Is God a personal God? When you say, “I take Jesus as my personal Savior,” you mean that you, as a person, believe Him to save you. But to call God a personal God means that you believe that God is a person; He is not an impersonal force.
There are people who do not want to talk about God, and so they talk about Mother Nature instead. The world is full of so many marvelous things that it is startling. How can anyone believe that God is an impersonal force and that all the peoples and the entire animal world were created accidentally? Can anyone believe that if all the parts of a watch were placed in a box and shaken, perhaps a million times, then eventually all those parts would come together as a watch which would keep perfect time? Wouldn’t that seem like an accident? Yet the odds for that happening are much greater than the possibility of any single organ of the body coming into being accidentally. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
We believe that God is a person, a personal God, not a blind force, or even a very intelligent force that is not personal. We believe that we are created in His image, and that we are persons by virtue of the fact that He is a person (Genesis 1:26–27). However, in believing that God is a person, we face another problem—why is He so impersonal in His dealings with us? Consider this carefully: If God is not a person, more personally involved in our lives than He has shown Himself to be, then neither is He a personal God who will reject our initiative to move out in what He has promised. This statement may seem very difficult to understand. Therefore, we will review it in several different ways.
Why has God shown Himself to be impersonal in our lives? Face the fact that—there are promises in the Bible which have not worked for us. There are prayers which have not been answered. Should we just keep crying out to God, believing that once in a while we will hit the right note and He will do something? Why doesn’t He do something all the time? Why doesn’t He show Himself to be a person of integrity to follow through with what He starts in our lives? The following Scripture says that He does.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12–13. Notice the action mentioned here. This should help you find the answer that you need. May you never forget it!
Have you read promises in the Scriptures that are not working for you? At times do things seem to work well for you, but at other times do you become so discouraged and resentful that you withdraw? Face the fact that you are throwing rocks at God if you have this attitude in your heart: “I believe God to really be God, and yet He does not seem to answer my prayers. He does not reward what I set out to do or what I am believing Him for. I hang on and on and on, waiting for something to happen, until my spirit is wrong! Then God deals with my spirit, and I must start all over again.”
People wander in circles for years, without receiving all that they should from God. In the Old Testament we read that when circumstances were difficult, the people murmured against Moses and against God. They did not achieve anything by murmuring. Let us not murmur; let us not complain. Instead, let us face this basic principle: If God is not a person, more personally involved in our lives than He has shown Himself to be, then neither is He a personal God who will reject our initiative. This truth should liberate us. It is not a matter of blaming Him; it is a matter of our accepting Him and appropriating Him as He is. We must know what He lays down as laws. God is a personal God, but He is also impersonal.
When Jesus our Lord wanted to describe what the Father is like, He gave the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. People usually feel sorry for widows because they live in jeopardy and in need of security. This widow was cheated out of her inheritance and went to the judge; but much like our heavenly Father, he did not seem to care. Nothing seemed to happen until she finally broke through with persistence. Then the unjust judge said, “I will avenge this woman, lest by her continual coming she wear me out.” The margin in the Scripture reads literally, “hit me under the eye” (Luke 18:5 NASB). The judge was saying, “This woman is hitting me under the eye, and so I will avenge her.” Jesus finished the parable with this conclusion: “Shall not the heavenly Father avenge them speedily who cry day and night unto Him?” (Luke 18:5–7). He wants each one of us to have that same persistence.
God opened the way for us to walk with this persistence. The hour has come that our initiative is required. There is no doubt that as we walk with God, we will make many mistakes. Yet one of the greatest mistakes we make is to hear the Word of the Lord and not act on it, or not move on it, or not take the initiative to do what God laid before us to do. Some have gone as far in the blessings of the Lord as they can until they take the initiative to go farther.
“God is working in you to will and to work of His good pleasure.” He is working in you not only to give you the Spirit to move into His perfect will, but also to take a step further—so that you work out your salvation. This seems to resemble a teaching of Catholicism, that we are saved by doing works of penance. The Protestant position is that a person’s salvation comes entirely by the grace of God—not of works, lest any man should boast. However, this Scripture goes on to say, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works… Ephesians 2:9–10. If your salvation is not coming forth in action—in your life, in your prayers, in your initiative—then it is not coming forth at all. The men who will move this world now will not be recluses in religious retreats or monasteries, who contemplate beautiful things. Instead, those who are the busiest usually receive the revelations that God is bringing, because they are acting on what God has given.
