The following seven stages describe the spiritual growth of the Christian from sinner, to seeker, to believer, to disciple, and to overcomer.

I. Hungry For Truth

Theologians describe it as a God-shaped vacuum in our heart. However you choose to describe it, there is a capacity for God within every man and woman. Some seek to fill the void with other things, but man is never truly satisfied until he finds communion with His Creator. Jesus says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.” The most amoral people in the world are the ones who have no hunger for Truth. They are the ones who love Darkness more than Light.

It is better to give food to a hungry man than to force-feed people who are not hungry. This is one of the failures of evangelicalism. People have not been taught to tell the difference between a hungry person and a person who is full, so they indiscriminately cast their pearls before swine. Jesus did not reveal Himself to everyone, nor did He minister to everyone He encountered. He qualified them on the basis of their spiritual appetite.

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What does it all mean? It is not so much our seeking the Truth as the Truth drawing us to Himself. That drawing us to Himself is interpreted by our soul as spiritual hunger. Without this we cannot come to Truth.

II. Seeking For Truth

Christ has come to seek and to save the Lost. He tells His disciples that they have not chosen Him, but He has chosen them. The ones who seek Him discover that they are sought out by Him. The paradox of the situation is that the Lord will only reveal Himself to those who seek Him, but when they begin to seek Him, He searches for them in order to make Himself known.

There are those who are hungry for Truth, and then there are those who do something to satisfy their hunger. They know something is not right, something is lacking, and they set out to find answers to their questions. Unfortunately for some, the quest for Truth becomes more important than Truth itself. People who do not pass through this stage, but remain too long here, are those who are “ever learning, but never coming to the full-knowledge (epignosis) of Truth.” They can quote the sayings of Jesus, Mohammed, or Buddha, but they can never get beyond a mental apprehension of what they say they believe. Either they have never been forced to make a decision for Truth, or they have decided the cost is too great, and they are content to settle back into meaningless philosophical exercises.

III. Choosing The Truth

There is always a moment of decision in which we can choose to remain where we are or we can go deeper. We cannot understand all the implications of the decision, but we know it will cost us something. “There is no turning back.” We will be held accountable for the Truth we have. To whom much is given, much is required. Some are unwilling to pay the price. But the ones who do are given no guarantees except one: they will know the Truth.

Most people will say, “My mind is made up, so don’t confuse me with the Truth.” To choose the Truth is to want the Truth at all costs, even if it means sacrificing everything I have believed up until now, challenging all my paradigms, questioning all my teachers, examining everything I have ever experienced.

Of course our first decision about Truth is based upon Who Jesus is. With that question settled many Christians are content, but Truth is living. Truth will continue to reveal Himself to us and around us for as long as we will allow it. What, after all, is Wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to see things from heaven’s, and thus God’s, perspective. Daily we must choose between ignorant bliss or seeing things as God sees them. It is a daily choice. You cannot be told, you have to see it for yourself.

IV. Accepting The Truth

We are often unprepared for Truth, which is why Truth is revealed to us progressively. We must “grow up into Him” – we could not handle it otherwise. Even the little bit of Truth which is revealed to us often upsets us at our deepest foundations. We must be willing to live with the uncertainty and pain which Truth brings. Here again is another point in which many people turn back. People prefer ignorant bliss to uncomfortable Truth. Now that they have been given the Truth, it is too painful or inconvenient to deal with. They either fall back into their former ignorance or they rationalize or dilute the Truth until it is no longer Truth. They turn it into something which is more palatable and easily digested.

But if we accept the Truth, and totally give ourselves to it, it will begin to change us. We will begin to be conformed to it, and it will become less painful. I am convinced that if we refuse to accept the Truth we have been given then we will eventually lose it. Jesus concludes His parable of the talents by saying, “The one that has will have more added to him, and the one who does not have will have what little he has taken away.” The one who buries the Truth in the ground for safekeeping will lose it, while the one who does something with the Truth will receive more Truth. This is why some grow spiritually and some do not. Even though they may acknowledge the same Truth, they may not be willing to accept the consequences of being transformed by that Truth, thus what little they have soon becomes dead manna.

V. Knowing The Truth

Once we have accepted the Truth we must brace ourselves to explore and deal with the consequences of the Truth. For instance, if I am one day confronted with the fact that X is true, and Y contradicts X, then Y is no longer true, even if I have believed in Y my whole life. If my whole life is based on Y being true, then my whole life is going to change. The more I experience X, the more things about Y I discover to be wrong.

We should use the word “know” in its original sense: intimate experience and oneness. “Adam knew his wife Eve”, meaning they had intercourse with one another. It is not a mental assent or head knowledge, i.e. “Oh I know that.” It is a coming into union with Truth experientially and existentially. The Truth is there for us to know, but we cannot know the Truth until we accept it. The prophet does not (or should not) just bring a message, the prophet IS the message. If the message has not changed the messenger then it is nothing but empty words. Once we accept it we will be changed by it. Truth is not Truth if it has not changed you. If it is an ethereal thing out in space that you can just pontificate about then it is not Truth.

When we know the Truth, that is, when we are one with Truth so that it is ours experientially and not just theoretically, then the Truth will make us free. Talking about Truth will not make us free, but knowing it will. How do we know it? Through experience. I daresay we do not know the Truth through study. Oh, we can learn about it through study, but we cannot know it through study. To know it is to live it. To live it is to know it. What are you doing with it? Has it changed you? That is what makes it Truth.

Not once have I talked about understanding the Truth, and there is a reason. We cannot seek understanding as a thing in itself. If we know the Truth then understanding will follow, but knowing is never the result of understanding. Indeed, we often mistake understanding for knowing, at our peril. If our understanding does not flow out of our knowing, then our understanding will eventually be revealed as misunderstanding.

VI. Believing The Truth

I doubt there are any Christians who do not know that Jesus is the Way. But translating what you know into an actual belief is two different things. We can know Christ, know the Church, know God’s plan for us, know His Will, but that does not necessarily mean that we will walk in what we know. There is a straight gate as well as a narrow path. Those who favor the straight gate believe once you pass through the gate that’s all there is to it. But beyond the gate is a narrow path which leads to Life, and only a few find it. There is a gate and a path, and we cannot have one without the other.

Believing is the transition between Knowing and Living. Some confuse the two and treat them as one and the same, but they are not. For instance, a lot of Christians know that Jesus has defeated the devil, but most of them do not believe it, because if they did they would live their lives differently. They would pray differently, they would talk differently, they would be different. Many people are mistakenly called “Believers” when they do not believe at all. We might call them “Assenters”.

Do you know that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places? You should know it, for it is found in Ephesians 2. But do you believe it? You may say you believe it, but if that is the case, you will live differently than you did before. If you believe you are seated with Christ in the heavenlies then you cannot continue living as an earthly person. In a thousand such examples we can see evidence of knowing and not believing.

If I have already seen the last five minutes of a football game and I know my team wins, I don’t have to be concerned with anything else that may happen during the course of the game. Only people who have not seen the end will be worried, afraid, upset, or nervous. If I say, “I know my team will win” because I have already seen the end, then my knowing is translated into believing and I begin to live in what I know. I should behave differently than the ones around me who are still concerned as to the outcome. The slightest bit of hesitation or anxiety on my part only demonstrates that I do not in fact believe in what I say I know.

Why do so many know the Truth but do not live according to what they know? Because they mistake knowing for believing. It seems hard to describe the difference in words, but in real life experience the difference is easily demonstratable. Do you know the battle is already won and that Jesus is Lord? Oh yes, we know that. But do you believe it? You say you believe it, but if you aren’t living it, then you don’t believe it, whether you know it or not.

VII. Living The Truth

When we truly believe what we say we know then we cannot but live according to the Truth of it. This is the goal of growth, to demonstrate Truth. We can hunger for it, seek it, choose it, accept it, know it, and believe it, but until we demonstrate it we have fallen short. Everything is geared towards this end.

Why does God save sinners, call disciples, establish the Church, and raise up overcomers? To demonstrate the preeminence of Christ over all, beginning with each disciple, then the Church corporately, and all creation collectively. We see this happening with the early Church in the Book of Acts. Gradually the Church was brought to such a low state that the Lord had to call upon Overcomers to stand on behalf of the Church. Even so, God is steadily and progressively working all things together for good, bringing us to the full-knowledge of Truth (Christ). What is the purpose of this fullness? It is not so we can be a walking spiritual encyclopedia. His desire is to demonstrate the Truth in us. What Truth? That He overcomes sin, self, and satan. That in Him is Life, and Life abundant. That He is All in All, and we are complete in Him. That we, in Him, overcome just as He overcame.

His Kingdom, His Reality, transcends the earthly realm in which we live. It is more real than this world. We need vision in order see beyond the earthly and into the heavenly – beyond the natural and into the supernatural. When we see as He sees, we will see how finite this world is, how limited, how temporal. We will see ourselves in Him, and we will begin to demonstrate His preeminence here and now: “as in heaven, so in earth.”

Now I just love that word adjustment. Adjustment. I know it is uncomfortable and disconcerting to have the sense that everything you thought you knew is wrong (or at best, incomplete), and God shows you a different way, a more excellent way, and usually that “way” is not a way that you would have chosen or come to on your own. It is not a process that anyone particularly enjoys going through.

Even so, we are all in need of a major adjustment. I have a saying that has served me well through the years, and I’d like to share it with you now: the purpose of revelation is not to SUBSTANTIATE your illusions, but to ELIMINATE them. Do not seek confirmation from God as to your thoughts and your perception of things, but seek instead to be disillusioned; seek to be rid of all your illusions about God, all your misperceptions and misconceptions about Who He is and what He is doing. Seek to know Him and His Will no matter how contrary it seems to everything you have heard and learned and experienced up to this point.

The Bible calls us to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus; and this growth is only possible through revelation. With this revelation comes adjustment, and that adjustment is continuous and it is ongoing, until we are perfectly and completely aligned with God’s heart and mind, His purpose, His Will, and His Kingdom.

Repentance, in its truest sense, is an adjustment of the heart, an adjustment of the mind, the thoughts, and the attitudes of the soul; and this leads (or should lead), to an adjustment in terms of things we used to do that we no longer do, or things we have not been doing that we begin to do. It is a revelation of something that leads to a change of heart, which causes a change of mind, which results in a change of behavior and must result in a change of direction. That is repentance. Not this crying of tears and making of resolutions, only to go out and do the same things over and over again. But repentance is an utter adjustment to God – an adjustment to His Purpose, His mind, His heart, His will.

