy Spirit) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Acts 1:8
WHAT ARE YOU SETTLING FOR?
If you are not walking in this majestic power, it may because you have settled for less than God as intended and made available to you all along by His precious Holy Spirit. Many of us are content with partial victories because of a MINDSET OF LIMITATION.
People should beg to know Jesus when we walk into a room!
We are not seeing the greater manifestations of God’s might and power, the greater brightness of Hid glory flowing in and through us, empowering us to see truly incredible transformations.
How Jesus blazed those incredible historic highways was by flowing in the “rich treasure of His glory” that the Apostle Paul speaks about – the treasure that fills you throughout all of your being unto ALL the FULLNESS of GOD (see Ephesians 3:16, 19) for that incredible enabling dunamis power in all things.
The Spirit of God and power go hand in hand. Paul himself said that his speech and preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (see 1 Corinthians 2:4).
Jesus blew the lid off limitation because He would not settle for a measure or for a limit. Human minds, wisdom and ability are limited. He had to seek and rely on the fullness of God’s Spirit upon Him in wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge, which enabled Him to do the things that He did that radically changed the very course of history. Only the FULLNESS of God’s Spirit satisfied Him. He did not move an inch without that rich treasure upon Him and the Spirit’s fullness thereof flowing out of Jesus’ heart; His Presence manifested in everything.
JESUS SAID:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:37-39.
Note that ‘river’ is pluralized. This indicates multiple flows of the precious Holy Spirit so that by His divine power we will be partakers of His nature in us (see 2 Peter 1:3, 4).
Each of these great flows of the Holy Spirit are available to every believer to help us live in constant increase as we go about transforming the world for His glory. God desires us to see the Spirit of God flow in and through our lives for total victory and searing success in bringing in the Kingdom of God.
We receive empowerment to do the extraordinary so that Jesus will receive glory and honour through His great power working in and through you.
CEASELESS RIVERS OF LIVING WATER
What it takes to transform or to see growth in your ministry or personal life is His constant manifest Presence upon you and the fullness of Him operating through you in wisdom, understanding, might, knowledge, and reverent fear of the Lord. It is an unlimited anointing available to all, which removes all limitation and impossibility. The Lord wants to release in and through your life these ceaseless rivers of living water so that your life would demonstrate daily the mighty and powerful flow of the Holy Spirit, that by His divine, you can bless the land with His glory. And I say open your heart right now and be filled to overflow with the Holy Spirit in the matchless name of Jesus Christ!
#4. KEEPING THE RIGHT FOCUS
“But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word.” Acts 6:4
Beloved, let us ponder on this precious portion of Scripture awhile. Indeed, let us not just examine and ponder on it now, but let us hold it in our hearts and apply it to our daily living. For in this precious portion of God’s holy Word, we see God pointing our hearts to the right thing on which our focus must dwell. The first thing we see is “But we will”. Here is a strong determination made by choice. It says “But”, so irrespective of the situation or opposition or circumstances around, the speaker is determined to do a particular thing. Then we see “we will”, this is not a self-centred will as we see in the lives of many men on the earth. No, this is rather a response of the heart to God’s call to man. It is more of an answer; a right response to a call. In Scripture, we see God calling us to certain things and the only right response we can give is “we will”. So, this may be an amplification of the first phrase in our verse, “Lord, You have called us to do this. There are many oppositions and situations that tend to fight against our obedience to Your commands. But we are strongly determined in our hearts to answer Your call and obey You no matter what is going on and no matter what will happen.”
Then we see more in this verse, “But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly”. Here, we see three strong words that add more flesh to the previous note of determination we examined, “continue, devote, steadfastly”. To continue means to repeat; to devote means to be committed and steadfastly may suggest persistence. So we see from this that the speaker is given himself wholly without any reservation to a particular cause. He is totally committing Himself – spirit, soul and body, to doing a particular thing, not just once, but repeatedly and persistently.