A familiar Scripture on this faith-action is found in the book of Isaiah. It tells us what is to happen to those who wait upon the Lord. Are they to receive great inspiration? Are beautiful visions to be revealed to them? Not primarily. Isaiah 40:31 says, Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. This speaks of action. Everything will come forth from their lives as revelation-motivated action.
Get over the false idea that God will meet you while you are passive. He will be most active in your life as you turn loose the faith within you. Even the work of the cross within your life is an activity. Faith is an activity. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20 KJV). Weymouth’s translation of James 2:17 says, So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, is dead in itself. In verse 18 he speaks of it as faith apart from corresponding actions. Not only must you believe; you must also move. Your action must correspond with your faith. If you believe that you are going to be a prophet, then be a prophet. Start working at it. Get the Word into your heart. Prophesy; move into it. Do not sit back. The longer you sit back, the more difficult it will be for you. There is only one way to move in God, and that is by actively pressing in.
Press in! Knock at the door! Keep knocking, and it will open to you.
Remember, however, that there is a certain kind of initiative that God has always required. Psalm 34:18 says, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart… What good will this do? If God is nigh, if God is close, what does that mean? James 4:8a says, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh unto you. When He is close, do like the woman who was hemorrhaging; she grabbed the hem of Jesus’ garment (Matthew 9:20). There are always people who throng to listen, but do not grab. There must be the initiative within your heart to be a grabber! Come to services to wait upon the Lord and renew your strength, because you are to run, to walk, to fly, and to grab in activities of faith.
It is easy to dwell on mystical truths and lose sight of how practical sonship is. The sons of God will be a people who dare to believe for something new.
The Kingdom of God is opening up vast areas of research. Many inventions have already come forth through today’s end-time anointing upon men of God. God is revealing keys to miracles. God could give them by a flash from heaven, but it is rather doubtful that He will. Usually God gives people a lead to do research, and as they do it He leads them into the next step. We see this truth illustrated in chapter 24 of Genesis. Abraham sent his servant, Eliezer, to look for a bride for Isaac. When he finally found her, he worshiped God, saying, “I being in the way, the Lord led me” (Genesis 24:27). God does not steer a parked car. In this case it was a servant going down the road with ten camels, not a car. The man was in motion. He was in the way, and God led him.
Your clearest revelations will come while you are in action. If you want to break loose to walk as a prophet or a prophetess of the Lord, just keep busy. You will notice that the fiercest spiritual warfare comes against you when you are active. However, the more active you are, the more immune you become to that spiritual warfare. Satan seems to catch up with those who stop, even for a short while. There has to be that within you which perseveres. Perseverance is a quality of the saints to reach into God. It is not a matter of working harder, but of finishing the labors which God has set before you. By the time you are almost finished, He will set something else before you. Persevere; you will see one thing after another come forth in the Lord.
You must realize that spiritual people are not lazy people. Notice that the spiritual leaders in the New Testament, who were called of God, were not sitting around when God called them. Only one man was literally sitting. We read about “Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom” (Matthew 9:9). In other words, when Jesus called him he was a tax collector for the Romans. How the Jews hated Roman tax collectors, but later, Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jews. The Lord does some amazing things, doesn’t He? He chose a renegade Jew and used him to bring the great revelation with which our New Testament starts. When Jesus called the fishermen (Peter, Andrew, James, and John) and said, “Follow Me,” they were busy working. Jesus is looking for laborers. He told His disciples, “Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Why didn’t He say, “Send people who have a fantastic gift of gab, who love to preach?” Jesus wants laborers for His harvest field. The man who goes into the harvest field to work, doing the will of the Lord, will be sustained; he will be fed spiritually.
Breakthroughs are coming! Pursue them in the name of the Lord. Do not let anything discourage you! Always remember that discouragement cannot flourish in the climate of purposeful activity which is set to do the will of God.
Do something which you feel is according to your faith. Wait upon the Lord, receive His strength, and put it into action. Then you will be able to work at a greater pace.
