V-MAIL TO THE FRONTLINE

PART 28

ABIDING IN THE BLOOD I

We all know there are different levels of spirituality but some may not realize what makes the difference between a true Christian and someone who lives the average religious life. It comes down to a personal intimate relationship every time. Every genuine child of God lives in a unique degree of spiritual “temperature” which is directly connected to the intensity of their love for God and mankind. Ahh – INTENSITY! That is the key word! How much desire do we have to live in God’s conditions? How much desire do we have to stay focused on His presence? Some might say, “We do not need to live up to anything!” Mmmm, I am beginning to realize that maybe some Christians forgot to read the fine print. (Notice that when Jesus delivered someone from bondage, He would say, “Go – and sin no more”). Now, don’t misunderstand, we do not obey His laws to be saved but we also cannot ignore them either. Grace has never cancelled mans responsibility. We obey His commands BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED! It is our new nature that loves to walk holy and obey God’s voice. He saved us and will keep us saved but our responsibility must be taken seriously to live the “saved” life.

Let’s pause just moment – following God certainly needs to have lots of desire but we have come to the point where we need to go even further. In this war we are living in right now our zeal must go to the next level which is obsession. Desires can cool off, become sidetracked or even fade but an obsession is “consistent concentration”. It will also take more than knowledge because many church members are filled with historical bible knowledge but also filled with the attitude and spirit of a Pharisee. God’s Word must become “revelation knowledge” that is quickened to the spirit and mind super-naturally. It is possible to know what the bible say’s and not really know God. The Words must become more than ink and paper! The same is true with faith. Many people have believed in healing and miracles and have spoken God’s Word over themselves and repeated positive confessions but nothing happened. It could be that many have never obtained the “Rhema” meaning of God’s truth. As knowledge must be personalized to explode within ones conscience – faith must also become so personally “real” that it becomes like a tangible substance. As we hold a pencil with our eyes closed and by “feeling it” we can know it is real, the evidence, (answer) of our prayer request must become known as reality. Faith is much more than hope as hope leaves everything to chance. Faith knows where the answer is and is confident that it is coming! Faith is connecting with God through the blood covenant because the blood of Jesus “insures” God’s Word! We must mature in our levels of believing and understanding as we mature in our Christian journey. We will never grasp the mysteries and secrets of the blood covenant until we are prepared to go into the holy of holies with Him.

I agree there are so many things that are attacking our mind trying to emotionally and physically exhaust us. Everyday I face trials and frustrations that attempt to steal my joy and influence me to think about how dark the world has become. I also personally believe that we have become spoiled with technology and as a “culture infection” it can cause us to lose our dependence on God. We have so many answers and places to turn that can “fix” our problems that each moment our decisions are centered on which glue to use instead of bringing our problems to Father. We become so busy trying to take care of everything that if we are not careful we will forget to pray and acknowledge our faith in the blood covenant. If we lived a thousand miles from the store we would need to pray for food where now (in minutes) we just go shopping for whatever we want. What about the convenience of doctors, dentist, hospitals, banks, repair shops and our places of employment? Even going to church makes Christianity seem easy. If we had to travel for hours in a horse drawn buggy and build a fire in the stove when we got there, it would prove our desperation to hear God’s Word and be with God’s people. Technology has made our relationships “flippant” because we are not dependent upon each other and we choose to live so privately that we do not even know each other (and do not really want to). What kind of body of Christ have we become? What kind of “upper room” family of disciples have we morphed into? Where there is no love or genuine concern for one another, there is little reason to meet at all and it makes one wonder where our agape love has gone. Our covenant is not only the relationship between us and God but also one another because we are all in the Kingdom together. Here is another sobering fact; going to church is not necessarily walking in covenant! You can walk in covenant and go to church but it is possible to be carnally minded and go to church every time the door is open! (All that glitters is not gold). But, thank you Jesus – there is a fountain flowing, there is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb! There is victory in Jesus because of His unlimited love, power and grace! Everything we need to be FILLED with His Holy Ghost reality and to be set on FIRE for His glory is just a prayer away! The question is – how much of God do we want and how far will we go with Him?

