Maturity

I became aware that I was growing to some level of spiritual maturity
when I learned that God would speak His word to my heart.
My faith began to lay hold of it and I saw prayers answered, wounds healed
and sins overcome. I knew I had touched His life by faith.
So each day I would join by faith as a branch to The Vine.
Everyday began to be an adventure because I never knew where it would
take me but I just listened for that still small voice. Prayers and intercession
would follow so I started getting up early every morning and spending time
with the Lord. To me its like plugging in and charging the battery. Its not
so much prayer or praise but the posture of your spirit in an expectancy
that you are receiving from Him all that you will need for that day.
Then as the days would progress all of a sudden I am witnessing to someone
or praying for someone that I have never met and I become aware of Gods presence
and the anointing and the heart door is open to impart His Life.
It took years of the Lord preparing me to come to this place.
To me the salvation of your soul is becoming aware of His Life and
granting Him full and free access to your soul (mind, emotions and will )
via your heart. As your soul is available you are able to walk in the Spirit and
become a present day witness of His Life. Exactly how far are any of us down this path?
Only the Lord knows. I know that He is able to bring us all to the fullness
of the measure of the (sons and daughters) that He has called us to be.

The Wind

At some point in our walk with the Lord we become aware that we have touched His Life.
It is an intimation in the Spirit, so we begin to follow that where ever it leads us.
All of a sudden we find ourselves in the middle of Gods purposes and realize that
had we been walking in the natural light and not the light of the Spirit we would
have never arrived at this place of blessing purpose and opportunity.

Joh 3:8 Moffatt NT
The wind blows where it wills; you can hear its sound, but you never know where
it has come from or where it goes: it is the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Answer the call

“For many are called , but few are chosen .”  Matthew 22:14

Said another way: “Many are called, but few will pay the price in order to be chosen.” 

Being chosen is based on our submission to a process of becoming an "overcomer".

“To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me (Bride) in My Throne,

even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His Throne.”  Revelation 3:21

Within the Body of Christ are two levels of relationship to the Lord. 

One can be saved and not become an overcomer . One cannot be an overcomer without first being saved.

Thus, there is a church within the church. The first level is made up of all those who are satisfied with

the “fact” of being saved, but seek to go no further. These are saved, but view their salvation as being

like “salt” that only flavors, rather than permeates their life style.  They are satisfied with the promise of

a future heaven, but have stopped short of the full work of the cross to bring them into "spiritual maturity".

The second level is made up of those who are being moved upon by the Holy Spirit,

especially at this present time.  They have taken up their cross and have submitted their lives,

and all that pertains to them, to His Kingdom rule. These are a called out “people within a people”

who are being dealt with and have qualified to become His Bride.

Grace

Our biggest hindrance is that we measure Gods heart by our own.
Our heart in one of good and evil (right or wrong ).
Gods heart is one of Grace “For by grace have ye been saved” (Eph 2:8) .
Grace is reserved for those who do not deserve it. There is not the smallest element of merit in it.
Grace is not a gap policy to fill in where our best efforts leave off.
We are either functioning by Grace or by our own strength.
“Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt” (Rom 4:4).
After we are saved, good works will follow and we will serve God faithfully (Faith with works).
Yet the motive behind such actions is the love of Christ, and the "power" for doing these things
is the Holy Spirit. Good works and faithful service we must have, but they are not for the sake
of earning salvation nor for the sake of keeping salvation.
“The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23)
God's Grace allows not only for forgiveness of sin but deliverance from sin.
Many believers accept forgiveness but do not expect deliverance from sin.
The defeats are many and the scars run very deep as the war within them
of the "old life" and the "new life" rages on. This condition may exist
for years because of unbelief in the finished work of Christ that is freely available by Grace.
Even though the "new life" resides within, it has found no expression.
That expression is found when we come to "the end" of ourselves.
"...But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom 5:20)
Shortly after receiving the "new creation" life we must be cared for properly.
Under an anointed ministry we will receive liberal amounts of the "milk of salvation".
We will come to know who we are in Christ's death and His resurrection.
Our failures will be few and our victory's will be many as this "new creation"
life flows through us by Grace. To be forgiven for sin and delivered from sin is but
the beginning of our spiritual journey. The work for all of us is clear.
To establish all in God's Grace. It is the effortless expression of a sinless life
that we have been freely given.

