REAL LOVE - THE SUPERNATURE
| By Judy Sky “... it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20)
Whatever it is in place of His presence and His expression and His manifestation, now must go! It must be identified and eliminated, that you be free to not only know yourself apart from all that is not His design for your life, but that you enter into to the fulfillment of your true potential and all He has for you. His strength is being made perfect in our weakness and now it is time for you to begin to understand and experience your part to be supplied in this great move.
HE HAS MADE US PARTAKERS IN HIS DIVINE NATURE! “...by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (Acts 17:29).
REAL LOVE IS HIS EXPESSION AND PRESENCE AND MANIFESTATION IN AND THROUGH HIS PEOPLE. USE THE LINKS BELOW TO CONNECT TO PARALLEL TEACHINGS THAT DEAL SPECIFICALLY WITH COUNSELING WISDOM AND ALSO WITH SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY, FAMILY UNIT AND FAMILIAR SPIRITS TEACHINGS THAT WILL ALL RELATE TO THE PREPARATIONS FOR THIS NEW THIRD DAY APPEARING OF THE LORD IN HIS TEMPLE, WHICH YOU ALSO ARE AND WE ARE CORPORATELY. IT IS TIME FOR ALL OF US TO LEARN WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW IT REALLY WORKS TO BE FITLY FRAMED AND JOINED TOGETHER.
What is Real Love? We are designed to know Him in the power of His resurrection. (Phil. 3:10) What I am calling Real Love is indeed Resurrection Love. It is one with, and a part of Resurrection Life. It can be experienced and obtained only during and after the death of what was there before. So first of all we need to determine that what we have now is not enough or not the real thing. Furthermore, whatever it is that we have determined is not enough or not the real thing, now needs to be replaced by something greater. That something greater must be that which we can have, use, and be in all of our everyday relationships and activities, with all people, in their godly role, function, and order. That something greater must be able to fulfill what is required of Real Love. We wouldn’t be looking for the real thing if what we already have is doing the job right now. We tried to make it work with what we already have and what we already know, and it simply is not enough. It is not good enough, not powerful enough, and it doesn’t satisfy. I hear the frustration and the concern of those who
come for help in counsel. The next twenty bullet points are commonly
heard complaints, even among born-again, Spirit-filled believers:
I need the Real Thing! I need Real Love for myself and I need enough Real Love to overflow in abundance to all those around me! The problem is that we want to love with this kind of love out of our own selves rather than to understand that our own selves are incapable of this kind of supernatural stuff. We need to learn how to displace the old self-effort by reckoning the old man dead. Each of us must know, reckon, and believe in his heart that his “old man” was crucified with Jesus Christ at Calvary. That would be retroactive to 2000 years ago. We must experience the yielding over of the heart and life and temple that we are to the Lordship of The Divine Nature of God. The only way we can do this is by faith. Then God will take over our vessel and fill us with the Real Love that He is, and then it is “No longer I, but Christ” living in me and as me. (Gal. 2:20) Then it is Him and His love that is loving others from within me, and through me, and instead of me (therefore this love will be for all the right motives). The only way that this can or will happen is by getting this understanding and learning to yield (see the chapter on the power of yielding) to Christ in me, the only hope of Glory. (Col. 1:27) We need understanding, and when we hear the truth, we will recognize it and believe it. We need to come to believe that this is a real thing and it is available to us and for us. We need to know who and what it is we are yielding to in order to let the Mind of Christ and His Spirit and Nature function in us and through us. This book is written to bring understanding that will assist cooperation with the work of the Divine Nature of God to fill us, overtake us, and flow out from us as rivers of living water. His Presence will be more than enough to meet all the needs we have for love. Real Love is the tangible manifestation of “No longer I, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) The very presence of Real Love must and will identify and expose the old carnal, adamic nature and lead it to, in, and through the cross experience; and that which remains that is of the design of God will be raised up unto resurrection life. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. (Rom. 7:18) NIV You see this great presence of God that is Real Love is not a fluffy, lightweight, pleasurable thing as we first begin to face it. Real Love in the form of Christ in you comes to bring a sword, to divide, and to bring the refiner’s fire. It comes to take over all that was committed to it. This magnificent and powerful great Love will braid the whip and use it to discern, identify, expose, drive out, destroy, crucify, and kill all that does not belong there in His Father’s House, in His temple, in His rightful place. This is the perfect Love of God that is here to take the kingdom by force, for He is righteous. He is here to move the giants off the land that has been promised and given to Him. This love wars, kills, delivers, and redeems. This Love purges, purifies, prunes, and restores. It will destroy all that is in you and me, which is not of Christ. It will expose all that is antichrist, against, or instead of Perfect and Real Love, for God is Love. A perfect type and shadow for us, and a perfect picture of the
truth about us as the temple of God, a house and a vehicle and a
container that needs to be purged and delivered of what’s
there, and filled and overtaken by the Lord is shown in scripture:
As it was on the third day with the wine at the wedding feast at Cana, the first taste we’re given is a taste of the inferior (John 2:1-11). It was also temporary. It ended. It ran out. It got all used up and it was no more. The first impartation of love we get is natural. It is a mixture of phileao and eros (human love). It is sensual, selfish, and immature. It is great at taking and lame at giving. It is as the love of a child, which is immature. Real love is about putting away the things of a child. It is superficial, lacking depth and quality. It is of the temporary and unsatisfying natural kind of love, or wine as the case was at Cana. It is all there is, okay and desirable, until the Perfect comes. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (1 Cor. 13:10) NKJ The first did not last and it did not compare to what The Lord had to offer; it was disappointing and was considered inferior. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (John 2:10) NKJ We also are invited to a wedding feast. We are called to participate in the most intimate form. We are in Christ, the Bridegroom, and we are also His Precious Church, His Bride. We are called into the communion of the Wedding Supper. We are to experience from both sides now, His Real Love. We thought (like the first wine that was served) that the first taste we had of love was the real thing (because it was all we knew of love up to that point). We assumed it was the best there was available. We thought it was because naturally at weddings (love celebrations) they serve the best first and save the other for after. However, the ways of God are different (higher) than our ways. When all of the first wine that was available was entirely gone, and all that was left was nothing but 6 stone vessels filled with water (6 is the number of man), only then was it possible and the right time for the miraculous to happen. It is only after the absolute end and death of the natural that the supernatural can appear on the scene and be manifested. That’s what makes it supernatural. And because it was produced from the insufficiency of the natural in the first place, it takes nothing but God on the scene to keep it coming. The miraculous provision, healing, and the multiplication of God comes forth out of a little boy’s lunch, empty vessels for oil, stone water pots, a rock, spit mixed with mud, a seed, a staff, a promise, a word, etc. The supernatural is most excellent and is the permanent reality. That which is raised from the dead is lasting, permanent, and eternal. To get to the resurrection stuff, there is a death required of the old and the first. When it is about a change of nature, whatever is temporary and natural in us must come to an end to make room for the eternal and supernatural divine nature of God to be glorified in His temple (which we are). For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (Rom. 6:10) NKJ If we are one with Him in His death we will also be one with Him in His life. You will find “Real Love” far beyond the boundaries of the romantic, mushy, sweet stuff that feels so good. The Real Love is proven gold tried in the fire. Find it and buy it with your life. Find it realms above the superficial words, rituals, and appearances that are, indeed, wonderful gestures (and yet though genuine may also be only skin deep). All that glitters is not gold. All these things are important and wonderful (like lace and frosting), but in their most perfect form, they are merely overflow when you have the “Real Thing.” What is the “Real Thing?” It is something far greater and more excellent that comes from deep within, from underneath, and from above...from the nature of God; but most importantly, from the nature of God IN YOU. The day will come that you find out for yourself that this “Real Love” I’m talking about is not merely a desirable option, but an absolute necessity. It is the manifested presence of God and our ability (by empowerment) to contain and express His very substance. You are designed to need it, you’ll die to have it, and it will be tested. We can always work up some sugary, generic, empty calorie juice that looks like love from the soul realm; but the human stuff is not enough to pass the full test of “Real Love” when the testing comes; and the testing does and will come. Being “nice” is not enough. Romance is valuable and precious, but many relationships and many marriages die because they’ve come to a time and place where “Real Love” was required to be proven; and they found they were bankrupt, and were not willing to do what it takes to acquire some. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:5) Move out of the way and let Christ be your life. You know what He will do; let Him do it in you and through you. We all want to be on the receiving end of this unconditional, supernatural stuff; and it’s rare to find. It will change the world and has the power to catapult you into heaven, but it can’t be proven under ideal conditions, or when things are running smoothly. So don’t think something’s wrong just because something is wrong. IN CONTEXT: For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (ROM 8:18-21) KJV When it appears that something is wrong, it is our opportunity to be overcomers. You cannot be an overcomer unless you have something to overcome. Real Love overcomes, never fails, and endures all things. Even the heathen can love when all the conditions are wonderful, but when “for better or worse” ends up “far worse,” and when push comes to shove, and when the pressure and stress on you is insurmountable, and when the one you thought was lovely becomes extremely unlovely, you will need to dig deeper into the recesses of your heart. When you find that the last stash of your own human love has run out, and you realize you must have already spent your entire storehouse of forgiveness, it may feel like the end, but it’s only the beginning of “Real Love.” Like at the wedding feast, when all the wine ran out, impartation that proved when they thought it was all gone and looked to The Lord, it was the opportunity and the beginning of tasting the best which was saved for last. (John 2:2-10) A time will come in your relationships, when your natural way of doing things no longer works. You will need to get a hold of something more powerful than what you now have. You will either learn to tap into God’s commodities that are supernatural, or stay stuck with stunted growth. You must know when this time comes; it’s your turn for the real contents of your heart to be proven. As you mature spiritually you will need to learn how to reach up into a higher realm to get a hold of some of that unconditional love that covers a multitude of sin, and some of that red forgiveness that was shed to pay for the sins of all the world. You will need to learn to handle these commodities for yourself and for others if you are called to be a son of God. The commodities are of His very substance. What a privilege and responsibility we have received; to stand as priests, able to minister both to God Almighty, and to his people. Unconditional love is real love. It has no criteria. You don’t earn it, can’t lose it, and it’s not based on being deserving or worthy. It’s not based on measuring up. It’s not contingent on the condition, performance, or behavior of the recipient, but on the immeasurable wealth and richness of the benefactor. It’s not about the recipient; it’s all about the giver. When I let the one who is the substance and source of this real, unconditional love, live in me and flood and flush this love through me and out to every human being, I become purified, transformed, and illuminated. I become fulfilled. When I am full of this real love that is unconditional, I am afraid of nothing. I am not concerned about what could hurt me, but instead I am full of this perfect love that flushes out and casts out all fear. Fear is full of torment that is concerned about myself; but when I let this perfect love abide in me, I am concerned only about getting some of this overflowing, abundant, rich and good stuff to all people so they can all be as He is in this world (1 Jn 4:17). It is too good to keep for myself. I want everyone to know it, to have it, to be healed and transformed by it. I can be so full of His love to give that I am almost in pain looking for a place to release it, to give it. There is no room for fear and no hollow place for selfishness to hide. This real love longs to give, to heal, to serve, and to help. This love is so rich, that it has need of nothing but a recipient! It aches and desires to relieve suffering. Can you sense the heady high, the euphoria, the heavenly anointing
as you imagine yourself full of this nature, of this substance?
Can you see how this living, loving nature of God will deliver captives
from all addictions and heal the brokenhearted? The poor become
rich and the blind are able to see!!! Can you see? Are you rich?
