The Deep Deep Well E-Book

Riaan Engelbrecht

• Herausgeber: Riaan Engelbrecht
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

God wants His children to enjoy His fullness. He wants His children to live in victory, and in a state of peace, joy, and love. Yet, this doesn’t all depend on God. It also depends on us. God does His part, but we need to do ours. This is a two-way road. As they say, it takes two to tango. Are we willing to dance with God? God’s part is to set up the spiritual well, meaning He is always available and accessible for us to engage in a real and meaningful relationship with Him. God is a personal and faithful God who wants to engage with His children. God provides Himself as the source of life, yet it is up to us to ‘plug’ into God. Want more of God? Then it is about how much we are willing to sacrifice, surrender and seek God. The Lord is always willing to meet with us, but our spiritual journey hinges on our desire, thirst and hunger for God.

Leseprobe

Also by the same author:

Perilous Times Series Volumes 1- 10

In Pursuit of God Series Volumes 1 -14

The Holy Spirit Series Volumes 1 - 3

The Disciple of God Series Volumes 1 - 5 (Vol 2 Part A and B)

Deliverance Volumes 1 – 3 (Vol 1 Part A and B)

Crossroads to Freedom Volumes 1-4

The Kingdom of God Series Volumes 1- 4

The Prophetic Series Volumes 1-6

Table of Contents

Title Page

The Deep Deep Well (End-Time Remnant)

Come and drink freely!

Drinking deep to be soaked and saturated

Drink deep from the new wine

Drinking from the well of wisdom

Drink from the well to be the Well

Drinking deep from the Lord’s cup

Drinking from the well of freedom

Stay hungry for God

More Lord!

Drinking from the well of joy

Keeping the unreal still unreal

Oil in the lamps

Opening and restoring the spiritual wells

Drinking from the well of health

Drinking from the well of provision

Drinking not from a broken cistern

Drink from the well of life

Seek the Promised Land, not Goshen

Drinking from the well of righteousness

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About the Author

The Deep Deep Well

This is a distributed edition from Avishua Ministries.

The author’s intellectual property rights are protected by international Copyright law. You are licensed to use this digital copy strictly for your personal enjoyment only: it must not be redistributed or offered for sale in any form.

Scriptures quotes from the New Kings James Bible, Amplified, and the New International Version.

For more free study material and audio visit http://avishuaministries.wixsite.com/avishua

Table of Contents

Come and drink freely!

Drinking deep to be soaked and saturated

Drink deep from the new wine

Drinking from the well of wisdom

Drink from the well to be the Well

Drinking deep from the Lord’s cup

Drinking from the well of freedom

Stay hungry for God

More Lord!

Drinking from the well of joy

Keeping the unreal still unreal

Oil in the lamps

Opening and restoring the spiritual wells

Drinking from the well of health

Drinking from the well of provision

Drinking not from a broken cistern

Drink from the well of life

Seek the Promised Land, not Goshen

Drinking from the well of righteousness

Come and drink freely!

God wants His children to enjoy His fullness. He wants His children to live in victory, and in a state of peace, joy, and love. Yet, this doesn’t all depend on God. It also depends on us. God does His part, but we need to do ours. This is a two-way road. As they say, it takes two to tango. Are we willing to dance with God?

God’s part is to set up the spiritual well, meaning He is always available and accessible for us to engage in a real and meaningful relationship with Him. God is a personal and faithful God who wants to engage with His children. God provides Himself as the source of life, yet it is up to us to ‘plug’ into God. Want more of God? Then it is about how much we are willing to sacrifice, surrender and seek God. The Lord is always willing to meet with us, but our spiritual journey hinges on our desire, thirst and hunger for God.

Deuteronomy 30 says, “11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” God is available. His Word is accessible. Jesus died on the cross and the Lord poured out His Spirit to ensure we may abide in Him. Indeed, it is not a great mystery to find Him, and neither is He far away to search Him, for God is ever-present, magnificent and glorious.

Matthew 7 says, “7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Take note, we are called to “ask”, and to “knock”. These are a call to action on our part. If He truly seek Him, the Lord shall answer. The Lord sees and knows all. He sees the thirsty and the hungry, and those who desire His company shall surely know His divine love and touch.

