There is nothing more satisfying to the devoted disciple of the Lord than basking in the presence of God and enjoying the fruits of Holy Spirit like peace, joy and contentment; but what is your response when the Lord is pressing you to go deeper into the knowledge of Him?
The Bible encourages us to delve into the deeper things of God and by doing so we increase in wisdom and revelation knowledge in the glory of Him (Ephesians 1:15-21); but the Bible also eludes to push back from the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). As we seek to search out the heart of God and remove those things from our souls that may be keeping us from total consecration, we have to accept there will be push back from the enemy. Satan doesn’t relent when he deems we are devoted to pursuing God in word and deed; if anything, Satan ramps up the attacks, and the impact of those attacks on our psyche will determine just how serious we are about consecration. It’s during the fiery furnace of purification we discover just how devoted we really are to God’s perfect will for our lives.
The Bible tells us that the pure in heart shall see God (Matthew 5:8) and becoming a pure vessel requires more than saying the sinner’s prayer, receiving Jesus as Savior, and making daily decrees for consecration. Yes, we begin the path to consecration by making biblical decrees regarding holiness in walking with God, but unless we give God permission to strip us of everything that stands in the way of purification, our decrees will not take us into the Holy Place. At some point, we have to allow Holy Spirit to crucify our flesh. Those who have allowed God to direct every area of their lives are truly walking in holiness. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God (Romans 8:14). There is a difference between being a child of God—one who is part of the family of Heaven (and also considered a brother or a sister) verses those who are Sons. Sons carry the glory and live in devoted consecration to the Spirit of the Living God. Those living in devotion to the Spirit of the Living God are set apart for encounters that only the truly surrendered are invited to experience. Does that mean the average Christian cannot have a dramatic spiritual encounter in the Spirit? No, God can choose whoever He desires to bless with a divine spiritual encounter, but walking in the glory of God daily is reserved for the totally surrendered.
Enoch walked so closely with God he never actually died a physical death. He was “taken” by the Spirit of the Living God (Genesis 5:24). Elisha was so powerfully anointed from a lifestyle of surrender that a dead man was raised to life after that man’s body was laid upon the bones of deceased Elisha (2 Kings 13:20-21). Moses was so surrendered to God that he withstood the grumblings of the Israelite’s and still had face to face communication with God when he went into the mountain to speak with God about next steps for the Jews (Exodus 33:11). There was no one more consecrated than the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible has numerous testimonies of things Jesus did that surpassed even physics, like walking on water; but because of His devotion to the call of God on His life, He moved in many operations of glory and power. Feats like these are possible for anyone who has made Jesus Christ LORD of their lives; but feats of this magnitude require a level of sacrifice many believers in God are not willing to embrace.
The Bible tells us to take up our cross and walk with Jesus (Mark 8:34), but the sacrifice of the cross has to be received. While the Cross is the epitome of the surrendered life, God doesn’t force His will upon any of us. Even when God knows His direction for us is what’s best, it is still up to us to lay down our own agendas for His and run our race with endurance. Thankfully, it is enough to believe in God and His Son Jesus to be saved, but in order to walk in the excellency of His glory, a refining of the spirit is required, and there is no refinement without the Word of God and the power of the Cross. It’s not enough to just attend the local church and sing in the choir every Sunday morning. Consecration is deeper than that; consecration requires a stripping away of all those things that keep us in bondage to vain living and foolish pursuits. Consecration requires we abstain from foolish behaviors, foolish jesting and worldly mindsets that prohibit faith from flourishing and hope from producing real results. Consecration is the gateway to living in the supernatural. No one can think or desire their way into the supernatural, one has to pursue it. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26), so we have to move from desire to doing life in the supernatural.
Kathryn Kuhlman, John G. Lake, Maria Woodworth-Etter, and Kenneth E. Hagin exhibited life in the supernatural. There are documented testimonies of supernatural events that took place in many of their meetings. These four people had consecration in common. None of them indulged in worldly pleasure, they refrained from alcohol and other ungodly devices and they spent hours and hours in communion with Holy Spirit. These four people devoted themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and endured much hardship during their seasons of consecration. Kathryn Kuhlman lived in a turkey shed without basic necessities just so she could be where God wanted her to be while she went through Holy Ghost training. In his quest for holiness in Jesus, John G. Lake gave away everything he owned to pursue ministry in South Africa. Lake had become wealthy selling insurance. Maria Woodworth-Etter actually embraced the call to holiness and consecration during the mid 1800’s and set out on a journey to preach repentance and heal the sick. Her call to holiness and repentance produced such miracles she was once arrested but then released when those who had been healed through her ministry were able to prove they had indeed been healed after she prayed. Kenneth E. Hagin set himself on a course for consecration as a man who was raised from the bed of sickness as a teenager. With sometimes little to no money he continued to pursue God and go where God told him to go in order to carry the anointing he carried for healing the sick. All of these people are on record stating that their ability to heal and walk in the miraculous was cultivated through complete and total consecration to the Lord. This level of consecration required the laying down of personal comfort and sometimes personal desire in order to posses the glory that could only come from a deeply surrendered life. There was a cost to carry the glory of God in the way these people carried it; but the dividends in saved souls, restored families, and divine miracles more than made up for the lack of worldly goods and comforts these godly generals gave up to live in holy devotion to God. I’m certain if we were to ask each of them if the sacrifices made were worth the rewards they would loudly exclaim, yes!
The cost of living in the supernatural is high and it’s not for everyone. Most Christian’s will never taste of the magnificent glory of God, but for those who dare to peer into the things only angels have seen, the call to consecration is well worth the cost. Consecration is a process and it takes time to strip our souls from all the junk we inherited on our DNA before we made the commitment to serve Jesus. There will be set-backs, heartache, grief, great sacrifice and periods of isolation, but there will also be many moments of great joy, ecstasy in Jesus, and deep satisfaction if we faint not. Manifesting the glory of God on a supernatural level is possible but only through a total devotion to sanctification in Jesus. There is no other way to walk in the glory, but the reward for dedicated obedience and consecration far outweighs the fruits that come from worldly pursuits. The question we have to ask ourselves is…are we willing to go deeper?