SECTION ONE OF BOOK




SECTION ONE OF BOOK

 

THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE FATHER
  Chapter One

Deep within the recesses of man there is a calling. “Deep calleth unto deep at the sound of thy waterspouts…..” (Psa 42:7, KJV). The calling within my heart is to bring glory to the Father by writing of the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the heart of the storm, there is peace. I have been through many storms or trials where the evil one has put upon me various circumstances that, in the natural, pointed to death and destruction. But God is so faithful, even in the storm, to put in my heart of hearts an inner peace that surpasses understanding (Phil 4:7). That inner peace is like a warm glowing feeling deep in my heart because I know that my life is in His hands completely. He will take care of me no matter what circumstances arise. We have the assurance that as we walk through the storms, He sustains us, restores our health, increases our strength, and brings us closer to His presence each time we are tested.

I must share with you: the Lord is so faithful! No matter what circumstances you face, He is always there with you. Truly all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to His plan and purpose (Rom 8:28). We must read, stand on, and live the Word completely. God means what He says and is faithful to keep His promises (Num 23:19). Never fear that He will not keep His word.

He will allow His purging fire to go only so far. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear (1 Cor 10:13). The fire will transform you into His image, and His glory will transcend all that you could ever imagine to be done in your life. Believe me, God is faithful to complete the perfect work that He has begun in you (Phil 1:6).

The Lord will cause us to become willing to allow Him freedom to bring the purging fire into every area of our hearts (Phil 2:13). Holiness is our calling and He is faithful to cause it to manifest in our lives. The Word of God will reign in our lives if we allow the Lord to shine His love and glory upon us, and purge every trace of impurity out of our hearts. He wants to move through a pure and spotless vessel, a broken vessel, cleansed by His blood.

It is necessary to pray for the baptism of brokenness and be willing to pay the cost, whatever it may be, to have Jesus freely live His life through us. We are to have singleness of heart and of eyes so that we know His heart and see through His eyes. We must let Him use our hands, go where He needs to go; and as the Church, we must carry His burden.

Allow yourself to draw close to Him, intimately, so that He can share His heart with you and transform yours. He wants us to pray and stand in the gap for those He has a burden for, and be so sensitive to His Spirit that we move in any direction He desires.

Deep calleth unto deep at the sound of thy waterspouts. He longs for our presence and our undivided love and devotion. He wants us to draw close to Him so that every wall of division can be demolished allowing Him to freely move through us.

Oh, Church, be faithful to your calling. Be faithful to your place in the body of Christ, for He loves you with an everlasting love. He is faithful to bring your life to the potential it needs to be so that He can touch others through you with His glory.

What is our calling and what is our mission? It is to share God’s love to a lost and dying world. How can we share His love if we don’t know of it in an intimate way? He longs to heal us in a way where His love can freely saturate every pore and then radiate from within. Allow His Spirit to go deep within your being, to touch every area of your heart and heal every suppressed hurt. We need to be able to trust Him and be completely open to Him. We must allow His Spirit to tear down the walls that we’ve put up to protect ourselves. These areas of fortification are only causing us to be in bondage to our own fears and insecurities. Be willing to come out from within these walls. It isn’t God’s will for us to be bound by the enemy. We cannot serve the enemy any longer.

We have a choice between life and death, blessing and cursing (Deut 30:19). I know that in your heart you want life. But we’re accustomed to, and comfortable with these enslaving habits. Most of us don’t recognize them or don’t know how to break away from them. Our thought patterns, emotions, and actions have been rooted in the world for so long that we don’t know how to change. We Need To Start Somewhere, and not set such high goals that are impossible for us to meet all at once.

Make a commitment to get before the Lord every day to read His word and to draw close to Him. He will do the rest. Believe me, He is faithful. Never give up! He will give you your heart’s deepest desire, which is to love Him more intimately. Be faithful in the little things and He will be faithful to bless you beyond what you could ever hope or imagine.

INTERCESSION – KNOWING THE FATHER’S HEART
Chapter Two 

Oh, the Lord longs to share His heart with us and to pour out His innermost burdens upon His people. But how can He do this unless we draw close to Him? Unless we lay our heads upon His breast and feel His heartbeat, we cannot hear His heart’s cry to His Church. To know and pray the perfect will of the Lord, we need to draw close to Him!

Fear not that you cannot fulfill the heart’s cry of the Father, for you can. Each of us has a specific function to fulfill in intercession and, if we all draw near, every desire He has will be brought to fruition. How rewarding it is to know exactly what the Lord wants us to do for Him. He might not give you much to pray about at times, but if you are faithful with the amount He gives you for the length of time He requires, then He will pour out more of His heart upon you because of your obedience.

I might not be speaking to those that are already involved in deep intercession and functioning well, but to those who have struggled drawing close to the Lord and functioning (being used in service, body ministry, or fellowship) in the body of Christ. I know there are many that fall into this category. I had a difficult battle overcoming and taking a stand against the enemy. I want to encourage you to never give up. The Lord has you in the palm of His hand and always has. He understands how you feel.

