|
Page 3 of 7
It's what we're all looking
for... but what price are we willing to pay to get it?
CHAPTER TWO - THE DEEP
PEACE OF REAL LOVE
If you are a cell
and member of the body of Christ, you can get ready for the process of the deeper work that will prove the nature of God (Christ) in you.
This is His necessary
purpose for the entire body, and this is the season!
Jesus says in Luke
12:49-51, "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled!" (Like time-lapse photography, we see a day
that is as a thousand years... He spoke it then, wished it was, and now it is.)
"...But I have a baptism to be
baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!" (And
to shock you more.) "...Do you suppose
that I came to give peace on earth? I
tell you, not at all, but rather division."
NKJ
In Matthew 10:34-36
He says, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a
sword. For I have come to set a man
against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own
household." NKJ
What could possibly
be the purpose of this division that is brought by the Prince of Peace, Himself? The Lord does not say that He is bringing
division between you and the devil, per
se, but in context, He
continues to challenge us to wake up.
"Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud
rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming'; and so it
is. And when you see the south wind
blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather'; and there is. Hypocrites!
You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you
do not discern this time?" (Luke
12:54-56) NKJ
Aren't we all tired of white-washed sepulchers full of dead
man's bones? If indeed, I have reckoned
the old man dead, and if indeed, he is crucified with Christ, then my ‘dead
man's bones' need to join Him and I will no longer be a white-washed sepulcher
full of dead man's bones, but I will be the temple
of God. The old man is dead and His bones must go,
too. My heart will no longer be a tomb,
but a tabernacle. Nothing related to the
dead man can remain.
We're nauseated by superficial pretensions and
performances. One can be very "nice" and have no real love. Well, He's sticking in the thermometer
and measuring us all for how hot, how deep, and how pure our love for one
another really is. Regardless what any of us have gotten away
with in the past by being ignorant (having many reasons and excuses, taking our
time, and dragging our feet), none of us will avoid this present and coming move
of God; because by not
choosing, we will have chosen. Each of
us will soon move all the way
to one side or the other.
Is there a need for a deeper cleansing in your life? Could the peace that you have been enjoying
use some depth? Is your love deep and
full and overflowing? Are you able to
cover a multitude of sins with it? Could you use some richness? Do you long for His work to be done in your
heart? We all want to receive great love
from those around us. However, there is
nowhere in scripture where it tells us to get love from others; it only tells
us to love others. Most of the body of
Christ is trying to get love instead of give it. Are we able to give His deep love, and give
it freely? ...To the unlovely? ...To our enemies? Oh God, come and do your deep work in our
hearts.
We will throw ourself on the Rock or the Rock will fall on
us, but guaranteed, one way or the other, each of us will be brought (for our
own wonderful fulfillment) into intimate personal dealings with the
Lord God Almighty. We can make it easy
on ourselves and discern the time, agree,
and co-operate. "My son, do not
despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the
LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights." (Prov 3:11-12) NKJ Thank God!
We dont want to
stay in our miserable condition when we know the promises of glory and fulness
are ours. Its
so easy to see how those around us
need to change (and the urgency that they do), and yet many of us
are unable or unwilling to look within and be honest with ourselves in knowing the truth about me.
It is not for condemnation (not at all), but for deliverance, for
blessing, and for transformation!
Procrastination and passivity will no longer be allowed to
give you a hiding place or an escape.
Every human being will move to one side all the way, or to the other. It will be by God's own "spitting out of the mouth"
ministry. It is the way He will deal
with that which is only lukewarm and will not be "swallowed up and digested
into the body." This sounds
alarming because it is time now to sound the alarm and blow
the trumpet in Zion. All are being notified. Some will have ears to hear. Some will cluck their tongues and shake their
heads and say, "I'm saved."
Some will wait and watch and see.
There are those who yawn at the guillotine as it's blade falls on the
end of this age; but suddenly the dawning will bring a scrambling like we have
never known or seen. When the dye is
cast, according to His word, some will rule and reign with the Lord Jesus
Christ and some will not. Some will be
ready, and some will not. Some, who
think they are ready, are not. Some are
foolish, and some are wise. The sluggard
yawns, the fool mocks, and the scoffer jeers.
The Lord comes like a thief in the night, and even now we find Him
appearing in our darkness. Everything
will be exposed by the Light and everything that is will become light. Where does the darkness go when the Light
comes on the scene? He is The Light. He
is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. He
is love, and He is still loving the Father's House; braiding the whip as He
considers what needs to be dealt with in The Temple of God. Could all this be possible?
In Matt 24:33‑39 Jesus says, "So you also, when you see all these
things, know that it is near‑‑ at the doors!
Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till
all these things take place. Heaven and
earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man
be. For as in the days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them
all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. NKJ
In Luke 13:24‑28 Jesus says, "Strive to enter through the
narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen
up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door,
saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not
know you, where you are from,' then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in
Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'
But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of
iniquity.' There will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. NKJ
WOULD YOU RATHER HEAR AND CONSIDER THIS
NOW OR LATER?
"Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,'
shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in
heaven. Many will say to Me in that day,
'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name,
and done many wonders in Your name?' And
then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness!' (Matt 7:20‑23)
NKJ
This is indeed the time of the deep cleansing with the sword
and with fire, and the purging of all that is not of God from His temple. He has come to bring this sword of
division. Here the context is
specifically between relationships and those closest to you. We know the Lord loves harmony and unity, and
yet he cuts between to divide. It is for
cleansing and for purging, to remove all the dark and ungodly undercurrents of
secret resentments, bitterness, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, fear and
deception that we may not yet realize consciously. He cuts deeply into our unconscious and
subconscious. He cuts far beneath the
surface, with this sword, which is His word.
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any
two‑edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His
sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must
give account. (Heb 4:12-13) NKJ
This division will pierce and cut through the natural,
carnal, and soulish realms to lay open the core of our being. It will tap into, identify, and open up that
which is His true substance, His incorruptible life, His essence, His likeness,
His son, and that which is Spirit. It
will release His great unconditional love and forgiveness from
the Christ in us for the purpose of resurrection, restoration, and
reconciliation. This is what we have
needed. The work will be thorough, of
purifying purpose, preparing the sacrifice.
We are indeed being presented a living sacrifice. We've "talked it up,"
but now, frankly, it's time to put up.
No more reservations. This is
where it begins, "no longer I, but Christ." This is how, when, and where we return to our
First Love, becoming one with Him in a consummation that results in a death to
self. As the fire continues to touch and
burn the sacrifice, we are met and filled with His nature and presence. This is what we were made for. Nothing short of this will satisfy our
lives. The fire is the proof the
sacrifice has been accepted. "Hear
me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and
that You have turned their hearts back to You again. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed
the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up
the water that was in the trench. Now
when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The
LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!"
(I King 18:37‑39) NKJ
This deep work is our confirmation. The Prince of Peace, our High Priest, will
not be satisfied with a superficial appearance that is merely a covering of
peace over strife and turbulence, but rather, He will open us up and draw His
great and complete peace out from the Holy of Holies, washing and saturating
our entire identity and understanding.
We will know with His complete
knowing that we are safe, one with Him, a part of all thats good...
that all is well and our God is in control and in His heavens which has
overflowed out of Spirit to fill and complete our soul. We will be transformed
by this renewing, by this washing, and His deep and great Peace will also
become our nature.
Therefore thus says the LORD: "If you return, then I will bring
you back; you shall stand before Me; if you take out the precious from the
vile, you shall be as My mouth. (Jer
15:19) NKJ The only problem
with presenting your body a living sacrifice, is that your soul is still in
it! The body goes along like a led
child, but the soul thrashes, wails, and fights. This is where the real death experience
occurs, like it did with Jesus in the garden, when His soul came to terms. He said in Matthew 26:38, "My soul is
exceedingly sorrowful, even to death."
This is where His soul died. It
had to happen before He could present His body at the cross. This death to self is right, good, necessary,
and wonderful. He was resurrected from
the dead, and now His Spirit can be resurrected and formed in us.
The division that The Lord brings is for a season and a
purpose. When God brings division it is
usually for recognition and identification of differences, for cleansing,
dealing, multiplication, blessing, and reconciliation. Consider how God separated masculinity from
femininity in Genesis, only to reunite them to become one again, in the New
Testament, in the union of Christian marriage.
And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who
made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' ( both in one
body called Adam) and said, 'For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two
shall become one flesh'? So then, they
are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matt 19:4-64) NKJ Now they are the two
become one, with a small difference; after the process of separating the
femininity of Eve from the Masculinity of Adam, and then rejoining them by
covenant, they now have two bodies, four arms, four legs, and heads stacked
3-high. They can now be in two places at
once, they can lay down and keep each other warm, and they can reproduce (be
fruitful and multiply and populate the world).
And before they were divided, in the original creature Adam, as one could only chase a thousand, but these two become one, through
agreement, can chase 10,000! Wow! God is so cool in what He accomplishes in His
processes.
For a season, the John
the Baptist ministry aggressively and crudely prepares the way, but then
the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple. This is the time of the deeper works of God. Deep calls unto deep and His great and deep
love is ready to fill our deepest need and charge us with the power of His
life. We may shudder at the thought of
the cross side of this deeper work, but for the joy set before us, we also will
endure. We will keep our eyes on the
fruit that will please Him and complete us.
Besides the fact that if we are
going on with God, we cannot avoid it, it is the only truth. This is the most glorious and
awesome, wonderful fulfillment of our lives, and the satisfaction of that for
which we were originally designed.
Our God is the author and the finisher of our faith, and now we're about to find
out what that means. We know we've been
authored and we are beginning to experience the refiner's fire. The Refiner is the Finisher. He has given us the earnest; a sample, a
taste, a word, and a gift. We know we
can trust Him. Prepare your heart and
mind to be opened up and cleansed, healed, and renewed by all we've sung and
spoken of in faith. He is preparing us
for the manifestation of His nature. We will no longer know peace as a little
quiet and relaxation, but we will know a powerful peace like a river, that
surpasses understanding, that lives with love which is not easily provoked,
that endures all things. And joy.... not
a little firecracker laughter for release, not a fun time, but "Joy that
is Unspeakable and Full of Glory" that doesn't lift when trouble comes,
and is a bubbling fountain of strength that does not run dry. It is His Joy in us, for "the Joy of the Lord
is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). This, we will know, is who I AM.
|
