Why are some believers deeper than others?

     Because they have decided to follow the Lord and have to held that decision.

     Christian character is evident in the life of those who refuse to dabble in questioning God.  We have His Word and the person of the Indwelling Holy Spirit.  It is not possible to go back - to wriggle out of salvation.  Either is truthful or He is not.

     Depth is not part of the personality.  It is the fruit of believing God and living accordingly.  Those who live by sets of rules do not understand rest in Him and have no experience of the Everlasting Arms.  Consequently, they deal with life on a surface basis, including measuring themselves by the behavior of others.

     The deeper, the simpler.  The more reliance on Him.  The more love for His Body.  The more clinging to His Word.  Less judgment.  More grace.

     The deeper, the more like Jesus.
  

     He who drew you to Himself listens to you beyond your comprehension.

     Every word uttered in prayer goes to the heart of God.  Prayer is never wasted, nor does it somehow miss the Lord.  He has made it clear that He not only longs to hear deliberate communication from His Own, but also that many things are not done, but by prayer.

     Those who want to know Him will seek Him in prayer.
     Those who want to know Him will learn that He trains those who are eager to touch Him.
     Those who want to know Him will tell Him so.
     Those who want to know Him will stand before Him and step into the assurance of His promises.

     Those who want to know Him will speak with Him and will live in the richness of the security that comes from knowing they have been heard by the One who holds the stars in place.

     I have just returned from Siberia and Ukraine where I met with a number of believers. 

    There was a rich and non- subjective presence of the Lord when getting together with those who have chosen the Lord and have been tested.  

    It is easy to say that those Christians are more available and fervent because life is hard and there are fewer distractions.  Of course, that is not the case.  The price of His Presence is the same for all.  It is the death of the flesh.  Agreeing with God.  The taking up of The Cross and following Him.

     He loves each one enough to give custom-made situations that compel choice.

     On earth, there is nothing to be compared with red hot fellowship with those who are in love with Him and who have determined He can do anything He wants to.  He is there.  Although He certainly can be experienced in the quiet time, something is not quite right when the believer is always looking to experience God in those private moments.  He should be wanting to speak to the Lord, to hear from Him and to agree with Him.  To know Him. To have Light for obedience.

     I have watched fireworks in many meetings.  Often without His Presence.   Yet, in being with those who cling to Him, I have always known He was there. 

     It is His design. 

     Desire sweeps in like weather.

     For the Soldier of The Cross, the test is the Word of God. 

     It can be a longing for a relationship, a wish to see a child succeed in a particular area, or it can be wanting almost any form of relief.  

     But the desire of the heart is another matter.  The desire of the heart is something longed for as the result of choice.  The desire of the heart is not the result of things that pass before us.  Rather it is the result of all that is important to us.

     Choose Jesus.

       Lord,  thank you for the hard things.  Please teach me to receive both the delights and the losses as blessings. 
      I submit to you. I take you at your Word.  I don't want any attitude that would dull me to you.  Oh Lord, please teach me to die to myself. I know it costs everything and I know there is nothing else. 

      I am available, Lord.  I rest in you.

      He is predictable in that He is faithful and will do the best thing.

    
     It has been said that if something does not work the first time, trying it over and over guarantees more failure.  Yet, it took seven of the same dips in the dirty Jordan river before Naman was healed.

     Who can win a battle by decreasing the army?  Why not wipe out Pharaoh's army before the Red Sea?  Why not just pre-plan and provide carts of food for the multitude?

      Soldier of The Cross, you crossed the Line when you told him He could do anything with your life.  That means that you are committed to wait for Him and do it His way, and in His time.  It might mean a long wait or it might mean a decision without the usual time to mull and analyze.  He is preparing us for heaven.

     We do not have the capacity to understand why, but we were created to agree with Him and to love His ways.

     We tend to want Him to approve of our ways, and often we mistake that waiting for His approval to be the wanting of His will.