The whole world is dying for this manifestation of the nature of
God, of the sons of God! This manifestation is not religious but
a transforming power that raptures souls, meeting needs. And if
you are a cell and member of the body of Christ alive on the face
of this earth today, you must have an ear to hear. He will appear
in His body and the whole world will know that we are Christians
by our love (by His love, by this real love). They’ll know
the difference, do you? We begin to not like our selves as we hit the bottom of our human love and go dry. In the place where the sweet nectar of God, and the buttery softness and sweetness of innocence runs out, we develop a rusty corrosion of fragmented scales. We produce a hard covering that attempts to do the job of protecting the heart without or instead of forgiveness and love. The covering is called hardness of heart and bitterness. They are the combined toxic work of the enemy to make provision for the covering of the heart apart from the nature of God. Things can get rough; that soft heart is vulnerable. How quickly a soft heart can toughen up. How difficult to soften it again. We can eat away at ourselves and each other and act out of the carnal nature until we absolutely cannot stand it anymore. Pressure will cause us to find out who we really are. We may find when we are measured that we come up lacking. "You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.” (Dan 5:27) We may reach for an addiction to anesthetize the pain and try to fill the void, or we may be ready to be filled with that second, and best batch of wine, prepared for the wedding feast by The Divine Nature. Addictions are a waste of time except to expose, identify, and eventually eliminate all of your idols and cheap substitutes; and to let your rebellion run itself out, bringing you to the end of yourself. Addictions will all prove themselves to be false gods, whose goal is to steal, kill, and destroy you. I tell you this: Nothing will fill that void but the pure and powerful, unconditional love and forgiveness of God. It is His very substance, life, and nature. You need it for yourself, to fill you and to live in you, as you, and instead of you. Imagine this in you without mixture. You need it to flow out of you to every human being. Nothing short of a death to self will make room for this magnificent nature to become your life, fill your place, your name, your space. Freshly now, by faith, invite, accept, and receive all that He is, and begin to bring every thought into obedience, dwelling upon His goodness (which leads to repentance). Abide in Him and let His word abide in you. You no longer run on automatic, unconsciously, but begin to fight to stay conscious in the Spirit, and to choose life, one moment at a time. You choose now to live out of only what and who He is... giving out of His account, His work, His abundance. To do this you must know Him. You must know what He will do and say. You must know His nature. You must study Him and visualize and imagine all that He is living out of you. Imagine how He would respond to your problems and people. Meditate on it, but not to long. Get the picture, then let the Christ in You answer and respond to whatever your situation is in the present second. Put all those concurring present seconds together in the same way and you have successfully yielded to the nature of God living out of you. You are one with Him and He is one with you. Your first quest is to know Him more and know Him better and then you will know more precisely what and who you are yielding to. Know His nature and know His word. He says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:29 30) KJ His spirit is distinctly kind, patient, generous, and sweet. The Divine Nature is a refreshing surprise to bump into in daily interactions. It catches people off guard. They are not expecting that patient, loving response. They expect human nature, dog eat dog; not the divine nature to show up in you! Even the smallest kindness can be the highlight of another?s day. They glance deep in your eyes to see who it is that would have this nature. Do they see Him in you? Or is His presence in you a secret? The world expects us to be out to get and are stunned and bewildered when we prove we are out to give and help freely. They know that it’s Jesus. They think you’re an angel because so few people are able to love freely, or have time to help, or are quick to forgive. Your life is not your own. It was bought with a price, and given to you only for you to realize you can’t do anything with it apart from God. And so you bring it back to Him, and yield it over to Him in the only increments you have: each present second as it is here, and each area and matter as they come up for the testing. You give your life back to Him by letting Him have His way in you. You yield your members over to Him. You refuse to allow any other nature to function in you or through you. You submit yourself to God and resist the devil and he must flee from you. Human beings are vessels that contain power. We are not powers in ourselves. We have the power to yield the vessel which we are over to good or evil, life or death, love or fear, intimacy or strife, darkness or light. Who will live in you? Whose nature will speak? Who will respond to the offense, to the insult, to the rejection? Will it be that old nasty nature? Or will you yield over the mind and the heart and the mouth for the only Nature that is worthy to live in any of us: the nature of LOVE. Yield to Him and surprise, bless, and astound your neighbor, your perpetrator, or your spouse with Divine Love: Compassion, Mercy, and Wisdom. What does the word of God and his unconditional love and forgiveness say about the matters you are now dealing with? Do you need to waste any more time? Get the picture of what it would look like, sound like, and feel like to yield to Him, and then do it. Do it now. Walk it out, speak it out, give it out, and let that old nature be starved out. You feel vulnerable and you may feel like your dying. It’s the Gethsemane Garden experience when you first fight and win the decision to let LOVE have His perfect way in you and through you. You fight and win again and again, until it is settled in the heavens, and the pit stops bringing it up, and you are proven as an overcomer. You know who you are, you eat and enjoy the fruit of love, and you know the value of the ground you have taken. It’s now or later. We must through much tribulations enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22) NKJ Get on with it. It hurts for but a moment, and only to make way for that which is our great satisfaction. For we will find ourselves suddenly on the resurrection side of the cross; which is the fulfillment, the glory, and the reward. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) NKJ That’s a clue as to the value of where to keep your focus. See the cross, but look on through it, to focus on the other side. Within moments of yielding wholeheartedly to THE RIGHT-EOUS SPIRIT and THE RIGHT-EOUS NATURE... while doing and saying what needs to be said and done (His thoughts, His words, His actions), we can move from death to life and taste the fruit of resurrection that fast! We can lay a fatal blow to the walls of stubbornness, fear, and pride that deceived us and blocked us from this fulfillment in life by simply YIELDING. It's what we're all looking for... but what price are we willing
to pay to get it? THE DEEP PEACE OF REAL LOVE If you are a cell and member of the body of Christ, you can get ready for the process of the deeper work that will prove the nature of God (Christ) in you. This is His necessary purpose for the entire body, and this is the season! Jesus says in Luke 12:49-51, “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Like time-lapse photography, we see a day that is as a thousand years... He spoke it then, wished it was, and now it is.) “...But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!” (And to shock you more.) “…Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.” NKJ In Matthew 10:34-36 He says, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” NKJ What could possibly be the purpose of this division that is brought by the Prince of Peace, Himself? The Lord does not say that He is bringing division between you and the devil, per se, but in context, He continues to challenge us to wake up. “Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:54-56) NKJ Aren’t we all tired of white-washed sepulchers full of dead man's bones? If indeed, I have reckoned the old man dead, and if indeed, he is crucified with Christ, then my ‘dead man’s bones’ need to join Him and I will no longer be a white-washed sepulcher full of dead man’s bones, but I will be the temple of God. The old man is dead and His bones must go, too. My heart will no longer be a tomb, but a tabernacle. Nothing related to the dead man can remain. We're nauseated by superficial pretensions and performances. One can be very “nice” and have no real love. Well, He’s sticking in the thermometer and measuring us all for how hot, how deep, and how pure our love for one another really is. Regardless what any of us have gotten away with in the past by being ignorant (having many reasons and excuses, taking our time, and dragging our feet), none of us will avoid this present and coming move of God; because by not choosing, we will have chosen. Each of us will soon move all the way to one side or the other. Is there a need for a deeper cleansing in your life? Could