Go Deeper Into God By Faith
There is a deeper experience of faith that is available to all believers. It is a place where God meets man in such a profound way that this scripture rings true,
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
Living by faith
When you allow God to live His life through you, who you are becomes a manifestation or revelation of His nature to the world. You literally submerge yourself and your will in Him. Practically speaking, it is like God inhabits you and the actions you take, the words that you speak, and the way that you feel perfectly aligns with Him.
This is way deeper than most Christians experience God. For many, following God means understanding and assenting to His will. We read the scriptures and we understand with our mind what He wants. Only then do we “apply” it to our lives and only then if it makes sense to us. If God asks us to do something that does not fit within our doctrinal wheelhouse we often refuse to obey because we judge it to be error. Thus we limit God and what He can do through us by our natural minds.
Don’t think, simply be in Him
There is a place where we simply react to the Holy Spirit in total trust without thinking. I believe an example of this is when Jesus was asked about paying tribute (temple tax). God says,
“And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute”
Matthew 17:24
And,
“Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”
Matthew 17:27
I believe that Jesus (as man) was so yielded to the Holy Spirit that he did not give a second thought to what he directed Peter to do. In fact, I think this sort of faith was so common with Him that it was like a side note to what he was really talking about with Peter. The point that Jesus made was that if you are a child of the ruler you to not have to pay tribute to your Father. Likewise, if you are a son or daughter of God you don’t have to pay tribute to His temple either.
It’s easy if you believe
As a side note, almost an afterthought, Jesus told Peter to go fishing and that the first fish he caught would have a coin in its mouth to pay the tax. I believe the Holy Spirit in Jesus said that, and Christ simply relayed that information to Peter and went about his day. Jesus just “expected” Peter to do what God said and expected Peter would find the coin as God told Him. There was nothing more to it than that for him and Jesus did not give it a second thought. Sure enough, the first fish Peter caught produced that coin and he paid the temple tax.
I call this “deep” faith. It is a faith and action that is so natural that you don’t hardly think about it when you exercise it. As natural as breathing, it is just something you do without even really noticing it. It is that whole “not I but Christ that lives in me” concept.
Experiment with your faith
Yesterday, ask I was driving past a new sportsman store, a still small voice in me said, “If you go in there and fill out a slip you will win a prize.” It was late in the evening and I wanted to get home and, to be honest, the voice was so small and tenuous, that I could have easily ignored it. However, I decided to listen, hear, and obey on time. I turned into the store parking lot, went inside and, sure enough, there was a kiosk where you could imput your name for a 500 dollar gift certificate drawing. It took about a minute to fill out and then left. It worked so smoothly I did not really think that much about it until later.
I do not know yet if I’ve won anything but it does present an intriguing possibility. What if, when we totally yield to God by faith, nothing is impossible? Could it be that what we consider to be so difficult in the natural is, in fact, very easy in the Spiritual? Perhaps all our struggling is not necessary. Maybe we can live and breathe an abundant life simply through obeying God’s still small voice.
Whatever is not of faith
In Romans 14:23 Paul states,
“…whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
As I thought about that phrase today it seemed like there may be a corollary to that saying which is “whatsoever is not of revelation is sin.” The fact of the matter is that mankind was originally created to live by deep faith in every world that preceded out of the mouth of God. YHWH wanted to us to live by deep faith in His revealed word.
Darkness is the absence of light and sin is the absence of revelation. Thus, when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit he did not believe God and sinned. By obeying what seemed right to his natural mind (namely that joining Eve in her sin might dissuade His father from judging her) Adam exchanged eternal life for eternal damnation. Adam became sin in hope that God would spare them both.
The consequences of unbelief
One can hardly blame Adam for acting out of such desperate love. After all Eve was perfect and bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. To a degree, Adam’s love of his wife did move God to spare them both, but there were consequences, grave consequences. For one, their understanding was darkened. Adam and Eve lost their ability to fully connected with their maker and, instead, began to live by the knowledge of good and evil. Without access to God’s mind they lost their way and much of their brilliance. Mere shadows of their former glory, they eked out a meager existence in a world that had become hostile to them because they were no longer one with God.
Likewise, we are all pitiful shadows of what mankind was. We are living so far below what God made us to be, we have lost sight of all but a fraction of our former glory. Deep faith, or the ability to hear and obey the voice of our Father, is a restoration of what we once were.
God has a plan, no part of it is optional
Many people slice and dice the scriptures in such a way as they ignore the basic pattern God set out. Some believe they need only salvation to be whole in God. Others believe they have arrived with speaking in other tongues. However, the truth is, we must allow God to restore the full gospel. No part of the plan of God for our lives is optional. The culmination of the plan of God in the church age is the Tabernacle Experience.
Be ye therefore perfect
Therefore, if we wish to be “perfect” in our generations, like Noah, we must obey what He says when He says to do it. Deep faith, the kind that built the Ark, is what God requires of us in these last days. Like Noah, hear the voice of our Father and do His will even though no one understands.
In our time, the message of world-wide judgement is absolutely correct, even if no one listens. The consequences of sin are inevitable even if those around us don’t believe. By speaking God’s revelation, we build an Ark which lifts up all those who will listen.
Trust the Holy Spirit above all else
In conclusion, unbelief is a powerful force in our lives. Negative faith virtually assures our destruction. Being wise in our own eyes keeps us from the revelation we so desperately need.
The words I write are spiritually discerned. That is to say, everything I write cannot be known unless your heart is open to trust the Holy Spirit. I can state plainly the mysteries of God, but unless you have a hunger and thirst to know Him, your eyes cannot see because you will not see.
Spiritual connection is not optional
Finally, I wish to state, for the eternal record, that Spiritual Connections are the coming move of the Spirit. It is the manifestation of oneness with God, because His Divine Love produces Divine Union. It is a restoration of the Godly sensuality of the Garden of Eden, because our Father created our intimate nature.
Spiritual Connections are the expression of union with God with man on earth. Edenic love, true agape communion, does not conform to this world, but conforms to the world to come. As such, the first of love of Eden resets us all to our initial perfection.
Even though I write these words I know, by the Spirit, I do not fully understand them. However, all that is necessary at this point is to have deep faith and the rest will take care of itself in God’s timing.