Because, you understand, that God will never – and has never – adjusted Himself to us. That is to say, that God will never settle for something less than His full thought, His full intention. He is after something, and He will never compromise Himself or lower His expectation to better suit our wishes. Obviously God’s Kingdom and God’s Will is not going to be centered around what we want, or what we expect. And that is why we pray, “Your Kingdom come, and Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” I have found it is impossible to pray this every day, and make this the focus of your prayer life, and still expect things to go according to your own will. It’s just not possible. Prayer is adjustment, and if you are not adjusted through prayer then you haven’t really prayed.

“Not my will but Your will be done” – that is the ultimate in adjustment. Even Jesus found Himself in an agonizing situation where He found it necessary to utter these words to God in prayer: “Not My will but Your will be done”. I have never once heard the Lord say to me, “Well Chip, I hadn’t thought about that. You make a good point. Now that you bring it up, your way does sound better after all! I’m going to adjust Myself to your will.” Never once has He done that, and I know Him well enough by now to say unequivocally that He will never adjust Himself to suit my expectation and He will never adjust Himself or adjust His eternal purpose to suit you or your expectation either. Instead, He will constantly challenge us to deny our own will, and our own thoughts, and our own perceived wishes and wants and needs and to be adjusted to Him; to leave our ground altogether and come onto His ground.

Now, if you have ever experienced this adjustment from the Lord, then you know that it is a continual process. You and I are in constant need of being adjusted to God. We tend to be double-minded and unstable. Our scattered thoughts are often troubled and conflicted. Our foolish hearts are filled with self-centeredness and self-seeking.

Even in our holiest moments, when we think we are really pursuing God and really doing His will, so many times we are really pursuing our own agenda and it just so happens that what I want, and what I think God wants, are the same thing! But you know, that can be so deceptive. Is there a single Christian on the face of the earth that doesn’t believe, truly believe, that the thing they are doing is God’s will? Would you ever intentionally do something that you knew was not God’s will? Well if you did you would know it was sin, but I’m referring to the many good things that we do and in particular I’m speaking to those of us who feel called of God into some kind of ministry capacity.

Is there a single person pursuing their ministry who does not believe one hundred percent that this is God’s will for them? Well, the thought never crosses their minds, “God called me and this is the thing I am pursuing for Him.” Now, I’ve done it, many of you have done it, and may I say that puts us in a very precarious position. It puts us in a place where we are so sure, so positive, so certain that we are doing the right thing, that we are no longer adjustable.

The work of the Lord becomes more important to us than the Lord of the work. And some people cannot even tell the difference between the two; to them, the work of the Lord and the Lord of the work is one and the same thing. Well, I am saying that there is a difference between the two; between the work of the Lord and the Lord of the work. And I have to confess that I have spent most of my life, since the time I was twelve years old, pursuing this thing called “the ministry”.

God began to radically adjust me over ten years ago and that adjustment was so severe, so penetrating, that I was forced out of the denomination I had been a part of for sixteen years. You’ve probably read or heard my testimony before; I’m not going to bore you with it again now. The point is that God began a process of adjustment in us and that process is on-going. It is continual. But you have to be open to that process of adjustment – and so few people are. They cannot and will not be adjusted by me, by God, by anyone else. Maybe they are called, maybe they are gifted, but the very thing that God calls them to, the very thing that they are gifted in, becomes a snare to them. It becomes a trap. It becomes a distraction from Jesus.

Now, how many people do I have to bring up from the Bible to get you to see this? You can look at Abraham. There is the son of promise, Isaac, and in Isaac rests everything God has called Abraham to do and to be. And then God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, “Yes, you heard Me correctly: give him up. Give him back to Me.” And the argument, of course, would go along these lines: “Well God, you gave me this son, this son is a miracle! This son represents Your covenant and Your promise and everything is riding on Isaac. Now You say ‘Sacrifice Isaac to Me as a burnt offering.’ It doesn’t make sense! This can’t be You! How could You do this to me?” Now Abraham didn’t say a word, he just began to carry out the instructions, but if he was a human being he certainly had thoughts along these lines. Is there anyone listening to me now that would not question God’s will if it called for you to give up your only child or any of your children? Are you so pious and spiritual that you would accept it without question and begin to carry it out? No, you would question it and so would I! And it’s very doubtful that we would do it.

But what is the principle? That the very thing that God calls you to, the very thing He gives you, can become a snare. I don’t know one man in ten thousand, myself included, that would do what Abraham was called to do. What is the application to you and to me? That God demands we give up the thing we love most. The thing we love most, even if it is a good thing, even if it is something He gave to us, can become an idol if we permit it. And that is the sad legacy and tragedy of many churches, ministries, works done for God. They will all be burned up and revealed as nothing but straw.

Now there’s nothing wrong with Isaac. Isaac was good, faithful, obedient – the joy of his father’s heart. And in the same way there is nothing wrong with the call of God and the gift of God; nothing wrong with having a ministry if it is a true expression of Christ. It has nothing to do with the ministry, it has everything to do with the minister. The message may even be a good message but often the messenger leaves so much to be desired. The prophecy may be technically correct, but the prophet, the person, is absolutely out of order.

I experienced this a few weeks ago, “Brother Chip, read my prophecy, tell me what you think.” Well, that is a dangerous thing to ask me to do, especially when you aren’t really looking for the truth. I would rather not tell you what I think about anything because more times than not, that will be the end of a friendship. But she said, “Brother Chip, read my prophecy and tell me what you think.” I didn’t know her very well so I said, “Okay, I’ll read it and I’ll tell you what I think.” And the Spirit of the Lord gave me discernment. Not only did I see it the way He saw it, I knew that this person would not accept my counsel. And actually that made it easier for me, I knew then I could just tell her the truth, she could reject it and we could go our separate ways. So here’s what I said. I said: “The prophecy is technically correct. The Scriptures are in order. There’s nothing wrong with the prophecy; nothing wrong with the word per se, but there is much that is lacking in the prophet.” And I went through step by step and gave her three or four areas that were out of order in her life: the way she was going about her idea of ministry; her religious spirit; her hypocrisy; all of that. See, I didn’t deal with the word, I dealt with the person giving the word. And predictably, she rejected all my counsel, called me a lot of ugly names, and in doing so she fulfilled everything I had spoken over her and didn’t even realize it. Well, she got more than she bargained for, didn’t she? I think she could have handled my criticism of her word but she could not handle any kind of adjustment upon her heart, her mind, or her actions.

Now maybe you can understand why I do not speak in churches any more, and hardly ever speak to homegroups any more. That is the kind of penetrating adjustment that few people are willing to submit themselves to. They will offer God anything except what He asks them for. They will protect Isaac with their last breath if necessary, rather than sacrifice him. Isn’t that the natural instinct? “Well, this is the promise of God! This represents a ministry that will bless the nations. We’ve been meeting in homes for twenty-five years or this church is one hundred years old and God forbid that we would ever sacrifice it or let it go or even question its existence. Our whole life has been poured out to bring us to this place and now we have what God has promised and you’re saying that we have to give it up. Well we will not give it up. We will not sacrifice Isaac.” And at that moment it dies. Why? Because it no longer has the mark of the Cross upon it.

The mark of the Cross means we willingly sacrifice whatever God requires of us and we trust Him to raise it from the dead in a time and season of His choosing, or, to resurrect something else, something better in its place. And if you read the story of Abraham you see that is exactly what happened. He gave Isaac back to God and God renewed His covenant with Abraham and gave Isaac back to him. Well, if you know anything about the principle of the Cross then you can easily see the lesson here with Abraham and if not, then I pray God will open your eyes to the truth. “Unless a corn of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, if it dies, if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” Where does the fruitfulness come from? It comes from the dying, the laying down of Self.

God brings life out of death and to get us onto resurrection ground He must take us through the work of the Cross. Never mind your ministry, or your gifts, or your calling, if the mark of the Cross is not on your life, on your very being, then everything you do is tainted with Self. It isn’t pure. There is a mixture. And those of us who are being dealt with along these lines can easily see that impurity in other people. Why? Because God is constantly dealing with that impurity in ourselves.

Well, take a look at Moses. If ever there was someone called and gifted of God, it was Moses! But here’s what you need to understand; hear what I’m saying: the gifts and callings of God are not the issue. The issue is the one who is gifted and called. Can this person be adjusted to God or will they expect everyone and everything else, including God, to be adjusted to them? Will they submit to the Cross or will they tenaciously cling to their self life? Finding gifted brothers and sisters, finding called brothers and sisters is not that difficult. The difficult thing is finding crucified brothers and sisters; people who have accepted that principle of the Cross and have died to their own way.

Moses had God’s gifts. Moses had God’s calling. But he wanted to go about things in his own way. So you see, there was an impurity there. So many are gifted and called, but that does not qualify a person. I would rather see a plain, ordinary person with no discernible gifts and no sense of extraordinary call, but they are broken! They can be adjusted. God can use someone like that; He can do something with someone like that. But called and gifted people have to be broken first before they can be used. You don’t like it, I don’t like it, but there it is in the Word of God.

Moses acted in the strength of his personality. He was true to his gift and true to his calling but God said, “That is not enough. Your gift and your calling is not enough. You need some time in the desert. You’ve been living as a prince of Egypt for so long and you’ve got to stop thinking and behaving like an Egyptian if you want your gift and calling to find its purest expression. The desert will provide you with that adjustment you so desperately need. I want you to know I’m in no hurry. I will not be rushed. I will not work along the lines of your schedule and your timeframe, Moses. Ten years, twenty years, forty years – it makes no difference to Me. I want something from you, and I’m not going to rest until My purpose comes to maturity in you. Then, and only then, can I send you forth as a deliverer of My people, as someone who is not just called but chosen!”

Well, Moses fled Egypt and he had nowhere to go except the wilderness. It was not something he would have chosen for himself. He had to be driven away. And it was all part of the sovereign dealings of God with him. It was very severe. It was very penetrating. And it was very revealing. Moses had a lot of garbage to get rid of. He had a lot of unlearning to do. He spent forty years hidden away in the desert working as a shepherd. In today’s society it would be like saying he was a garbage collector for forty years. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s certainly not glamorous. It’s honest work, but it’s not glamorous. It’s hot, dirty, smelly work, and it’s work most people don’t want to do – especially people who feel called to the ministry, it’s something that they would look down upon. They want a position in a church some place! That’s their training; carry the pastor’s Bible around or do something important! Preach a couple of sermons. See? They haven’t been to the desert. They haven’t spent any time in the wilderness. There’s no death, burial and resurrection operating in their life; still seeking something for them, thinking the whole time that they are really seeking what God wants. And it’s very difficult for someone like that to be adjusted to Something and to Someone other than their preconceived ideas of what the ministry consists of.