the peace that you have been enjoying use some depth? Is your love deep and full and overflowing? Are you able to cover a multitude of sins with it? Could you use some richness? Do you long for His work to be done in your heart? We all want to receive great love from those around us. However, there is nowhere in scripture where it tells us to get love from others; it only tells us to love others. Most of the body of Christ is trying to get love instead of give it. Are we able to give His deep love, and give it freely? …To the unlovely? …To our enemies? Oh God, come and do your deep work in our hearts. We will throw ourself on the Rock or the Rock will fall on us, but guaranteed, one way or the other, each of us will be brought (for our own wonderful fulfillment) into intimate personal dealings with the Lord God Almighty. We can make it easy on ourselves and discern the time, agree, and co-operate. “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Prov 3:11-12) NKJ Thank God! We don?t want to stay in our miserable condition when we know the promises of glory and fulness are ours. It?s so easy to see how those around us need to change (and the urgency that they do), and yet many of us are unable or unwilling to look within and be honest with ourselves in knowing the truth about me. It is not for condemnation (not at all), but for deliverance, for blessing, and for transformation! Procrastination and passivity will no longer be allowed to give you a hiding place or an escape. Every human being will move to one side all the way, or to the other. It will be by God's own "spitting out of the mouth" ministry. It is the way He will deal with that which is only lukewarm and will not be “swallowed up and digested into the body." This sounds alarming because it is time now to sound the alarm and blow the trumpet in Zion. All are being notified. Some will have ears to hear. Some will cluck their tongues and shake their heads and say, "I'm saved." Some will wait and watch and see. There are those who yawn at the guillotine as it's blade falls on the end of this age; but suddenly the dawning will bring a scrambling like we have never known or seen. When the dye is cast, according to His word, some will rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ and some will not. Some will be ready, and some will not. Some, who think they are ready, are not. Some are foolish, and some are wise. The sluggard yawns, the fool mocks, and the scoffer jeers. The Lord comes like a thief in the night, and even now we find Him appearing in our darkness. Everything will be exposed by the Light and everything that is will become light. Where does the darkness go when the Light comes on the scene? He is The Light. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. He is love, and He is still loving the Father's House; braiding the whip as He considers what needs to be dealt with in The Temple of God. Could all this be possible? In Matt 24:33 39 Jesus says, "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. NKJ In Luke 13:24 28 Jesus says, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. NKJ WOULD YOU RATHER HEAR AND CONSIDER THIS NOW OR LATER? "Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (Matt 7:20 23) NKJ This is indeed the time of the deep cleansing with the sword and with fire, and the purging of all that is not of God from His temple. He has come to bring this sword of division. Here the context is specifically between relationships and those closest to you. We know the Lord loves harmony and unity, and yet he cuts between to divide. It is for cleansing and for purging, to remove all the dark and ungodly undercurrents of secret resentments, bitterness, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, fear and deception that we may not yet realize consciously. He cuts deeply into our unconscious and subconscious. He cuts far beneath the surface, with this sword, which is His word. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:12-13) NKJ This division will pierce and cut through the natural, carnal, and soulish realms to lay open the core of our being. It will tap into, identify, and open up that which is His true substance, His incorruptible life, His essence, His likeness, His son, and that which is Spirit. It will release His great unconditional love and forgiveness from the Christ in us for the purpose of resurrection, restoration, and reconciliation. This is what we have needed. The work will be thorough, of purifying purpose, preparing the sacrifice. We are indeed being presented a living sacrifice. We’ve “talked it up,” but now, frankly, it's time to put up. No more reservations. This is where it begins, "no longer I, but Christ." This is how, when, and where we return to our First Love, becoming one with Him in a consummation that results in a death to self. As the fire continues to touch and burn the sacrifice, we are met and filled with His nature and presence. This is what we were made for. Nothing short of this will satisfy our lives. The fire is the proof the sacrifice has been accepted. "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" (I King 18:37 39) NKJ This deep work is our confirmation. The Prince of Peace, our High Priest, will not be satisfied with a superficial appearance that is merely a covering of peace over strife and turbulence, but rather, He will open us up and draw His great and complete peace out from the Holy of Holies, washing and saturating our entire identity and understanding. We will know with His complete knowing that we are safe, one with Him, a part of all that?s good… that all is well and our God is in control and in His heavens which has overflowed out of Spirit to fill and complete our soul. We will be transformed by this renewing, by this washing, and His deep and great Peace will also become our nature. Therefore thus says the LORD: "If you return, then I will bring you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. (Jer 15:19) NKJ The only problem with presenting your body a living sacrifice, is that your soul is still in it! The body goes along like a led child, but the soul thrashes, wails, and fights. This is where the real death experience occurs, like it did with Jesus in the garden, when His soul came to terms. He said in Matthew 26:38, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” This is where His soul died. It had to happen before He could present His body at the cross. This death to self is right, good, necessary, and wonderful. He was resurrected from the dead, and now His Spirit can be resurrected and formed in us. The division that The Lord brings is for a season and a purpose. When God brings division it is usually for recognition and identification of differences, for cleansing, dealing, multiplication, blessing, and reconciliation. Consider how God separated masculinity from femininity in Genesis, only to reunite them to become one again, in the New Testament, in the union of Christian marriage. And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' ( both in one body called Adam) and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matt 19:4-64) NKJ Now they are the two become one, with a small difference; after the process of separating the femininity of Eve from the Masculinity of Adam, and then rejoining them by covenant, they now have two bodies, four arms, four legs, and heads stacked 3-high. They can now be in two places at once, they can lay down and keep each other warm, and they can reproduce (be fruitful and multiply and populate the world). And before they were divided, in the original creature Adam, as one could only chase a thousand, but these two become one, through agreement, can chase 10,000! Wow! God is so cool in what He accomplishes in His processes. For a season, the John the Baptist ministry aggressively and crudely prepares the way, but then the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple. This is the time of the deeper works of God. Deep calls unto deep and His great and deep love is ready to fill our deepest need and charge us with the power of His life. We may shudder at the thought of the cross side of this deeper work, but for the joy set before us, we also will endure. We will keep our eyes on the fruit that will please Him and complete us. Besides the fact that if we are going on with God, we cannot avoid it, it is the only truth. This is the most glorious and awesome, wonderful fulfillment of our lives, and the satisfaction of that for which we were originally designed. Our God is the author and the finisher of our faith, and now we're about to find out what that means. We know we’ve been authored and we are beginning to experience the refiner's fire. The Refiner is the Finisher. He has given us the earnest; a sample, a taste, a word, and a gift. We know we can trust Him. Prepare your heart and mind to be opened up and cleansed, healed, and renewed by all we’ve sung and spoken of in faith. He is preparing us for the manifestation of His nature. We will no longer know peace as a little quiet and relaxation, but we will know a powerful peace like a river, that surpasses understanding, that lives with love which is not easily provoked, that endures all things. And joy.... not a little firecracker laughter for release, not a fun time, but "Joy that is Unspeakable and Full of Glory" that doesn’t lift when trouble comes, and is a bubbling fountain of strength that does not run dry. It is His Joy in us, for “the Joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). This, we will know, is who I AM.
