Know God: The Love of God & the Fear of the Lord

“My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5

This passage in Proverbs 2 says that if we receive God words, cry out for understanding and discerning, then we will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. The fear of the Lord is the key to the knowledge of God.

We already visited the fact that God is Love, and perfect love casts out all fear. But, this “fear of the Lord” is a different kind of fear. It is a reverence, awe, respect, trembling – that is required before a Holy God.

God does not contradict Himself, so He can be love and holy, merciful and just, high and lifted up and yet near – all at the same time. It is difficult for us to comprehend, but He is like a multi-faceted diamond that everytime the light reflects in a different way, we see a new glimpse of who He is.

I love what author and speaker Bob Sorge says, “The fear of the Lord and the love of God are like a gas pedal and brake pedal in a car. You need both. With only gas—you will die, and with only brake, you will go nowhere. We need both.”

It is so true. If we only focus on the love of God, we will only depend on His mercy and forgiveness, and forget about holiness and righteousness. If we only focus on the fear of the Lord, we will not identify ourselves before Him as His beloved sons and will be afraid to approach Him, living in condemnation and religion. We need both the Love of God and the Fear of the Lord in our lives.

Scripture: “My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5

Prayer: Lord, I want to know You more. I am hungry for the knowledge of God. I am hungry for relationship with You and to know you more. I cry out for knowledge and discernment. I lift up my voice to You. Give me the fear of the Lord. Let me know Your love and my place as a son (daughter) before You, but let me tremble before Your Word. Let me have a deep respect and honor for Your Holiness and Majesty that shakes me to the core. Give me the Fear of the Lord that I may find the knowledge of God. I cry out to you for understanding and discernment.

Continuing praying in your own words.

Prayer Posture: In Jewish culture and throughout Church history, physical posture affects even our internal heart posture sometimes. In many cases in the Bible where people came into contact with the Holiness of God – they laid face down before Him, or got on their knees or extended their hands out before Him. In your quiet place, alone with God. Try one of these postures of prayer and honor and respect toward the Lord, and prayer in your own words. Pause and see if you encounter a sense of His presence or feel His holiness or fire.

Write: Write what you sensed or experience in your prayer journal. Go back and reflect and revisit it at different times when you desire more holiness or the fear of the Lord in your walk with God.

For more resources on praying Scripture or going deeper in the knowledge of God, check out the “knowledge of God” blog series.

Jesus: Tempted in all points, Yet without Sin

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matt. 3:1-4)

Some sentences in the Bible, we become so accustomed to, that they stop amazing us. But, when you take a moment to look at this first sentence again, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…” It is amazing. No wonder, in the following passages in Matthew 6, Jesus taught us to pray “lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one…”

If you find yourself alone, during these unusual quarantines of 2020, and being unusually tempted by sin – go to these passages to help you fight.

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are. And being alone and in isolation—it is even more difficult to withstand sin, because of lack of accountability, no one sees you, and also, maybe you have much more idle time on your hands and you are trying to understand what to do with it. Also, maybe you are fighting depression, loneliness, fear, isolation. Here in this story of Jesus, he was tempted by Satan in the most vulnerable areas when He was hungry, tired, and alone.

And yet, He was without sin. He fought, and He used Scripture. If you find yourself being hit with certain temptations – find the Scriptures that contradict those temptations and memorize them, say them, and fight with them. Also, even when we are in quarantine, we are not at this time alone in a desert as Jesus was in this story – so pick up the phone, call a friend, call a pastor, call a Jesus-loving family member.

In Hebrews 12:4, the author corrected that readers by saying, “You have not yet resisted sin to the point of bloodshed…” And pointed to Jesus in verses 1-3, that He did resist sin to the point of bloodshed, by tgoing to the Cross. And this is a reference to His struggle to submit His will to God in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before He died, where He said, “Not my will, but Yours be done…” He actually prayed and sweat to the point of sweating blood, as He struggled to say yes, and did it. This is the example He gave to us.