Now we come to a very crucial question: what is it that so consumes and demands the speaker’s affection and attention that he would let go of every other to pursue? What is it to which the speaker is unreservedly committing his whole being to continually do? “But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word.” Here we see the things that so consumes the speaker’s affection and attention. Here we see that to which the speaker has unreservedly given himself and determinedly set his heart to pursue. The first is “prayer”. Prayer basically means communion with God. In prayer, we take our eyes off every situation, person or thing and focus them on the great personality, love and power of God. In prayer, we are beholding the glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ as we call upon Him to handle and glorify His name in everything that concerns us.
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4). As it was with the Apostles, so also was it with the psalmist. But from the psalmist, we make a deeper observation concerning this matter of prayer. We see that whenever we set our eyes on the Lord Jesus in prayer our eyes are lost in a marvellous beauty – the glory of God! There’s a sweetness that comes from taking our eyes off the circumstances around us and setting them on Jesus! There’s an amazing peace and joy that we can never know until we pray. Also, when we see the account in Matthew 14:25-33, we see that as long as Peter kept his eyes on the Lord Jesus, he was able by God’s mighty power, to walk on water. “But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink.”Save me, Lord!” he shouted.” (vs. 30). So it is very clear to us that the only way we can walk on and overcome any and every situation is to maintain a personal prayer life where we cast all our burdens upon the Lord knowing that He cares for us.
The second thing on which both the Apostles and the psalmist set their whole being on doing is “…the ministry of the Word” “…and to inquire in his temple.” It is like two sides of a coin; the two must roll together if any of them is to roll at all. Here we see the patriarchs declaring that they will give themselves over to the Word of God; to diligently study the Word and deliberately meditate on it. As earlier on stated, we see them saying that they will wholeheartedly, deliberately, continuously and persistently devote themselves to the Word of God. They make a firm choice to consciously give themselves to the Word of God. They do not say they will wait until the preacher comes along with a sermon, neither do they say they will drink of the Word once a week. But they speak as one who really has no other business but to search and know the Scriptures. They decide to yield their ears to hear the Word of God always.
One great fruit of this second commitment is FAITH. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). As we listen to the Word of God, we see the exceeding great and precious promises made by the One who cannot lie. Our hearts are stirred to believe because we read about those who were delivered from similar or worse situations. We know better that God is able to handle every person, situation or circumstance we come across by hearing the Word of His power in our hearts. But hearing the Word does not only produce faith; it also produces peace and inexpressible joy. These two precious Scriptures say it all: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3). “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:11).
Having seen this, there is a clear call to my life. It is firm, definite, full of hope and love. This is the call: “And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].” (Luke 9:23). This is a definite command; I MUST make a definite choice. The Lord knows what is best for me and He so eagerly desires to give me His best. But He will not go against my will. He is Jehovah (the Sovereign Lord) but for the present, His Word says: “choose you this day who ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15). How strict is our Lord concerning this. He will not have me give my heart to other things; He deserves and demands that I love and seek Him with the totality of my being. Anything short of loving Him in my inner-most being and having no other besides Him constitutes unfaithfulness and He will not bear it.
Beloved, it is clear as to what we are called into; “prayer and the ministry of the Word.” This is the foundation of all that will spring out of our walk with God. Any fruit we seem to bear outside of this true foundation of prayer and God’s Word is a bad, diseased and poisonous fruit. We cannot hope to walk with God on any other foundation but these. Indeed, we cannot claim to walk with God if we neglect this precious foundation. My prayer life and your prayer life are far more important than anything on earth. The Word of God is far more essential to me and you than food. “…I have esteemed and treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12). I do not pray for you alone, but I pray for myself first; that just as these saints who forsook all and followed Jesus, I too will forsake all and pursue my Lord, being confident of this “…that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. (Rom 8:18).
#5. LOOK, WALK AND LIVE!
“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah 6:16
Here is a commandment born out of a heart of pure love. The Father looks at the way the world is going and sees that it is inevitably coming to sudden destruction. He sees the new fashion trends and sees that they are all schemes by the devil to lure men into uncleanness and eventual destruction. He sees the movies and songs men watch and listen to and sees that they are filled with seeds of unrighteousness which the devil sows in the hearts of those who yield to it. He even looks at the sermons in the Church, the dressing of so-called brothers and sisters and the general mode of worship and service and sees that they are all born out of the fleshy feelings and thoughts of men and are inspired by demons. However, there is one striking thing that God also sees; His very own children who have once been saved by His precious blood have not only turned to walk in these slippery and dark paths, but are also calling others into it!