Chapter 3 REAL LOVE IS PUT TO THE TEST AND PROVEN BY ACTION. Real love is put to the test by being challenged with everything that would make one unlovable. All things work together for good to those that love God, and those who are the called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28) NKJ So, when we find ourselves with all the specific people who know exactly how to push our buttons to make those things that need to be dealt with, rise up in us, we can know ?this will be for my own good.? No longer can I stuff or control this old junk; it needs to be dealt with and eliminated from my heart. You know that these are not new things. If they were not in us in the first place, they couldn’t keep rising up in us now. Is it all the fault of the one who provokes? Or is there something in you that is easily provoked that needs to be dealt with? A death is required. The Lord is showing us, ?This is not you and this is not Me (this is not My nature). It must die from you. It must leave. I require this room for more of My wonderful life. The Kingdom of God is within you and this is not a part of that Kingdom. We will push the buttons that cause it to surface until you cannot bear it any longer and you no longer try to swallow it and stuff it all back down in your heart and put it away there. I will send messengers to dig it back up. I will send those who will push your buttons and trigger it, and like a jack-in-the-box, it will keep popping up until it is removed and destroyed. This is the death that I require.? In each present second we will always have everything that we need to deal with all these things. We must stop looking away and blaming others, and we need to become willing to recognize the deeper work and completed deliverance that will not only make room for, but will usher in His nature which is real love. This is the beginning of the deeper work that He is now doing in all who are called by His name and are being made ready to move with Him as He moves now quickly and powerfully upon the face of the earth these days. This new work is a greater and deeper cleansing and purging that is the necessary preparation for the things to come. He is making His body ready for war so the devil has nothing in us that his darts can stick in when they?re fired at us. The testing arena and criteria for real love do not take place under a lovely and romantic light and setting, but under the most difficult and trying conditions, in which all the amenities to soul and body are removed, and who you are in spirit is proven. Real love will shine. Everything else will be exposed, not for shame, but to be identified, separated from us, and dealt with. There are strong manifestations, shadows, and residues of our old
carnal nature that battle to remain active in our lives. They are
instead of Christ (anti-Christ) and instead of love. They are eruptions
of proof that something other than the nature of God is being manifested
in and through our soul and our body. Because He loves us, He is
helping us to deal with it. What is the purpose of discipline? Is
it punishment? Or is it correction unto LIFE? Is it not to raise
the child so that he can experience mature fulness and richness
of all the functions and purposes of LIFE? Some feel we have done good enough to get this far and become complacent and foolish, ?Oh well, and Ho Hum, after all, nobody?s perfect, and I?m only human.? I remember when I turned 18 I thought I was all grown up, no more needing to grow up for me. That works for awhile, but you will find that it will not work any longer. God is raising up sons into full maturity and He has promised to be the Author and the Finisher of the work He?s begun in us. Real love is the ongoing choice and action to yield over the entire vessel which we are to the living manifestation and expression of the presence, nature, spirit, words and ways of God Almighty. We put to death our old, selfish, carnal nature by starving it out, making no provision for it, giving it no expression, renouncing it, ignoring it, and recognizing that it is dead (crucified with Christ), and “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me,” as me, through me, for me, and unto me. REAL LOVE REQUIRES A DEATH TO SELF. Real love will do whatever it takes. Although real love will lay
down its life, you can't take its life away. It is not a doormat,
nor is it a victim. It will endure as long as is necessary, and
then some. It does not receive offense and fiery darts do not stick,
but are processed to pass on through. It is not dependent on feelings
or rewards. It is the manifestation of the presence of God. It accomplishes
the purposes of God. It is incorruptible in that it remains in an
individual, in an ongoing state of adjustment unto the mark of the
high calling, unto righteousness. Love will speak the truth without
condemnation or fear. The truth can be trusted and is the only reality.
Love doesn’t run away to punish or abandon, but is able to
stand back and allow Godly space and the Holy Spirit to work. Although
we may flinch while Love regains composure, Love will stand corrected.
We may not say and do all the right things immediately, but Love
will not rest until they're done. When we run out of our human love
and forgiveness and get hold of some of God's love and forgiveness,
we find that it endures with perseverance and holds on like a pit
bull. It will not give up and it will not fail. Real love may cause us to break a lot of little child vows, "I'd never put up with that! I'll never take that! I would never stay with a person who would do that." Real love changes all of that "I will and I won't" to "Thy will, not mine be done in every situation and relationship.” Sometimes we become conformed to the world in our understanding of walking away from any kind of abuse. I'm not in anyway promoting abuse or unhealthy relationships, but if it eliminates the Word of God and makes it null and void, so that we cannot forgive (even 70 x 7) or we can no longer turn the other cheek, we need to ask God to put His forgiveness in our heart for the offender. If someone takes our cloak and we cannot also give them our coat, but instead we immediately have them arrested and permanently kicked out of the establishment (or the church) are we really walking in love? Are all these things the unpardonable crime? Or do we have a great lack of love for one another and for sinners? God so loved that he gave. We are really weak in love. I am really weak in love. "He who has been forgiven much loves much." Forgiveness, blood, and unconditional love; are they not all the same color (red)? For God so loved that He (for)gave. Beforehand, He gave His only Son... in order to (for)give our sins. The giving and the loving and the forgiving all seem to be in one big lump on the cross. Do they not all come from the heart? From the same place in the heart? Love covers a multitude of sin. If the gentiles, the heathen, the pagans, and the secular realm can love the lovely, then it doesn’t require much of the Supernatural or Divine Nature. But to love the unlovely, the sinner, the one who persecutes you and your enemy is impossible with human love; and that's the whole point. In order to obey these commandments we need to reach into a higher realm and apprehend the very nature of God... of the Father, and He has made it possible for us to do this. The only catch is that it requires a death to our old, selfish, punishing, blaming, condemning, fearful, judgmental, critical, carnal nature. In order to apply this love that covers a multitude of sin to others,