How thirsty are we to drink from God’s well, with His very representing His very being? For those who drink from the well, it shall be well with their souls!  It boils down to how much we are willing to surrender to God. 1 Thessalonians 5 says, “23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” Yes, God’s desire is for children to ‘prosper’ in spirit, soul and body, but this requires drinking from God and willingly and through a determined effort of obedience seeking to follow Him.

Jesus uses the phrase “living water” in two instances in the Bible. The first instance is found in John chapter 4. Jesus was tired and sat at a well while His disciples went into town to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water. We read, “13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

In another passage of Scripture, Jesus is in the temple surrounded by a throng of worshipers. He suddenly cried out in “John 7: 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the living water.

External influence of the Spirit had always been given in the conversion and sanctification of the Old Testament saints and prophets, but the gift of the Spirit who would indwell believers had not yet been received (Acts 10:44–45). So, though many people say that Jesus is the living water, Jesus Himself intended the phrase to mean the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers and seals them for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). It is the ministry of the Spirit, flowing out of a heart redeemed by God, that blesses believers and, through them, brings life and light to the world.

Take note in John 7 that Jesus says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” If we want to walk in God’s fullness by His resurrected power and by His Spirit, we need to be thirsty. God does not put the thirst inside of us, we need to yearn for God in our will. Secondly, we are admonished to “come”, which is another action on our part. Thirdly, we need to drink. God will not force us to go to the well or to drink from it. To receive God’s Spirit and to walk in His presence requires we take action.

It seems some believers expect God to do everything. He has done His part. It is up to us. Are we truly thirsty? Are we truly hungry for Him? If so, have we truly and often and persistently come to the well to drink? Oh yes, it doesn’t help to look at the water but not drink it! We need to seek, and then we shall find. We must knock, and God shall answer. God calls us to come to the well and to drink!

The glorious news is that the water – His living waters – never runs dry. Never! We can drink every day. Not only does it not run dry, it is also free! There is a saying that nothing is really free, but not with God. He says to all of us today to come and drink from the waters, for Jesus died so that all mankind may be saved and know the greatness, goodness and mercy of a loving God (John 3:16). Isaiah 55 says, “1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

Question is, what satisfies our thirst in this world? Is it money, or maybe fame? The passage also says, “2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.” Only God satisfies the thirst within our soul! It is the thirst for rest, for peace, for wholeness and to be at peace! It is the thirst to be loved!

Come to the well and drink! God satisfies all longing, and all yearning, for only He provides true rest and hope. Only in God do we belong, for in God we come home to a place where we are accepted and loved. Ephesians 3 says, “19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Come and drink from God’s love that is beyond human reason, logic or understanding! It is love divine, sweet and pure! God is indeed awesome, and wonderful. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Yes, come and drink and taste of His goodness, for God is good, kind, loving and so beautiful in all His glory and majesty!

Prophetic utterance:

THOSE WHO DRINK FROM the well, shall know there is a glorious flow where the River of God leads, for it is majestic and powerful. There is a glorious flow of His might and power. And this glorious flow is in the light and beauty of essence divine, where the rod blossoms and where the cup of the Lord feeds the hungry heart. There is a glorious flow from the Throne and from the heart of Majesty, and all those who flow and all those who seek such flow shall flow in Him and they shall indeed be set free to flow in His glory and majesty.

How the Lord cries for us to come into this open flow, and into the flow of majesty and power and glory. For there is a flow like liquid gold, pouring, but we need to come, we need to kneel, we need to drink, and we need to come with a hungry and thirsty heart. How we need to come to God with a spirit that is yearning and longing and hungry, giving up all, surrendering, humble and contrite. How we need to come to give all, to lay all down, to bare all, to have nothing left, for there is a flow in the Spirit that no man can stop, that no weapon can counter and that no power can even resist, for this is the mighty flow of the Spirit for those who believe and those who listen and to those who obey and to those who seek Him above all.

There is a mighty flow for those who come to the mountain, where the hand of the Almighty and the hand of man meet, where the wings of the angelic hosts meet the tassels of the prayer shawl, and where the hungry heart of mankind melts into the love divine. We cannot fully understand or see or comprehend this mighty flow and this mighty presence of Him who is divine and glorious unless we drink, and hunger for God. There is indeed a mighty flow of His grace and mercy unto those who come to the mountain to seek Him in the silence, embracing the thunder, and running not from the extended hand.