Saints that have their furnaces set on “hot” are filled with passion and excitement as their level of DESIRE falls into the category of the “fast and furious!” These are the ones that travel the narrow path of living to do His will and are relentless in their passion to know Him more. Those who live on the “outside looking in” cannot hear God’s voice; they are not obedient or sensitive to the Holy Spirit and actually avoid talking about God or acknowledging Him. These are the ones that dabble in religion because it makes them feel righteous even if it is self-righteousness. Since man is a triune being, the born-again spirit reaches out to a divine order with sensitivity and longs to be in the bosom of the heavenly Father. This new spirit man along with the disciplined and renewed mind can (and must) work together to control the body. The perplexing part of this scenario is whether or not the individual has been truly born again or just had an emotional “release of guilt” experience. Some will say, “We should not question or judge other peoples salvation” and I do agree to some extent but on the other hand we also cannot twist God’s word to justify our carnality. Maybe this abundance of “natural thinking” is why there is so much confusion and strife within the churches. Many churches are not preaching holy truth – but instead teach a watered down psychology that makes everyone feel good. We not only need revival to wake up the backsliders but the anointed gospel to pierce the hearts of those who believe they are saved but are not. It is simple: Those who are saved will run after God with all their heart and strength! (Mathew 22:37-40) Some are quick to intervene; “now brother, it does not mean to surrender everything” and “let’s not get peculiar”. Well, allow me to ask a question: where in God’s word does it say anything to the contrary? (Revelation 3:16) Selah.

The truth is that Satan does not need to turn up the intensity on those who are already lukewarm. He observes and is delighted with their gossip, murmurings, distractions and criticism. They destroy the church with their mouth and he uses them to accomplish his dirty work (which is discrediting God’s Kingdom). But there is a group of warriors that he is afraid of; the ones who are sold out to Jesus and will do anything God says without blinking an eye. These are the ones that have targets on them and who must keep their amour on at all times. They have learned to keep their shields up and be sensitive to an ambush. These warriors ARE the last day overcomers! A true disciple will study and gain wisdom from the principals of their teacher’s instructions (Jesus) so they can resemble their Master. They are so focused on Christ, the distractions of this world loses its control over them and hopefully they will go on to become “fanatics”. (It is an honorable compliment to be called a “Jesus Freak” and I pray that more of us provide enough evidence to be found guilty of being one.) But it seems that dangerous doctrines and attitudes have lulled the church to sleep. The pastors and teachers enjoy “leading” others because it provides a position of authority and a means to receive money. Pastors should spend much of their effort trying to convince the masses to study, worship and pray at HOME instead of spoon feeding them at church and making it seem they need to come to listen to THEM! These philosophies of co-dependence were established in the early Catholic Church and are still seen today in our traditional styles and rituals. Pastors that are truly called are truly a blessing to have – but everyone who is born-again has been called to be a minister of Christ in every sense of the word! Pastors should be more like facilitators that help the other ministers develop their ministries. The reason why this is rare is because many pastors are jealous and afraid that if everyone becomes a respectable minister like them, they will lose their position and subsequently lose their salary.

I’m talking about the passion to lay down our will and obey Him completely. I’m talking about the alter of being a living sacrifice, the abundant, overcoming life of manifestations and miracles. I’m talking about the life of walking in the spirit with power and discernment. Many cry and complain about how disappointed they are with God not coming through for them or how it seems the Lord does not hear them. Let me say the problem is not that He does not listen – it is that He gives a return according to what has been invested. Those that operate on a tiny level of giving end up on the small scale of receiving. If someone only puts forth a small portion of prayer and faith confessions they will only see a small victory. Those who are on the front lines killing giants and declaring war on the kingdom of darkness will see larger victories. Small victories are a great place to start, but leading the charge and being offensive minded on the front lines is going to actually change lives and circumstances. We have been in boot camp long enough and now it is time to go into the combat zone. Hiding under the bed or basking in the comforts of this life is not God’s idea of the great commission. He did not give any of His saints the option to live for Him half heartily; if He did He would need to explain a new interpretation of His Holy word. There are no potato peelers in this war – we are all warriors! Walking in fear and not wanting to stir up the demons by being quiet and compromising truth will only solidify you as a coward and hypocrite for the Kingdom of God. God has a complete set of armor for each of His true saints and He has every expectation that His glory will be revealed as His will becomes activated through our obedience. Do you want the heavens to open and fire to come down to display God’s glory? Do you want see cancer being healed and the dead being raised so the world can know that God is the only true God? Then fall on your face and do not get up until God’s refining furnace has burned up your will and His grace has given you a clear vision of what is behind the veil of the spiritual dimension. The martyrs find this place of faith and courage that abandons this world as they make the choice to embrace heaven no matter the cost. The warriors that are committed to go all the way in obedience will triumph by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they will witness the gates of hell being torn down and the evil strongholds of Satan crumble under the mighty power of God. How much of your will do you need to surrender? How many hours will you need to stand in the gap of intercession? How much of this world will you need to let go of? The answer is easy…how much victory do you want in your life?