we must first become willing to know it, accept it, and receive
it for ourselves. In the process of being obedient to love others,
we must receive that Love which is His Precious Nature. The more
we receive, the more we become like Him. We need to begin to think
His thoughts and see all people through His eyes. In order for things to flow there are boundaries that work well with the anointing of God. There are lane markings on the freeway to keep us from banging into each other. There is a sense of that which is appropriate and politically correct, and then there is that astounding, unpredictable, breathtaking manifestation of real love. When real love is on the scene everyone recognizes it as God. The world recognizes real love as something supernatural and shocking. The world doesn’t understand giving without strings attached. Whatever you do, don't give up prayer. Prayer is our lifeline of communication and conscious interaction with God. We need our prayer times to be dialog and not monolog. We need to develop the art of listening, especially when difficult times are upon us. Sometimes when we’ve been deeply wounded or disappointed we harden our hearts. It happens. The real test when we get wounded is less about how and why it happened, and more about how we handle it. What will we do with it? What is the nature and spirit and response to which we will choose to yield ourselves? How will we use the negative experience for good and for the opportunity to become an over comer? How will we move to fulfill the scripture that directs us to overcome evil with good? We have the power or we wouldn't be told we could do it (Romans 12:21). We cannot be over comers unless we have something to overcome in life, and the rewards for overcoming are magnificent, as promised in Revelations. Don't let fear cause you to hide from the revelation of Jesus Christ to you as The Way, or to deny his manifestation in your life as The Truth about yourself. Don't be deceived by a spirit of blame that wants to distract you by pointing to someone else. If you have a problem with hardness of heart, face it, recognize it, and deal with it. Don't stay that way. No one else can force you to stay trapped, but hardness of heart can become a permanent dungeon designed for you by the pit. We think we harden our hearts to keep others from hurting us, but our heart (that was designed for love), instead becomes a place of punishment and darkness, and we are held captive by the greatest deceiver of all, within our own vessel. We can't be touched to be hurt, but love can't get in or out either! Every one of us needs to be healed, changed, delivered, and restored to an estate and a realm where no dragons can abide. All idolatry and addictions are the cheap substitutes we use to fill our deep longing and need for God's 100% unconditional love (the powerful stuff, the strong stuff, and the good stuff).
“Greater love (a more real love) than this has no man that
he would lay down (yield) his life for another.” (John 15:13) THE POWER OF YIELDING Many of you have called and written to share with me the affects on you of reading (and rereading) this material. I encourage you to absorb the understanding of these very simple but powerful and enlightening concepts, especially of the power of the present second. I rejoice at the reports of new ease in achieving and maintaining victories and freedom that were long struggled for, and the testimonies of accelerated growth (great lunges froward in ground taken). I appreciate hearing from you. APPREHENDING THE CHARACTER OF GOD 2 Peter 1:2-4, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge
of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given
to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these
you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. (NKJ) 1 John 4:17, Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (NKJ) We, alone, have the power to choose to whom and to what we will yield over our members, our vessel, our life, and our self. Yielding is a strange "action" that activates and precipitates death to what was and what could have been (to self-will). It is the preferring of another. It is the laying down of one's own ways and life, in order to give over the position, the place, the time, the space, the attention, the recognition, and the power to that one who is, instead, being preferred. Like other spiritual principles that reverse natural formulas (the last shall be first, the least is the greatest, what you give determines what you receive, etc.), the power of yielding also seems like a contradiction. Yielding appears to be a passive and weak non-action. It can mean holding back and waiting for another to go first or be first. We're told to prefer one another. The yield sign in traffic tells us to hold our self back and to give over the right of way to the other, preferring them by letting them go before us or instead of us. In love we prefer and honor one another in kindness, in patience, and in thoughtfulness. But we need to completely yield over the vessel that we are to our God, so that like Paul, we know that Christ is our life; that it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. God is Spirit and we are His body. He calls for us to yield over our hearts for Him to make His Tabernacle in. He tells us to "let" this mind be in you that is also in Christ. He wants to think His thoughts (about everything and everyone that concerns you) in your mind. He wants to fill your soul with His Nature that is the fruit of the spirit. He wants to radiate His life and love and power and healing out from His living presence in you. Regardless how wonderful you think you are, His great life will become you. His wonderful nature is becoming to us. When He is living in us and through us, we begin to see our potential fulfilled. Yielding is a strange kind of voluntary"action" that precipitates death to self. It is the complete preferring of the other, the laying down of one's own ways, rights, and life. John 15:13, "No greater love has any man than he would lay
down (yield) his life for another." (NKJ) Jesus Christ is the only one and the only nature worthy of receiving and deserving our yielded life. Who and what other than HIM would include and represent all that is called LOVE, LIGHT, TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, FORGIVENESS, PEACE, GRACE, AND MERCY; RESTORATION, RESURRECTION, GLORY, AND POWER? And this GREAT ONE knows more than any other about THE POWER OF YIELDING. He became our pattern and our example. He yielded Himself as seed, to go into the ground as one who dies in order to bring forth another kind of yield... a great and huge crop of all that the original seed contained... THE DIVINE NATURE, THE INCORRUPTIBLE NATURE, OF WHICH WE ARE NOW PARTAKERS. Soon I am flooded with who He is. It is so good to know that He
will also treat me this way when I don't measure up to other's expectations
for me. Oh, I pray they will also yield over their lives to Him.
I would rather, any day, to receive my dealings from God Almighty
rather than man. Human love is conditional and temporary. Human's
seem to judge harshly and if they're wounded, they are quick to
wound back. When we will take the time (each present second only
as it comes and is here) to consider Him; to re-member Him within
ourselves, to give Him our place, our voice, our face... He will
come. He will fill, will speak, and will show up if we really want
to yield over ourselves to the One who is love. This is real love.