Living Sacrifice

In faith each day we present ourselves to the Lord as a “Living Sacrifice”
“Dear Lord my body belongs to you. These are your hands; these are your eyes, this is your mind,
all my members, all that I have received as a result of my natural birth I present to you. You are The Vine, as a branch I join myself to You.” The Lord desires that we overcome all the natural passions, lusts and inclinations of our body as well as the weaknesses, uncleanness and sins. We, on the basis of our faith in our co-death with Christ exercise our will to deny sin its influence in the body and its power to express itself through the members through our daily consecration (setting apart). On the basis of the Lord’s resurrection we offer ourselves to God as "instruments of righteousness." The expression of this Resurrection Life is our victory for as we “walk in the Spirit” we “wont” fulfill the lusts of the flesh. If we respond to Gods call in our heart and present ourselves and our members to Him with “childlike faith” according to His word, the God who calls us will accept our consecration and fill us with himself so that we may do His will in all things!

Sin willfully

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,

who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,

wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

What is really meant by "sin willfully" in Heb 10:26 ? It points to the three things in Heb 10:29

(1) trodden καταπατέω (Thayer G2662) underfoot the Son of God,

(2) counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified as an unholy thing κοινός (Thayer G2829), and

(3) done despite ἐνυβρίζω (Thayer G1796) to the Spirit of grace.

In sum, it means to reject the gospel of salvation, "not" the believers loss of salvation. This person hears the word of

God which states that Jesus is the Son of God, yet he answers by insulting Jesus and to reject Him with disdain and contempt . He has heard God’s word which says that Jesus has shed His blood for the remission of sins and that His blood is most precious—even as the blood of a pure spotless lamb [to sanctify-to make holy], but he replies by saying that the death of Jesus is a martyr’s death and that the blood Jesus shed is common just like anybody else’s. He has heard the word of God which says that the Holy Spirit brings repentance and gives eternal life, nevertheless he retorts by declaring that he does not believe God will impart to him what Jesus has accomplished nor does he believe in new birth. Because of this kind of reaction, the Bible’s word is that there remains to him no more sacrifice for sins.

Hebrews 10 is clear that anyone who has heard the truth and yet has sinned willfully by rejecting the Holy Spirit as well as the blood of the Son of God. For such a person who has despised the Son of God there remains no more sacrifice for sins. For people in the Old Testament time, if they missed the opportunity for atonement one year they still might have it the following year. But today, if any man should reject Jesus Christ, there does not remain anymore sacrifice for sins, since even the sin-offering of the Old Testament dispensation has passed and is therefore no longer effective. Whoever has the knowledge of the truth but rejects it has no more sacrifice for sins available to him. God had done His uttermost when He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to this world to accomplish the work of redemption so that we might be saved. There is therefore nothing more He can add. Accordingly, the Bible tells us that if any man should sin willfully, that is, reject the gospel which he has heard and known, it is finished and done with for him. His end is nothing but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries.

Precious Promises

(2Pe 1:3-8 KJV) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature...If God wants something to happen, to move in my heart and my experience and my life, If He wants to help me in some natural thing or spiritual thing and I'm conscious that's what the Lord wants, I accept it and I say, "Yes Lord," and I surrender to it. He will give me a Word for that. He will give me a "precious promise" for that. The word is quickened in my Spirit and becomes real and alive. He will give me something to give me my security. It is the divine "all clear". The word is my divine enablement. It is a light on the path that God has ordained that I walk in. He gives it to me to steady me, to hold me, to encourage me, to establish me all the while I am doing my believing. I live in the Spirit. I believe in being directed by The Spirit. Hearing the voice of The Lord. Knowing the mind of the Spirit. I accept trust and believe that by His grace I am walking in His Spirit and am a present day fruitful witness and expression of His Life in the earth.
Every ounce of divine nature that has ever flowed through me has come by this walk of faith and complete dependence on The Lord Jesus Christ.