The ironic thing is that Moses would turn out to be the greatest prophet in the Old Testament but Moses had to be adjusted first and at the end of those forty years in the desert he was saying “Lord, I can’t speak. Please send somebody else.” And that’s the kind of person that God can use. Forty years of building up, forty years of tearing down and now after eighty years he was broken, and humble, and meek, and pliable, and flexible, and adjustable. That’s the kind of person God can use, someone who does not seek the things but is content to just be hidden. God can trust someone like that. But it never fails that the ones who are so often pushing themselves to the front, wanting to speak, are the ones who don’t have anything worth saying and don’t have anything worth listening to. They’ll crawl halfway around the world to preach a sermon, but they won’t walk across the street to listen to one. There’s no deep secret history with God in the desert. They just have a lust for preaching, or a lust for pastoring, or a lust for being in charge of something. Do you think God is going to endorse that carnal lust for spiritual things? Does that represent the spirit, character and nature of the Lord Jesus?

Jesus says, “That which is of the flesh, is flesh”. And the truth is that many will come to Jesus in that day and say, “Lord, Lord, we did all these things for You” and He will judge all those works as fleshly, carnal, self-serving and self-seeking works. He calls them “workers of iniquity” yet they all call Him Lord! And they are all very busy; out doing things that most ministries do – prophesying in the name of Jesus, casting out demons in the name of Jesus, working miracles in the name of Jesus – if that isn’t ministry then what is it? Isn’t that what Christians so eagerly seek? Prophetic words, power, signs and wonders… isn’t that what we get all excited about? So why isn’t Jesus impressed with that? The bottom line is the work of the Lord became more important than the Lord of the work. “I never knew you” He says, and the point of that is there is no abiding relationship with Jesus. No intimacy. No communion. No prayer life. No seeking the Scriptures. No seeking His will or His kingdom – only a carnal seeking for themselves and for their so-called “ministries”. It doesn’t stop them from doing works in His name, but if those works do not lead anyone into a deeper knowing of Christ, then in God’s estimation they are workers of iniquity, because you cannot lead anyone else to a place that you have never been to yourself.

Well, it’s something to think about and I’m not suggesting that I am perfectly adjusted to God’s purpose and intention as it relates to true spiritual ministry. I still need that adjustment on a daily basis. But I apologize to Him and I apologize to you for those times when I have failed to represent Him properly. I have repented of that and I will continue to seek His face and His will until I am perfectly adjusted to Him in every respect. The truth is, I am not a pastor. I am not someone who can bring you a message every week. I am not a theologian who can untangle all the doctrinal nuances, and unravel all the different opinions and questions people have along the lines of theology or doctrine. I am a watchman first, and a teacher second. And I can only speak what God gives me to say, when He gives it to me.

The idea of having a daily word or a weekly webcast or a monthly teaching is good, and it’s noble, but truthfully I think it reflects back upon a pastoral mindset that God has not called me to. It’s like I’m afraid if I don’t keep putting something out there then somebody’s going to slip away; slip away from God or slip away from me I don’t know which, but either way, I’m not responsible for your spiritual growth and development. I am responsible to point you to Christ and to proclaim God’s eternal counsels and purposes concerning His Son, and to be an instrument of adjustment in your life. That is the public side of this ministry.

The private side, the hidden side, is to minister to the Lord with prayer. Period. I’m called to be with Jesus. That’s my calling. My gift is Christ Himself. He is my Gift. That is what I want to be reduced to.

Now all these other activities have their place but those activities are not Christ, and those activities can very well take the place of Christ if we are not careful. I think if you sum it all up, I sense the absolute necessity for me – and for you, because we’re just the same – we need to be governed by the Holy Spirit. That is the key: governed by the Holy Spirit. Now that answers all the questions about what to do, where to go, what to say, when to do this thing or that thing, or if to do this thing or that thing. It is not a question of schedule or time, or the demands and expectations of other people. If that is what I am to be governed by, then I may as well take a church someplace, announce my sermon a week in advance and follow a predictable path. But that, in my opinion, is not what it means to be governed by the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is one thing. But being governed by the Holy Spirit is something else.

I have been filled with the Holy Spirit for most of my life. I can point to a day and a time when I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the gifts that accompany that Spirit baptism. That does not mean that I have always been governed by that indwelling Spirit. Now how about you? You may be filled with the Spirit but you may not be governed by the Spirit, and that explains why charismatic people, prophetic people, are some of the most carnal people you will ever meet in your life.

The Bible says we must be continually filled with the Spirit. Paul says, “Be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit”. And that word “be filled” is a verb of continual action in the Greek. It means to continuously be filled, be being filled, or be continuously filled. Same thing with eating or drinking Christ: “He who continues to eat My flesh and continues to drink My blood will have Life” He says. This isn’t a matter of having some kind of an experience at the altar or some kind of supposed manifestation of God’s presence in your flesh. It is a matter of continuous living and abiding and dwelling and continuing in Christ moment by moment. And if you will come under the government of the Holy Spirit, He will bring you back around to this principle of abiding in Christ and accepting the work of the Cross over, and over and over again. That is the path the Holy Spirit brings you back to.

Now that is the direction of the Spirit and He will work with you a good long while towards that end, but if you continually refuse that government, then the Spirit is grieved and will eventually depart. And I think that accounts for those multitudes of people who call Jesus “Lord” and do things in His name but don’t really know Who He is. If your only evidence of a Spirit-filled life is something you experienced back in 1968 in a camp meeting someplace then something is seriously wrong. A Spirit-filled person is either under the government of the Holy Spirit or is moving towards that government. Standing still or going back is not an option. Be continuously filled with the Spirit. And you can believe whatever you like about works but the bottom line is the fruit of the Spirit or the lack thereof, demonstrates whether we really are who we say we are.

Jesus said a good tree does not produce bad fruit and a bad tree does not produce good fruit and it’s by the fruit that you will know them, not by their leaves. Good or bad, for better or for worse, you’re going to produce something. So the question is not if you will produce fruit, but what kind of fruit you will produce.

So, as we place ourselves beneath the government of the Holy Spirit, it means we will try to go to some places just like the apostles did, but the Spirit will not permit it. Or, we will try to remain silent or stay in one place and be hidden, but the Spirit will compel us to say something or to take action. Or, we may seek to avoid certain people or places or things, but the Spirit will say, “Go here, and doubt nothing because I am sending you.” And He doesn’t always send you into something that looks successful! It may look like a failure. Crucifixions never look successful on the outside. But see, this is something totally different from setting some goals for yourself and saying you want to do such-and-such by such-and-such a date and you’ll go here and there and do this and that; you don’t see that in the Bible. You see them increasingly coming under the government of the Holy Spirit. And they soon learned that to obey the Spirit means Life and Peace, if not outwardly, inwardly. As long as He is doing it and He is initiating it, all is well. But the moment we lay our hand to it, we defile it. Time and time again.

So for me, that means we may, or may not, have a daily message, or a weekly webcast, or twice monthly meetings in our home, or any more workshops, or gatherings or conferences. I’m not concerned for those things any more. I am only occupied with this one thing: whether I go or stay, whether I speak or remain silent, whether I write something every day or never write anything again, whether I appear to be active or appear to be inactive, am I being governed by the Holy Spirit? Because that is the only real basis of spiritual ministry.

Now, if this concerns you at all and bears witness to your heart, you may be asking yourself: How do I know the difference? How do I know if I am led of the Spirit or led of my own self-centered nature? Well, don’t ask me, because I can’t tell you. I can’t give you the answer to that. I would play it safe and assume that I am probably more selfish than spiritual, but you’ll have to do the same thing I have to do: get before God and ask Him to search you and reveal it to you.

When you get into those hard to discern places, you are compelled to get before God and search it out and that’s how you learn. That’s part of your growth. I’ve identified a condition in Christians that I call ‘Spiritual Googleism’. Spiritual Googleism! And this means instead of getting before God, and humbling ourselves and getting answers from the Throne, we hop on the Internet, Google our problem, and try to get answers that way. Well it’s quick, it’s convenient, it’s fast and you’ll definitely get something, but I believe that offends the Spirit of the living God. Why? Because He wants you to come to Him and learn of Him and it takes time and it takes patience and that’s why most people don’t do it and that’s why most people, even for all of their searching and seeking after answers, they are still no further along than when they started. I’m not going to be led by Google, and I’m not going to be led by what Watchman Nee did, or what T. Austin-Sparks did. They served their generation well, but they’ve passed on. The issue is not “What did the Lord say to So-and-so?” That can only take us but so far. What does the Lord say to me, now? That is present truth that meets God’s need at this very moment.

I want to be continuously adjusted to God and continually governed by the Spirit of God. And in that way I can satisfy the heart of God. And it is beside the point whether or not that satisfies everyone else or even if it makes sense to everyone else. And so I invite you to join me in this journey, it begins with a willingness to be adjusted to God, embracing the principle of the Cross and being governed by the Holy Spirit. The end result is a purity that cannot be achieved through any carnal means.

I hope you will make this message and this word a matter of prayer.

It is also to teach us, because anything that Jesus is teaching His disciples, He is teaching to us as well. He gave us this parable to show us that we should always pray and never give up.

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:1-8)

We just read that Jesus spoke a parable to them to show that men “always ought to pray and not lose heart.” That is the New King James Version. The New Living Translation says: “To show that they should always pray and never give up.” The English Standard Version says: “That they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” The New American Standard says: “That at all times, they ought to pray and not become discouraged.”

The Lord is not saying that God is like the unjust judge. Quite the opposite: that God is moved by compassion to respond to prayer, and that God does respond to prayer. But we might become discouraged, give up, and lose heart. And so, the purpose of this parable is to encourage us always to pray, not give up, not become discouraged. Right along with that, He asked the question: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” So, this ties into Believe, which is the Second Essential Teaching.

God is not like an unjust judge who does not want to do anything, but if you annoy him long enough, eventually you can get him to give in to what you want. It is the opposite of that. “How much more will God avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, even though He bears long with them?”

