{"id":1178,"date":"2019-08-04T04:36:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T04:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2019-08-04T04:50:58","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T04:50:58","slug":"a-closer-walk-with-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/2019\/08\/04\/a-closer-walk-with-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"A Closer Walk With Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At this time, The Lord is calling many of us to walk closer to Him. To come closer \u2013 like we were when we first loved Him \u2013 and stay in that place of <\/em><\/strong>fellowship with Him.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So many of His children are estranged from Him for\nmonths or even years and it was never meant to be that way. It partly has to do\nwith how we are introduced to Christ through the modern day church system, not\njust the world.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes church as we know it Today \u2013 with buildings and services\n\u2013 actually commenced with the Roman emperor Constantine in 330 AD, not with the\nApostles as is commonly thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is institutionalized Christianity, that lacks the\nCLOSENESS to JESUS we are meant to have and the Closeness to Each-other. Many\nare finding this in Home Churches after really seeking The Lord, because they\nknew there\u2019s something more than they were experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Me \u2013 Abide in Me<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord likes to speak to us in our spirit and many of us\nhave this experience \u2013 some more so than others and some less, some\noccasionally and some even daily. I first experienced this when I set quality\ntime apart with Him one evening, decided that I would spend that time in\nprayer, nothing else, and again 3 days later, when He gave me direction about\nbible college (I commenced 2 weeks before that) saying \u201cI give you good\nteaching, do not forsake My teaching\u201d. I knew instinctively, I was to leave\nimmediately. When I went that evening to cancel arrangements in response to The\nLord, it was early, before anyone arrived. I desired to pray for a short time\nand went to a closet with a stack of chairs for privacy, and He gave me a\npromise in my spirit, I remember to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus spoke two pivotal words to us in Scripture. One\nis\u00a0\u201cFollow Me\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and the other is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbide in Me\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u2026\u2026..on both occasions, He was\ndirecting our hearts and lives to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, so much of what \u201cthe ministry\u201d says and church\nprograms take up a lot of space in a Christian\u2019s mind and heart that is meant\nto be reserved for Jesus \u2013 His Presence, His Words and He can\u2019t be the Guest\nwhere He is not invited \u2013 those times we\u2019re after spiritual pursuits sometimes,\ncan hinder His intentions for us. And it is good to remember that mental assent\nhas nothing to do with spiritual assent\u2026\u2026..in other words, a lot of knowledge\nwe consider to be spiritual, does not\u00a0feed our spirit<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0or\nimpress The Lord\u2026\u2026..He truly wants more than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To \u201cFollow Jesus\u201d is just that \u2013 to follow Him \u2013 not \u201cthe\nministry\u201d not the \u201cnext person\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this time, Jesus wants us to come out of the clamor of\nvoices around us, so He can speak to us. Yes personally. He cannot do this as\nlong as you are occupied with what the minister says, your favorite program or\nauthor. What He has to say to you \u2013 and sometimes teach you \u2013 is so different\nto what they say to you or He says to them. It\u2019s\u00a0tailor made<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0for\nyou, that\u2019s why. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Counselor \u201cHe will take\nwhat is mine and give it to you\u201d\u2026\u2026..in other words, He will speak to you first-hand\nby the Holy Spirit\u2026\u2026 not second hand or third hand but directly. Ministries are\ngood, if they truly follow The Lord closely but they are\u00a0not meant<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to\nlive your spiritual life for you and they don\u2019t walk your walk either, so Jesus\nis the One you should be giving\u00a0most\u00a0<\/strong>of your hearing to\u2026\u2026He is\nthe\u00a0One to direct you in life\u2019s decisions and day to day. He really is \u2013\ntwo is company, three is a crowd, when it comes to that\u00a0special\nplace<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that belongs to HIM ALONE!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Heavenly Invitation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No-one<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0can speak to us like Jesus, is\u2019nt\nthat what Scripture says? And it\u2019s True!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He always knows exactly what to say\u2026..and\u2026..He does not make\nmistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still wonder at the ability of The Lord to say just the\nright thing. Sometimes it would be through a scripture, sometimes His voice in\nmy spirit, and sometimes through a phrase of a song I am hearing or He brings\nto remembrance. Occasionally He will bring part of a prophecy to mind. He is\nwonderful at that, once you start walking\u00a0close to Him<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Invitation\u00a0is there<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0for each one\nof us. He does not have favorites\u2026\u2026.it only seems that way when others are\nclose and we are not. But His resident Spirit is as close as our breath and He\nwishes to \u201cfellowship and sup with you\u201d just like it says in scripture. Find\nthis true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Can Identify With You<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been close to Jesus, very close to Him, distant in my\nwalk and busy every day, drifting off to sleep when it came to prayer time, I\npostponed through the day. I have been all four of these descriptions, so I can\naddress Christians in each one of those. I would have preferred otherwise,\nbelieve me, and could not have imagined. A medically induced disorder sapped up\nmost my energies after managing to\u00a0stay close<\/em><\/strong>, so you don\u2019t\nhave to turn away from Jesus to \u201cbe far\u201d fellowship-wise with Him. He gave me a\nlovely gifting of Poems like Helen Steiner Rice a few years ago, where I would\nwrite so many in His Presence (it did not occur outside of those times) for\nmany months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Word To Ministries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I got busy with making a number of websites with\nmultiple pages, and I spent so little time in prayer really and lived on the\ninspiration He was giving me for others \u2013 one of them was a ministry website\nthat was really feeding my readers spirit. So The Lord was\u00a0faithful <\/em><\/strong>to\nthem and to me. Is that you maybe? A word of advice: it is better to live\u00a0with\nHim<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0in worship than to work\u00a0for Him<\/em><\/strong>.\nWork\u2026..Ministry\u2026..I don\u2019t see the difference!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just because His Spirit is flowing through you in\ninspiration OR revelation, does not mean\u00a0to say\u00a0your heart and\nspirit are flowing towards Him<\/em><\/strong>. It\u2019s GRACE\u2026\u2026believe me, when you\nhonestly compare it to a quality time of WORSHIP each day. I can truthfully say\nthat it is possible to love others more than you do JESUS (in expression) when\nyou love others so much that you keep giving out to them and you fail to give\nout to Him as much as you do them \u2013 it should be more to Jesus, not less.\nBesides, we can usually give out in the \u201cAnointing\u201d once we have experienced\nit\u2026\u2026.but it is a totally different matter to give out of the Presence of God.\n\u00a0One is with you when you are moving in it, the other is with you all the\ntime. What are you going to do about it? Take that to The Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AND THAT, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IS THE DIFFERENCE YOU SENSE WITHSOME MINISTRIES MORE THAT OTHERS AND YOU ARE DRAWN SO CLOSE TO THE LORDAFTERWARDS. IT\u2019S ALL ABOUT JESUS, IS\u2019NT IT? IT REALLY IS.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


