I can only write about what I know… What I have experienced or what Holy Spirit is directing me to write, and here is something that has been front and center in my head… If you are part of God’s Called Remnant, He is calling you to walk BY faith, that means trusting Him for your next step and your next and your next, even if you can’t see in the physical beyond your next step… The Bible says in Psalm 119:105
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
It’s a trust thing… If you are a parent perhaps you remember when your baby became a toddler and began to rise to unsteady feet, taking his/her hand and holding on to pieces of furniture so that they could stand, smiling at you, proud of themselves and looking for your approval… Then they took that next unsteady step towards you and perhaps you oooh’d and awwww’d and made a big “that’s wonderful” deal about it by clapping and praising them. And they delighted in your praise, and took another step towards your outreached waiting arms, there to catch them if they should fall… Well, in the beginning of your walk in Christ, I believe the Father is like that with us… Each step we take in His will, He encourages us as we listen to Holy Spirit guiding us in the way we should go, the Father is always there, watching us but as we continue to grow and steady our steps, He backs up a bit and gives us girth. The more we grow in Him, the more He allows us to stumble and fall, but if we should fall, Holy Spirit helps us rise and become stronger in our walk with Him. As we continue to grow in Him the Father wants us to trust Him MORE. You see it is as in Acts 17:28 it says:
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
God delights in you as He sees you step forward in Him. Trusting in Him. Growing in Him. Just like we do when we watch our own children grow and mature. I have been a Born-Again believer for over 34 years now, and I remember as a baby Christian at the age of 21 how I could NOT get enough of God’s Word. I had never read the Bible before, and when Holy Spirit removed the spiritual scales off my eyes at my verbal acceptance of Jesus as Savior and made Him Lord over my life with the removal of those scales came understanding and insight as I began to develop my relationship with God through the reading of His Word. I was so hungry to know this Father who loved me enough to come down from the glories of Heaven in the form of man, live a sin-less life and die on the cross for forgiveness of my sins, rise from the dead so that I could have a right relationship with Him. I fell head over heals in love with the Father. I would read the Word, immerse myself in it, study it and exhausted, fall sleep with my face in the Bible sitting up! 1 Peter 2:2 says:
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
As long as we have breath in our bodies, we will continue to grow in Him, the level of growth and the quickness of growth is dependent upon our willingness and our level of resistance in the refinement process as Holy Spirit takes us higher and higher in Him. There truly are peaks and valleys and the timing is dependent upon what we are willing to allow Holy Spirit to do within us. I won’t lie to you, spiritual growth and refinement can be a painful process, for me – I was 21 years old before I came to know Jesus. That is 21 fleshly years of living without knowledge of Him and without walking in His ways. Living in a sinful world that does not choose to follow the Bible or believe that we even NEED God. There was already an earthly foundation established within me that need to be uprooted and restructured in accordance to God’s will for my life. IT IS STILL A PROCESS. Praise God our Father is patient. Praise God our Father is merciful. Praise God our Father is forgiving and caring and loving. Remember, it was NEVER God’s intent that we live in the fallen world that you see around you now. Just like as an earthly parent, we cringe when our children make wrong decisions (and if you have a child who is defiant, rebellious and stubborn, determined to walk in their OWN way in what they think is there OWN wisdom, you know the pain of watching them making wrongful, willful decisions) – it is no different for the Father, but if you take a look at the parable of the prodigal, you see that in Luke 15:17-20:
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
Holy Spirit revealed to me that God is with you EVEN WHEN YOU FALL. So, for some of you reading these words right now, I feel Holy Spirit wanting me to let you know – that IT IS OKAY. If you are reading this and you have strayed away from God, GOD DOES NOT LOVE YOU ANY LESS. Listen to me prodigal reader – Holy Spirit is having you read these words because if you listen intently, the Father is saying:
“CHILD, I LOVE YOU! COME HOME!”
There is nothing that you have done that He will not forgive. Jesus took our sins upon Him at the Cross. The Bible says in Isaiah 1:18:
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
Listen, I have been a prodigal, I know what it is like to feel ashamed, to feel alone, to feel helpless, to feel as though you cannot be forgiven. Can you hear the Father? He is calling you! The hardest part is the turning around and walking to those outstretched arms of His. But He has them outstretched in love NOT judgment. In fact if you were to see in the spiritual realm, once you turn around and begin the walk into those awaiting arms, He will begin to walk towards you, meet you in the middle of the road. And when He does – Oh my Lord! Let me tell you there is NO sweeter moment than feeling His arms “bear-hug” wrapped around you. One of my favorite scriptures says in Matthew 18:12-13:
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.”
The Father SEES YOU, right where you are at! Jesus is interceding for you EVEN NOW at the right hand of the Father. (Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself in Romans 8:34). Stop listening to ol’ slewfoot who is also known as the accuser, who whispers accusations in your ear. Put your big old hand upon his nasty forward and push him far away from you. Say as Jesus said in Matthew 16:23:
“Get behind me satan.”
Then you tell that toothless lion:
“the Father LOVES me, Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of my sins and I rebuke you in the power of His name. I’m coming home!”