So, if you are struggling, alone, and tempted – look to Jesus, the author and finisher of Your faith, who was tempted in all points as we are, and was still without sin.

And in Luke, it says that Jesus came up from this time of testing and temptation that, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all” (Luke 4:14-15). Jesus came through that time of testing and was then powerfully used by God. Many times, the devil tries to lie to us in the midst of our temptation and struggle and say that now God can no longer use us, but if we resist, fight and come out on the other side – we actually will be moving in power and authority, because of the temptation and testing that we have overcome.

Scripture: Prayerfully read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 3, and Luke 4.

 

Interaction: Write down some temptations that you are been facing lately. Confess them to God, and ask Him to deliver you from temptation and deliver you from the evil one.

Write: Write a list of those temptations, and then go find Scriptures that speak against those sins or temptations. Find Scriptures that speak about your identity in Christ, walking in the Spirit, resisting temptations, abiding in the Spirit, etc.

Memorize: Pick 2-3 Scriptures to memorize as your go-to scriptures in the time of temptation or struggle. If it helps to memorize them by putting them to a song melody or drawing a picture or writing them out, then do those things to help you remember them.

Share: Ask 2 or 3 trusted friends or family members to help hold you accountable in these temptations and struggles. Share the Scriptures with them that you have picked, and ask them to check on you and ask you about these temptations that you are struggling with.

Ask: Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you as the High Priest who was tempted in everyway as we are, and yet without sin. Go in boldness to His throne of grace in confidence that He will strengthen you to overcome. Ask Him to give you a picture of yourself free from that sin, so that you have a goal set before you.

For more tools on praying Scripture and exploring the knowledge of God, check out the “knowledge of God” blog series.

Difference Between Mercy & Grace

So many times, I hear the words “mercy” and “grace” used interchangeably in conversations. I also speak several languages, and I often hear people translate grace for mercy and mercy for grace. This is an error. I believe it is a doctrinal error more than a translation error. People do not understand the difference between mercy and grace. They are not the same thing.

Mercy is getting what we do not deserve. This is when we deserve punishment, but God takes the punishment away or delays it to give us time to turn. God was merciful to us by sending His own Son to die on the cross to take away the punishment that we rightfully deserve because of sin.

Grace, however, is the ability or power to do something. The Greek word charis means “grace” and has a similar meaning to the word “gift.” It is where we get the words charisma, charismata, and charismatic. These words all trace back to a gift, ability, or power to be able to accomplish a specific purpose or task.

Why is it important to distinguish between grace and mercy? Because when I say, “God, give me mercy…” I am asking Him to forgive me for my wrongs and give me something I do not deserve. I am asking Him to take away my punishment that I rightfully deserve. When I say, “God, give me grace…” I am asking Him for the ability to walk in holiness and not walk in sin.

If I am praying for someone and I say, “God, release your grace over them,” then I am asking God to give them the ability to walk in holiness and righteousness. However, if someone translates it as, “God, release your mercy over them,” then the meaning changes to, “God, give them the ability to receive your forgiveness for sin, and give them something that they do not deserve.” Both are good prayers and both are needed, but they are not the same.

The problem is that when we have a wrong view of the difference between grace and mercy, we will not correctly see the need for holiness. God gives us the grace to walk in holiness, but He gives us mercy for when we fail. We cannot use them interchangeably, because it will cause a disaster in our theology to the point where we do not understand the need for grace in relation to holiness.

Hebrews 4:16 says that we “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We obtain mercy at the throne of God by being covered with the blood of Jesus who took away our punishment for sin. Then, we find grace in our time of need to strengthen us in walking out our salvation.

Perfected Forever Those Being Sanctified

And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified… (Hebrews 10:11-14)

“He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified…” What an amazing statement. This is saying that not only did Jesus complete our salvation of justification (we are saved), but also at the Cross, He completed our salvation of sanctification (we are being saved). Sanctification is the process of being made holy.