The Mystery of Unanswered Prayer

Sometimes when we pray we do not see the result right away. And we sometimes lose faith, or we become disappointed. So, Jesus is giving this parable. There are circumstances and situations that you and I are not aware of. Sometimes when we pray, we do not get the answer we want, or we do not get it in the timing that we want. It is easy in those situations to become frustrated, to become disappointed. This is why Jesus is giving the parable: to teach them that they ought always to pray. It is also to teach us, because anything that Jesus is teaching His disciples, He is teaching to us as well. He gave us this parable to show us that we should always pray and never give up.

Never give up. Never give up. Always pray. Always pray. Prayer should not be the last resort, it should be the first resort. The challenge is not with God; the challenge is with us. Will we be persistent in prayer? Or will we lose heart? Will we become discouraged when the answer does not come right away?

We can illustrate this by thinking back to Daniel. He began to fast and to pray and to intercede on behalf of Israel. And he fasted, and he prayed and interceded for 21 days. Then the angel appeared to him with the answer, and said, “From the first day that you began to pray, Daniel, I was dispatched from Heaven, to respond and to give you the answer to your prayer. But for 21 days, there was spiritual warfare going on. And it took three weeks before the answer could arrive.”[1]

Now, I do not pretend to understand all of the things going on behind the scenes and what that statement means except just to take it at face value. There is in the world that we live in a great spiritual darkness, a great spiritual evil. There are elements in this universe that resist the Lord, resist His will, resist His purpose. We are not living in an environment or in a situation where you can expect to get instantaneous answers to your prayers. Sometimes that is the case; sometimes that is not the case. And I cannot sit here and tell you why it is that in some situations we seem to get the answer we want, why it is that in some situations we get the answer almost immediately (or very quickly.) And why in other situations it seems we do not get what we are praying for, or we do not get it as speedily as we want. I do not have the answers for that. And if you, or anyone, claims to have the answers to that, then I think they do not know what they are talking about.

The point of Jesus’ parable is not to explain the mysteries of why God does not seem to answer some prayers. It is not to explain why God sometimes seems slow to respond to prayer. We can make those assumptions from other Scriptures. But the point is that regardless of how long it takes, regardless of whatever resistance we may encounter, regardless of what we see, regardless of what we hear, regardless of what we feel, or what we experience, it is not a question of God answering the prayer – it is a question of us prevailing in prayer.

That is why Jesus ends this with a rhetorical question: “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Faith is belief and trust. As we said previously, faith is trusting that God is Who He says He is, and that God will do what He says He will do. If you believe God, you will be a person of prayer, because you trust that God hears you when you pray, and you trust that God answers you when you pray.

So prayer (or prayerlessness) all comes down to belief. If you believe God is Who He says He is, and that God will do what He says He will do, you will pray and not quit. You will be persistent in prayer. You will prevail in prayer. For Jesus, the question is: When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? Will He find the kind of faith that is not moved by circumstances? Will He find the kind of faith that prevails in prayer? Or, will He find a lot of lukewarm people who can only pray and believe God when things are going good? When prayers are being answered? When they have perfect health? When they have financial and material prosperity? Then it is easy to pray. It is easy to praise God when things are going great. But the true test of our faith is not when things are going well, but when things are going not so well.

We discussed previously how the testing of your faith works patience.[2] This is what Jesus is getting at here. He gave them a parable to teach them that they ought always to pray and not become discouraged, not lose heart, never give up. The question is, when He returns, how many people will actually be hanging on to that faith, that persistence, that they really and truly 100% Believe that God is Who He says He is and that God will do what He says He will do? Will He find people of faith in the earth when He returns? That is a good question, isn’t it?

Another Parable of Prayer

The parable that follows after this one is also about prayer: the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Jesus says…

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk. 18:10-14)

There is a clue right there as to why some prayers may be answered, and some may not be. We will talk about that a little later. But the point of this parable shows that God does hear us when we pray, and this is why we must always pray and never give up.

You say, “Well, Brother Chip, you don’t understand. I’ve been praying for this thing for years and years and years, and God hasn’t answered my prayer!” The point of this is that you always pray and never give up. Always pray, never give up. Always pray, and do not lose heart. Always pray, and do not become discouraged. You say, “But I am discouraged! I do not have the answer to my prayer!” You pray all the time and do not become discouraged. Do not lose heart. Do not give up. Continue to pray. Continue to pray.

In the early, early days of my ministry on the Internet we had a prayer ministry that we called P.U.S.H. That was an acronym for Pray Until Something Happens. Pray Until Something Happens! And time and time again, we have been tested. You have been tested in your praying and your interceding. Sometimes the answer comes; sometimes it does not. And there is that chasm in-between where you are apt to become discouraged. I get that. I understand that. I relate to that. I have experienced that, and still do from time-to-time.

But I always go back to Luke 18. “He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” Because, you see, that is exactly why there is this resistance. These obstacles, these difficulties, are intended to shake your faith, to get you to not pray, to stop praying. What if Daniel had stopped praying after a week, or after 10 days, or after 14 days, or after 20 days? Perhaps that angel would have had to return and the answer would not have been delivered. But Daniel persisted in prayer. And Jesus is giving us this parable, as well as this teaching, to show us that we must always pray and not become discouraged.

[1] Dan. 10:12, 13.

[2] Jas. 1:3.

We must become foolish in order to be wise.

We must give up everything in order to get back everything.

We must become weak in order to be strong.

We must die in order to live.

We can quote these teachings of Jesus, seek to imitate Him as our Example, strive to walk the narrow Way, and even accomplish many good deeds in His Name. But apart from the Cross these activities are wood, hay and stubble. The moment we are challenged or confronted by the opposition we will fall away. Perhaps we can appear to be patient, but a day comes when we lose our patience. Perhaps we can appear to be gentle, but a day comes when our roughness is revealed. Perhaps we can appear to be humble, but a day comes when pride is discovered in us and we fall. Perhaps we can obey the letter of the law and appear outwardly to others as being righteous, but when alone and faced with the secrets of our heart and mind we discover that the inside of the cup is full of uncleanness.

In calling us to come back to the Cross, God is asking us lay down our lives and embrace the Wisdom of death, burial, resurrection, and ascension in order to live as sons and daughters within the Kingdom of God. Apart from the Cross we can neither enter the Kingdom nor live in the Spirit, no matter how great the desire. For apart from the Cross, we do not know what it is to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us. Apart from the Cross, we do not know what it is to submit to the will of God, accept suffering, and cast ourselves upon Him.

Apart from the Cross, we do not know what Resurrection is.

Religion seeks to reform a man; the Cross seeks to crucify him. Religion may fail to bring about the desired result, but the Cross never fails to achieve its end. Mankind will pursue morality, virtue, spirituality, even perform religious works and good deeds, in order to avoid death on a Cross. But there are no wounds, no scars, no evidence of having ever died and been made alive unto God. Either a man has never died, or he has died and been raised again. You cannot fake a resurrection.

The Cross is the means by which God reduces us to Christ, that we may be raised to new Life. What cannot be accomplished in a lifetime of self-effort is easily accomplished in God through the Cross. We may take many shortcuts along the way and attempt to escape the inevitable, but the day we cease striving and meekly accept the Cross we find everything is done for us. In fact, death by crucifixion cannot be accomplished by suicide. We cannot crucify ourselves. The instrument of our death is chosen for us, as well as the manner in which it is carried out, the timing and the duration of the execution – all is controlled by Another. There is nothing to be done, for we must submit to the Unseen Hand and cast ourselves completely upon Him.

If we will follow Jesus, we must take up the cross daily, deny ourselves, and follow Him (Luke 9:23).

The Cross is Wisdom Through Foolishness

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness (I Cor.1:18a).”

There is a wisdom which comes from above. This wisdom is counter to the wisdom which is earthly. Our thoughts, reasonings, arguments, rationales, and opinions are worthless in God’s sight. We are commanded to have the mind of Christ and seek the Wisdom which comes from God.

Humanly speaking, the Cross makes no sense. If we approach God with our minds only, we will never know Him. If we study the Cross in order to gain a new teaching or doctrine it will make no impression on us. Indeed, we may memorize the appropriate verses of Scripture, even teach others what we have learned, and never experience the reality of it. How easily and freely we may talk about dying to self, taking up the cross, and living the crucified life. But knowledge without experience is nothing. Indeed, knowledge without experience only deceives us into thinking we are living something just because we are able to rehearse a few facts mentally. This counts for nothing in spiritual matters.

We must ask God to empty us of our preconceived ideas and notions and fill us instead with His Mind. We must relinquish our wisdom and receive His Wisdom. His Wisdom is how He sees things. How we see things is irrelevant, and will mislead us. His Ways and His Mind are higher than our ways and our mind. The Cross is the means by which God seeks to destroy the earthly wisdom and the carnal mind. The Cross, then, is wisdom through foolishness.

The Cross is Gaining Through Losing

In order to accumulate more, we usually think that we must add to that which we have already. The Wisdom of God teaches us that in order to gain, you must first lose. Think of a child who refuses to let go of his old, broken toy in order to receive new ones from his father. To his mind he is losing something. But by letting go, by giving up, he gains.

Like the child, we stubbornly refuse to relinquish our grip on our spiritual possessions. We tenaciously cling to things as a child would cling to a collection of broken toys. We collect teachings, experiences, and good deeds, pointing to these as proof that we are spiritually endowed. Until we are willing to part with our “riches” we will not be able to receive the true Riches of Christ in us. The Cross demonstrates that we do not gain by trying to get, but by losing in order to gain. We cannot really receive from God until we have learned to give up unto God. It is the spirit which cries, “Not my will, but Thine be done” and “Father, into Thine Hand I commit my spirit.”

These words are easily uttered, but we cannot appreciate them or really experience them until we have been through our Gethsemene experiences and our Golgotha experiences. Until that time we are merely reciting some words, but we do not truly know what it means to give ourselves up to God, to be completely consecrated and submitted to Him. The Cross prepares us to receive by first forcing us to give up. Therefore, the Cross is gaining through losing.

The Cross is Power Through Weakness

“God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty (I Cor. 1:27b).”

To the natural way of thinking, power and weakness are opposites. That is, in order to have power, we must eliminate weakness. The Wisdom of God teaches us differently. This Wisdom tells us that the weak things are chosen to overcome the mighty things, and power works concurrently with weakness.