My advice to ALL of you is: once you sense just a little distance with Jesus,\u201cNip it in the Bud\u201d don\u2019t wait till it gets out of hand, like \u201ca garden with more weeds than flowers\u201d and treat temptations the same way before they get really hard to manage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


An Important Word Study<\/strong>
After an extended time of working with websites and other responsibilities once, The Lord spoke a word to me that contained the word CLEAVE\u2026\u2026I changed that word to cling\u00a0(just out of preference) when I wrote it and had a check in my spirit, to compare these two words. He knows I study word definitions pretty thoroughly and it\u2019s surprising what I come up with. I will share this with you.\u00a0
Cling is only part of the definition of Cleave.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Cling:<\/strong>\u00a0To hold on tightly, to remain close.To resist separation, to remain attached.It denotes embracing and to be entwined.\u00a0
Cleave:<\/strong>\u00a0To cling and adhere to.Stresses strength of attachment.To be devoted and grow together.To hold-fast and agree with.\u00a0
Adhere:<\/strong>\u00a0To follow and carry out.To comply and conform.To observe and follow.\u00a0
Devoted:<\/strong>\u00a0To be loyal and very loving.To give quality time to.To stay attached, to trust.Believe in and follow the practice of.\u00a0
Loyal:<\/strong>\u00a0To be committed and faithful to.To be trustworthy and always true.This is about being a loyal subject to the KingAnd a faithful friend to Jesus.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Make No Mistake About It<\/strong> To these, Jesus said \u201cIf you ask anything in My Name, I will do it\u201dnot the distant in heart but those who stay close to The Lord and bond with Him.That\u2019s why He said \u201che\/she who hears My Words and does them, he\/she is my friend\u201dand also, He gave the parable about the Five Maidens who were Ready with Oil in their Lamps.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


