The Lightning Bolt of Sudden Revelation
Beloved Family… Ever since the FMM ‘seed’ was first planted into my heart, I’ve become much more aware of the sad, ever-worsening condition of our fallen, broken world, and the current generations that populate it at this time. And… as I ponder all the human deficiencies that plague us all, this thought always arises in my mind:
We all have myriads of problems and difficulties. And each of us is ignorant of many things, on many levels. And we all lack necessary qualities and skills and important abilities. And we remain stuck with quirks, character deficiencies and Sin-corrupted, darkened, twisted human hearts. And God made sure that we would know what He sees when He regards us, even on our very best days…
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:5-8. Emphasis added)
Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord AND WHOSE TRUST IS THE LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:5-10. Emphasis added)
Jeremiah compares people who do not know the Glory and Majestic Grandeur, Authority, and Power of our Loving God, with those who do know Him. To know Him, as He truly is, enables us, automatically, to trust and rely upon Him absolutely, totally and wholeheartedly! In that case, we’re like trees that are blessed by the fact that they’ve been planted right next to a flowing river of Living Water. So, because we’re able to sink our roots directly into an endless source of water, we’re not affected by droughts, and are always able to bear fruit in due season.
But, if our understanding of Him is faulty and leaves much to be desired, or if it originates in the imaginations of men, rather than from God’s written Word, we will not be able to know Him with accuracy or precision or intimate personal experience. In that case, we’ll be like scrub bushes planted in the salt lands of a barren sterile wilderness. And thus, by default, since we’re cut off from our true Life Source, we’ll naturally look elsewhere in our desperation… for alternate sources of wellbeing, security and fulfillment (false gods). Thus, what we’ll really be doing is trusting in ourselves… in our perceptions, hunches, opinions, and personal preferences. And those false gods will, of course, be the products of our own deluded imaginations, rather than direct ‘lightning bolt’ revelations from the Spirit of Almighty God!
So God warns such people that as long as they do that, they will never know His Peace, Rest, Contentment and Wellbeing:
“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one!” (Psalm 14:1-3)
People that remain cut off from the one true God are like abandoned orphans, waifs, rootless nomads, marooned in the darkness of empty outer space, who must spend their days drifting about in a terrifyingly desolate vacuum, unable to find anything that would be able to sustain and fulfill their existence!
We Must Be Firmly Rooted in Yeshua HIMSELF!
Only people whose trust is firmly rooted in the Person of our risen Lord, can partake in, and enjoy, the Blessed Fullness of His Glorious Reality. This is possible only when, and if, we have received the Spirit-imparted gift of a fresh, new revelation of God’s Living Word. Beloved friends… the difference between knowing Him intimately and personally, and merely knowing things about Him, is like the difference between memorizing what is in a stack of books that discuss electricity and the laws that govern it, as opposed to actually having a ‘hot cable’ in your hands! The moment that the Lord’s Spirit finally invades your space and pierces and penetrates you to the core with that Lightning Bolt of direct Revelation, everything will change for you… in an instant! Something that is transcendently REAL and LIVING, will explode within you, and begin to operate from within you. Suddenly the way you see things in you and all around you, will begin to change as a result! And that awesome influx of change will be proof of that adage that says: ‘You can only achieve real results… when you work with real ingredients.’
So, as soon as God reveals His Living Word to you, then… through Him and in Him… you will finally have access to the Father! By knowing the Son, you will then also be able to know the Father. But this can only happen in Truth and in Reality; there is no other way. Only when the Holy Spirit actually causes the Reality of the Perfect Presence of God’s Living Word to explode upon you… and in that case, you will never be the same again! We see many examples of this throughout Scripture:
“Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My Covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
“Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him…” (Genesis 17:1-3, Emphasis added)
“Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven!”(Genesis 28:10-17, Emphasis added)
“Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”
“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3:1-6, Emphasis added)
“Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me! If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” (John 14:5-7, Emphasis added)
“At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30, Emphasis added)
Anticipate “Suddenly” Moments With The Holy Spirit
Beloved, there are many examples in the Scriptures of people who SUDDENLY receive a fresh new revelation of the Living Word of God. And it can be clearly seen that whenever that happens… the person to whom it happens will be forever changed! As I said, a sudden ‘explosion’ suddenly takes place within that person’s innermost being… and a connection with God is suddenly made that did not ever exist before that awesome moment! And that person will begin to change and start moving in brand new directions. And the changes that take place within him or her will become increasingly dramatic and obvious to those who knew them previously. That’s why in the Bible, there are even times when God goes to the trouble of giving such a person a brand new name that will be indicative of the new direction and previously unforeseen destiny towards which that person’s life will suddenly begin to move into… from that point onward.