The Cross is meant to inflict pain, weaken, and slowly kill. It is the ultimate expression of weakness. The victim is stripped naked and nailed to the wood through their hands and feet. Their weight is supported by their legs until they are too tired to stand. When their legs give way their entire weight is supported by their outstretched arms (to speed this process along the legs are sometimes broken). The chest cavity is eventually pulled apart from this stress and the helpless victim slowly dies of suffocation as the lungs collapse.

The crucified one can hardly move, much less struggle. Once the nails are in place there is no way to remove them. You carry nothing with you, and have nothing remaining. You can neither speed up nor slow down your death. The shame of your nakedness is open for all to see. Besides the physical suffering, the soul is stripped of its dignity and pride. There is no escape.

God desires to give you power, but that power only comes through weakness. Any power not obtained through weakness is illegitimate, no matter how spiritual it appears. The only legitimate power is granted to those who have been made weak. Power is birthed in weakness. Many exude a certain “power”, but there is not the corresponding weakness. Hence, the power only gives them an occasion for boasting. To remedy this, God has ordained that all who would have His power must first be weakened and made empty – we refer to this as being “broken”. The purpose of weakness and suffering is to open the way for His Power. The instrument God uses to weaken us is the Cross. Therefore, the Cross is power through weakness.

The Cross is Life Through Death

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal.2:20a).”

There can be no Resurrection Life without a Crucified Death. Naturally we expect that in order to live we must avoid death at all costs. Yet, the Wisdom of God teaches us that Life is found by embracing Death – that is, as we die to ourselves we are made alive unto Christ.

There is a principle of death that works in us. When we are born, we begin to age and die. For the one in Christ, physical death is not the end, but the beginning. Likewise, a God-ordained death on the Cross is not the end, but the beginning. The Cross works death in us that the Spirit may work life in us. The Cross kills that which needs to be killed in us, whereas the Spirit gives Life to that which has been killed. The Cross beats and tears down, while the Spirit rebuilds that which has been destroyed. Only those who have experienced Death can truly minister Life and speak to dead men.

Now if we have not learned what it is to die daily, we will not experience the life of God daily. In a word, I am dead, yet I am living. I am crucified, yet I am alive. On the one hand I am weakened to the point of death and powerless; on the other hand, I live by the power of God and am strengthened with all might by His Spirit which indwells me. The moment I cease to experience death, however, at that precise moment I cease to experience life, for the cross is life through death.

The Aim of God’s Dealings

“Verily, verily I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not (John 21:18).”

Though our heart attutude should be childlike, God desires us to be men and women of maturity. He desires us to grow spiritually. In order to accomplish this He allows us to meet with many disagreeable circumstances and trials.

When we are young in the Lord we do as we please. We find much pleasure in serving the Lord according to our own thought, and everything is light and gay. We live a life of feeling and sensation. We are easily moved by how we feel. If we are happy we gladly deny ourselves and pour ourselves out in service. But when we are sad or troubled by our circumstances we feel as though we have been deserted. The Lord must then reach forth and draw the little sheep back to Himself again, whereupon our feeling is restored and we renew our devotion with the same vigor as before. This is the way of those who are young: they dress themselves and go where they wish.

But when we are older in the Lord, the life of faith commences as we stretch forth our hands in surrender and allow Another to dress us and carry us where we do not wish to go. We no longer dress ourselves and go our own way. We no longer walk, but we are carried. We may no longer consider our own wishes. We may no longer act according to a will of our own apart from God’s will. Instead, we have finally submitted to God’s dealings with us. We recognize at last how we have until now been full of ourselves, speaking many words in addition to what God had given us, and performing many acts apart from the ones that God was calling us to perform. Likewise, we see how often we have failed to speak and act on many occasions because we simply loved ourselves more than we loved God.

This transition between a life of feeling and a life of faith, from being self-ruled to being Spirit-ruled, does not happen in a few days. What stands between the experience of the young and the experience of the old? What is it that brings about this maturity? How is this growth achieved? By what means does God accomplish this work of transformation? In speaking to Peter, the Lord is telling him by what death he will die to glorify God (v.19). We know that Peter was eventually crucified upside-down and died a martyr’s death. But, the daily cross of self-denial that Peter bore was the means by which God was able to subdue his wild nature and transform him into a man of faith. His was a living sacrifice. The physical cross upon which he died was a testimony to his having already laid down his life a million times prior to that final act.

The death God really seeks in us is not the future laying down of our physical life, but the moment -by-moment laying down of our self. It is not the once-and-for-all martyr’s death but the daily dying and living unto God that brings Him the most glory. In fact, those who have not denied themselves in the seemingly insignificant matters of daily life will find it difficult, if not impossible, to lay down their physical lives should that be required of them.

God is calling us to become foolish in order to be wise; to give up everything in order to get back everything; to become weak in order to become strong; to come back to the cross and die that we may live. In these pages we hope to communicate this urgent call. Today, let us ask God to quicken this to our hearts, and grant that we may become People of the Cross, experiencing the Death of the Lord that we may have the Life of the Lord. Let us determine henceforth to know nothing, but Christ and Him crucified: for the disciple is not above the Master, but the disciple shall be as his Master (Luke 6:40).

In spite of this, I have seen people overcome incredible odds and rise up over seemingly insurmountable challenges: the death of a loved one, or the loss of a business, or the failure of a marriage, or a decline in their health. They somehow get through it, pick up the pieces, and inspire others with their joy and determination.

I have seen other people have a complete breakdown over the very same things.

So I have come to realize that life is only 10% what happens to you and 90% how you choose to respond to what happens.  One man’s circumstances cause him to bless God, while another man’s identical circumstances cause him to curse God.  One man loses his job and goes into depression; another man loses his job and starts his own business. Stress affects different people in different ways.  But why is this?

Studies have shown that the emotional and physical symptoms of stress are not caused by the event itself, but by how we perceive the event.  Your perception of things becomes your reality.  So if you “think” something is bad, you’ll react badly.  If you “think” something is only a temporary challenge to overcome then you will find a way to overcome it. Stress can be a negative or a positive force, depending on how we choose to interpret life. Apparently, things have no meaning until we attach a meaning to them. Once we decide what something means we give it the power to make us either bitter, or better.

I’m not suggesting that you can just trick your mind into thinking that bad things are really good, or that you can turn your life around with a little positive thinking.  It’s not that simple.  But Christians do have a very good reason to think about life challenges in a different way than the world does.

In John 16:33 Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”

Jesus knows that the world is not conducive to peacefulness or stress-free living.  There is a certain amount of difficulty we can expect simply because we live in a dangerous world with 7 billion other people.

The Bible does not promise anyone a world free from difficulties, challenges, trials, and tribulations. At the same time, Jesus does not want His followers to be overwhelmed or stressed-out.  I think this is an important thing to notice because it tells us something of God’s care and concern for us.  He is concerned for our mental and emotional health, just as He is concerned for our spiritual and physical health.  In addition to eternal life, He offers us peace of mind.

How then can we move towards stress-free living in a crazy world? We must accept the fact that life is difficult, and we must realize that in spite of these difficulties, Jesus offers us peace.  Your circumstances will leave you either CHEER-full or FEAR-full. Ultimately, it all depends on how you choose to respond to God – and to life.

None of us are equal in terms of finances, material possessions, and physical health. Some have more, some have less. But spiritually speaking, all who are in Christ have been blessed equally. There is no real difference in the measure of spiritual blessing, power, or anointing among believers: all share in the same Lord Jesus, “in Whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).

Scripture tells us that in the last days, perilous times will come as “men will become lovers of their own selves… unthankful” (2 Tim. 3:2). Unthankfulness is a symptom of this modern age. People in more prosperous areas of the world are not particularly thankful for their prosperity. Ironically, they have grown accustomed to thinking that the world (or God) owes them even more – a better job, a free or low-cost education, a nicer home, affordable health care, or an even higher standard of living. This entitlement mentality is unhealthy and leads to chronic discontentment and dissatisfaction.

On the other hand, followers of Jesus recognize that we are entitled to nothing. We also recognize that whatever we do have is the result of God’s blessing: “What do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (I Cor. 4:7). It is impossible for a person to be thankful and to be prideful at the same time. Thankfulness to God has the built-in benefit of making a person genuinely meek.

Thankful people are people of prayer. They have needs, and so they make their requests known to God. But even when needs appear to be unmet, and requests seem to go unanswered, they nevertheless give thanks “in all circumstances.” Whether they have much, or whether they have little, they are still able to “rejoice always.” This may sound like something reserved for super-spiritual, special people, but it isn’t. It as an attitude of gratitude that can be learned:

“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phl. 4:11-13).

If Paul can learn it, then we can learn it, because we have the same Christ Who strengthens us. Being content with what we have, and being thankful for what we have already received, is a first step in the right direction.

I cannot think of a single Christian that does not desire the blessing of the Lord. We earnestly seek and desire God’s blessings on our life. We want the Lord to bless our spiritual life, our home life, our children, our finances, our churches and our ministries. Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not. But the fact remains that we do not always get what we ask for.

What does it mean to be blessed? The common assumption, I believe, is that when God has blessed a person then they will enjoy physical health, financial prosperity, and a general sense of happiness and well-being.

I want us to see that when Jesus blesses something He breaks it. The blessing results in breaking. The prayer for “more” results in “less”. The request for “increase” results in “decrease”. The prayer for blessing results in brokenness.

Do you want to be a blessing to other people, or a burden? Most Christians would say they want to be blessing to others. So God blesses them and then breaks them.

What is going on here? Simply put, the blessing of the Lord is in being reduced to Christ. Who is blessed? Not the one who is rich in spirit, but the one who is poor in spirit. The poor in spirit possess the Kingdom. Those who are broken are blessed, and those who are blessed are broken.

The heart-cry of a disciple of “more of Jesus”. How do we get “more” of Jesus? By getting less of us. With less of me there is more of Him. As I am decreased, He is increased. This is what it means to be blessed.

A brother in the Lord related the following experience to me. As he was watching television he says he came across a woman who was yelling, “Increase! Increase! God wants to increase you and all you have!” This brother says he staggered out of his chair laughing, and said, “Decrease! Decrease! Keep decreasing me Lord, till all there is left is YOU!” Friends, when we understand the blessing and the breaking then we will find ourselves responding the same way. What I love about this is the brother LAUGHED as he rejected the “increase” and embraced the decrease. This is what it means to take up the Cross.