There is nothing in my little and low self-life that compares to
His High Ways. The purpose of my life is fulfilled when I am yielded
to Him and make way, giving Him the right of way, giving Him my
time and my place to come forth. There is no higher purpose for
me than to take advantage of the opportunity to become a partaker
of the divine nature. These precious seconds continue to open up and offer one more unit of His Life to me. The fulfilled seconds are consecutive and are strung together, like pearls, one after another making up one lovely yielded moment. Yet He moves in the NOW, and I must be present here with Him and for Him. This power of yielding in the present second to the Spirit and Nature and Life of God offers me the ongoing ability to let the Divine Nature be set in me and habitually yield to all I know Him to be. It is heaven, when I, with my self-centered ways, abandon ship and yield to my captain to fulfill the mission. I yield to the real power. I yield to the Living God, who knows how to come forth in the most excellent way, as me, out of my soul and my body, the Christ in me will express Himself. I yield to the One who is worthy to have ALL of my life. What other nature is worthy? He is so good. He does so much better than I could ever do or have ever done with my life. He makes my life magnificent! He makes me look good! He fulfills me! When I let Him have His way in me, then I understand the awesome affect that He has on people. Their responses are amazing. They all love Him when they experience Him. They recognize that something supernatural is happening. Even the heathen are astounded by His Presence, His Anointing, His Nature, and His Ways. HE IS THE LAMB THAT IS LIGHT. Phil 2:1 16 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. (NKJ) " American Heritage Dictionary Definition:
You will find more on "Real Love"… The Power of Yielding in the next chapter. I pray God bless you with the impartation of understanding and revelation knowledge as your soul unwraps these words and digests them to assimilate the power and anointing they contain. I pray for each one who reads these words to be empowered for yielding and for transformation into His image. Whoever reads these words, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I pray for you.
Greater love (a more real love) than this has no man that he would lay down (yield) his life for another.” (John 15:13) THE POWER OF YIELDING No man has greater love (God is Love, and Love is the greatest of all The Powers) than this: that he would lay down (yield) his life for another. (John 15:13) And God so loved the world that He gave (yielded) the life of His precious son Jesus to become His sent Seed. Jesus, The Christ, is the kernel that went into our earthen vessel (ground). Jesus Christ was the sperm of God -Strongs #4690 sperma (sper' mah); something sown, i.e. seed (including the male "sperm"); by implication, offspring; specifically, a remnant (figuratively, as if kept over for planting): KJV issue, seed. (1 John 3:9) No one born (begotten) of God (deliberately, knowingly, and habitually) practices sin, for God?s nature abides in him- His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him- and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God. (Amplified) The sperm of God was sent from heaven that we all might have the opportunity to receive this INCORRUPTIBLE SEED in our hearts (which functions as the womb), to conceive and to become partakers of The Divine Nature. We are able to respond to this high call by accepting Him and allowing Him to be (informed) formed in us. The apostle Paul travails for us till Christ be formed in us. (Galatians 4:19) Indeed, that Seed contains the Divine Nature that is The Light in the core of our beings that displaces the dark and carnal human spirit. We reckon that old nature dead. We agree with the end of it?s reign and accept the cross of Christ to be it?s end. We had a human spirit that was born of the corruptible and carnal nature... the Adamic nature. We won?t bandage that up, but we will reckon it dead. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold! All things are become new! (2 Cor 5:17) Paul says, in Romans 7:15, ?For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.? (NKJ) We need to realize that we humans are vessels made to contain power. If I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I but Christ who lives in me, (and far less often quoted) ...and if I sin, it is no longer I but sin that dwells in my members. In the supernatural realm, it seems that one way or the other, the bottom line is it is no longer I. We could say ?I am the container, not the power that moves or drives me.? We are not the power, but one way or another we do yield to the powers that be. We have and we are something they want. Good and evil, both battle for permission to manifest themselves in your soul and your body. Both want to do their work and live their life in and through you. I reiterate: We have the power to choose who we will yield our self over to in each present second. We have the power to let, to set, to resist, to submit, to choose and to yield and we do it every day, all day long. Our life, as it is, is proof of what we have been yielding our selves over to. Think of all those who have influenced and shaped your life. What were they yielded to as they made their strong impressions on you? Did they realize they could choose? Did they choose? Or did they passively yield to whatever came down the bloodlines to them or follow whomever it was that modeled their roles and functions for them? Did they do whatever they felt like doing? What effect did that have on your life? The power we yield over to not only has an effect on us, but on all those around us. We are teaching those around us and the generations after us, who they are and what life is all about, all the time by whatever nature we allow to manifest in us and through us. What is the message you are giving to those around you? Ask yourself in every situation, “What is the loving thing to do?” “What would it look like and sound like now for God to have His Perfect Way in and through me in this situation?” Don?t be afraid, this is The Perfect Love that casts out all fear! Perfect Love is not concerned about ?what could happen to me?? Perfect Love is out to apprehend the cross in order to love another. Perfect Love is so rich with the Nature and Spirit and Life of God that it is only concerned about how it can get this great love to those around them, and especially those who are hurting. Hurting people hurt people, you know, so if you have someone in your life that has hurt you, you know they must be miserable. Maybe they are stuck and haven?t yet heard and believed the good news that you know... that you can choose to yield to The Presence of God in every situation and begin to really love your self, too. You won?t be able to help it, you will love being you when you are yielded to Him and allowing Him to actually express Himself in you and through you. Life becomes a joy. His yoke is easy and His burden is Light. Now is the time for transformation. This present second you can stop the abuse and break the fall. Dig in your fingers and your toes and break the force of gravity that has traveled down your bloodlines and through your relationships to bring you down. There is a fabulous ascension life available to you right now... choose Life. Stop the power of all the defective modeling you experienced and begin to model your self after the image and nature of God. Sever your threads of identification with the natural realm and your carnal inheritance, and reckon yourself dead! Accept THE WORD OF GOD which is the only truth about you. It gives you a clean slate and His loving nature, if you will choose to yield to that rather than your old familiar behavior patterns and habits, and the old familiar spirits behind them. He has shown you what to think, say, and do to overcome it all. Break the power of habit by yielding for one whole ongoing second at a time to the presence of God in you, who will express Himself also as you in this world. (1 Jn 4:17) 2 Cor 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, (and Christ is in you, the Hope of Glory) reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (KJV) (Parentheses mine) You are the one who will break the ice; the one who will become a part of the answer instead of a part of the problem in that person?s life that you struggle with. You will be the one who will allow God to use you for His Kindness and Mercy to touch them, bless them, relieve their pressure, and lift their burden. You can yield to His nature and allow Him to be glorified in you and through you although no one else may know of the great death it is costing you to love in this situation. There is no other nature worthy for us to yield over our life. No longer let His Life be hidden so well in you. Your most difficult situations will become your greatest proof of His breaking forth in you. To yield to His Nature is to die to self, or to your own selfish nature. Col 3:2 4 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (NKJ) (ONE WITH HIM IN GLORY!) Eph 2:4 7 But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Get the picture? We yield our little Barbie Doll minuscule lives,