“Then Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak. When He saw that He had not prevailed against him, He touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with Him. Then He said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So He said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed!” (Exodus 32:24-28, Emphasis added)
So, once that fresh new revelation of God’s Living Word takes place, the direction of our lives will change course! And the habitual focus of our attention will no longer cause us to obsess over ‘Self.’ From now on, our attention will remain riveted upon Christ. And no longer will we obsess over whatever formerly dominated our attention in the past. From that point forward… we will no longer be the center of our conscious awareness. Now, God’s Living Word made flesh will take over and fully occupy the vista of our habitual mental awareness. The Lord will increase and increase and expand in all directions until He truly has become THE ALL in all that will ever pertain to that person. And as He increases… our former self-adoration will transform into total devotion to our risen Lord.
“He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.
“He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all!” (John 3:29-32, Emphasis added)
So, as I observe the world around me, dear friends, and consider all the fallibility and deficiencies inherent in each of us humans… I can see that despite the myriad of problems and disabilities and twisted deformities that plague us all in so many varieties and ways, God has only one Answer for every one of our questions, problems, and issues. There is only one Solution for the myriads of problems with which the human race wrestles… there is only One who is Wealthy enough to fill in all of our blanks! And so, this is our Heavenly Father’s perpetual response to whatever may be ailing us:
He gives to each generation, and to each individual within that generation, a fresh new revelation of His beloved Son… the Living Word of God. When I consider Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses… and the wonderful things God was able to accomplish in them and through them… for the benefit of the rest of the world… I can’t help but be struck by this realization: At the time that they lived… they were surrounded by many pagan, idolatrous peoples, who were extremely religious and had myriads of false gods and temples and priestly castes and spiritualistic ‘seers’ and oracles and witchcraft kinds of entry into the unknown regions of the demonic realms. But the knowledge of and interaction with God’s Living Word that the Fathers of our Faith were given, blotted everything else out of their mental and emotional climates. Suddenly the Living God took over completely in their minds and hearts, and their former way of seeing and acting, reacting and interacting with earthly things, changed forever.
In the ‘Weaning Pen’ in the Wilderness, We Yield To God’s Refining Fire
This is because God separated these men from all the rest, and deliberately set them apart and isolated them, reserving them for His service! Yes, it was as if He had moved and enclosed them in a ‘Weaning Pen’… in the middle of a vast wilderness… where He would be able to break their hold on every earthly, created false god to which they may have clung in the past. And after He apprehended them and had them so isolated and separated that they could only be aware of Him… He was able to gain their full attention… THEN He revealed His Living Word to them in ways and at levels in which they’d never known or been aware of Him before. And that fresh new revelation exploded within them and obliterated whatever they thought they knew of God in the past. And their new Word-consciousness ushered them into brand new territory they’d never seen or explored before… it enabled them to plumb deeper and deeper into the depths of all the Fullness of the Almighty Infinite Godhead… that exists in the Living Word of God. And through that kind of ‘Takeover’ the Living Word is able to lay claim to every bit of our devotion and attention and service.
And so I ask you to take note of the fact that people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses did not have access to the Bible, for it had not yet been written when they walked the earth. Nor did they have the organized structures and time-honored teachings, traditions and customs of Judaism or Christianity. They knew nothing about that enormous array of organized structures and traditions and practices with which we are so familiar today. There was none of that in their entire lifetimes!
No dear ones… all that those men and their families had… was the Spirit-given ability to know and interact with the Living Presence of the Living Word of God! He was the one that invaded their space and grabbed their full attention. He was the one that they knew and with whom they began to interact. AND BELOVED… HE WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR THEM, was He not?
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; he saw it and was thrilled.”
Then the Judeans said to Him, “You’re not even fifty years old and you’ve seen Abraham?”
Yeshua answered, “Amen, amen I tell you, before Abraham was, I AM!” (John 8:56-58)
God was able to communicate with them directly and personally AND MOST EFFECTIVELY through His Living Word… through the agency of the Holy Spirit! So God trained those people to hear only one voice… His voice. And He taught them to interact with His Word and Spirit… EXCLUSIVELY… AND CONTINUALLY! That’s how He trained them to know Him and to carry out His will. And that method produced enormously fruitful results, that continue to fill the world with fruit even to this day!