There is a mighty flow indeed where the earth splits and the ground gives way and the mountain quakes, for this is a place where the ladder of Jacob is planted and where the Lord makes the earth His footstool.  Seek Him not in the dust and seek Him not in the skies, for the Lord says to seek Him where we may go and seek Him where we may wander, for wander we shall, but we need to seek as the yearning, and we need to seek as the longing and we need to seek beyond the veil and beyond the wall and beyond the mind. We need to seek beyond, there where the eagle nests and where the lion sleeps. We need to wander where the angelic hosts come to speak, where the cities crumble, where Babylon quakes, where Jerusalem is established, yeah says the Lord we need to come to the Cross.

It is all about the cross. Come into the shadow of the Almighty, come into the embrace of truth and love, and then love will cast away doubt. We need to let love bind up the broken heart and let love mend the way of the fallen and the shattered. There is a mending, a mending divine, a mending indeed of God’s ways by the cross. For the love divine mends and it binds and it soothes. Come all who are wounded and bruised unto Him who was first wounded and bruised, and be set free in His glory and majesty forever and ever.

For the Lord says freedom! And He cries deliverance! Unto those who come into the flow of God, therefore, who drinks from the well, and unto His love and hope divine. Indeed, there is a mighty flow where the wings of divinity enfold over the shame and the guilt, and where the wings enfold, a covenant abides and in the abiding let there be resting and in the resting a deeper conviction of sparkling hope. Come and drink from waters.  Come and drink from the fountain. Be our life oh Lord, be our hope oh Lord, and may we rest under Your Wings – there where the flow flows and the Spirit moves and the love divine sets free.

Who cannot but sing of His beauty and majesty. Shall we not come and kneel, and give all? Shall we not come and kneel, and abide? Shall we not come and just give all? For the Holy Spirit flows and He wants to move in man in power and glory, but oh, why do we so resist cries the Spirit? Give up your heart, give up all, and let the glorious Spirit fill and consume until His Presence drips like oil from lips and eyes and soul reconciled unto God Almighty. Come Holy Spirit, come oh Lord, and consume, for let this be our heart’s desire, for Your Presence like manifested oil upon us, for Your Presence like a manifested breath within us. For Your Presence like manifested healing.

There is a flow, a mighty flow of healing and power! There is a mighty flow! There is healing, there is deliverance, but we need to come into the flow, we need to come into the stream, and indeed, we must rest, we must abide, we must behold, we must belong, and we must give all cries to the Lord.

Surrender hearts stubborn and a soul resistant unto His flow. Submit, and yearn and long for His majesty and grace. He is awesome, He is mighty, and He is the Lord Divine who broke the hand of Egypt and the might of Babylon. He brought Rome to its knees, and so again He will bring to the knee those who exalt and those who resist Him. For come to the mountain for the Lord. For come to the mountain of the Lord. For come and rest, and come and drink and come and be fed! For the wings of the living creatures they stir, they unfold, and they move, bringing forth the Breath of God, bringing forth the execution of plan and purpose and commandments. Shall we stand in His breath; shall we partake of His execution of will and purpose? Shall we reside under the shadow of His wing?

Let all creation shout Glory! Let all creation shout Hallelujah! The Lord is on the move, and His feet rest on mountains and on hilltops. His feet dressed in sandals disturb the strongholds just like the dust parts and the ground shakes. His feet bring the Good News, but this almighty God shall not stop moving and flowing. For the dust shall part, and the way shall part, for the Lord is coming in all His glory and majesty!

Who shall resist? Praise Him! Let us sing to His glory. He parts His arms and the creation sighs with longing. He opens His mouth, and creation lives. He moves, and Creation moves. He is the flow, and He is Almighty. Come to Me says the Lord, and let Me show you the higher way, the deeper way, the true way, where the eagle resides, where the lion sleeps, where the hungry are fed, and the poor are satisfied. A highway indeed, there is a highway, shall we walk in His way, and find His glorious mysteries unfolding unto those who are planted like trees by the Living Streams of life?

He is Jesus, He is Lord, and shall we not bow and heed and give our all? Let us come and submit, and find rest in His embrace and arms, and let us know He is Almighty and Glorious and full of hope and truth and life. Let not the fire be quenched, and let not the flame perish, for let it burn, let it burn, let it burn forever!