and we receive His Great Life! We are one with Him. It?s time for those of us who are His own to accept this truth and acknowledge Him within and choose to yield over the vessel to His presence and let Him have His way. It is time for the full and true expression of God to begin to come forth in His people. We are His body, He is our head. It is His will to express Himself in us and through us. Is it so difficult to know what real love would do? You can be sure that it is safe to express this awesome, perfect, and unselfish love with His full blessing, His full permission, and His authority. Rom 6:3 13 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (NKJ) I pray God impart to you revelation knowledge of
His powerful and available Presence to you NOW, IN THIS PRESENT
SECOND. May you be transformed into His Lovely Image and appear
with Him as He appears in Glory, and yet there is a more excellent
way. I pray you not wait for some glad morning, but that rather
you wake up and shake yourself off from the dust and come to Life,
yielding to Him that He may appear in you NOW. "THE INTIMACY OF YIELDING IN MINISTRY" Yielding, like Loving, is a strange process that activates and
precipitates death to self. It is the preferring of another, the
laying down of one's own ways and life in order for the Nature of
God to have place and expression. Oftentimes when I begin to minister, or even pray to prepare for ministry, I sense and feel nothing spiritual or inspiring. I may feel like an empty hose without the faucet on, or a cable wire without the electricity on, yet I believe in God. I remind myself how He has worked through me faithfully and even powerfully in the past, and it has not been dependent on how I felt. It's more a matter of trust, and I had to choose to trust and practice trust, and while I was doing that The Lord was proving Himself trustworthy to me. He was building a trusting relationship with me, and every time I yielded myself we had another opportunity to flow as one and have a greater base of operation. Yet even in the very beginning of my ministry and of my salvation, my faith without works was dead, until I began to reach out to perceive and to seek, and (by faith) touch His presence. Until I would begin to prime the pump and stir the waters with His own words that I would pray back to Him, my faith would lay flat and lifeless. But I have discovered that after awhile of consistency, when I would step out, even one inch, He would give me a mile. I would speak in His Name and leave the results up to Him, and I was shocked at the way He would back me up with power. We were communicating and interacting. There was someone responding to me on the other end of this relationship. I began to sense Him urging me to say and do special things in His Name so He could bless it. I would make myself pray out loud and even write out prayers to be sure I had prayed through. I often felt foolish and ridiculous that I was expecting Him to respond to me, but after I had lifted my voice to find Him, and touch Him, and love on Him, He would reward me with the connection. Although I start out sensing and feeling nothing, by faith and works (which come into union in THE SPIRIT OF THE MIND), I open my mouth, step out, and press in. I am relentless in knitting and extending my end of the connection to love on God and to minister to Him. As I continue holding on and loving Him for His sake, then He faithfully meets me and He begins to give me impressions and thoughts and ideas that I recognize are altogether too lovely, loving, wise, and powerful to be mine. This is yielding to intimacy and union with God. I love His appearing. I love His presence. Everything becomes simple, clear, and wonderful. This is what I was made for, it's excitingly good and on track. To continue in faith with works, I can begin to respond to the communications that I have learned by practice and experience, which are of Him. I can begin to pray out those thoughts and describe those visual impressions and my monolog turns into a dialog because His Word is good, and He says "Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you." And "To him who has, more will be given." As I make myself available to God and if He chooses, I will be a bridge and a priest to minister from Him to the people. I ask Him prayerfully and respectfully to use me if He will, and show me what He wants to do and say to this particular people at this specific time. I need to be a clean vessel and I am aware of certain obstacles and blocks to the flow of His Power and Presence. So I prepare myself by holding my heart open for examination in His Brightest Light so that I can know and confess my sins and weaknesses, and receive forgiveness through the shed blood of the Lamb. Conviction is sweet truth that makes me free and gives me something to work with, but condemnation is looming grief and dread and blocks not only joy and peace, but the purest and most powerful flow of His Anointing is affected. I give up and over all guilt, shame, and condemnation attached to my sin because it really is all His, anyway. He bought and paid for it all in order that I might be clean and free to contain and express His nature and life and even minister it to others. So I gladly empty and purify myself of all sin consciousness because I am not really available to be yielded if I am full of that self-absorbed darkness. I really am not doing myself or God any favor by holding onto it. His will is for me to be freed up to contain and express Him, and I am glad to have the opportunity to be cleansed completely and washed and prepared to be used. I am glad to have one more interaction and experience with the Presence of God in my life. I cast my personal needs, concerns, and cares upon Him, and I forget about myself. I find that when I am busy about His matters and issues, He is also busy about mine. I minister to the family of God and He ministers to my family, even sometimes through me, also! I care about His things and He cares about my things and that?s how we like it. By putting myself into position and condition to be used by God, I am yielding. I hold myself like an open fruit bowl, so that He can take out what He wants to remove, and wash out, cleanse, sanitize, and refill me with that which is His own. When He puts something in my heart or in my life, I try not to slam shut like a bear trap and grab and cling. If I believe it is for others, I try to keep it moving on out to make room for the rest that will follow. I put myself out on the line, and I choose to make myself vulnerable to Him. I don?t like the feeling of vulnerability, but without it I can?t experience His trustworthy faithfulness. Without it I cannot experience intimacy with God or other people. I also must make myself vulnerable before the people, not knowing what is coming next as I trust Him and begin to allow myself to respond to and express spontaneously what I believe I am receiving from God. As it is working in me, through the moving and flowing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I minister to the people. Sometimes it is prophecy, sometimes it is healing, and sometimes it is deep personal ministry. I see it and hear it as I am saying it. I trust that the people are receiving from The Lord through the gifts of The Holy Spirit. I want to bless The Lord and serve Him in whatever He wants to happen. It's intense, exciting, and holy. He offers all He is to whosoever will come and partake, be prepared, be exercised, and be yielded. To be yielded would mean then, that I am all about His Life and I am choosing to have Him live in me while I deliberately and consciously lay down my own selfish life. Strongs definition: 3936 paristemi (par is' tay mee); or prolonged paristano (par is tan' o): to stand beside, i.e. (transitively) to exhibit, proffer, (specifically) recommend, (figuratively) substantiate; or (intransitively) to be at hand (or ready), aid: assist, bring before, command, commend, give presently, present, prove, provide, show, stand (before, by, here, up, with), yield. Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (KJV) Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (KJV) Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (KJV) James 3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. (KJV) Once the yielding process takes place the Spirit of God is can
then express Himself through you: This is what happens when you are totally yielded: Here is another example of yielding in Scripture: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ ...Yield, to let it be in you.
|