So… how is it then… that today, although we have the Bible, and the myriads of organized structures of all the world religions that permeated the world into which we were born, so many among us do not yet really know God in an intimate and personal and living way? And how is it that despite the fact that we have myriads of classes, schools, study guides and tools, and theological works, and spiritual books, teachers, gurus, experts and pundits at whose feet we spend years listening, studying and pondering… many are still never pierced, penetrated and impregnated to the core… by the Lightning Bolt entry of God’s Living Word… boring into our heart of hearts and taking over completely?
Dear ones, whenever that piercing and penetrating takes place, enormous changes take place within any person that experiences it. And their circumstances and relationships begin to change dramatically! But why are there so many in our midst to whom this never happens? Could it be because we now live in a worldly religious ‘forest’ that is so vast and that contains so many religious trees of so many varieties that we can no longer see the only Tree that matters… THE TREE OF LIFE? Have we become so inundated by the things that are ABOUT God… that we have never really had any time to brush past all of the stuff that is in the outer courts and make our way into the inner sanctum… the Holy of holies… and be able to connect and interact with ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF? The Perfect Lamb of God has already made the Perfect Atonement in our name! And the New Covenant has torn the veil that once separated Sin-corrupted people from God and prevented them from entering directly into His Presence. But now, thanks to our Perfect Redeemer, we all can have full access to the Throne of God’s Glory… without any shame or fear or obstacle to stand in our way! So what is preventing us from going in and taking full advantage of such an awesome Cascade of Grace?
I maintain that it is unbelief. The Word tells us what happened and what Yeshua has made possible for us to have. But there are very few people that will ever dare to believe it and receive and own it and absorb it into themselves and install it into their own minds and hearts and lives. That is why so many of us forget about our indwelling Lord for such long periods of time throughout our daily lives! He remains banished from our sight and excluded from the inner workings of our minds… because we’ve not yet been hit by the Revelation Lightning Bolt of His Electrifying Holy Presence!
And that is most likely why so many of us busy ourselves with myriads if worldly concerns… things that are woefully short-lived and grossly temporary… at the expense of learning to abide with God, in the world of His Eternal Realm… where He abides in all of His Glory!
“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying,
“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; FOR OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE!” (Hebrews 12:25-29)
So, dear ones, where are we in all of this? Is our understanding of who we think God is, so puny and tawdry that it leaves us feeling jaded and bored? Do we remain ‘stuck’ in a very deep rut of inane, irrelevant dead religiosity? Are we depending on created things to ‘pump us up’ and ‘fill our sails’… but always end up feeling jaded, cold and unresponsive to the things of God?
There Is No Substitute For The Holy Spirit
Beloved, how many more sermons will we have to sit though? How many more services will it take to set us on fire? How many more ‘spiritual books’ or Bible studies will it take before that mysterious ‘Explosion’ can take place? When will we finally realize that none of that will ever pierce our hearts and set them on Fire? How many more substitutes for the Holy Spirit will we have to try and find wanting… before we finally turn to God and beg Him to give us what nothing created could ever supply for us… Himself?
Look at all the people who have ‘come to church’ in the past… and then, after a few weeks or years, they lose their steam and become disheartened and simply walk away from all of that religious ‘stuff’ that surrounds them. They leave behind that tiring regimen of having to jump through an endless series of religious ‘hoops’ and so they walk away from man-controlled and organized, religiosity. It’s interesting to note that the very word, ‘religion’ comes from a Latin word meaning, ‘to bind or wed together again’. The connotation of its pure meaning is, ‘to come back to God Himself’. But, if people stop short of that connection with the Living God, and end up only with a man-made construct that merely reminds them of things about God, they are being deprived of the Real Thing! And they will never get away from that gnawing, never abating sense of ‘Homesickness’… that every human feels in his or her own desperately needy heart when they have not yet been able to ‘dock’ and connect with their Creator, Spirit to spirit! None of us can stifle or forget about the sound of the ‘The Call of the Wild’… through which our Creator beckons to us from within our lonely hearts. He keeps calling to us and summoning us… from the mysterious depths of Eternity… in the hope that we will hear Him and drop everything… and come running into His embrace!
If you are one of those who know you’ve heard that ‘Call’… then realize that it’s the call of the Son of God made flesh. He’s singling you out from the crowd at this awesome and electrifyingly strategic time in human history and inviting you to drop everything temporary… so that you can finally be united to the Perfect All-Sufficient One who is Eternal Fullness and All-Sufficiency!