We cry out for “increase” but God has already (past tense) blessed us with “every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). We have the blessing already. What we are lacking is the breaking. We want the blessing without the breaking. But it is not that we need more of the Lord, because we already have all of Him; we just need less of everything else.

After Jesus blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they knew Him. Until you have the blessing and the breaking your eyes will remain closed. Blessings alone do not open our eyes. Indeed, blessings by themselves tend to close our eyes. We do not come to know Him in the blessing, but in the breaking. Then what we already have in Him will be revealed. Our eyes will be opened and we will see that He has been standing there the whole time.

Do you want to know Him? Do you want to see Him for Who He is? Do you want to go deeper? Do you want to have your eyes opened? Embrace the blessing AND the breaking; receive them both. If you are a bruised reed or a broken cistern, take heart, because you are making progress.

This clock was very unique!

Around the face of the clock, at each number, was decorated with a particular bird that would chirp its distinctive call at the top of the hour.

She was so proud of that clock!

And we were proud that she was able to buy it all by herself using her own hard-earned money.

That was quite an accomplishment for a little kid.

That night she hung it on the wall over her bed all by herself and we admired it.

Afterwards we sat down at the table to eat dinner.

Everything was going great!

Everyone was happy!

That’s when we heard it…

C-R-A-S-H!!!!

What was that?!?

My daughter jumped up from the table and ran to her bedroom.

I followed…

And when I walked into her room what I saw broke my heart.

She was sitting on the edge of her bed, face buried in her hands, quietly sobbing, her little shoulders shaking up and down.

Laying in her lap was her precious bird clock, broken.

Somehow it had slipped off the nail, fell behind her bed, hit the floor, and shattered.

I sat down on the bed next to her and put my arm around her.

“Don’t worry!” I said. “We’ll get you another bird clock.”

She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face.

“But Daddy! I don’t have any more money!” she cried.

Being a child, she couldn’t realize that, in that moment, her Daddy was perfectly willing to buy her not just a bird clock to replace the one that broke, but a hundred bird clocks – yes, and anything else she wanted and needed!

This experience helped me to better understand and explain how our Father must look at us.

We work soooo hard to be good, to do the right thing, to be obedient, to follow what we think is God’s Will for our life

Sometimes we get it right, and it makes us feel really warm and happy inside – that maybe, finally, we have accomplished something and things are on the right track.

But often, in spite of our best efforts, we mess up.

Or, through no fault of our own, things just happen.

We look at ourselves and realize we have no money, no strength, no wisdom, nothing in ourselves.

We can’t change the past.

We can’t fix what’s been broken.

And as we sit there in tears, holding the shattered pieces of a broken marriage, a broken home, our broken health, our broken hopes and dreams, we think all is lost.

Here’s something you need to know:

God’s grace is greater than your sin.

God’s grace is greater than your mistakes.

God’s grace is greater than your failures.

God’s grace is greater than your frustrations.

So many think of God as being too holy and harsh to ever be pleased with us, requiring more from our broken hearts than we give.

When I offered a to replace the broken clock, my child immediately assumed that I was telling her to go out and do something she knew couldn’t do.

“But Daddy! I don’t have any more money!”

“But Daddy! I don’t have any more strength!”

“But Daddy! I don’t have any more hope!”

Yet we think if we pray more, fast longer, read more Bible verses, we will somehow prove ourselves worthy of God’s grace and forgiveness.

We’re looking at what we have or don’t have, what we can or can’t do, what we should or shouldn’t have done, instead of resting in what God already has and what God has already done.

How does He see your situation?

Of course, His heart is broken as well.

If it hurts you then it hurts Him, too.

Blaming Him will only make that hurt worse.

Besides…

Your Father is perfectly willing to repair, replace, renovate, revive, or restore your broken heart.

So just let Him do it.

You cannot undo the past.

You cannot erase the memories.

You cannot change other people.

But God is able, somehow, to make YOU whole again.

And when He does, He doesn’t blame.

He doesn’t scold.

He doesn’t lecture.

He doesn’t say, “You broke it, so you fix it.”

He says, “Let’s get you another bird clock!”

You don’t have to beg and plead.

You don’t have to work for it.

You don’t have to pay God back.

You don’t have to bargain.

All you have to do is receive His grace.

Take a deep breath and start over.

Stop trying to fix everything yourself and trust Him to do what only He can do anyway.

Today, my little girl is a college graduate. Has a management job. Has her own apartment.

And there, prominently displayed on the wall amongst the family photos, is the bird clock.

Still chirping every hour on the hour.

A perpetual reminder of love, mercy, and amazing grace.

It is not merely a question of are we following Christ. The crux of the matter is, have we taken up the Cross? There is an order to this call to become disciples of Jesus Christ: first, we must take up our Cross; only then may we follow after Him. It is not, “first follow Me, and later take your Cross.” The Cross is step one. Our taking up the Cross is basic to our following Christ, not something we are called to do after many years. The so-called “deeper Christian life” is but the normal Christian life. Anything less is abnormal. There is no greater depth to the Christian life but what God expects of all of us from the beginning. If we are getting any “deeper” it is only because we have hitherto been shallow. We must take our Cross and follow Jesus.

If I am to take up the Cross it not only signifies my willingness to die, but my actual death. The cross is not theoretical, but very real. Being willing to die is good, but actually dying and then living again is best. To take up the Cross today is to accept the sentence of death today. It is the beginning of the end of my life. The Cross does not merely weaken me, but kills me. Some believe that all is well because they are willing to die for their faith. This is not good enough for Jesus Christ. Many radical religious activists strap explosive devices to themselves and blow up innocent people and buildings because of their faith. Clearly they are deceived by a false sense of duty – yet they are more dedicated to their religion than their Christian counterparts are to their Lord. Faith is not following Christ and then dying, but dying and then following. Here the demands of Christ far exceed those of other religions. Christ bids us to die, and then follow.

Some will say, “I am willing to die now that I have followed.” The person who knows the Cross says, “I am fit to follow now that I have died.” Why is this important? Because Jesus knows that no human being is qualified to follow Him until they have first died. Jesus knows a man cannot live until he has died and been raised to life again. He therefore bids us to die right away, that He may raise us from the dead by His Indwelling Spirit and place us immediately upon the correct path.

A Common Experience

What is the experience of many Christians? They are taught to come to the Lord just as they are, right away, and allow Him to save them. Then they are instructed to read the Bible, pray, attend church services, pay their tithes, and witness for Christ. Surprisingly, it is most difficult for them to forsake sin. Even after many years of faithful activity not a few of them still struggle with the same besetting sins. Or, if they are able through force of will or peer pressure to lay aside the outward sins, they are seemingly powerless to overcome their own inward condition. Pride, gossip, jealousy, self-righteousness, intolerance – many saints are struggling with these things many years after they first begin to follow the Lord, even if they have forsaken their more “physical” vices. And if we look closely enough we will sometimes find that even these obvious “sins of the flesh” are still present, often against their will and in spite of many attempts to forsake their lusts. Yet they cannot overcome them. In a word, some positive changes notwithstanding, the Christian’s life is frequently one of many ups and downs, a few victories sprinkled in amongst many defeats, a cycle of trying, failing, and trying again, continually striving against sin.

If counseling is sought, the Christian in such a situation is basically told to gird up their loins yet again and redouble their efforts in prayer, Bible study, and church attendance. They are encouraged to confess their sins and keep trying. A new book promises to give them the secret of the Christian life, and they eagerly read the book and put some of it to good use for a time, but this too fails to provide a lasting solution to their chronic condition. Or maybe it is a new teaching tape, or a different church. Perhaps a new emphasis on a particular teaching, be it spiritual warfare, prayer, or worship. If fasting is believed to be the answer, then fast they will, but not with any lasting results. They may even hear the message of self-denial and voice their amen to it. They resolve to die and deny themselves. But the more they try to die the more alive they become.

For many years this was my experience. I first prayed to the Lord at the age of eight, and then sought to live a Christian life out of my own efforts. I remember when I was just a boy of thirteen years old. I determined to go to school and live without sinning that entire day. You would think such a task was comparatively easy for a boy, but I found myself to be sinning almost before school started! My thoughts, my words, my actions, all rose up to condemn me. At the end of the day I could only pray for forgiveness and resolve to do better tomorrow. Yet I again met with failure. Just as I was sure that victory was mine, I would fall – and it was not even 9:00! By lunch I had given up, and by evening I was confessing my sins again and resolving to do better the next day. Through the years I have counseled and prayed with enough Christians to know that my experience is neither unusual nor unique, and is common to saints of all ages and backgrounds.

What is the problem here? It is simply this: we attempt to follow before we have died. It is unfortunate that after many years of service the Lord still has to call us back to the Cross, yet this is precisely where we should have begun. Although we ought to encourage people to come as they are and trust the Lord for salvation, we must also teach them that they must count the cost and take up the Cross: else they are not worthy of Jesus! God cannot fill us until He empties us. The Cross is where we are poured out that He may pour in. Unfortunately, salvation as preached today results not in death, but in “swooning”. There is an ecstatic joy and the “near death experience” of a token surrender, but it is not real death. The convert merely changes his conduct, cries a few tears, yet he still lives. The outward deportment may be different, but he has not died. He commences to follow the Lord and fill his life with spiritual activity, but his many failures and shortcomings prove something is missing in his experience. What is it? He knows the Cross only as something Jesus died on for him. The Cross does not represent his own death, but his Lord’s death. It is seldom presented as anything other than the means of atonement and forgiveness of sins. Few realize it is the means by which we enter, as well as live, the Christian life.

Following Christ Vs. Taking Up the Cross

May God give us spiritual vision to see the multitudes who claim to be following Christ today. If we were to pick one of these followers out of the crowd and ask if they are truly following the Lord, they will probably say yes. If we were to ask how they know they are following Christ, they are likely to point to a time in which they prayed the sinner’s prayer and received Christ. Or they will talk about the church they attend, or their knowledge of spiritual things, or their particular ministry. It is interesting that while most Christians know that they are not saved by works, when pressed they will nevertheless point to their works as proof that they are indeed following the Lord.

Certainly we do not wish to discourage anyone from spiritual duties and activities. Yet we maintain that it is possible to follow Christ and yet not be worthy of Him. I am not too interested in someone’s ability to teach the Scriptures, faithfully attend church services, witness to strangers, build churches or display other external “evidences” of following Christ. Though admirable, I only wish to know, have you taken up the Cross? Have you died? If you will but go to the Cross and die, then there is hope for you. Otherwise you are just another religious person. People will do anything to save themselves from death on a Cross – if necessary, they will even pursue a religious, moral, ethical, and spiritual lifestyle – so long as they see it will benefit them. They do not understand that Christ will not accept those who follow Him unless they have taken up their Cross first.

