We are called to follow Him. We are called to be His, for to be saved is to be His.
2Co 5:15 He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
I love the bridal paradigm for so many reasons. It is so helpful to be freed from the mentality that we have to do everything in our own strength for Him, at a distance. But being close to Him, with Him where He is, is so powerful. We are no longer our own, but we are His! We live for Him. And we rely on Him and ask Him for strength through the Spirit to obey and walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.
This is a good Mike Bickle quote: God can not do our part, we cannot do His.
He is very tender in mercy in His dealing with us and His thoughts about us each day are as many as the sands of the beach. He has plans, we connect with Him and get revelation of Him and what He wants to do. And then we do our part in obeying it, surrendering to it, or walking it out.
He has authority over us, and yet we have authority over our lives. Our choices are very significant. Sometimes destiny falls in our lap, but not often. We have to seek Him and seek His ways. His ways are greater and different than our ways. We can make good choices on our own and for some things, He leaves the choices up to us, for others we must seek His will. Learning to follow His leadership and stay on the path of life is harder than it sounds, but is just focusing and keeping our eyes on Him. He is a really good leader, if we stay following.
Though His mercy is great, He does not hold ignorance as excuse (Hos 4:6). There are many issues in everyone’s life where we do need His counsel, instruction. We must come to Him, say I am serious, I will keep pursuing you on this. He says ‘good, I will lead you each step of the way.’ Even the prophetic words we may have in our lives, we must take them to Him and if they are confirmed, we must pray the release of them and follow His leadership and timing.
Also keeping a journal of what He is showing you is so wise. Just like a quarterback throws the ball to one he knows will catch it, He will give more revelation when He knows we won’t forget it, and that He can add to it as well. There are things we are fighting against in our lives and we have the authority to war against it, in prayer and in tongues.
Joel 2:25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten ..
He can restore the time we have wasted the time the “locust has eaten” but we have to repent of giving time to the ‘locusts’ first and embrace diligence. If this is new to you start off with a praying in the car in the morning and then try a half hour of reading Scripture and asking Him for understanding on it, and worshiping Him. When one is a new believer the word is often hidden to you and dull. But it takes prayer to open it up, to get understanding and spiritual revelation, that things begin to click and for Him to speak to your heart. It is so wise to pray for your delight to be in the word of God, for your joy in be in His presence and for the Holy Spirit who lives in you to be your teacher and guide. This was my experience, I kept praying and crying out for my joy to be in the word and not the world and He answered it. Sometimes it takes baby steps, to wean yourself off of the world on onto the Word. But it is so worth it! See my post on How to Encounter God.
Learning to hear Him and see His leadership in our lives takes effort. And in some places it is obvious. But keeping obedience in how we spend our time (time is the most precious thing, it is the essence of life) is key. Scheduling time to grow in the places we are called to adds up over the years. We usually don’t pray or study near as much as we would like to without planned scheduling. For more on scheduling I highly recommend Mike Bickle’s teaching audio on The Power of a Focused Life.
The Key of David 