You can learn to break the oppressions that the enemy brings against you. You can break the wrong moods. Discouragement should not be allowed to continue like a convalescent period, or cause you to regress spiritually. It need not be that way. Within one day’s time, it is possible for you to generate the highest level of spiritual life. It does not take long with the pursuit of the first commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). Note how David, a man after God’s own heart, “danced before the Lord with all of his might” (II Samuel 6:14).
There are always a few in the congregation who react against this intensity that God is requiring. The people who enter into a total intensity are able to so project their energy, their might, their strength, and their heart, that it becomes a total expression of faith. Does God hear you if you wave your arms? No, but God honors the total strength and might of a man when it is an expression of faith. Love the Lord with all your might and with all your strength, as well with all your soul and your heart reaching out to Him. If you do not reach out with your heart and soul, then the might and strength will not mean anything either. God wants you to enter in with all your heart. This is a secret which can be the turning point for you if your promises from God are only half-fulfilled, if you are only half-blessed and half-walking with God.
God has something better for you. Get into it with a whole heart, with the flow of God working. Be very much concerned about the revelations from the Scriptures and from today’s living Word. If the promises of God are not working in your life, learn why they are not working. Wait before the Lord, but do not wait for some strange, mysterious thing to happen; tune into His strength. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,” so that they can press into His purposes totally—in spirit, in soul, in mind, and in the physical body.
This teaching is timely because we are living in the time of Romans 8, when the Lord is very much concerned about releasing you from futility and bringing you into the real birth of mature sonship. It is doubtful whether any son will be brought forth to full sonship unless he is on a dead run. He will have to be moving. He will have to be pressing in that much.
As a good start for you, review the promises of God over your life concerning your ministry of serving the Lord. Make notes to keep as reminders in your Bible. Do some thinking along this line: “What goal does God really expect me to reach? What am I doing to attain it?” When you are working on a project in the will of the Lord, you are not only getting a job done, you should also be growing and reaching into God.
In the first years that I waited on the Lord, I did little else. Then God told me that He would keep meeting me when I waited on Him while I was busy. Suddenly the door opened to the ministry that He had promised, and soon many people came, wanting personal ministry. Soon I was so busy that I became discouraged; I had pressed into the promises for a walk with God, but instead I seemed to be working myself to death. The Lord assured me that there needed to be times of rest, and yet He put me to work doing certain labors. In them I found that I was being blessed and He was feeding me.
In those days, our church building was not completed and needed much construction to bring it up to building code standards. Hardly anyone wanted to work, and so I worked continually for five years and finally saw it finished. During that time I thought about the wasted hours in which I could have been studying the Word and reading commentaries and history books. I thought about all the marvelous studies I could have dabbled in, such as psychology and philosophy. I could have even gone through five more years of college during that time. I thought of all I could have learned if I had not had to work away on that church building. It seemed like a waste of time; and yet all that time the Lord told me not even to read any of the books in my library. After three years, He finally directed me to read only one chapter of a book I had wanted to read. That chapter dealt with the dangers of passivity. It was a revelation from God, so that our end-time walk with Him would never be passive.
Through passivity, something adverse can happen to you. In Christ you are not in the occult, in some metaphysical religion by which you go into transcendental meditation. You do not have to do that sort of thing to come into revelation and communion with God. In the five years that I worked on a church building, God taught me more concerning the keys of wisdom and ministry than I could have learned in any university. Everything basic concerning the end-time apostolic ministry was born during those five years. It came forth while I was pounding nails. When I first started, I did not know how to do any construction work, but God kept me working away. Often I would climb down the ladder to write notes of what God was speaking. I was in the way, and the Lord was leading me. I was not a parked car, and so the Lord could steer me in the course He wanted me to go.
This is what God wants to do with you. Enter into the Lord’s labors with a greater burden, not with the attitude that others only want more work out of you. Get busy for the Lord, get the vision, get the burden, get a directive Word from God. Get into His service; and while you are working, keep drawing the strength and the anointing of the Lord. Strive to be in motion.
