
There is only one way
In my personal life, I have come to believe that there is only one story. This story, created by God, was laid down for each of us before the foundations of this present creation. This path is God’s perfect will. Moreover, to the extent that we yield to His desires for us, we fulfill His commandments and please Him. This is our sole purpose as human beings.
Many in our present age have reduced serving our Lord to doing only what we believe the scriptures teach us. However, doing what seems right to our natural minds, according to what we think is good, does not please God. It is listening to His voice and doing what He says, when He says to do it, with whomever He says to do it, that actually fulfills His will and accomplishes His purposes. Doing anything else not only wastes our precious time on earth, but hinders others around us from receiving the good God desires to do through us.
What God originally says, He means
Recently, a person contacted me and offered to do something a different way than God originally told us. It was one of those type of situations where what He first said seems impossible, so let’s do it another way that appears doable. I said no.
Why did I say no? It is because when my Lord says to do a certain thing in a certain way, He means it. I trust His judgment and wisdom, even if the path He picks does not seem possible. If my Father says to do something, no matter how unlikely it seems to my natural mind, it is by definition certain to work out just fine.
I want to do things God’s way and not my way or anyone else’s way. I don’t want to deviate from what He first says simply because it is inconvenient or controversial. It seems that many believe that they can modify God’s way to suit their present circumstances or desires. I don’t believe this. What our Lord first says is what He actually means and we are not at liberty to modify it.
The truth is that all of us often fail to do God’s will as He desires to do it. We refuse to act on time and decline to accept to do it with the person that He chooses. We find though, that if we desire to come back into alignment with His will for our lives, we end up exactly back at the same place, with Him requesting we do the same thing, with the same person He originally desired. God’s way does not change, we only delay it, or fail to accomplish it at all.
Here is a truth,
Let’s finish the race well
Many start the race of this life with great energy and commitment to do God’s will. However, we must also finish the race to be truly successful. What I am observing is that we often falter just before we cross the finish line and fail to accomplish what we’ve begun in Him. We lose sight of those lofty goals we set to “follow Him no matter what” and stop short of winning.
I don’t care if you crawl over the finish line, complete your race. If you have gotten off track, go back to where you deviated and get back into God’s way. Make the sacrifice and forsake your way. While God does have mercy and grace, when He calls you to do something in a certain way with specific people, that is what He means, and He does not change His mind to suit your fear of the circumstances.
God’s way is always the best way
In conclusion, God’s way is always the best way. Our Father has our best interests at heart, and if we trust Him, everything will work out just fine no matter what our circumstance seem like. Even if no one on earth agrees with you, listen to your Father and do things His way and you will see blessings flow like a river. Amen.
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Dear Anon,
Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it. I do agree that we should not believe every spirit. However, I think we might both also agree that we should listen to and obey His Holy Spirit. The essence of our walk with Jesus is to become like Him. Therefore, like our Lord, we should come to know and obey every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, written in the past or spoken currently. It is sign of maturity in Him that we know His voice as His sheep. Our Father is a loving parent who will not give us a stone or scorpion if we ask for bread or His Holy Spirit. We need not fear when we are in the His hands for He will keep us safe as we seek to know the deep things of His Spirit.
Moreover, God has not given us a spirit of fear. Let us expect goodness at His hands rather than be fearful of things that He has pledged to protect us from. May we all seek to know the voice of our Savior and trust Him with all out hearts and minds so that we can be called the sons of God.
Big hugs and lots of love,
Michael
Amen and Amen, brother Michael! It’s not how ya start, it’s how you finish that really counts, and boy is this firecracker we call earth about ready to finish!
I was telling a friend just yesterday that I do not understand people. I mean, even if I were an eastern religion kind of guy (not that I am, mind you, this is purely for the argument), I sure as Hades would want to finish “right” and not have to repeat this struggle again (reincarnation). We all agree this life has been a pretty bumpy ride, and here we are, “five minutes” away from the end of the whole shooting match and evil is increasing. Now is not the time to try “doing your own thing”. Now is the time to finally get it right!
Praying for all the believers, everywhere,
Steve Borg
Dear Steven,
Thanks for the comment!