There is an overflowing from the spiritual unto the natural, an overflowing from the inner man to the externally manifested world, an overflowing of the Spirit, an overflowing of His Word, an overflowing of Glory and an overflowing of His wisdom and understanding. Yes, that us come and drink from the well. For I see rain falling but the rain fills not just the river, but it bursts the banks! The wells are overflowing for water keeps flowing and flowing and flowing and seeping into the ground.  There is saturation says the Lord, saturation in His Spirit, in His Word and Glory. For as the River of God – that unstoppable and powerful River of God - bursts its banks then the water overflows, indeed, it is overflowing to the arid ground, to the thirsty soil and to the dryness.

How we need to remain faithful and obedient in these times unto the Lord, trusting and having faith in Him despite the days of darkness and days of coldness and days of spiritual famine, for the Lord will stir and there will be an overflowing where there was dryness and thirst. Glory to the Lord! Shall we take heed? Shall we abide? Shall we rest in His glory? 

Drinking deep to be soaked and saturated

I remember there was a time when the Lord showed me a waterfall. It was beautiful, and the water was refreshing. Then the Lord spoke about how His children only dip their toes in the water or are willing to take a small sip. Then the Lord said He wants His children to get into the waterfall so that we are saturated and soaked by His Presence.

To be saturated implies something is holding something (such as water or moisture) as can be absorbed; therefore, thoroughly soaked. When something is saturated, there is no room for something else to occupy that space. You see, we need to be so saturated and soaked by God’s presence that there is no room for the world or the devil. How thirsty are you for God? How much do you yearn for Him? To get into the waterfall implies a voluntary action. How much we want to e saturated depends on us. The more time we spent with God in fellowship and in His Word, the more we shall be saturated by His presence. God plays His part, but we need to come to the party. God is ready to rock our world, we just need to allow Him through intimate fellowship.

When we talk about making room for the Lord, think of one’s life [soul] as one big room. Now, throughout life, we fill this room with all kinds of experiences, perceptions, and habits that form our way of thinking, and our behaviour, and it determines our spiritual condition and fortitude. If there is a lot of idolatry and sinful activities also present in the room [our soul which is our mind, heart and will], then naturally the devil has the legal right to be present and active in the room. And where the devil is, there is spiritual darkness, and with darkness comes fear, disorientation, disillusionment, lack of direction, lack of purpose, bondage, slavery and oppression.

On the day we come to the Lord, we invite Him into our lives, we allow Him to sanctify our spirit so that we by design are no longer sinners but redeemed children of the Lord. But the problem is, even though we commit our spirit unto Him, we often tend to only invite Him to occupy a small part of this room called our soul. So many Christians today allow God in, but they tell Him to only occupy a corner of the room. We want to. After all, hold onto so many of our wrong habits and mind-sets.

This is, however, not true spiritual freedom, but only the illusion of such freedom because by our choice and action we still keep ourselves in bondage. So now you have the devil and God sharing a room – a room filled with God’s light but also a room of darkness. Our actions, mind-set and behaviour  is partly now being determined by our service to the Lord, but because our room still caters for the world and to some ways the pitfalls of the devil, we still find an inner war constantly being waged within our soul. Our thoughts and heart is divided between God and the world, between serving God in holiness and still dancing with the devil. Why? Because we have not given God the full right to occupy the room of our soul completely and utterly, meaning every inch and every corner.

And this is the problem we find so many times with followers of the Lord – God has flooded our spirit, but we have not completely yielded our mind [thoughts], heart [emotions] and will unto Him. True freedom comes when He sets us free, meaning we give all unto Him so that He becomes all within us. We will sing and praise unto Him, but yet, we still follow our will. This then means God has not completely made His home in our soul. We say we love Him, yet our heart yearns for things of this world and its pleasures. With our mind, we think on Him, but we have thoughts involving sin and wickedness. For this reason, as Jesus said, we cannot have two masters; for two masters cannot vie for attention within our soul, for then there will be constant internal war.