Should you be busier than you are? Do you have an activity assigned to you, a Word from God concerning what you should do in today’s New Testament church? If the leaders have never told you what to do, and you have never had a revelation from the Lord of what you are supposed to do, then bother the pastor and elders until they give you a job. Their job is to pastor you and lead you. Bother them until they tell you what to do and put you to work. Then you can start growing.
Strive to do the will of God. Maybe you know what God wants, but you are not moving into it fully. Work on that. If you have been discouraged or sick, get over it fast. You can do anything you are burdened to do. You can wander along and become discouraged, or you can decide to do the will of God and not be discouraged.
In today’s New Testament churches, it is not the things that you do not understand that should bother you, but the things that you do understand. You can become discouraged when problems and situations arise which you do not understand. Do not worry about those things if you have received light and revelation of today’s living Word. If you know what to do, and if you become busy doing what you are supposed to do, you will not be open to discouragement. God will lead you on to greater understanding. Be concerned about the things that you know you are not walking in. Do not worry about the things that you do not understand. Be concerned about the things that you know you should do. God will constantly bless your life if you are always seeking to know His perfect will. When you know what He wants, then set about to do it. Whether or not you feel capable is not important. It is not a matter of feeling self-sufficient, for you can draw the answer from God when you dare to make the move. Wait on the Lord and you will renew your strength.
In a book by Smith Wigglesworth, there is an account concerning his ministry of casting out demons. Someone had asked if he waited until the Holy Spirit moved on him before he went to cast out demons. He said that as soon as he saw a demon, he went after it, expecting the anointing of God to catch up with him. He expected God to get there at the same time he did. Whenever a manifestation of Satan comes along, go after it, believing, “God called me; God raised me up, and in the name of Jesus I can deal with this!”
You will never walk on water if you keep looking at the waves. You will never move mountains as long as you are trying to survey them. The best way to cast out demons is to turn your back on them and look to the Lord. Keep your eye on the Lord, draw His strength, and go after them. You do not have to wait for an overwhelming anointing; it will come while you are in motion.
If you do something about this Word, it will be revolutionary; it will change the life of your whole church. Be rebuked if you know what to do and yet are not doing it. Be rebuked if you have revelation without obedience and action. Let the Word of God smite your heart. As the Lord blesses you and gives you understanding, walk in it, do it, move in it.
If you are not walking in what God has shown you, or if you have backed off to some degree, take a new stand in the Lord to break every wrong mood, every discouragement, every withdrawal. Believe God to help you to walk in all you know to do.
Jesus said, “Whatever I see the Father do, that is what I do” (John 5:19). This is a key to ministering. Keep looking; and when God gives you some sign, move! Expect God to give you the discernment and the anointing. Look for revelation of what the Lord is doing, and do it. Find out what He is saying; then say it. The effective ministers are not wandering through a lot of books trying to find a sermon; they want to know what God is doing now. They hear what God is saying. Then they pursue it with all of their hearts. When they find the leading of the Lord, they move in it.
Let us become sharp to move in God. Let us not break ranks, but rather learn to move in the simple anointing of the Lord that will come upon us as we start. As we wait upon the Lord, we will renew our strength and be able to keep moving. If we draw constantly from Him, and constantly move in His anointing, more and more will come from Him. Whenever you think that you cannot do any more, you can. Not only can you do a little more; you can double it. You can always do more.
Walk in the Word. Neglect is deadly. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). There is no escape if we are neglectful. We must press in and do everything we know to do. It is that simple. If this message disturbs you, perhaps it means that you will not neglect the gift that is in you. Paul said to Timothy, “Stir up the gift that is in you. God has not given us a spirit of fear” (II Timothy 1:6–7). We must not hold back, thinking that we are not worthy. It is not a matter of being worthy. You can always ask God to forgive you for whatever stands in the way.
Get rid of your self-condemnation and move out in God. If you have a little hindering habit, you will not get rid of it as long as you are focused on it. Many a man has dropped the cigarette habit by becoming so busy working for the Lord that he forgot to smoke. One of the most valuable lessons you must learn is to distract yourself from the thing that is wrong by focusing on the thing that is right. When you become so busy doing what God wants you to do, suddenly you will realize that you have changed, that you are a different person moving into a new level, a new step.