Even the term “born-again” implies a death, and a re-birthing. Has this been your experience, or is it just a euphemism for “getting religious”? Some claim a born-again experience when it is clear that they have not died at all! They have received some teaching, prayed a prayer, cleaned up their life to an extent, even performed some good deeds. But any person can become religious and turn over a new moral leaf. When talking with such ones you hope to touch the Lord through them, but you come away with a sense that you touched them, and not the Lord they claim to represent. They are “alive”, and their own aliveness shows through to the extent that you wonder if the Life of Christ is anywhere to be found in them. There seems to be little room for Jesus because Self remain enthroned, even in the midst of a lot of spiritual work and ministry. This explains why many will truthfully say to the Lord that they have done many mighty works in His Name, but for all that He replies, “Depart from Me; I do not know you.” How can this be?

Christ does not call us to CLEAN up our life, but to GIVE up our life. So the issue is not if you are one of the multitudes following Christ, but rather, have you taken up the Cross? For this is the beginning of following Christ.

Not I, But Christ

What is the Christian life? It is I in Christ, and it is Christ in me and through me, doing what I cannot do myself. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal.2:20a).” This is the secret of the Christian life. It is not girding up the loins and striving to do better – it is realizing we cannot, and ceasing to do, trusting Him to do what we cannot. Our problem is with think we CAN do it. Hopefully we realize we cannot save ourselves, and so we trust the Lord for that; but in everything else we ask the Lord to help us to do it ourselves.

Imagine the foolishness of saying to the Lord, “Please help me to save myself. I will work very hard and I do the best I can. I pray you will strengthen me. ” If you hear someone praying this way, hopefully you will explain to them that though they may be praying in sincerity, they are praying ignorantly. For we are not saved by trusting Christ to help us save ourselves, but by giving up trying to save ourselves and trusting Him to do what we cannot do. Once we realize it is by grace, and not works, there is nothing to do but raise our hands to heaven and say, “Lord Jesus, I cannot save myself – I trust You for that! I receive the gift of God! Thank you for saving me!” Prayer for help to do it becomes praise to God that it is already done.

But then what happens? We go forth and attempt to put into practice the teachings of Christ with our own human strength, willpower, and resolutions. That is not Christianity, that is religion. Jesus did not come to merely tell us how to live, or even to merely show us how to live. He came to be our Life. I live in union with Him, and He lives in union with me. The Teacher is one with the student. The Master is one with the disciple. Where and when do the two become one? At the Cross. This is precisely what Galatians 2:20 is saying. And please notice that it begins with, “I am crucified with Christ.” Please do not miss this. We cannot be raised with Him unless we are crucified with Him. I am dying in order for Christ to live in me. I accept the sentence of Death that I may have His Life in the place of my own. It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. Otherwise, such a life is completely beyond me, totally out of my reach.

You see, the problem is not my impatience, ingratitude, laziness, or pride. These are but symptoms of the problem, but the common approach is to treat the symptoms and leave the real problem, the condition which causes the symptoms, untouched. Or to put it another way, we chop off a few leaves from the tree, but the tree itself remains. The problem is not what I DO, but what I AM! I may be able to change my conduct, but I cannot change who I am. Real progress occurs when I admit that I am the problem and I ask God to take the axe to the root! This was the preaching of John the Baptist. “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10).” Jesus wields the axe, and the root is the thing that makes me accept those solicitations to sin – Self. Plucking off the bad fruit is pointless. As soon as I get rid of one piece, three more spring up. When I get rid of those three, ten more come to life. Put the axe to the root and the problem of the fruit is solved. Put the sinner to death and the problem of his sins is solved as well. May we see that the greatest enemy is not “out there” somewhere, but right here within us. As someone has said, we have seen the enemy, and he is us. Hence, the Cross seeks not to reform us, but to transform us through death and resurrection. God cures us by removing us from the equation altogether. Our old life is cut off and a new Seed begins to take root and bring forth spiritual fruit.

How do we live out the Christian life? It begins with taking up the Cross. Then, only then, can we follow, for when we cease to do, He begins to do. We cannot keep our life and have His Life. Which do you want? You cannot keep His and have yours too. But this is exactly what many want. They want to go to heaven, but they also want to do as they please on earth. They want the blessings of God, but they do not want t to sacrifice too much. They want to reign with Him, but they don’t want to suffer with Him. They want to follow His will, but only when it agrees with their will: otherwise you will witness a mammoth struggle and see them cry many tears of self-pity. They eagerly accept the messages of power, blessings, eternal life, and spiritual gifts; but they reject the calls for self-denial, submission, surrender, and sanctification. They view the Christian life as a buffet meal in which they get to pick and choose what they want to partake of. They are firmly in control of their own lives and Christ is there to render them assistance upon request if they really get into a bind. Otherwise they do as they please and follow their own thoughts, blazing their own easy trail somewhere proximate to, but not exactly in, the Narrow Way. This accounts for their many defeats and failures as they struggle to be good Christians.

Know that Christ is not here to help you become a better person, but to make you so weak in yourself and so sick of your own way that you can do nothing but trust in Him to do what you at last realize you cannot do. It does not matter if that something “we cannot do” is save ourselves, control our temper, get along with others, raise our children, or overcome a lustful habit. The course is the same. After many attempts and failures we at last realize we cannot, so we throw ourselves on the mercy of God and trust Him to do what we cannot do. Just as salvation is ours through faith by grace, and not of ourselves, so it is with living the Christian life. The difference between a defeated Christian and a victorious Christian is simply this: the former lives by his own power and asks for God’s help and will almost as an afterthought, while the latter despairs of himself, lays down his life, and trusts Christ to live in his place, at all times. The Cross is how God accomplishes this task of bringing us to the end of ourselves. Then we can say, “Not I, but Christ.”

We surrender our lives that we may have His Life. We live the Christian life the same way in which we enter the Christian life – by admitting our inability to do anything of ourselves, and trusting in Him to do it through us. First, it is the question of salvation. Then, and for the rest of our lives, it is the question of daily living and working out our salvation. There is a world of difference between asking Christ to help me do it and trusting Him to do it through me. The difference is a matter of success and failure, victory and defeat. How do most Christians live out their faith? They start out by grace, but quickly fall back upon works. They see Christ as helping them to live, instead of Christ as their Life. They have not died, and the harder they try the more frustrated they become. When we finally realize that we are called to take up the Cross before we begin to follow, we see the wisdom of God in demonstrating up front that we do not and never will have what it takes. Jesus Christ is the only One capable of pleasing God. We simply cannot. I am fit only for death. Therefore, I will not only accept His death on the cross to deal with my past and future, I will also take up my own Cross and die, that He may live through me in the present. Then I, too, will be pleasing to God in every way. Having no life of our own, but only His Life, is Resurrection.

Taking Up the Cross Daily

“And [Jesus] said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Luke 9:23).” We have stated before that the Cross is the means by which we enter, as well as live, the Christian life. Most Christians understand how we enter by way of the Cross. That is, we know that the death of Christ on the cross, the shedding of His blood, redeemed us from being dead in our sins. It satisfied the judgment of God against us and opened the door to fellowship with our heavenly Father.

This knowledge is sufficient for us to be saved, but if we only know the work of the Cross in terms of what Jesus did we will be unable to live out the Christian life in a meaningful way. Though forgiven, we will find ourselves unable to forsake the sins we may have just repented of. Please note that Christ called upon people to take up THEIR Cross as individuals and follow Him. Before He ever took up the physical cross and died for our sins, He bid us to bear a Cross of our own as a prerequisite for following Him. Moreover, He tells us the Cross we are called to bear is not a once-and-for-all transaction. Jesus died for our sins once, and there is no further sacrifice to be made. God does not require Him to take up the cross and die daily for our sins, yet He tells us to take up our Cross daily and follow Him. What is this?

Our passage in Luke gives us a clue that the passage in Matthew does not give. We have focused on taking up the Cross first, and then following Jesus. Now let us discuss the prelude to taking up the Cross: “let him deny himself.” The physical cross is nothing in and of itself. The Roman procurator who sentenced Jesus to death, Pontious Pilate, was alone responsible for the death of thousands of criminals on wooden crosses. If someone understands us to say that there is intrinsic power in a wooden upright post and crossbeam then they miss the point. The Cross is a principle, a philosophy, a standard, a symbol of self-denial. When we speak of Christ’s death on the physical cross we do not capitalize the word “cross”. It is merely an instrument of death and it was a once-and-for-all event, thank God. But when we speak of the Cross as a call to self-denial and discipleship, we capitalize the word “Cross” because it is something more than a method of execution, it is an attitude of daily denying the Self, submitting one’s life into the Hand of Another, and giving ourselves up to die to our own will that we may follow His will.

But there is more. Please understand that the Cross is more than death; it is resurrection as well. This is unique to the Cross we are called to bear. The physical cross always ended in death for its victims, Jesus Christ being the only exception. Similarly, the Cross as a principle working within us comprises death and life, burial and resurrection. God does not kill us in order to eradicate us or to render us non-existent. No, no, no, a thousand times no! All that is nailed to the Cross is one day brought to Resurrection! Did not Jesus say if we lose our life we will save it? Did not Jesus say if a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies it brings forth much fruit? Hallelujah! This is the glory of the Cross! It is no glory to just die like a dog and cease to exist. No, we have something more glorious in mind than this. The Cross is not the end of me, but the beginning of me – a new man, a reborn me, a newly created me! Yet it is not I, but Christ! I cannot truly live for God until I truly die to myself. Then, the life I receive is resurrected life. Friends, when we overcome death and are resurrected, we cannot die again! Death has no more power over us!

It behooves us, then, to deny ourselves, take up the Cross DAILY, and follow Jesus. Suppose a doctor asks, “Are you alive?” How would you respond? The question of life and death is applicable to your current state, not your previous experience. In other words, you would not say you are alive because you were born thirty years before, or because you had a birthday last week. These are but historical facts; it does not necessarily mean you are alive and well TODAY. Upon hearing of the death of someone, you might comment that they appeared to be quite well the day before. Nevertheless, they are dead today. Life is a daily condition, not a historical one.