We get a glimpse of such an inner war when Paul writes about it in Romans 7, and then he writes in Romans 8 that the answer to address this internal war is by following the Spirit and not the dictates of the flesh. We need to understand, God doesn’t just want to be part of one corner of our soul, but He wants to fill the entire space of our mind and heart so that our will is submitted unto Him. What is the greatest commandment? “Matthew 22: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 To love the Lord, is more than just a condition of the spirit, but a condition of our soul, and once we submit all to God, then God can truly abide in us and begin to renew and change us. We can be reborn in the Spirit, but have not yielded our soul unto Him. God will not brainwash us, or override our will, this is a decision and choice we have to make out of love and obedience. Let us then consider the condition of our soul, and how much room God really occupies. It might just answer a lot of questions to why we have not found our path with God.

Oh yes, we need to be drunk, thus filled and saturated with the Spirit of God, thus the true and real power from on high! We need to be saturated by His presence so that nothing else occupies our thoughts. Only in the Spirit of God can we truly walk in the ways of God, by His power, by His glory, by His grace and mercy. Only in the Spirit of God are we truly empowered to preach and teach the Gospel in all its fullness, beauty and majesty!

Of the need to be infilled and led by the Spirit of God, we read in “Colossians 1: 9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and [c]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” We are empowered thus to be fruitful, to grow in spiritual maturity in the fullness of Christ and to be delivered from darkness.”

Unto God belongs all power and dominion, never man. 1 Peter 3:22 says of Christ “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him,” and also “Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” and finally ”Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” We are called to abide in Christ and move by His power and authority through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Such power, as with God’s wisdom, serves not selfish purposes, but the purpose of glorifying God.

God’s intention is for us to grow into the fullness of His glory, the fullness of His majesty and nature, and thus to come into perfection of His will. In Him we find peace, thus Shalom. True peace comes when we surrender our story to the author of the finisher of our faith. If we come to the last sentence of our lives, whatever our fate and outcome, then it is the Lord’s perfect will and in this, we rest. Up to then, we follow and we obey to walk in God’s fullness of our lives. We then know the perfection of His will, of His love and goodness as living epistles.

When Jesus said in John 15 that if we abide in Him then He will abide in us, He was saying that the more we die to the self the more we will be living in the fullness of God, meaning the fullness of His authority, the fullness of the anointing and the fullness of His glory. His holiness and glory will then be manifested in us.

King David writes in “Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” As believers of God, we need to yearn, seek and desire to dwell in the presence of God, for in His presence we know God and in that knowing, we can thrive, overcome, prosper and grow spiritually.

In Exodus 33 we read, “11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.” Take note of Joshua “did not leave the tent”. Yes, he longed for God. He longed to be with God. Do we have such a desire? Do we have such an urgency to dwell in God’s presence, where there is fullness of joy and hope?

David also wrote in “Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” He also said in “Psalm 140:13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence.”  David became king because he had a heart for God. Joshua took over from Moses to lead the people into the Promised Land because he longed to dwell with God.

To worship God is based on relationship, not religion. In Psalm 139:7 we read, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” God’s presence is always available to God’s people through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. God is also omnipresent, meaning He is always present even if we aren’t aware of it.

Yes, we must seek God’s presence. Moses understood the critical importance of being led by God’s Presence when in Exodus 33 he cried, “15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” In Psalm 51:11 David said: “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” In 1 Samuel 16 we learn (verse 14) that “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” Saul had become rebellious, seeking life after the flesh instead of serving God’s will. In Ezekiel 10 the glory departed from the Jewish temple because of Israel’s wickedness. Remember during that time God’s presence was visible, tangible yet dwelled only in the Holy of Holies, even though the Spirit of God was active among His servants but not yet poured out.

It is indeed fearful when we are left to wander this earth without the presence of God! A church without the presence of God is a mere building of noise and senseless activities! Ministry without the presence of God is powerless! The apostle Paul walked in the presence of God, therefore, in God’s power and so he wrote in “1 Corinthians 2: 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” Indeed, the Christian life without God’s presence is void of true regenerating life!

So often, when we come to the Lord in prayer or in communication, we come to pray for ourselves, for others, hopefully, the lost, and hopefully for this broken world. This is all good and well, but one morning the Lord said why don’t we just come to Him for the sake of being with Him, instead of coming with requests and petitions? Our spiritual life should primarily be about our relationship with God, and not about what God can do for us or even about ministry. It is about our love for Him, and if we truly yearn to serve Him because He is I AM.

The Lord loves to hear when we pray and seek His hand in our lives and those we pray for, but at times, and indeed many times, the Lord wants us just to come to Him for the simple reason to be with Him.  This is about building a relationship and drawing closer to Him. Let us think about this. How often do we not come to the Lord for a word, for revelation, for knowledge, guidance and strength [again, nothing wrong with this], but rather, how often do we not just come to sit at His feet and spend time with the Lord?