Also, this statement is saying that although we are currently in the process of “being sanctified,” we actually are already sanctified through His blood and the work is already finished in the sight of heaven.

Why does there seem to be such a contradiction between what we see in our lives and what this verse says about our sanctification being made complete? Why am I a new creation, but still have to put to death daily the deeds of the flesh? (II Cor. 5:17, Rom. 8:12-14, I Cor. 15:31)

This is where transformation comes into play. When we first accept Jesus into our hearts (justification), our spirit is made alive to Christ and we begin to walk in the newness of life (Rom. 6:3-11). Our spirit is 100% holy and pure, but our body, mind, will & emotions still need to be transformed. As we look at God, we begin to be transformed into His image (II Cor. 3:18).

Romans 12:1-3 outlines this process of transformation. It says first, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice…” This is the way new believers typically begin. They stop drinking, smoking, & sleeping around. Those things have to do with the body. They are presenting their bodies as living sacrifices.

Then it says, “Do not be conformed to the world…” This has to do with coming out of alignment with the way the world leads, which is self-serving and coming into alignment with the leadership of the Cross, which is seeming foolishness to the world (I Cor. 1-2).

Next, we are to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” which is bringing our mind out of the wisdom of the world into the wisdom of God. To do this, we must constantly be bringing our minds into alignment with Scripture and asking the Holy Spirit to lead our minds.

Then, the result is that we will be able to “test and approve what God’s will is”—this is how we bring our will into alignment with the Holy Spirit. Once the will is in alignment under the mind, which is under the Spirit, then the emotions will follow. Emotions are terrible leaders, but great followers. Also in the ideal scenario, the body is brought under subjection by the mind and the will which are being led by the Spirit.

Many of us think that this process of sanctification is impossible, and we want to give up. However, saying that we cannot have victory over sin is to deny the power of the cross in our lives. Jesus already “perfected forever those who are being sanctified…” This means that we must call forth that eternal reality in our daily lives and live as though we can taste it today. We must set that perfection before us and realize that the blood of Jesus was not only enough to save us from hell, but also enough to save us from living in sin. It is His blood that gives us the grace (ability, power) to walk in holiness.

Devo 62: Spirit, Soul, & Body

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will…”

Romans 12:1-3

When we first get saved, we are buried with Christ unto death, and raised into newness of life (Rom. 6:4). At that point, we are justified by faith, and we are a new creation (Gal. 2:16; II Cor. 5:17). This is called “justification by faith.”

From that point on, however, we go through the process of “being transformed from glory to glory” to be conformed into the image of Christ (II Cor. 3:18). This process is called “sanctification by grace.”

Every human being has a body, a soul, and a spirit. Before salvation, they are led primarily by bodily (fleshly) desires and appetites. The body usually leads first and whatever they want to do, they do it. Then, the soul follows.

The soul is made up of the mind, will, and emotions (heart). Some people are more led by their intellect (mind). Others are very strong-willed and led more by stubbornness and whatever they will themselves to do. Still others are primarily led by their emotions--depression, anger, happiness, sorrow, etc. We all know people in each of these categories.

No one who is unsaved is led by the spirit—even those in the occult, because their spirit is dead. Even those in the occult or in other religions are led by the body, soul, and demonic influences, but the bible makes it clear that their spirits are dead (I Cor. 2, Gal. 5, Rom. 8, II Cor. 10, etc).

However, upon salvation, the resurrection life of Christ enters that human spirit and then brings life to their mortal body (Rom. 8:11). The Holy Spirit then dwells in that person and begins the work of sanctification.

The first thing that person begins to do is to bring their body into subjection of the Spirit. They lay down drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, etc, but many stop there and never know how to proceed further into sanctification.

