Many things the Lord asked me to abandon, many things He's had me forsake. Many times I'd ask Him to leave me alone, I'm no longer interested. But I love Him so much; I always come back, and He embraces me. I remember how much suffering He went through... for the whole world. I weep. I've learned that always, when the Lord asks you to leave certain things, it's not because He feels you don't deserve those things; it's because things won't end the way you think they would. He knows the end from the beginning; He lives in the present, past, and future. He's only protecting you.
That place He's asked you to leave, that person, that property—do you know if it would be the death of you? Or a stumbling block? Do you know what accident may happen in that car? Or on the way to that place He's asked you not to go?
Proverbs 14:12 (KJV): "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
I have also learnt: you do not skip stages in the realm of the Spirit. You do not cut corners or pass shortcuts in the realm of the Spirit. You would come back to redo that thing or obey that instruction if you want to keep walking with the Lord. The mind-blowing thing about this is that the realm of the Spirit is seasonal. It's not when you are ready to obey you do it; it's when the next season comes. It may be 5 years, it may be 2 months.
Be careful when walking with the Lord, and be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit, or quench His ministry in your life with stubbornness and disobedience. If the Lord rebukes you, quickly repent and take correction. It is whom the Lord loves that He chastens. Anything the Lord tells you to do, do it without asking questions.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, must have learnt this in her dealings with Him; hence she told the men at the wedding ceremony, "Anything He asks you to do, do it." And when they did, they received the best wine!
Abraham, in his many years of walking with the Lord, must have learnt this too. The Scriptures tell us he got up early the next day after receiving the instruction to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
Learn to obey the Lord without proper understanding of the reason for the instructions. You never may know why until much later when the eyes of your understanding are illuminated.
The secret of the grace for speed is trusting obedience. You want an excellent report with God, as the report of the Fathers of faith? Obey, swiftly.
The Lord isn't calling you into a bed of roses. He's calling you into a life of death. Death to the world, to yourself, to your feelings, to your emotions, in order to receive the true life. The true life we begin to live here on earth but doesn't belong to this world. We walk by faith, and not by sensory perceptions. Not by sight, not by feelings, but by the voice of God. We are dead to everything; we lose everything, yet we count our losses as gain. Are you ready to pay the price? This leads to number two.
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