Zulluwth - Gilgal...

Gilgal...

Right now, the Lord is working to expose and destroy bitterness from your heart. Part of the reason for this is that the time has come for him to baptize you in fire and introduce you to that realm in the Kingdom of God which is symbolized by the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle of Moses, the Temple of Solomon, and the Temple of Ezekiel's vision. Although we have free access to this realm by the blood of Jesus and experience it in part in some of movements of his Spirit, most of time we remain experientially in the Outer Court or the Holy Place on account of the dead works which remain in our consciences. Of course, as you know, the Blood of Christ is intended to purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. But the carnal mind is completely unwilling to submit to this. Nevertheless, Jesus has blessed us greatly, generating a new human spirit in us in his image and giving us his Spirit into and upon us. And the mercy of God is profoundly manifest in these things. You labored much to obtain a solid knowledge of God, but now it is time to be led moreso of the Spirit than before in order to obtain it. Do not be discouraged! The same way you were saved in the beginning is the same way your being saved now - by grace through faith, and that not of yourself, for it is the gift of God. Remember what Jesus said: »Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God«. Note that he did not say »proceeded«, nor did he say »by the Scriptures«. It is that word which the Spirit is right now speaking to your spirit by which you shall have life and have it more abundantly. The »letter« of the New Testament Scriptures will kill you as surely as the »letter« of the Law of Moses. This is the failure of modern fundamentalist and pentecostal teaching and practice. While on the one hand, it is good that they recognize the authority of the Scriptures, they generally ignore the authority of the Spirit of Christ over the Scriptures. We know that the Spirit does not lie and that he will speak things which are consistent with the Scriptures (at least in principle), and that he does speak also through the Scriptures. Jesus explained that he didn't do anything unless he saw the Father doing it. In saying this, what he revealed is that he did not live by the written and recorded Word which Yahweh spoke in the past, but by the word which the Holy Ghost was speaking in the moment, moment to moment. Jesus' statement of purpose recorded in Psalms and quoted in Hebrews was »Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God!« He wasted no time at all on some self-willed attempt to live according to everything ever written in the Scriptures or even to fullfill all of them. His sole operating principle consisted of seeking to walk in the ways which the Father had prepared for him. As the Galatians thought that they would continue on with the Lord through strict adherence to the Law of Moses after they had received the Spirit by faith, so also has the church world done, using and approaching the New Testament Scriptures in the same manner as the Galatians had with the Law regarding circumcision. The essential similarity is that they were self-willed in it instead of God-willed. Instead of hearing from God for themselves, they trusted in seemingly good and sincere teachers of Scripture. But the Scripture still says that the Anointing we have received teaches us all things and that the Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth. Any substitute for the work of the Spirit is therefore ultimately nothing but lying vanity, even when that substitute is the texts of Scripture. When John wrote »hear what the Spirit speaketh unto the churches«, he did not mean the Scriptures, (although the Book of the Revelation has become Scripture for us,) he meant the prophetic word which the Spirit was giving him in that time for the churches to whom he was writing. Contrary to the teaching of some, those seven churches do not represent different ages or epochs in church history, but rather, they were the recipients of seven different words of God, one for each of them, which seven were simultaneous and not sequential. Like the simultaneous action of the seven spirits of God in Isaiah 11, the application and effect of those seven prophecies were all working at the same time. And so it is today. Every group of believers walking together in the Spirit has a different word of God which is applicable to them, but not to anyone else (although other groups may learn from their experieneces). So also with each of us as individuals in Christ. The applicable will of God for you is different from that for me is different from that for another person and so on. But we all serve the same Lord and walk with the same Holy Ghost and learn from the same Scriptures. Understand then, that all the Spirit desires of you is that you wait on him until speaks and then believe that word he is speaking until he fulfills it. Your frustration stems from too much effort on your part. I do understand that the Spirit, on account of his calling and the authority he has given you to fulfill that call, does reveal some of his will for others around you. But nothing you can do or say will make it happen. All you can do is thank God for the revelation of his will, pray as he leads you, and trust him to fulfill it. The Lord has not forgotten your labors of love, nor is he angry with you in any way. He has not overlooked your generosity to his people. He knows that you love him with all your heart and he himself is thankful for the obedience you have given him. But he is determined to establish his will in you for you more perfectly and help you to hear his voice more clearly. You are hidden with him in heaven and your perception and understanding must be raised up to correspond with the truth, even this truth. Search the Scriptures - the Kingdom of God is within you and is defined as »righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost«. As you have borne the image of the Earthly, so also shall you bear the image of the Heavenly. You have already died and gone to be with the Lord. You have already been buried with him in baptism. Now the Spirit is seeking to take that burial and make it experiential in your consciousness, burying the Earthly image and raising the Heavenly image. Labor therefore only to enter into his rest. Lay aside reasoning. Cast all your care upon the Lord. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. You have been brought to a day of fresh beginning and the power of the Spirit is with you as never before. Submit all of your thoughts unto him in prayer and watch the fire consume away all of the wood, hay, and stubble. All things are tried by fire. When Yahweh shakes you and your understandings, all that will remain is that which is truly of him. -JBW

Gilgal...

A Siunaus Publication Jeffrey B. White, Author