“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men!” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18-20)
If you’re finally ready to seriously answer that call, the way Peter and Andrew did, then it’s probably because you’re about to receive that fresh new revelation of the Living Word of God made flesh that I’ve been talking about! You’re probably beginning to see Yeshua in a brand new unprecedented way. And that is finally enabling you to become aware of His Awesome Grandeur, Majesty, and Overwhelming Authority and Resurrection Authority. And, when you can see Him like that… as He really is… you’re finally ready to begin to hear His voice for yourself… and if you can hear Him calling from within your heart of hearts… then you’re inevitably going to drop everything you’re currently clinging to and looking to, as a source of wealth, security, and wellbeing. And you will begin to follow Him too, because after you really get to know Him, nothing in the universe will ever be able to get you to separate yourself from Him again!
And when He has prepared you to be ready to do whatever it takes to follow Him… it will be because the Holy Spirit has finally begun to enable you to begin to see Yeshua in that fresh new way that Father is now making available to you. And when that Lightning Bolt of Revelation hits you and pierces you through and through… you will suddenly see that He is the only Lord and Source that is worthy of your obedience and devotion and airtight TRUST! And you will do whatever it takes to become united to Him… so you can finally be free to follow Him into the Great Unknown!
Only when that happens… will you finally be free to go with Him. And He will begin to lead you into that fresh, new, previously unexplored territory that will usher you into your True Home in Eternity. You’ll stop being afraid because now you know that as long as He is in you, and you are in Him, there is nothing in Creation that will ever be able to harm or slow down or stop your Advance or prevent your Progress. And then He will lead you into the heart of ‘enemy territory’ and you will see how overwhelmingly Triumphant and Overpowering He actually is… as His demonic enemies screech and scream and flee in all directions in their vain attempts to get away from His Awesome Holiness and the Irresistible Advance of His Righteousness. That view of Him will enable you to finally drop everything else… in order to have Him and be with Him alone. And you’ll finally be able to get some deep gulps of ‘fresh pure air’ for a change… the Air of Freedom and total Peace and Rest that can only come when you’re free to partake of His Infinite Wellbeing!
So take note of the fact that being religious and adhering faithfully to time-honored religious traditions is not the same as actually knowing God in an intensely personal and intimate Blood Covenant union! Beloved, it’s never been about ‘going to church’. It has always been about whether or not you will ever trust God enough to allow Him to transform you into a living temple that contains His Presence! It’s about allowing Him to transform you into a living member of the earthly Body of the Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords! To know God, in Spirit and in Truth, is something that only God can impart to us:
“It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in all about twelve men.” (Acts 19:1-7)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:21-27, Emphasis added)
Covenant Life In And From Our Indwelling God
Beloved, the union between us and God’s Living Word made flesh is what causes us to be one with our Covenant God Himself. When we truly repent of our state of Sin, and submit to the Absolute Authority of God’s Word, who is our Eternal Messiah, He imparts the Holy Spirit to us, and the Spirit of God fills us and empowers us to receive all that pertains to the Word. And just like a Vine that fills its branches with its own life and fruit-producing power, so does our Messiah fill His disciples with Himself, and all that pertains to Him. And, like healthy branches that are securely united to their vine, the disciples are able to embody their Master’s resurrection Presence in whatever they think, say and do. And thus, they begin to bear the supernatural Heavenly Fruit… that only God’s Living Word can produce!
Almighty God has always desired to become one with us. And when that can finally happen, He becomes to us what electrical power becomes to a lamp, or what the electricity does from within any other electrical appliance, or tool, or apparatus. As the power surges throughout the inner workings of, for example, a lamp, the lamp is filled with light and it gives forth that light to whoever and whatever happens to be around it. And in a power tool, such as a saw, the electricity causes the tool to work and effect amazing changes in the wood to which the saw is being applied.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16, Emphasis added)
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we, an imperishable. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25, Emphasis added)
“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39, Emphasis added)
Beloved… we may or may not have heard the voice of the Lord in the past. It’s up to each one of us to discern that for ourselves. But now we’ve reached a point in the Exodus Journey of our present generation that absolutely requires for us to hear from Him now! Only He knows what enormous events and situations the Last Days Era is about to unleash upon this fallen and very broken world. Only He knows what His chosen Jewish and non-Jewish people are lacking at this time, and what we all desperately need for Him to supply for us so that we may be prepared and equipped to fulfill the purposes for which we were created, redeemed and commissioned to serve in His ranks.
So let us turn to Him wholeheartedly… as never before… and repent of our former unwillingness to open ourselves to His Holy Spirit and to place our stubborn wills on His altar as a living sacrifice.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
“For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:1-3)
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, Emphasis added)
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Ephesians 4:29-31, Emphasis added)
“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of Darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the Light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:11-21, Emphasis added)