It is important that we learn to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Many of us go from “Body=>Soul=>Spirit” to “Soul=>Body=>Spirit” or “Soul=>Spirit=>Body,” but if we stay in any of those places, we will never get victory and we will never walk in the fullness of what God calls us to. We must be led by the Spirit.

This passage in Romans 12 gives us a pattern for transformation/sanctification.

1) In view of God’s mercy

2) Present your body as a living sacrifice

3) Do not be conformed to the world (righteousness, holiness)

4) Be transformed by the renewing of your mind

5) That you will be able to test and approve God’s will

This passage hits three of the four elements of body and soul (mind, will, emotions). It begins with a right view of God—His mercy. He is the one who brings about sanctification, through His grace, but that is the agent of transformation, not an excuse to stay the same. It is not a false grace, but a grace that leads us to be conformed into His image (II Cor. 3:18).

So, in obedience and as an act of worship, we must present our bodies as living sacrifices. Romans 6:11-13 speaks of “presenting our members [body parts] as instruments of righteousness” and being dead to sin but alive to God. In Galatians 5, Paul encourages us not to live unto our fleshly, bodily desires, but to live according to the Spirit.

The next step according to Romans 12:1-3 is to not be conformed to the world. This means that we separate ourselves from the ways of the world and set our focus on walking in holiness and righteousness. We are to be set apart in every area.

Instead of being conformed to the world, we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The renewal of our mind is the only option to not being conformed to the world. If we do not win the battle in our mind, then we are still living in sin—even if we do not act on it outwardly. Jesus spoke of this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. He said if you even think lustfully toward a woman, you have committed adultery; or if you have hateful thoughts toward your brother, you have committed murder.

In II Corinthians 10, Paul tells us that we do not have fleshly weapons of war, but that we have spiritual weapons that are used to pull down strongholds. He says that we must hold every thought captive and tear down everything in our minds that deems itself higher than the things of God—every sin, every lie, every wrong view of God, etc…Our mind must be transformed.

Thus, when our mind is transformed, it impacts our will. When our mind is submitted to the Spirit and transformed by the Word and power of God, it then leads the soul into transformation. Then, we are able to discern the good and pleasing will of God. At this point, we must surrender our will over to His, which is what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, because we are undergoing a complete transformation, we are able to willingly take up our cross and follow Him. We not only can discern His will, but we can say yes to it and do it.

So, the acceptable pattern of God according to Romans 12:1-3 is:

Body Submitted to=>Spirit=>Renews Mind=>Tranforms Will. Then the transformed will lead the emotions. Transformed will does not suppress emotions like an untransformed will might, but a transformed mind and will leads the emotions. Emotions are terrible leaders, but wonderful followers.

The point of all of this is to be led by the Spirit. However, sometimes when we break it down, it is easier to pin-point where we are on the journey when we cannot see a foot a head of us because of the storm. Once we realize that this is the process of transformation, we can seek to submit every area to the Spirit at every point in our lives—and we can recognize when an area is not submitted to the Spirit.

I would encourage you to ask God every morning when you wake up to give you strength to be led by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Actually speak to your spirit and bless it to lead. Ask the Holy Spirit to take charge and transform your mind, will, emotions and body. Actually present your members as instruments of righteousness. Say out loud, “Lord, I present my mouth to you as an instrument of righteousness. I present my eyes to you…etc,” and go down through the different areas that you need to present those parts to Him in. (i.e. “I present my eyes to only look on what you would have me look on. I present my ears to only listen to what you want me to hear. I bless my ears to hear in the Spirit, and my eyes to see in the Spirit. I bless them to have discernment and only listen to truth. I bless my mouth not to speak gossip of slander, but only truth…).

Come up with your own version too. I recommend doing it everyday. You will find yourself living differently.

Grace and Peace to you in the name of Jesus!

Love,

Amanda

Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved

Devo 61: Dwell in the House of the Lord Forever

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever…”

Psalm 23:5-6

In John 15, Jesus said to his disciples, “You are clean because of the words I have spoken to you. Abide (remain) in me and I will remain in you as the branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (Jn. 15:3-4).