Big hugs and lots of love,
Michael
Hello, Michael!
today I googled “Intimacy with God” and came across you! You say “What God originally says, He means”. I am in a struggle with The Song of Solomon. Does God mean all written in the Song of Solomon literally or only in some spiritual way? I attend a Christian charismatic church from 17 years, yet I have not heard there any sermon based on the Song of Solomon. Most of our sermons are based on how to live a moral life. We speak in tongues, attend mission trips and prayer meetings, but nothing about
intimacy with God. The problem is that when I was born again 17years ago, I fell in love with Jesus literally, not only spiritually. Since the last year I feel an intense passion towards Jesus that makes me feel ashamed and embarrassed because no one in the church understands me as if something is wrong with me. I can describe my love towards Jesus as such type of love that a real bride has towards the real bridegroom. I am in love with Jesus literally. I mean that many times I imagine me and Jesus kissing passionately and doing these intimate things written in the Song of Solomon LITERALLY, not spiritually. This makes me feel sooo embarrassed, as if I am blaspheming. Let me highlight this – I am married and I always will be loyal to my husband. I don’t imagine Jesus as a man in flesh. I just imagine what could be after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The other problem is that the Bride is the corporate church of all believers, yet I imagine experiencing this type of intimacy with Jesus as if we are only me and Him alone. Everything I want is to love Him the way He wants to be loved, yet I cannot stop thinking about Him in this literal way of intimacy. Please, don’t judge me, I feel sooo guilty.
God bless you,
Zara from Bulgaria
Dear Zara,
Thank you for commenting on this essay and for your question. I appreciate your courage to ask about the topic of intimacy with God. The truth is that if you really listen to most anointed christian music, intimacy with Christ is exactly what the lyrics describe. And good example of this is:
Revelation Song by Kari Jobe
or,
Fill me up by Tasha Cobbs
To begin with, your experience is not strange and their is no need to feel guilty about your intimate feelings toward Jesus. This is why you are created. Many Godly saints down through the ages have experienced great intimacy with Christ. What you are feeling is the first sprinklings of the latter rain and you are a forerunner of a general move of intimacy that will soon come upon the whole of the perfected church in these last days.
As I understand it, the Song of Solomon is an earthly example of a literal, physical union between man and God. What you describe is actually a restoration of what existed in the Garden of Eden, but was lost through sin.
To explain, the physical union between a God given mate is not only a union between their bodies and souls, but also a union, spiritually speaking, between God and both of them as they unite. Therefore, for believers, God is in the man loving the woman and God is in the woman receiving love from man. The man is a physical type or representation of God and the woman is a physical type or representation of the Bride of Christ. As the two become one flesh, their spirits also unite with each other and God at the same time. This is how God, who is a Spirit and man can become one. Each partner demonstrates the love of God to the other.
Therefore, the Song of Solomon demonstrates in the real world a greater uniting that will take place both physically and spiritually both in this world and in the world to come. The fact that you desire to unite physically and spiritually with Jesus Christ as a woman would desire a man is correct and nothing to be ashamed of.
Part of entering into the deep things of God is trust. I can see that you already trust Jesus to be able to allow yourself to love Him the way you do. The way forward is the trust Him even more and allow Him to lead and guide you into the fullness of this experience. There are always those who are first in any new revival. It is even possible that others around you in church or in your area are beginning to love God in the same way too.
Here is some further reading about this topic on this site.
Created for His Pleasure
Or,
What Is The Point of Creation
Compared to where God is taking us, we actually know comparatively little about what He desires. The best way to please Jesus is to simply yield all of yourself to Him.
You are on the right path!
Big hugs and lots of love,
Michael
Michael, thank you so much for your answer! I had a great need to hear I am not alone in my struggle! I need to read more and more of your essays and get to more revelations about God’s love. I am still struggling with the idea that the Bride is the corporate church of all saints, yet I imagine me and Him alone…
Dear Zara,
I am glad you are finding some support and comfort. Just give it time and know that Jesus loves you and has you in His hands.
Big hugs and lots of love,
Michael