IN THESE LAST DAYS, THE ENEMY HAS A TIRELESS AGENDA TO MAKE LIFE SO BUSY \u2013 YOU DON\u2019T HAVE MUCH TIME FOR THE LORD (UNLESS YOU MAKE TIME).AND SO STRESSFUL, SO YOU ARE STRESSED TO THE MAX\u00a0 \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0\u00a0IF YOU DON\u2019T STAY CLOSE TO THE PRINCE OF PEACE (YOUR HEARTS CAN GROW COLD LIKE SCRIPTURE SAID).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


My friends, that\u2019s when you start to think\u00a0 \u201cIt is too hard to follow Jesus\u201d when you run out of time or inclination to stay Close to Jesus\u2026\u2026..not \u201cI love Jesus, I love You Lord\u201d but showing Him you DO by spending quality time with Him in Worship (love and adoration).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


This is the description of the\u00a0Bride of Christ<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0when He Comes.To these<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0He will say \u201cCome see the Home I have Prepared for You\u201d\u00a0
He did not say The Church (all Christians) would leave in the Rapture, He saidthose who are READY.And you say to yourself, you\u2019re not ready to spend precious time with The Lord?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Maidens in the Parable who were not ready were sleeping, remember?That speaks of the lethargic state so many of His children are inthat leads to spiritual apathy that can cause you to miss out on that\u00a0Glorious Event<\/em><\/strong>if you do not attend to that.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember Jesus saying about\u00a0The Feast He has Prepared<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and not many were interested to come? We need to be careful that does not describe us who have received Jesus,\u00a0when it comes to The Marriage Supper \u2013 that Great Celebration, hey?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


And if you are concerned for your loved-ones, you can reflect the\u00a0Love of Jesus<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0much more to them after being\u00a0In His Presence<\/em><\/strong>, than lots of church services \u2013 that only makes them feel left out of your life anyway, to the extent that they don\u2019t want our God because they can associate him with\u00a0a lack of interest in them<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0so to speak.\u00a0
You will be more inclined to show them the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness and Patience etc when you have been with Jesus. Don\u2019t preach to them, Live It.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gospel means Good News, not religious, they need to see that God is Good:they can best see this through you on the home scene, that is something\u00a0church services cannot do for them. There are so many testimonies asliving proof of this.\u00a0Be of Good Cheer<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


THE ORDER IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES WAS \u201cBELIEVE IN JESUS AND YOU AND YOUR FAMILY SHALL BE SAVED\u201d\u2026\u2026\u2026 THE HOLY SPIRIT IS INTO RESTORING THAT PROMISE\u00a0AT THIS TIME. LET THEM SEE JESUS IN YOU,\u00a0 NOT \u201cRELIGION\u201d\u00a0BECAUSE THAT\u2019S\u00a0WHAT SO MANY OF THEM CAN SEE.<\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFOLLOW JESUS!\u201d
<\/strong>
<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At this time, The Lord is calling many of us to walk closer to Him. To come closer – like we were when we first loved Him \u2013 and stay in that place of fellowship with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,18,1,11],"tags":[26,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-close-to-jesus","category-ready-for-jesus","category-uncategorized","category-walking-in-christ","tag-closer-walk","tag-follow-jesus","tag-invitation","tag-presence-of-god"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1182,"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calledtobefree.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}