Jesus was telling his disciples to remain (abide, dwell, live) in the “cleanness” of the Word that had already been spoken to them. This was a continuation from chapter 13 where Jesus was washing the disciples’ feet and said that if they did not allow Him to do this, then they would have no part in Him (Jn. 13:8). Then, Peter basically said, “In that case, wash all of me!” (paraphrase). Jesus said that he only had to wash his feet because he was clean because of the words that Jesus had spoken to him.

This revelation of being clean is an important part of abiding in the vine. Jesus talked about abiding in His love or remaining in His love and how if we do not do so, we will be cut off from the vine.

There are many different things that can cut us off from the vine. Sin is the main one, but for those of us who confess and repent of sin, there is something that continues to keep us cut off from the vine—condemnation and shame. Condemnation keeps us from receiving true forgiveness and being cleansed of the sin we committed.

When we confess our sins and repent, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I Jn. 1:9). He gives us a clean slate immediately. However, condemnation continues to hold our minds in a prison of shame and accusation, so that we do not return to that place of abiding in those words.

In Psalm 23, David speaks of how the Lord set up a banqueting table in the presence of his enemies. As long as we are sitting at the table of the Lord, our enemies cannot separate us from His love. Our problem is that we allow our thoughts to dwell on our enemies rather than on the table of the Lord set before us. We allow ourselves to be cut off from the vine by believing that we are not cleansed from the sin that the Lord has already forgiven us for.

If we confess to the Lord and plead the blood of Jesus, He forgives us in that moment. When Satan stands before God to accuse us night and day (Rev. 12:10), Jesus stands there and says, “Not Guilty…Not Guilty…Not Guilty…”

However when Satan comes to accuse us before the judge, many times we are asked, “How do you plead?” We always say, “Guilty!” Our hearts condemn us, our minds condemn us, Satan condemns us, but Jesus says, “You are clean because of the Words I have spoken to you. Remain in my love.”

We have to stop agreeing with the prosecutor in our lives. Jesus is our Advocate who stands at the doorposts of our hearts painting His blood over them, and commanding the death plague to “passover.”

When we continue to beat ourselves up for what we did wrong after we have already confessed it, we are denying the power of the blood of Jesus and the forgiveness He has given us.

Jesus said to “Remain in His love.” When we do so, we are sitting at that banqueting table even when enemies are all around us. In doing that, we can dwell (abide, live) in the House of the Lord forever.

Our bodies are the temple of the Lord. They are the dwelling place of the Most High God and it is His desire to completely inhabit us. He wants to abide in us and us abide in Him. When we sit at His table, His goodness and mercy follow us, and we are not condemned, but we are cleansed. We are not cut off, but we remain.

“Lord Jesus, help us to receive your love and forgiveness. Let your goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives, and let us dwell with you forever. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness—even memories of it, God. Keep us from playing those memories like reruns over and over again. Cleanse us from bitterness and unforgiveness towards ourselves, others, and You. Cleanse us from shame, condemnation, and accusation. Help us to never separate ourselves from remaining in Your love and abiding in Your presence. Thank You, Jesus. We love You. Amen.”

Blessings,

Amanda

Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved

Devo 56: Death, Burial, & Resurrection: The Place of Intercession

"Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life…"

Romans 6:4

Even as it was the place of intercession that Christ died for us, so we also reach enter into the place of intercession through a daily death. As we take up our cross and follow Christ, conflict arises between our natural man and spiritual man. While wrestling in that place, if we choose to “put to death the deeds of the flesh” (Rom. 8:13), and truly walk in the Spirit, we are then able to enter into our calling as sons and daughters and join into intercession with the Father.