But God does not sit silently while His own fall into destruction. His first call is “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way…” His first call is to draw our attention back to the examples that faithful saints of old left for us. The Way itself is a Person – the Lord Jesus Christ, and there are those who have faithfully and patiently walked therein and obtained the Prize. The Father says to us “see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way”. He does not see any other good way than that in which His faithful saints walked. He does not tell us of another good way except that which is the following after the Lord Jesus Christ. Of other ways, He says, “There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again — it leads straight to hell.” (Proverbs 14:12). Many preachers and teachers today tell us of other ways; they tell us of the ways of mammon; they tell us of the ways of lasciviousness and many other ways and these look harmless enough. But God says, “look again — it leads straight to hell.” So we see here that God does not call us to a blind path; He does not call us to an unclear and uncertain future; He says “see”. When we look, sure enough we see. When we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, we see a perfect walk and a perfect finish. When we look at father Abraham, we see a faithful walk with God and a glorious finish. When we look at king David, we see a loving walk with God and a glorious finish. Do we need more to look at Isaiah, Elisha, Paul, Peter, John and the host of them? Look, if you may and you will see a blissful life and a glorious finish.
But God goes further to say “ask for the old paths”. Here, He calls for a diligent searching for this Way in which the great saints walked and entered God’s eternal glory. He, by this, makes it clear that it is still perfectly possible to live like they lived even amidst the vanities and oppositions that surround us. Never think it is impossible to live a completely holy and blameless life. The question is not, “is it possible to live without blame?” the question is, “what is needed for me to live a totally blameless life?” This will spur us on into deeper research into the Word of God to find this old Way which the modern organised church has neglected.
But even at this point, God does not stop. He does not bring a hungry child into His banqueting hall and when the child’s appetite has been whetted by the things he sees, He takes them away. No, he brought us into His banqueting hall, first to see that which He has set for us and then to partake of them in its fullest! So the Lord does not only call us to see or to search, He calls us further to “walk therein”. Here is an opportunity which if we truly realize its potentials, we will gladly let go of all things and pursue. The Way is set before us; the Scriptures are filled with examples of those who walked well and those who did not. Now the batten has fallen into our hands; the call is “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. (Hebrews 12:1-2). But God has not called us unto a vain pursuit. He clearly says: “I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; (Isaiah 45:19). He promises rest for those who will walk in these old paths. He promises to give us peace with God and peace in God. There is no other good way.
But what is our response? “We will not walk therein.” Shocking, isn’t it? We are like a drowning man who refuses to give out his hands to the only person who can save him from drowning. One may wonder; why are we so hard-hearted against this loving call which is really for our own good. The reason is not far-fetched. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15). We love the world so we cannot yield in loving obedience to the Father’s commandments. The Father commands decency in dressing but we love the world and do not want to appear in a way as to offend the standards of worldly appearance. That explains why the first style we see sinners put on, we hurriedly rush for. The Father commands purity of mind but we do not want to have a mind that will produce a life which the world hates. So we pollute our minds with their movies, songs pictures, conversations etc. The Father commands absolute abstinence from pre-marital and outside-marriage sex. But the world frowns at this command and because we love the world so much, we do not want to offend it. So we take our bodies and join it unto harlots and dirty dogs. We could continue on and on to mention how this shameful love of the world in us has made us harden our hearts against the loving commands of our Father. The Lord said: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15). So we do not obey what He commands, because we do not love Him.
But what is the end of this our shameful love for the world? After we have shunned God’s holy commandments and gone on as an unfaithful wife with the world, what do we gain? “And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.” (1 John 2:17). Does it not alarm you to find out that you are going to perish with the world? Does it not make you fear that because you have been unfaithful to your Husband and has hardened your heart against all His pleas, He will eventually reject you and cut you off and treat you as a traitor and an infidel? Will you not tremble before the Lord in fear and repent? Have you become so familiar with His love and mercy that you forget that He is also a fire that consumes?
At this point, we want to warn you as sternly as the love of God helps us to, that you return unto your first love in repentance. Right now, He calls earnestly and tenderly and compassionately. But how shocked you will be when on that great Day of Judgment, the One you once called “Father” will say to you with all perfect justice and finality: ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:23). Will you join me to say this prayer with all sincerity and brokenness and faith?
Precious Father, You are my very own Father,
But I have been a rebellious child.
You have instructed me in Your love
But I have turned away from Your commands in stubbornness.
Holy Father, I repent of this shameful love of the world in me
Please forgive me and cleanse my heart from it.
Create in me a clean, pure and holy heart
And renew a right, steadfast and faithful spirit in me.
Please do not cast me out of Your holy Presence
Please never take Your Spirit away from me.
But I command every other spirit of the world
To get out of my life right now in Jesus name!
Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit
Please rekindle Your love in my heart
And help me henceforth to walk in Your love
To the glory of Your worthy name.
Thank You precious Darling,
In Jesus name, amen.
#6 TEACH US TO PRAY
“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'” This is our prayer, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” Luke 11:1
We do not want to pray in our old ways, asking and begging. We want to come before Him as His Bride, drawing near to Him in a deep place of intimacy, and just be consumed in Him. When we are near Him, He is able to dwell in us more fully. From this posture everyone we encounter will be impacted by His presence in us. We need to know who we are in Christ – the power that is flowing through us and our authority over sickness, distractions, or other issues of life. We must war for the Kingdom of God rather than be distracted by a noise from the camp of the enemy which is built upon self, idolatry and individualism.
We have resurrection power attached to our prayer life! We can look to things that are absolutely dead and pray forth eternal LIFE! The same power in us is the same potency God demonstrated when He raised Jesus out of the grave. “His power at work in us who believe. This power in us is the same as the mighty strength which He used when He raised Christ form death….” – Ephesians 1:20
Our body is the temple of God and we have the right to take authority over every area of it – spirit, soul, and body. We need an encounter with God on a deeper level and our prayer life to be transformed into living in a place of victory — our intimacy with Christ growing stronger than ever with a sweet Aspiration for more of Him and the fulfilment of Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to Me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
COMMUNION WITH GOD
1 John 5:14-15 says:
“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
When we are in that place of intimacy with God, we can hear His heart. We are able to feel what He is doing and the season He is bringing us into. He is able to show us the things of the future and from that place decree them with greater authority.
The time is crucial for us to begin to speak the hidden things of the Lord into existence, even if at the time we are experiencing difficulty and hardships. We are called to live a victorious life speaking as though our Father is speaking. As it says in Mark 11:24: Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
The question is; how much intimacy do we want? Just how passionate for Jesus do we want to be? We are the ones who set those limits, not God. Eternal life is not a length of life, but rather a quality of life. Eternal life is intimacy with the Father and Jesus as seen in John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
A NEW MODEL
Many of the old models are being put away, for this is the hour to stand in faith and prophesy the new things to come. Isaiah declared in Isaiah 43:18-19: “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. ‘Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.'”
We know we have the victory over sin, death, and the darkness of this world. There is no way we are losing this battle, because the Lord provided the victory through the Cross. Even when things are hard, we must praise His name, because what the enemy intended for evil God will turn to our good.
No one wants to go through hard things, but as it states in James 1:2-4: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” The more we go through, the more we overcome; and the more we overcome, the greater our authority becomes. We are made perfect and complete and lacking in nothing. God allows us to go through hard times because He has given us the grace to overcome it and will then give us Kingdom authority.
Hunger and purity is one response of a believer who sees the Lord in His glory. Another response is being consumed with passion and zeal for Him as Isaiah was when he beheld the King of glory. His evil heart was exposed to him and he was purified. Then when God sought a messenger, his immediate response was one of passion and zeal.
Isaiah 6:1-9
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people:
#7 AWAKENED TO HIS PRESENCE
“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments…” Isaiah 52:1
God wants us to be awakened to Who He is, His Person, His love and His Presence. In the Parables of Jesus we see how important it was to Him that we be awake, that we would not be caught by surprise. When we are awakened to His life, the reality of His Spirit is very tangible to us. We are called to live an “awakened life” in His Presence.