His way is the High way

The principle of our journey and its process is: out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the land.The time we spend in the wilderness can be shortened. Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years; Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days! We can be like Israel and resist the dealings of God and refuse to cooperate with Him and we will continue to walk in circles year after year, until we finally repent (change our mind). Or we can be like Jesus and go through the wilderness with speed and efficiency, learning what we need to learn, and receiving the soul salvation that the Father has for all of us!
Rev 1:6 And hath made "us" kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Salvation is of The Lord

SALVATION IS OF THE LORD
Today many do not have the joy of salvation because they are trying to preserve their ongoing salvation by qualification. Only a path of unconditional surrender brings us Gods peace. Being saved does not depend on good deeds in the past, nor on our pace of spiritual growth in the future, but rather on whether or not we believe that Jesus bore our sins and died for us. No matter how many sins one has throughout life, these sins have all been put upon Jesus. As long as we will believe, we will be saved. We are not saved by ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. It is the Lord Jesus who has saved us. Salvation does not come through a lifetime of labor and striving for spiritual progress, that will not save a person. If you ask a genuinely saved person how he is saved, he will definitely answer, “It is Jesus who saves me. I do not have any ability to save myself. It is all from the Lord.” Only this kind of person will always rejoice. Salvation is progressive. Our Spirit has been saved (New Birth). Our Soul is being Saved (Spirit Filled). Our body will be saved.

(2Pe 1:3-8 KJV) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that I know

We can "Know" that we are His throughout eternity.

1 John 5:13: “I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God.”

The great fact is that God so loved the world (John 3:16). To what extent did He love? He loved to the extent that He gave His only begotten Son to the world to die on the cross for men’s sins and save all the sinners. This is the great fact. Nothing is greater and truer than this. The great condition is the one thing that everyone should do—believe. The great result is whoever believes will not perish, but have eternal life. The path to all that God has for us starts here.

We are given this standing that we may boldly come to the throne of  Grace and by faith be filled with the new creation life. We are then able to live before God with a true heart in full assurance of faith. This is the foundation of our walking in the Spirit.  As we mature in this place of abiding in Him we become overcomers. As we walk in the Spirit we won't fullfill the lusts of the flesh. It is this effortless expression of His sinless life that is our  victory. Victory over sin, self and satan. It is with this child like faith that we begin to enter the Kingdom of God. The High calling in Christ Jesus. A race, a pressing into, an apprehension of that which we were apprehended for. It is the path of the overcomer.

It is the submission to this divine government that will lead to our becoming a partaker with Jesus in His Throne.  In this realm, our decisions do not relate only to right or wrong, but with the motives that underlie right or wrong.  It is here that the final test of our union with the Lord will find its outworking.  As we progress we will be tested concerning the motives of our heart which provoke the things that manifest as right or wrong.  It is not enough to deny only the “thing,” we must overcome the very principle that allows it to abide within us and assert itself. All who intensely hunger for this higher level of spiritual reality will be put in a place of pressure by The Lord where the issues of the heart will be revealed. The message of the Church is one of Salvation. The message of the Kingdom is one of Preparation so in “that day,” having become an overcomer, we will be found in the Throne, seated with Jesus. The Kingdom of God is at hand!

I Hear

We must allow The Lord to prepare us to receive the "Word of the Kingdom". The Lord desires to begin the process in each of us by separating us unto Himself that he might prepare the soil (our hearts) to receive this word. By “divine intent,” we were created with the capacity to hear and respond to this desire of the Lord for fellowship and communion. As we respond in anticipation, we will be lifted into the realm where our life begins to reflect the life and desire of the One who is seated upon His Throne, our Lord Jesus Christ. As we come into this identity in relationship with Him, we will be able to sing "The song of The Lord", as our life becomes lost in identity with His life. If we truly desire to enter into and experience this higher realm of personal relationship with the Lord, in which our times of being set apart to enter into His presence becomes more important to us than all that we are attempting to do for Him, then the Lord will respond and begin the process of separating us to Himself.


“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

The Wind of The Spirit

He is building a Temple, not made with hands, as a habitation for Himself by the Spirit.

He has planted a Garden, and He, the Husbandman, waits patiently “for the precious fruit of the earth.”

He is mobilizing an Army, that will be clothed upon with the whole armor of God, and that will go forth in the

Day of the Lord, in total triumph and victory.

He is preparing gold and silver vessels for the House of God, refined and precious in His sight, to carry the

incense and the oil and the fragrance of His presence to the world about us.

He is perfecting Sons, in His own image and likeness, that they, like their elder Brother, might be a delight to

His heart, and the expression of His own glory in the earth.

And He continues to cleanse and to purge and to adorn a Holy Bride for His Son, that she might share that

intimate union and relationship with Him for which His heart longs.

