None of us can walk away from loyalties, and responsibilities, from the actual word of God that gives us a relationship and a duty toward parents, toward church, toward every situation, but we must remember we are serving the Lord first. All is lost if there is not a walk with God—a walk in which He is absolutely first. Your most tender conscience must be toward God, and you must not allow yourself to be habitually wiped out because of other people’s consciences, what they think you ought to do and oppressions they would put upon you. We should allow no person on earth, not one, to cloud our spirits. It is time for us to live our lives, and live them free in God.
The time has come to put Him first and not let the responsibilities for others get through to you. No one else is going to live your life for you. You are going to live it, and when you live it, live it for God with all your heart.
Every one of us should fight to be free. Rise in the liberty of the Lord. A man can give his life on his hands and knees serving another man in the will of God and still be free in his spirit toward God. He does not have to accept a lowly place. Many a slave has walked as a free man toward God and yet he could not call one minute, one day of his life really his own, though by laws and customs he belonged to another man; still he could keep his spirit free toward God. It is almost impossible, but it can be done.
When we serve the Lord we fight legalism which would bring us under bondage toward rules and regulations. Although we fight that, we do not recognize the subtle form of bondage that comes from relationships. Out of a relationship can come bondage that is different than a responsibility. We can meet our responsibilities without bondage. Meet your responsibilities; meet them head on. Do not flinch; do everything on God’s earth that you can do. But have such a thing in your spirit that you are not going to be oppressed, and nothing is going to cloud or restrain you.
Do not be brought into this bondage: “Well, what will so and so think?” You have a ministry to God in your own right, which is far more important. But, I have learned that it does not have to be a matter of doing either this or that; it can be a matter of putting God first and also doing these other things. We can do them all, and take care of them with a free spirit toward God.
This is a new level in which we are going to walk with the Lord with all of our heart.
Some of our people know what it means to have vicious attacks come against them because of the good, gracious word they give in the name of the Lord. We suffer for the word God gives; we suffer because we bring a word from the Lord.
Never since the early Church have people had a word in which Satan comes at them so viciously to try to destroy the channel of that word. He hates it because it will be by a word that he is going to be felled: one word will bring him down.
The word of the Lord is going to come forth. Chapter 19 in the book of Revelation tells about the armies of heaven coming behind Christ on the white horse, and out of His mouth goes the sharp two-edged sword that slays the enemy, which is symbolic. That is the symbolism we have in the Living Word insignia. We believe the living Word is about to come that is going to slay the enemy—bring down principalities and powers. Satan hates that word more than any other thing, and all we can do is stand and pray together with all of our hearts.
I know I would have been stopped long ago, but people are praying and believing and that word continues to come forth. There are many works that are prospering numerically, but there is nothing on God’s earth like the word He is bringing forth. That is why we have such battle and opposition.
Thank God that we have that word. Let us simply believe the word is going to have free course. Our strongest defense is to take the offensive. Stand before God and speak His word. Stand before His people and speak His word, whether in prayer and intercession or in teaching. Stand with an open heart and a right spirit and speak the word of the Lord.