Beloved Reader,
Welcome to part three of "To be known by God." As I wrote in the last blog, for us to truly become "prophetic" in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word must become "flesh" in our lives experience. Then it will manifest in power in our lives, and we will speak the"Truth" and the Truth will set them free. A revelation from God does not make you mature or spiritual. A revelation is just what it is a revelation.
Peter got a true revelation from the Father, "you are the Christ the Son of the Living God." Jesus said, blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. This was a true revelation from God. Did it make him mature with a spiritual substance at the moment he got the revelation? No! I can prove it.
A few minutes later Jesus is going to talk about him suffering and dying and Peter says, God forbid, this will never happen to you. Then Jesus looking at Peter said," Get thee behind me Satan, for you are concerned with the things of men and not the things of God. " The revelation of Jesus as the Christ to Peter did not make him mature or protect him from being used by the devil.
Beloved Reader, we need spiritual men and women of God to teach us how to "wait upon the Lord in quiet meditation from their life experience." Those who truly know who God is as a person!" We must go beyond what we have been taught about developing a devotional life beyond listening to CD's in the car and 15 minutes of prayer on the way to work.
This will never feed our spiritual hunger so we can grow in the knowledge of God. Have you found a minister who has that substance and fruit of an intimate knowledge of God in their lives? Or do you want to continue drinking milk that expounds the same topics week by week, but your life never grow in the Lord? Again I am not being critical, but truthful! Do you want to truly know the person of God for who He is?
Beloved, you are going to have to make a chose to go past this place of drinking milk, and then hunger for the meat of God's word. You must find the place and teachers that have this spiritual substance from a deep abiding relationship with God to help you grow. In addition to this you must spend quality time seeking the Lord yourself. Give thanks for the teachers you had for bringing you as far as they could, and giving you the milk to grow to the place you are now. Beloved, find those who can take you deeper into God's heart.
Sadly, the deep things of God are not easily found in today's Christian circles. It is difficult to find spiritual teachers that have the depth and quality of the word worked in their lives, but they are out there more than when I first came to the Lord. Thank you Father!
The present condition in the church today is very selfish and self centered because of the lack of pursuit of knowing God as a person. This produces a type of teaching and ministry we are presently receiving from the majority of today's leaders that is centered around meeting our need by making us happy, or empowering us to do "great things" for God. It includes much of the present prayer and prophetic movement prophesying over cities to say "this city will have the next move of God!"
These may or may not be genuine words of prophecy for certain cities and must be discerned. I suggest this to you because the same prophetic word is being spoken over many different cities that they "will be the next city to bring the revival." If these "words" are true words from the Lord, there seems to be something missing in them. These "prophecies" are not bringing a change in the hearts of the believers or a city. The church is still doing the same thing they are always doing.
If a Word of the Lord is truly a "Word from God" in the power of the Holy Spirit it should change the church, the leadership and the city. I have not seen the power of God in these "words" that causes believer's to see their spiritual condition as found in Revelation 1-3. Nor is it causing the churches to change to meet the conditions needed to have that word come to pass.
God will send His fire of revival to a city when the church in that city repents of their sins first, recognize the idols in their hearts, and confess them to God and turn from these wicked ways. God has the model for revival in 2nd Chronicles 7:14:
"If my people, who are called by name, would humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways and pray, I would hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land." I do not see the church leadership in any city that are receiving these words about their being the "city that will bring revival," help bring about a change its course or direction.
I see more meetings being done to keep people coming, but not true repentance and brokenness of heart. Matter of fact with these "word of the Lord" spoken over the city "your the city that will bring the revival", a haughty spirit comes over the "city church leadership" instead of a broken and contrite heart that God would require. It is needful for God to open our eyes and see our true spiritual condition in brokenness and humility. Then the Lord will birth in us a desperate crying out to God in real intercession and travail for our sins to be forgiven that will bring the atmosphere for revival to come !
Beloved, this true repentance will bring us to a place of needing to truly know God as a Person. There is no change in the church or cities no matter what other may tell you because those speaking the "word of the Lord" lack the "power of that revelation" in their own experience with God. To speak a "word in the power of the Lord" that caused a city to repent like Ninevah takes a seasoning in . God only found in truly knowing His person and allowing the "revealed word of God" become the minister's life.
The lack of power to change our cities by a "word from God" is caused by the fact that pastors, minister's, prophetic, apostolic and intercessory ministries feel they can "declare instantly what they see and here"without the Lord having sufficient time to work "the Word" in their personal lives.When Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit in Luke's Gospel the heaven's opened, the voice of the Father spoke, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This was a "revelation of the highest degree."
What did Jesus do coming out of the Jordan baptized in the Holy Spirit's fullness? He desired to start a church, build a ministry and have some camp meetings. I don't think so. That Spirit's baptism of Jesus led him into the wilderness to fast and pray for 40 days and there be tempted. The revelation of Jesus being the Son of God was not enough in itself. Not even for the Son of God! That word to Him had to be TRIED AND TESTED in the heat of the desert in His life.
The "Word had to become flesh within Him," though he was the very WORD OF GOD Himself, he also had to learn obedience. Hebrews 5:8 says, "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." If we could only learn this principle beloved it would save much time and heartache when it comes to the work and will of God. Jesus had to "personalize the revelation as His life's experience,""you are My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
He was led into the wilderness for 40 days and nights with no food or water to be tested. "You are My Beloved Son" had to become his life's experience. Satan came to tempt Jesus when He hungered and said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Luke 4:3. Do you think I am making these truths up beloved reader? Jesus had to be tested and tried when the "revelation" or the "Word from God" came to him declaring him to be the Son of God.
His ability through the Holy Spirit to overcome all temptations in the wilderness and His life qualified him to be the author of eternal salvation to all who accept the sacrifice. Here is my question to all of us as ministers and teachers. If Jesus had to learn obedience through what he suffered, and had to have the Word of God that the Father spoke to Him worked in His life as a living reality, why would he chose a different way for us?
Jesus allows this word to become flesh in him by not doing what Satan tempted with "making his own way to eat food." "Command these stones to be made bread." Jesus chose to have no part of feeding himself. He could have done it. He was God! However He chose to "wait upon the Father" to provide for him the food and drink to live. This waiting for the Father to provide for Him caused him to triumph over Satan and the WORD BECAME FLESH IN HIM!
He replies to Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4.Jesus was now able to "speak a word in due season," a word in the very power of God to defeat the devil. After this 40 days of testing and overcoming Satan, did you notice what the Father did? He sent angels to come feed and minister to Him. He waited for the Father's provision. That is what we don't do when we "receive" a revelation from God! We run with it and turn stones into bread, or at least try to. That is why we are so often defeated and powerless in the church in the USA.
We must hunger to truly know the Lord for who He is and then we can learn His ways. We must understand that "no word from God comes without power." Yet in America we seem to have a "form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." Another words we are dangerously coming close to having a form of God, but no SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE that releases the very POWER OF GOD! Why, because we won't wait upon the Lord long enough to allow His word to be written upon our heart as our life's experience.
I close this teaching with the word of God from Isaiah 40, "They that wait upon the Lord, shall RENEW THEIR STRENGTH, they shall MOUNT UP ON WINGS OF EAGLES, They will RUN and not grow weary, and they will WALK and not faint. Beloved, may we truly learn how to "wait upon the Lord" to reveal His word in us, to us, so we can know the true Person of who God is and know His ways. Amen!
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