God has reserved in His own heart...and cause us to be a people who are watching and waiting and

looking for Him. Are we looking for the “second coming”... or do we watch and wait and look for Him? Are we

looking for a climactic event to take place? Or are we longingly waiting for Him?

God tells us specifically enough when our Lord is coming, and if we would hear what He is saying, we would

be ready and prepared to receive Him when He appears. He is not coming merely because time is running out.

He comes rather when the purpose of His heavenly ministry has been accomplished, and the people for whose

sake He ministers in the heavenly sanctuary are prepared and adorned to receive Him.

He comes to be “glorified in the saints”... in a Body that is thoroughly joined and knit together, and has come

“unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13)

He comes to inhabit a Temple, a temple not made with hands, a temple that has been “builded together for a

habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:22)

He comes as refiner’s fire, and as fullers’ soap...to purge the sons of Levi, as gold and silver is purged...that

they might be holy vessels in the House of God, “that they might offer unto the LORD an offering in

righteousness.” (Mal. 3:3)

He comes for a holy Bride... a Bride that is worthy of the Bridegroom, a Bride that is His own complement, His

counterpart, His fullness, His completeness. But notice this: she is going to be ready! She is going to be

prepared! She is not going to be kidnapped the way she is, unaware of what is happening. “For the marriage of

the Lamb is come, and His wife HATH MADE HERSELF READY.” (Rev. 19:7)

And therefore, because He comes for this kind of a people, He is now sending forth into the earth this kind of

Word-to prepare this kind of a people. The servants of God who are hearing what the Spirit is saying, are

declaring a living Word in the earth; and it is this living Word that is preparing His people to receive Him. His

Word, His living Word, is that which makes us ready!

That is why He speaks very explicitly to the hearts of His people in the day and hour when He arises in the

earth to do a new thing. It is not something that His servants have imagined out of their own hearts. It is

something that originates in the heart of God. It is His intention and His desire to bring it into being, and

therefore He declares it. He speaks it forth. He knows that His Word is creative in its working, and nothing that

He says can fail to come to pass, and so He speaks it forth. “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke

1:37) This is what the angel said to Mary concerning the birth of her Son-something that was totally impossible

as far as she could understand. And so He told her, and I believe this is a more literal translation: “No Word of

God shall be void of power.”

New Birth

By means of a “new birth,” we are reborn into the spiritual dimension of life, which God had originally intended.  As a part of our new birth, we have been provided with (spiritual) faculties, which enable us to function in our newly recreated spiritual life.  Through the proper use of these, we either prosper or suffer in varying degrees.

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere (pure) milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”  I Peter 2:2

Through an act of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, we are born again into this new creation, as a spiritual baby.  Just as natural babies must develop their senses until they function properly, our spiritual senses, which are comparable to our physical senses, must also be developed.  If the totality of our desires and focus upon life is toward the temporal area, then only our physical senses will develop.

However, if the inner desire of our heart seeks that which is born of the Spirit, our spiritual senses will develop and function.  This will result in our being able to distinguish and understand spiritual things.  Whenever we respond to the spiritual (His presence), we will be infinitely better off than we would have been, if we had expended our time and efforts in seeking only the temporal realm of life. 

The Throne

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.”  Romans 14:17-18

The Kingdom of God begins with “righteousness.”  As we make the right choices, we place ourselves on a “platform” called righteousness.  Due to an accumulation of these righteous choices, we discover that there resides within us an abiding “peace.”  This will also result in the approbation, or the favor of God resting upon us, and “joy” is then manifested.

Our submission to divine government will lead to our becoming a partaker with Jesus in His Throne.  In this realm, our decisions do not relate only to right or wrong, but with the motives that underlie right or wrong.  It is here that the final test of our union with the Lord will find its outworking.

If we truly overcome in this area of our being, in “that day” we will find ourselves seated with Jesus in His Throne.

First, we are tested concerning the choices and decisions that we make.  As we progress up the spiral, we will be tested concerning the motives of our heart which provoke the things that manifest as right or wrong.  It is not enough to deny only the “thing,” we must overcome the very principle that allows it to abide within us and assert itself.

Those who are satisfied with being blessed and eventually going to heaven, have their reward (streets of gold and mansions).  But for those who intensely hunger for this higher level of spiritual reality, there is much more.  These, in the place of pressure, will deal with the issues of their heart, so in “that day,” having become an overcomer, they will be found in the Throne, seated with Jesus.