Let me tell you what the Father did for me… I realized I had gotten off the Father’s path and painfully did a 360 degree turn and headed back into the Father’s awaiting arms. The blood of Jesus redeemed me from ALL unrighteousness (see Ephesians 1:7) and the Father, who is ALL knowing, ALL powerful took my mess because I was ready to repent and ask for forgiveness, and used my experience as prodigal to glorify His name. What the devil meant to hurt God, God (who IS greater and omnipotent and ALREADY knew I was going to have a prodigal experience even BEFORE it happened) drew me closer to Him, allowed me to learn a powerful lesson that I probably would not have learned otherwise – that it is TRULY NOTHING BUT God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, God’s mercy, God’s love that saves us. I am not saying that God wants you to have a prodigal experience, He would prefer that you walked in according to His Word, His Way, His Instruction (which is found in the Word of God, the Bible) but should you fall, should you make unwise decisions, God is STILL able to be glorified in your life and draw you closer to Him through the situation AND to use your mess to become a message for HIM.
I really wish the story of the prodigal was continued on after the celebration, after the party and rejoicing that He had returned home, but I can tell you what THIS prodigal’s story is… The second hardest part in repenting is the forgiving of yourself for having done something stupid. If ol’slewfoot can’t keep you in sin, he will try real hard to have you kick your own spiritual butt following your return to the Father. Sometimes the second hard part of having been a prodigal, is forgiving yourself… Don’t allow the devil to keep you stuck at that point, it’s one of his big tactics, self-condemnation. If you can’t get past that point, please reach out to one of my two mentors should you feel Holy Spirit directing you. I will relist their contact information here, God has given them discernment and the experience and maturity to help walk others through the healing process. There is NO shame in reaching out to them. I did and they will be used as vessels to heal you and have you move forward in your walk with God (and it doesn’t matter where you live, they can minister to you right there where you are) Click on either of the pink following links:
Healing Prayer with Lynn Donovan
Or my other spirit filled, God led mentor:
Dr. Brenda Nash, Restored by the Well Ministries
Honestly, NOTHING surprises the Father… My walk has deepened with Him, my discernment has grown, the lessons I have learned over the 34 years of walking with Him have been steps of a spiritual growth process of growing in Him and determining within myself that NO MATTER WHAT I will NEVER again turn my back on God, I will run TOWARDS Him and NOT away. I have reached a point where I am totally sold out for God and even though Jesus paid the price for forgiveness of my sins, my determination to walk by faith and not by sight in a world that turns its nose up to those who are God’s Called Remnant and ostracizes and persecutes many of us for our faith – we have to reach a point in our walk where ALL THAT MATTERS IS WHAT THE FATHER THINKS… WHERE HE WANTS TO LEAD ME… WHAT HE WANTS ME TO DO. Listen Beloved Reader, when you reach a point in your life where He is all that matters, your perception on this world changes… It doesn’t matter any longer what people think (including loved ones – because YOU may be the one that God has chosen to intercede on behalf of your unsaved family, unsaved friends, unsaved colleagues lives in prayer! You MAY have a higher calling than what they can understand or see – but the decision to do so is up to you!)
This life grows darker and darker every day, if you read about Noah and the Ark you will read how He was laughed at, made fun of because of His calling and because of His faith. Noah LISTENED to God and chose no matter the opposition to do what God called Him to do – build that ark! And because of His faithfulness, he AND his family were saved. Listen, you can read about it in the book of Genesis 7:16:
“Then the LORD shut him in.”
Can you imagine those cries from people banging on the door when they realized that Noah had been right?! It was GOD who closed the door and shut Noah’s family in the ark. If you are part of God’s Called Remnant, He IS calling you to intercede! LISTEN TO HIM. And know that every step that you take in Him, God has ordained. He is with you. He will not leave you, nor forsake you – no matter how hard the trek is. I have gone through a 5-months spiritual battle that has been one of the most difficult in my life – but God has gone before me, behind me, beside me – I had to keep stepping in faith and through that process has been one of the most difficult times of refinement and purification that I have gone through in my walk SINCE m prodigal time (12 years ago). It doesn’t end! As long as you have breath in your body and are open to the refinement and growth process that Holy Spirit wants to do within you then HE WILL! But you have to determine in your heart and in your mind and in your spirit that NOTHING is going to keep you from walking in the calling that God has designed for you to walk! The Bible says in Psalms 91:7-11:
“A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.”
Determine in your heart and in your mind that you will continue on NO MATTER WHAT ol’ slewfoot throws your way to try and get you to go off course. Remember that God is greater. Remember that God has GOT you in the palms of His hand. Remember that God IS the lifter of your head. Remember that Greater IS He that is in you than he that is within the world. Remember that God HAS said that He will NEVER leave NOR forsake you. You ONLY need to hold fast to your trust in Him. And step forward. Walk forward knowing that He is there, with you, His arms extended. You are HIS precious child. Trust in Him, and you will see that GOD IS IN CONTROL. Step out child of the utmost high King, in ALL that He is telling you to do and your steps (which He has ordained) will be blessed indeed, wherever you shall go. Simply Go in Him. It’s really a trust walk, we can either trust in ourselves or we can choose to trust in Him… He won’t fail you, He MAY grow you, but He won’t fail you… Step out in faith and in wisdom, your Father is right there with you – until the end of time.
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