He is there with you every step of the way, pouring out His grace to bring you to the place where you are able to stand. You may feel that you will never reach the place you need to be in Him. Perhaps many years have gone by and you are still in great need of ministry; you may wonder “how will I ever become free?” Don’t ever give up on the Lord’s faithfulness in your life, for through His love, grace and mercy, He sets us free as we abide in Him.

Each day seek after your heart’s deepest desire in the Lord. Mine was to be able to delight in reading God’s Word and to bask in His presence, drawing close to Him. I have been a Spirit-filled believer in Christ for close to twenty years, but could not make a commitment in these areas. Because of the many problems in my life, I allowed myself to become hindered in doing what I truly desired to do. I had so many deep hurts, insecurities, and bondages, and so many struggles to overcome to even halfway live a normal life. Even so, I never gave up on the faithfulness of the Lord.

No matter where you are at in the Lord, you have to believe that He has a plan and purpose for your life in the kingdom of God. We all have a specific calling from the Lord upon our lives and are all very important to Him. He needs each of us to fulfill this calling, no matter how small we may feel it to be. Believe me, there is so great a calling upon your life that if He revealed it all at this time you would never imagine that you could fulfill it. I am sure it would be overwhelming; and sometimes is overwhelming. But take it as it comes. Be faithful right where you are, and minister to those close to you in the ways He shows daily. Then the Lord will show you more of your calling as you overcome trials and grow in His love.

Be determined to not punish yourself with feelings of unworthiness, which keep you from receiving His love. Allow His love to penetrate deep within your being. I know it is not easy to let go of the pain you have experienced all of your life, but it isn’t doing you any good. We need to trust the Lord to heal those innermost hurts, even the ones we deny and suppress daily. We need to trust Him by opening up completely to the Father. He loves us deeply. Only He can truly understand and meet our needs. The ways in which we try to cope with these hurts only bring confusion, bitterness, and more grief. The Lord will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6, Psa 9:10). He is faithful. He will never let us down. Therefore, we can truly trust Him with our lives.

The Lord encourages us to come into His presence and seek His face. He wants us to press into intimacy with Him and to allow Him to pour His deepest burdens from His heart. We need to cast off all that would sidetrack us. Don’t work it out in your own strength. Trust in the grace of the Father, and He will bring you to the place you need to be in Him. Allow the Lord to heal you by receiving His love and everything that He has on His heart. His burdens will be carried by His Church, prayed through, and brought to fruition.


GOING THROUGH THE FIRE – THE ACT OF ENDURANCE
Chapter Three 

Church, we need to be willing to go through the fire, for it is good. The Lord has allowed me to go through many “fiery” trials. I have seen so much good come from being obedient and faithful, committed to God’s truth no matter what price I had to pay. In the fire is where the Lord transforms us into His image, and this is where many fall short. We go a short distance, then run back for safety away from the flames. We try to preserve the flesh, which needs to die anyway.

Trust me, just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, Jesus will be right there with you, protecting you every step of the way, but you will not come out the same (Dan 3:20-30). The glory of the Lord will shine upon you more and more; you truly will be going from glory to glory every step of the way (2 Cor 3:18). The fire purges everything that is not of Him out of our hearts and soul. Every impurity will be removed.

The Lord never allows the severity of the trial to go beyond what we are able to bear (1 Cor 10:13). Believe me, it will go way beyond what we think we can handle, but this is a good thing. We need to know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that God is faithful and that He keeps His word. How do we know unless we are first tried? We must be firmly grounded in His Word so that nothing can shake us. His timing is perfect. Therefore, we should not try to hurry the process by turning to other areas for provision. Believe me, the fire gets hot and sometimes you may feel you cannot endure. Even so, we must remain focused on God’s promises rather than look at the circumstances facing us. The Lord will bring us through to victory if we do not listen to any voice other than His.

This is to be our testimony as the Church: “They overcame by the word of their mouth, the blood of the Lamb, and they loved not their lives unto death” (Rev 12:11). There is great power in this willingness to die in order to prove the Lord faithful. “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). Examples throughout the Word show God’s people willing to go through the fire, allowing Him to prove His faithfulness, no matter what price they had to pay (Dan 6:16-24). Those who hold on to their life will lose it, and those willing to lose their life for the sake of the Kingdom will save it (Matt 16:25).

The Word gives many promises proving His will for our lives (3 John 2, Psa 41:3, Phil 4:19, Psa 91:3). But we are afraid to prove His faithfulness by laying down our lives. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8); so what do we have to lose? The glory is there for us if we are willing to go through the fire no matter what the outcome. All that will be left in us is the Lord Jesus. We’ll be completely yielded and broken vessels through whom His power will be able to freely flow. That is what we long for. We may not know what the hindrance has been in our lives because the enemy has deceived us, but God is setting us free. We are beginning to see the Truth – the light of God’s Word is penetrating every hindrance.

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Section Two of Book