BEING CLOTHED IN FRESH GARMENTS
Every day we choose what clothing we will put on. God has designed for us garments that will awaken us and strengthen us in His Presence. When we see the correlation between these garments and our awakening, we will begin to walk in a brighter place in God’s Presence.
God desires us to have ears that hear and eyes that see. When we are asleep, we miss out on what He is doing. Because of this, we can also default into stagnancy concerning HIS WILL FOR OUR LIVES (our DESTINY). That is why we see a theme through Scripture on how God desires us to be “awake”. In the state of awakening we are alive to all that He has, all that He is doing, and all that He desires for our lives.
With this in mind we need to ask ourselves more specifically what garments God is speaking of here. There are different garments:
1. Holy Garments (Exodus 28:2).
2. The Garment of Praise (Isaiah 61:3).
3. Garments of Salvation (Isaiah 61:10).
4. White Robes of Righteousness (Revelation 7:14).
THE SONG OF PRAISE
In a sense, these garments are one and the same because God provides them for us. There may be other pictures of our spiritual clothing that we could find. In the context of Isaiah 52 we are speaking more specifically about “the garment of praise”. When it says “put on thy strength” we are reminded that the “joy of the Lord is our strength”. One of the greatest ways that we express our joy is through our praise to God.
Judges 5:12 “Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song…” This theme is repeated in Psalm 108:2. The song of praise is intimately connected with awakening. Psalm 108:2-3 “Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people…”
When we utter praise to God our spirit finds release, awakening ourselves to revelation of our oneness with God. As we lift our voice, bringing our spirit, soul and body into unity of worship to God, there is an exponential increase in our awareness of His Presence in our lives. In turn, we are awakened to His voice, revelation and Presence in our lives.
GODS FIRE COMES FROM BEING IN HIS PRESENCE
God is calling us into a new season. He is calling us into a new day. He is asking us to begin to understand the power we carry in Jesus’ name. We need to understand the power of His Spirit that longs to pour through us. As we tarry in His Spirit we carry it out to a broken world. We don’t look to the anointed and the appointed, but look to the Author and the Finisher of your faith. He has called us. He has appointed us. HE has anointed us. He will send you. Man will not send you.
God does not send us out broken-hearted and discouraged and weak, but instead He sends us out fresh with fire from on high. His fire comes from being in His presence. Many vessels carry His fire; it is because they have been in the fire. We have been in His fires. We have had personal fires of testing and trials, but understand that we come under the kindness of a loving Savior and know all things truly do work out together for the good. Ephesians 2:2 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us…” Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
He is calling us into His presence. He has called us to bring His presence that we carry within us. As we have a grateful heart it brings healing to our mind. We have thoughts of blessings and present ourselves as a blessing. We have a heart of thanksgiving which will bring celebration over our heart. As we present our presence to God, His presence grows stronger as it tarries over us. We expect faith upon faith to rise up! We expect advancement from strength-to-strength! We expect to go from glory-to-glory as God opens impossible doors for the advancement of His kingdom and His glory. We have resurrection power attached to our prayer life! We can look to things that are absolutely dead and pray forth eternal LIFE! The same power in us is the same potency God demonstrated when He raised Jesus out of the grave. “His power at work in us who believe. This power in us is the same as the mighty strength which He used when He raised Christ form death….” – Eph. 1:20
Christ pours the unlimited oil of the anointing in us so that we can shine and burn continually and perpetually with the glory and love of the Lord to the world. There’s no limitation for the workings of Jesus through us because He’s constantly pouring His anointing in us. Ephesians 3:20, 21: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen!”
As we believe that the Lord will release to us a revelation of the unlimited realm of the great ministry and fullness of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives, we ask the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes and ears to see the invisible and to hear what He is saying to us in this season. We ask Him to open up the depths of the Word to reveal the secret things of the kingdom so that we can walk in a greater dimension of victory and the fulfilment of God’s purpose in our lives (our DESTINY).
Ephesians 3:20, 21: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen!”
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