This is true for our human relationships as well - while it is good for the child to ask his/her father's help and advice, sometimes, it is just better for the child and the father to spend time together. We need to realise that God is not just there to hear our requests and to pour out His love, but we need to realise that God also wants us to receive love from us. He wants us to pour all our attention onto Him. To be honest, one can serve the Lord but not really love Him. One can be in ministry, but intimacy is somehow lacking. The Lord longs for His children just to come to Him, to love Him, to laugh with Him, to be close to Him, and just to be in His Presence.

In the presence of God, we come alive again in the power of the Holy Spirit to be true representatives of God on this earth. How we need the presence of God to blow again through our churches, our hearts and our lives! How we need to again seek the presence of God to lead us in all truth, in power, in boldness, in God’s beauty and strength! Indeed, how we need the presence of the Holy Spirit of God to breathe life into us! How we need the Holy Spirit to shake our worlds so that we become alive from our spiritual apathy to be on fire for God! How we need the Holy Spirit to be filled with conviction and a certainty that God is faithful and true. How we need the holy fire of God to burn in our bones so that the dry bones may live and the spiritually dead and lost and forgotten may be revived.

Paul on the Road to Damascus was reborn when he met Jesus. And from that day he moved in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), fulfilling the Great Commission by declaring the Good News far and wide. Revival truly followed Paul, for Paul was following Christ in Spirit and truth. Paul had crucified his flesh and was now regenerated by the Spirit of God. For the water of life inside of him was manifesting wherever Paul ministered by the grace and power of God. Yes, revival must follow the disciple, for the disciple follows the author of life! For as we follow Christ, we walk in His life and Spirit, and by such life and Spirit, the lost shall know that God still redeems and saves the broken, the lost and the forgotten! Only in the presence of God can we be revived, therefore, come alive spiritually to lead others to the author of abundant life, Jesus.

How we also need a cry of the heart that we need the presence of God daily! We need to cry out to God that surely we don’t want to go anywhere or do anything without His presence. For in His presence is life, hope, joy, strength deliverance and healing. Yes Lord, lead us day by day in Your presence! Let Your presence always be with us! We can walk in His presence as we remain hungry and thirsty for God, drinking deep to be saturated and soaked!

We read in John 15, “4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

In Greek, the word abide is Meno, which means to remain, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, to continue to be, not to perish, to last and to endure. So firstly, when we read of abiding, the Lord is speaking about not departing from His presence. It speaks of continuing, in reference to time, to be within His Glory, and within His Glory to remain so that we are kept within His Divinity. And as we are kept, we shall not perish, and as we shall not perish, we shall endure. This is vital to understand – for our life, for our wellbeing, for our perseverance and strength depend on abiding, and resting in the Lord. In our own strength, we cannot endure, or enjoy abundant life.

Take note again of John 15 which says the following: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless I abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me ...” and also we can do nothing unless we abide in Him. So the Lord says in the Scripture that one cannot bear fruit in one’s power unless one abides. The fruit specifically deals with Galatians 5, which is the fruit of the Spirit. Now consider how a growing baby in the womb in itself cannot grow or develop but is completely dependent on the mother. Just so, we cannot spiritually grow, develop or become mature as disciples unless we continue to abide in the Lord, and this is what is underlined in John 15.

Hebrews 12 says (Amplified Bible): “1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, 2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].” Yes, we must make every effort, no matter the cost, to abide in God and not be distracted from such a noble quest.

2 Peter 1 declares, “5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” We are called to be fruitful in the knowledge of the Lord so that we may glorify Him in our virtuous conduct. This calls for being grounded and rooted in the Lord, therefore abiding in His presence.

When we speak of the word abide, the Lord shows the image of a growing fetus within the womb.  Now, consider how while a baby is in the womb, it is situated within the amniotic sac, a bag formed of two membranes, the amnion, and the chorion. The fetus grows and develops inside this sac, surrounded by amniotic fluid. The baby is constantly cared, for, constantly protected, provided, nurtured, and the baby is safe, and while within the care of the mother, the baby shall not perish, and the baby shall last until the determined time of birth. The baby enjoys life, and the hope is alive and true.