In John 17:3, Jesus said that He came to give us eternal life. Then, as if we did not know what that was, Jesus goes on to define eternal life by saying, “And this is eternal life, that they may KNOW YOU, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent…” He defines eternal life as relationship. Life is about knowing God, and eternal life does not start when we die a natural death, but when we die to ourselves and are raised into the newness of a life in Jesus Christ. That is where eternal life begins.

Once we realize that eternal life is about knowing God, it leads us right into abiding in the Spirit (Jn. 15). Abiding in the spirit is all about having that personal relationship with Him—knowing Him. Jesus said that we MUST abide in the Spirit or we will be cut off. Also, we can do nothing apart from Him, but if we abide in Him, we can ask anything we wish, and it will be done for us (Jn 15:5-7). Abiding in the Spirit allows us to walk in the newness of life.

One of the difficulties we all face with walking in this newness of life is the problem of our old man creeping back in. For this reason, Romans 6-8 and Galatians 5-6 both talk about putting to death the deeds of the flesh and walking in the spirit. As Jesus instructed us in Mark 8, we must take up our cross and follow Him, which means that we must face crucifixion everyday.

As we walk the way God tells us to walk, we are faced with decisions daily where we must “put to death the deeds of the flesh” and therefore, our old man is crucified. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

As we are confronted with these situations where we must die to ourselves, we are then able to enter that place of abiding in the Spirit, because we are remaining in Him. He said to His disciples that they were already clean because of the words He had spoken to them. Then He said, “Abide (remain) in me and I will remain in You, as the branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains in the vine.”

When Jesus saves us and we enter a relationship with Him, He speaks to us and says, “You are a new creation, the old has passed away and all things have become new” (II Cor. 5:17). These are the words He speaks to us that make us clean. Then, from looking at John 15:4, we can see that He would say, “Remain in these words…”

When we remain in these words, we bear fruit. Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, etc…we cannot bear that fruit without remaining in the spirit, remaining in His words. These are not “fruits of our strivings” but “fruits of the spirit.” We cannot make them happen unless we abide in the vine.

But, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and say that we are not a new creation. He comes to tempt us so we walk outside of the Spirit and therefore “prove” that nothing has changed in us and we are not a new creation.

However, if we continue to walk in the Spirit and abide in His words, we will walk in the newness of life—being a new creation. As we look at God and who He is through the word, we become more like Him and are transformed from glory to glory (II Cor 3:18). When we mess up and depart from the vine, we must ask for forgiveness and jump right back in without allowing lies and condemnation to stop us.

But what does this have to do with intercession? Everything. Jesus is the prime example of an intercessor, who laid down His life, but ultimately gained the place of authority by taking up His cross and following the will of the Lord no matter the cost.

Philippians 2:15 lays out God’s divine strategy by saying that Jesus humbled Himself, took up the cross, despising its shame, and therefore, God has highly exalted Him and raised Him to the right hand of the Father.

Every place in our lives where our will and desires conflict with God’s will and desires is a opportunity to take up our cross.

When we daily take up our cross and follow the Lord, we are exalted to the right hand of the Father. Ephesians 2 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:4-6). We are already in that place because of the words He has spoken to us, but we must remain in it and walk in it.

Abiding in the spirit, taking up our cross, walking in the spirit—all allow us to walk in that “newness of life” of being seated with Him in heavenly places, and boldly approach His throne with confidence (Heb. 4:16). Then, we ask whatever we wish and it will be done for us.

I believe this is why so many times there is such turmoil surrounding a time of intense intercession. Things are being brought up in the intercessor that require that person “to die,” and then allow that person to “be raised up.” It is a daily process. I also believe that this is why prayer and fasting go hand in hand, because fasting brings up so much turmoil in the flesh that must be put to death, and then we are raised up before His throne in the place of intercession.

We are all intercessors. God has called every believer to pray. Some are called to make it a lifestyle more than others, but we are all called to “pray without ceasing” and to abide in the spirit. In that place, we will bear much fruit, but without it, we can do nothing.

Grace and Peace,

Amanda
 
Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved