God’s design and desire for humanity – Free Choice
“I think God has more faith in us than we do in Him” – PR
Jesus: “The WAY – to the TRUTH – which leads to LIFE.”
Free Choice – a Two-Edged Sword that either Frees us or Enslaves us
Desire – “Hardwired” into our natural hardware by God
Wade Taylor – “He places within us the Desire to be apprehended for the very purpose that He had in mind when He first touched our spirits. We must believe this, and again to seek the outworking of that for which we were also apprehended.”
Apprehend – To intuitively grasp the meaning of something and be captured by it.
Without Desire, there’s nothing to impel us forward:
Our life energy is a product of our desires.
Denying desire = Denying our God-given nature and the ultimate purpose of our existence.
Attachments – Habits and idiosyncrasies added to the “True Self.”
Compulsive – when our desires “Take Over” – Result: Slaves to our own desires
1 Corinthians 12:10 – the gift of spiritual discernment
“Watering the weeds” – surrendering some of my inner freedom by arranging my life to serve my fears and aversions, thereby giving them the POWER to rule.
Matthew 27:1 – Pontius Pilate
God’s desire for mankind – to make “Life-Giving” choices leading to FREEDOM
A Word for RCF: “Stop watering the weeds that are growing in the midst of your garden.”
“Choose LIFE and direct your energies toward cultivating the Life-Giving fruit I’ve planted in the Garden of your hearts.”(Galatians 5:22-23)
“Remember, My Kingdom is within you. So, seek me with clean and clear hearts, and you will find me and apprehend what you were apprehended for.”
Are you struggling? Are you in need of more of God? Are you hungry and thirsty for more of Him?
It is imperative that we learn to wait on Him.
Psalm 27:14 Psalm 37:7
We often find ourselves in troubling circumstances, and we step into stress instead of stepping into REST. Gratitude is the open door into His Presence. When we encounter His Presence in the midst of our lives, especially in trying times, there is an acceleration of our own development as believers. He reveals to us our true identity and forms His character within us, and HIS OUTCOME is released. This is the will of God. The Prince of Peace must take up permanent residence in the center of our being in the NEW REALM of the Spirit. Then it is the work of the Holy Spirit to take what belongs to Jesus and make it real to us. John 16:15
“The outcome of His intention is the finishing line. He intends that we reach” GC
Ps 119:37- “Help me turn my eye away from illusions so that I may pursue only that which is true; drench my soul with life as I walk in Your paths.”
STRESS is a by-product of a life NOT FOCUSED ON CHRIST WITHIN IN THIS NEW REALM.
THE REAL YOU IS NOT STRESSED. GC
WE MUST STAY FILLED with God.
Overcome as we depend on Him.
Take care of our own vineyard.
Weed the garden. Get enough sunshine and fertilizer so we can grow well.
God alone offers comfort to us who are suffering in the midst of difficulties. In our brokenness, God joins us and cultivates His character within and conforms us into His image. God sees suffering as a means to develop the spiritual fruit of patient endurance in us, which produces our crop of godly righteousness and peace in our lives as we become one who has been trained or exercised by it. We become groomed by our Father and begin to display the love of Jesus Christ.
Eph 4:17- “then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the RESTING PLACE OF HIS LOVE will become the very source and root of your life.”
Pray together: JESUS, I OPEN MY LIFE TO YOU AND ASK YOU TO BE LORD OF EVERY AREA. CHANGE ME. PURIFY ME. LET ME SEE MYSELF THE WAY YOU DO SO THAT I MAY REALIZE MY TRUE IDENTITY. WHEN I FOCUS ON YOU, I AM CONFIDENT AND COURAGEOUS-TRULY ALIVE. SO, I WILL KEEP MY FOCUS ON YOU, AND TOGETHER, WE WILL VICTORIOUSLY OVERCOME MY SHORTCOMINGS AND WEAKNESSES.
We want to be like Job. Job 42:5–6 – “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but NOW MY SPIRITUAL EYES SEE YOU, AND I PRAISE YOU, REPENTING IN DUST AND ASHES.”
In Revelation, the Word reads: “The Bride has made herself ready…clothed with linen garments.” What does that mean?
The linen garments are the righteous acts of the Saints,.our responses to and the results formed in our lives in the midst of the troubles we face and overcome as we rise up and See God in the midst.
ONLY then we can then go higher and deeper with God, pressing on for the prize of the high calling of God. Phil 3
So, consider how God accomplishes His purposes in our lives: so that we transform into His image. He wants us to SEE HIM AS HE IS SO WE CAN BE LIKE HIM. THROUGH DIFFICULTIES.
Deut 8:3
Some instruction from Isaiah 55 is an invitation to receive the glory of the Lord’s restoration.
Are you hungry and thirsty for more of God?
Come to the waters
Gain entrance with thanksgiving and praise.
Listen carefully to God.
Eat only what is good.
Let your soul delight itself in His abundance.
Enter into a covenant relationship with God.
Seek Him, call on Him when He is near.
Return to Him.
Forsake your way
Walk in His way
Go out with joy.
Be led by the Lord Himself with peace.
Consider the operation of His Word and His faithfulness.
His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are higher.
As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth, making it bear and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater. SO WILL MY WORD BE WHICH GOES OUT OF MY MOUTH; IT WILL NOT RETURN TO ME VOID, WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHING WHAT I DESIRE, AND WITHOUT SUCCEEDING IN THE MATTER FOR WHICH I SENT IT.
Pray together: “Our Father, may the Glory of Your Name be the center on which our life turns. May Your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us. Manifest Your kingdom on earth “Luke 11:2