And this is how it is with the believer when we ABIDE in the glory of the Lord, where His very glory, divinity, power and majesty are like an amniotic sac. And while we are WITHIN His Presence, - abiding and habitually resting – we are protected, provided, nurtured, and we GROW. Yes, we develop, and we become spiritually strong because we are in God and God in us.

We also need to keep the image in mind when considering a baby in the womb – the baby is completely and utterly surrounded. The baby is completely encased and protected. This is the greatness of God. Just so, as we abide in the Lord, we rest in His glory as a baby rests in the womb –we are continually nurtured, provided, protected and we are surrounded by His Glory. Who then can touch or harm or destroy us when we remain in such a position when we abide and rest in His Glory?

This is after all the reality of Psalm 91. And take note, the baby will never seek to depart from the womb until the right time of birth. But we as disciples of God must continue to abide in the Lord following our spiritual birth, for as we remain in the Lord, we are positioned in the power of His consecration and sanctification for glorification.

We can only abide in God when God abides in us. This calls for us to make room for the Lord. Now, think of one’s life [soul] as one big room. Throughout life, we fill this room with all kinds of experiences, perceptions, and habits that form our way of thinking, our behaviour, and it determines our spiritual condition and fortitude. If there is a lot of idolatry and sinful activities also present in the room [our soul which is our mind, heart and will], then naturally the devil has the legal right to be present and active in the room. And where the devil is, there is spiritual darkness, and with darkness comes fear, disorientation, disillusionment, lack of direction, lack of purpose, bondage, slavery and oppression. On the day we come to the Lord, we invite Him into our lives, and we allow Him to sanctify our spirit so that we by design are no longer sinners but redeemed children of the Lord. But the problem is, even though we commit our spirit unto Him, we often tend to only invite Him to occupy a small part of this room called our soul.

So many Christians today allow God in, but they tell Him to only occupy a corner of the room. We want to hold onto so many of our wrong habits and mindsets. This is, however, not true spiritual freedom, but only the illusion of such freedom because by our choice and action we still keep ourselves in bondage. So now you have the devil and God sharing a room – a room filled with God’s light but also a room of darkness. Our actions, mindset and behaviour are partly now being determined by our service to the Lord, but because our room still caters for the world and in some ways the pitfalls of the devil, we still find an inner war constantly being waged within our soul. Our thoughts and heart is divided between God and the world, between serving God in holiness and still dancing with the devil.

To love the Lord is more than just a condition of the spirit, but a condition of our soul, and once we submit all to God, then God can truly abide in us and begin to renew and change us. We can be reborn in the Spirit but have not yielded our soul unto Him. God will not brainwash us, or override our will, this is a decision and choice we have to make out of love and obedience. Let us then consider the condition of our soul, and how much room God really occupies. It might just answer a lot of questions to why we have not found our path with God.

In this world of so much noise, more than ever we need to listen more and talk less. And this applies especially to our walk with God. We need to listen more to God, for it says in Psalm 46:10 that we must be still and know that He is God. He is the beginning and the end, and in Him lies all the answers, and our hope. In the stillness, and not in the noise, we find our peace and our strength as we listen, as we abide and we rest in His almighty presence. So often we have forgotten what it means to rest. To rest speaks of resting from your own efforts, and seeking to pursue your own path and your own will. To rest and to abide speaks of placing your life in the hands of the Lord, and allowing God to move you, to guide and lead you. Yet so often we would rather toil, instead of bowing the knee and trusting.

To abide and to rest in His Almighty Presence is like a leaf on the water. The leaf never resists where the water goes – it simply follows where the water leads. And just so we must be in the presence of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead. We must not resist the Lord, or His will, or His commands or His Truth, but we must be like that leaf that simply goes and follows.

And so, in this world of so much chaos, anarchy, rebellion, and strife, it is important more than ever for the believer to know the will of God. God’s plan for the Church, and for our lives, individually, rests in heaven. And we must always seek to know such a will, and we must seek to follow it, and we must seek to rest and abide in His ways and truth. In the silence, we know He is God, and as we come to the Lord, let us then listen, and let us rest in Him. And as we tabernacle with the Great I Am, in fellowship sealed with the Blood of the Lamb, as disciples we need to learn to pray for discernment and to know the will of the Lord. For it is all about His will perfect will – the commanded and sovereign blessing. For then we stay true to His path and the Kingdom.