     Those who have decided to follow Him have learned that He will answer in ways that are out of the ordinary.  No matter what He does, it remains new and there is Glory in it.

     Most of us tend to limit Him, especially as we grow older. 

     Lord, in spite of my craving for the familiar and the predictable, I tell you in prayer now that I want you more than anything.  Please teach me to submit and to recognize you.  Do whatever needs to be done in me in order to bring about your own likeness.

     I want to learn to move or wait according to your leading.  I want to be available to move into anything and follow you anywhere.  I want your way at any cost.  

     Here is a heart that heard God:
 

    " But none of these things move me; neither do I esteem my life dear to myself, if only I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have obtained from [which was entrusted to me by] the Lord Jesus, faithfully to attest to the good news (Gospel) of God's grace (His unmerited favor, spiritual blessing, and mercy)."

   Acts 20:24    (Amplified Bible)

     As a matter of fact, many of the miracles we know about don't seen so impossible, simply because we are so familiar with them.

 
   
    In daily living, I must remember that my limited concept of  the outcome is just that – limited.   If I am led to pray about a thing and if it makes no human sense I must then make sure that it is not out of line with His Word.  If  I sense it is from Him, I must take it to Him as the One who does much through the prayers of His Own.  And then, I must leave it with Him. I may need to do this daily.  

     In the meantime, there is much to do and loving and prayerful, faithful attention must be paid to those who are immediately before me.

     I so often hear Christians saying they won't even pray about a thing because they can not see any possible way it would happen.  I suggest this is the way most think.  We pray about the things we can see happening.  We just can't figure out how.  And even then, if we could have seen how to get it done, we might have just raced ahead and done the thing without prayer.  

     Most of the time, we only ask for the impossible when there is a desire to escape hardship or when there is a threat of grief.

     He is the God who creates something out of less than nothing.
     He is the God who is not limited by time or anything else.
     He is the God who said He would withhold no good thing.

     He is the God who said I do not have because I do not ask.

     Soldier of The Cross,  we must be content in Him.  He has said so.

     We must be about His business.  He has said so.

     If there is something that we are led to pray about,  it is up to Him, and prayer will release Him to move that  mountain.  He has said so.

    We must initiate tirelessly to every person who is without the Lord.   Children are almost always eager to hear the Gospel.  Even today, nursing homes are clamoring for anyone who will come in and read a Psalm and sing some hymns.

      Neighbors need the Lord.  The person who bags your groceries needs the Lord.  So do your pharmacist and your physician.    

      Most folks will not risk rejection.  Being cool and fitting into the listener's concept of acceptable often takes place over that one's  need for salvation.

     Soldier of The Cross, it is not about being sensitive to the needy one.  Rather it is about being sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  I am eternally grateful for those who were relentless in going after me.  

     It isn't necessary to sell the Lord to anyone. It is about letting the Lord love through us and giving Him the results.

     During the years I was so sure I knew better than my Christian friends, I was impatient with those who loved me enough to refrain from censoring Him out of their speech.  Yet, as He began to melt my heart, I could see through the haze enough to know there was something  real and I wanted it. I was just afraid it couldn't be true.

     It was the Lord Himself who did the convincing.  It was supernatural.  But for all eternity I will appreciate and enjoy those who overlooked my bristling and plowed on.

     We have been commissioned.   

     Learning to follow the Lord is not something that happens quickly.

     Young people are always asking to learn God’s Plan for their lives.  My usually unwelcome answer is that it is His Plan that we get to know and recognize Him.

     There can be no following of the Lord until there is recognition of Him.  This recognition results from the faithful and prayerful delving into His Word.  It comes from being consistently with His Body.  It comes from seeking Him in the private prayer life.

     It is the Holy Spirit who reveals Jesus and it is also the Holy Spirit who reveals the hidden things.

     His work in us is a process and was never intended to usher us into the next safe building block of this life.  He is preparing us for eternity.  He is making His own likeness in us, if we are available.