In like manner, the question of spiritual life is a matter of my condition today, not five, ten, twenty, or fifty years ago. Since this is the case, it is not enough to take up the Cross in the beginning. In order to live today, we must have His Life today; and in order to experience His Life daily, we must have His Death daily. After many years we can perhaps smile, sing, appear loving, and be very engaged in spiritual work, yet have little Life, vitality, or freshness of spirit. All we have to do is open our mouth and people with discernment will quickly perceive if we are bringing forth Life or Death. We can repeat word for word what we said last week, but if we have not touched Life today we are only babbling spiritual phraseology. Or, we can hear a message and touch the Life of the Lord in the brother or sister who shares it. Then we bring it home and relate it to our brothers and sisters, employing the same words and illustrations, yet it fails to bring Life to the hearers. Why? It was a borrowed Life, not an actual entering into Christ and receiving from Him. The words may be correct, but without Life even correct words are of little value.

Christ compared His flesh to the bread from heaven, called manna, which fell daily and sustained the Hebrews during their exodus from Egypt and subsequent wandering in the desert . Each day a new journey was made to collect fresh manna. All that was not eaten by sunset would become worms by sunrise. We are grateful for the multitude which have tasted of the Lord’s goodness, but the issue is not in tasting the Lord, but in feeding upon Him daily. Is this your experience? Our Lord was born in a little town called Beth-Lehem, which means, “House of Bread”. Christ taught us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread.” Day by day we eat His flesh and drink His blood. This speaks of Life and daily communion. No matter what our previous history and walk with God, everything hinges upon today and now. Union must be maintained; fellowship must be unbroken; communion must be continuous; abiding is always a present action.

How do we maintain the Life of the Lord in us? Was is the testimony of the apostle Paul? “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you (II Corinthians 4:7-12).” In another place, he says, “I die daily (I Corinthians 15:31).” This is what it means to take up the Cross daily. We desire the Lord’s Life daily, so we must have His Death working in us daily. There is no resurrection without crucifixion.

The answer to why there is so little power and genuine spiritual fruit in the lives of those who follow Jesus is a simple one: they desire the Life of the Lord, but not His Death. They want a daily pouring out of the Lord’s Life, but they shun the prospect of daily sharing in His Death. Why do we commit to teaching this in depth? Why do we belabor the point incessantly? Because the saints of the Lord are well instructed in living victoriously, being blessed, walking in power, overcoming the enemy, and living up to their potential. By comparison, the majority of them know next to nothing about self-denial, bearing their Cross, boasting in their weaknesses, being joyful in trials, winning by losing, gaining by giving up, working by resting, accepting both the bitter and the sweet as gifts from God, enduring hardness and accepting suffering. God desires to increase us and enlarge us; He therefore call us to go back to the Cross and start over again.

Christ says we must die in order to live; we must first take up the Cross before we are fit to follow Jesus. This is the call of the Cross. Who will accept it?

Before we could hear the Lord and follow His direction, but now we hear little or nothing at all. Before we were sure of our direction and calling, but now we wonder if perhaps we were mistaken. What is happening? The Lord is confounding us. He is teaching us what it means to walk by the Spirit.

What has happened up until now is we have been led by our feelings. Indeed, God uses our feelings to lead us when we are children. But now He desires our faith to grow, and to accomplish this end He will lead us into unfamiliar territory and teach us to listen to Him. Whatever plans or formulas or programs we used to ascertain God’s will in days past will be fruitless during this time. We expect the Lord to do such and such, but He does not do so. We expect to feel a certain way, but we no longer have those feelings. We expect to have a certain encounter with God as in days gone by, but God seems to hide His face from us.

Is the Lord indeed hiding Himself? Is He abandoning us to our own way and refusing to speak to us anymore? No indeed, but He wishes us to rely wholly upon Him and not upon our senses and feelings, even if in times past He used our feelings.

With respect to God’s Voice and guidance, as a child we learn to listen and God does lead us along as little sheep. He has to tell us every little thing: go here, say this, don’t say that, take this course, be still, etc. He will give us such a sense of His Presence as to make us feel as though we are walking on air. His direction is clear and unmistakable. Children cannot be led otherwise.

After awhile, if we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness, we will begin to mature. Now God begins to wean us from the life of feeling and delicious spiritual experiences. Such times occur with less frequency as we grow older. When we ask for guidance it does not come so easily. Now we have to wait, and we are not used to waiting. We begin to wonder where we have gone wrong, and why we don’t enjoy the keen sense of His Presence as we did before. Perhaps we will pray more, or become busier in our spiritual disciplines, in an attempt to recapture some of those feelings we used to enjoy, and sometimes we are rewarded with the coveted feeling. Most of the time we are not. No amount of prayer, fasting, or spiritual activity will bring the feelings back. We do not hear the crystal clear Voice of God as we did before.

How easily in days gone by we would declare, “The Lord spoke to me” thus and so; but today we do not so easily make the bold confession. Instead, we wonder why we cannot hear from God. We search our heart to see if there is some unconfessed sin, but our heart does not condemn us. We are at a loss to explain what is happening.

A Christian faced with this situation should realize that children are led by God in a childish way, but as a mature believer the Lord will lead them in a mature way. Over time we are expected to know God’s WAYS as well as His WILL. When we know the ways of the Lord we will speak and move in harmony with His Spirit without having to consciously stop and ask for guidance, wait for a warm feeling or tingling sensation, and then proceed.

When we first become aware of spiritual things we are so excited at being able to have a dialogue with God that we tend to expect everything to be audible or unmistakable from that point forward. If we first met God in the fire from heaven, or in the mighty rushing wind, we expect everything to be fire and wind from henceforth. This is simply not the case. When the Lord appears to us in dazzling white, we, like the disciples, attempt to build Him a tabernacle and remain there, but Jesus does not always appear to us with shining face, bathed in light.

It reminds me of the cobbler who was praying one morning when the Lord spoke to him and said, “I will come to your shop today”. The cobbler was disappointed when no one appeared but an old man, a tramp, and a child. At the end of the day the cobbler cried, “Lord, why didn’t you visit my shop today, as you promised?” Then the Lord showed him how He had indeed come not once, but three times. It was just not as the cobbler expected.

As a general rule, the Lord will use extraordinary, even miraculous means to lead us when we are children, but when we are older in Him and have some experience with His ways then He expects us to rely more upon the Spirit and less upon some sensation or powerful experience. That does not preclude the Lord from moving upon us in a tangible way from time to time, only that is not His usual method for leading the mature ones. The older one becomes in the Lord the more intuitive one becomes. Everything is not cut and dry. With a clear word from God or supernatural sensation we advance with boldness, but when it is a still small voice or conscience or an impression or no guidance whatsoever, we will be less impulsive and more deliberate with each step. We will wait upon the Lord longer. We will be less confident in ourselves, and more dependent on the Lord. This dependency breeds humility.

We eventually learn that we cannot reduce God to a formula, and we can never be certain where or how He may be speaking to us in a particular situation. We learn to look for faint traces of Spirit in common, ordinary vessels and in our daily lives, instead of the mighty rushing wind at the believer’s meetings.

One way the God-Man reveals Himself to us, of all ways, is not in a glorious vision or supernatural event, but in the pages of this thing we call the Bible. Imagine that. How odd. A book. Why not just appear to the one who seeks Him and speak face to face. No! Why? It would kill us. It would absolutely blow us away to be confronted with the Real Jesus, because the Jesus we have come to believe in is a fairy tale, a jolly elf, a fantasy character. The Bible prepares us for Him, does it not? Using types, shadows, stories, just to whet your appetite and get you accustomed to Him and His dealings so you are not totally shocked when you do meet Him.

How flippantly we just pick up the Word and skim through our favorite verses and say “ho hum”. We haven’t met the Lord. We haven’t touched the God of the Word. How can we do that? Because the Bible is, outwardly speaking, so ordinary. Nothing high-tech about it. It seems so innocuous, so innocent. But it is the primary introduction we have to meeting the Man, the God-Man. Absolutely brilliant, this plan of God.

We know that God speaks to us through the Bible. As spiritual babes we may take the dogmatic position of saying that is the ONLY way God speaks to us today. As a result, our field of vision is limited to the written text and we miss the millions of other ways God desires to get through to us. Obviously the written Word is critical, for it gives us an objective criterion against which our subjective spiritual experiences may be measured. Without the objectivity of God’s written Word we would all be tossed to and fro by every spiritual experience, false prophet, and false teaching.

Even so, let us not limit God by saying He will only speak to us through the Bible. What is the Bible, but a record of God’s speaking to men and women across a span of many generations through a variety of means? We have audible voices, angels, visions, dreams, prophetic words, signs and wonders, judgments and natural disasters all represented in the Bible as ways in which God sought to communicate with men. These communications were written down in order to provide us with a permanent record. Finally, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to communicate with us face to face, and the record of these encounters were documented and placed in the Bible as well. Then, the letters of the apostles to the churches were copied and made a part of the sacred text.

There is yet another record and testimony of Jesus Christ that was present before the Bible even came into existence, and it still exists today. I am talking about the testimony of Creation itself. The Bible tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. It says that through Jesus Christ, God formed the worlds, and that the whole creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God (the Church). The fingerprints of God are everywhere in the starry black depths of outer space, in the polar ice caps of virgin white snow, in the watery depths of the Pacific, in the breathtaking heights of the Alps. His design can be seen under the microscope and through the telescope, from the intricacy of the spider web to the rings around Saturn.

Additionally, God speaks to us through other people. I don’t necessarily mean preachers, teachers, and writers, but ordinary people, common people. Relatives, as well as strangers. Children in particular. God speaks to me through my own children, and through my wife. He speaks to me through my critics, and through my friends, through people I like, and through people I don’t like. Sometimes it is hard to hear Him speaking through ordinary people, but His echo is unmistakable if we learn how to listen.

God constantly speaks to us through our environment, our difficult circumstances. Whenever we encounter a difficulty, when things do not go as expected, instead of rebuking the devil, let us stop and ask, “What might the Lord be speaking to me in this situation?” Perhaps you are facing a contrary wind because you are sailing the wrong direction. We must learn to discern between the assault of the enemy and the hand of the Lord.

Jesus would constantly say, “He that has an ear, let him hear.” The Lord does indeed speak to us in many ways that are often overlooked. Let us ask the Lord for a hearing ear and a receptive heart. Amen.