For if you know and follow the perfect and complete will of the Lord, you shall find your rest, your joy, and your peace. Yet, this calls for us to abide, to rest in Him and to listen. And as we abide, we know He is God. And so, when it comes to the will of God, which is the crux of the Lord’s Prayer, as disciples we need to therefore learn to seek wisdom on how to walk in the will of the Lord. For to know the will of the Lord is one thing, but we require His guidance, knowledge and understanding of how to follow His path, and to stay true unto God.

Therefore, as disciples, we need to also learn to seek strength to do the will of the Lord. Often what God calls us to do will not be easy, and it might confront our comfort zone, or it might challenge our own will and the path we seek to walk. So often we speak of the power of the Holy Spirit to minister and to be witnesses unto the ends of the earth, but just as important is the inner power of the Lord to overcome, to persevere, to stand our ground, to keep following the right path and to love. For it is not easy to be a disciple, and it is not easy to seek the narrow road, and so in our quiet time with the Lord we need to listen, and we need to draw strength from the Father to know His will and to follow.

Isaiah 11 speaks of the Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of wisdom, guidance, discernment, counsel, understanding and might. It also speaks of the fear of the Lord. You see, we need to yield and submit to the Holy Spirit, all throughout the day, always united and always submitting, for then we shall be led by the Spirit so that in the counsel, understanding, wisdom and might of God we shall know the will of the Lord. For the Spirit of the Lord is not just there to empower us to do, but also to empower us to obey, to know and to follow. And more than ever in such times of darkness, we need to know the will of God, how to walk in it, and how to understand His will and how to yield. For the Holy Spirit comes not for our own enjoyment and self-edification, but to discern the way of the Lord, and to walk in the path of the Kingdom to the glory of the King of kings.

And in the process of seeking and walking in discernment, in wisdom and strength, we need to abide, and to abide implies having faith and trust. Faith to know God is still in control, and to trust that God is not only able but will also do. More than ever we need to simply be still and abide. We need to come before the Lord and draw strength from Him, and seek His will, His direction, His guidance and the courage to keep going. For it is not about us or the Self, but about the Kingdom, Therefore, we need to listen, and not always speak. For God knows the way, and so we need to draw close, and know His heart and know His will.

God desires for us to walk in peace, but then we must walk in the will of the Lord. For in the will of the Lord is peace, understanding, and hope. But we need the wisdom to know the will of the Father, and the path to walk. And yes, we need the strength to pursue it, we need the wisdom to follow it, and we need the character to run the course.

Jesus knew the will of the Father. He spent time with the Father, alone, listening and praying. He knew the path led to the cross. He knew He had to sacrifice Himself. So He would withdraw, be silent, and draw strength, and He would seek discernment, and the leading of the Spirit so that He may walk the path in ministry which led to Golgotha. Jesus as the Son of God sought only the will of the Father, and of the Kingdom. His character was refined, his resolve set and determined, for in the will of the Father he found the way and the truth. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed the following in Luke 22:42: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Yes Lord, it is not about our cup, but let Your will be done, always and always, for unto You belong all the dominion and power!

The Apostle Paul knew the will of the Lord. His path ended eventually in imprisonment. Along the way, as he preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, he was ridiculed, mocked, beaten, and faced many dangers. In the midst of all the noise of the time, as he faced tribulation and spiritual resistance, he drew his strength from God, and he sought the wisdom, and the courage to keep running the course. And he did finish the race because he sought only the will of God. In the Presence of God, we must abide, and know He is God.

As disciples, we must listen, rest, and trust in His divine guidance. Thus, it remains so important that we must continue to abide. We must rest in the Lord, and know His will. And we need to seek strength, wisdom and the courage to pursue it and allow God to change our hearts, and fortify our character and strengthen our resolve. For truly, in His Presence, we learn to die to the Self and to gain Christ, who is the hope of our Glory.

1 John 2 says, “28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” May we continue to abide in the Lord, abide in His Presence and Glory, for then He shall keep us safe and protected. How we need to earnestly endeavour to abide in God to grow in the image of Christ. We must make every effort to seek His Kingdom, His will and Way, for this pleases the Lord and then we fulfil the greatest commandment. Yes, make every effort to be saturated by His presence!