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Maintaining A Personal Relationship with the Lord

by Wade E Taylor

A word that is being quickened at this present time is for us to “Come Higher.”  Wherever we are in our spiritual life experience, the Lord is challenging us to come higher.

“After these things I saw a door standing open in heaven.  The first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”  Revelation 4:1 International Standard Version

There are several terms that relate to our having a “higher” (or deeper) walk with the Lord.  One of these words is “overcomer.”

An “overcomer” is one who “rises above,” or over-comes a difficult circumstance or situation.  Being an overcomer is not the result of something that we do; rather, it is what we have become through the experience of what we do.  Our being an “overcomer” begins with the unconditional commitment of our life to the Lord – the “set” of our spirit upward toward the Lord.

The world recognizes our need for increased physical energy and advertises all kinds of things to give us that energy.  So also, our spiritual energy needs not only to be maintained, but to be increased.  This “energy” can only come from above.  Jesus said:

“I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5

The branch must be attached to the vine in order to draw its life from the vine.  We are to live in the Lord’s presence as being totally dependent upon Him, as a “branch” depends on the “vine” to which it is vitally attached.  If the branch is detached from the vine, within a short time it will become withered and soon die, as it has no life within itself.  “Without Me, you can do nothing.”

“Then Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”  John 6:53

The Word tells us that we are a “branch.”  Therefore, we must attach ourselves to the vine (the tree of life).  This requires an action on our part, as we were cut off from the tree of life through the transgression of Adam and became attached to the “tree of knowledge.”

I personally begin each day by detaching my self from the tree of knowledge, and through the death of Jesus on the cross in my behalf, I come, as being a branch, and I re-attach myself to the tree of life to receive the life of Jesus, flowing into my life.

As we do this and begin to draw on the life of the Lord, we will have a deep inner-sense that we are “receiving” the life of the vine flowing into us – we are partaking of and receiving the life of Jesus into our lives.

After His resurrection, Jesus said to Mary, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father” (John 20:17).  He then ascended to the altar of heaven, applied the blood of redemption, and we are eternally forgiven.  He then spent forty days appearing (Parousia) to the Church of that day, strengthening and empowering them, as they partook of His very life.

This impartation of “His life” that came into them was so powerful that the first generation Church literally turned the world of that day, upside down.

“Come, My beloved, let us go forth (together) into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards….  Song of Solomon 7:11-12

Let us get up early to the vineyards.”  We are living in the time when the Lord is about to demonstrate His life and power to the world, through present day overcomers (those who have made this level of commitment).

In His ascension, the blood of Jesus became the “power of an endless life.”

“Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.”  Hebrews 7:16

As we partake of His life in intimate fellowship, and through communion, we are receiving the “power of an endless life.”  As we receive the life of the vine (Jesus) into the branch that we are, we will live.  The Lord said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

There is an end-time witness that the Lord will give to this world, through the present day Church.  Today, the world laughs at the Church, and considers it a nuisance.  But the world is about to be shaken, as there is an “empowering” from above that is about to be released.

The power of heaven (the glory of God) is increasingly being made available to us, but we must “tap in,” as a branch coming to the vine to receive its life and strength.

There are unending demands on our time, which keeps us earth bound, and unable to take the necessary time to “ascend” and receive of His life and strength.  These things need attention, but in the end, they will all be left behind, for they have no value in relation to eternal things.

There is another word that is being quickened at this present time, “becoming a Bride,” which relates to our having a “higher” (deeper) walk with our Lord.  Our being a “Bride” speaks of a submissive relationship to the Lord.  This Bride is “within” the present-day Church, and is quietly being made ready for her unveiling.

As we confess our utter dependence upon the Heavenly Bridegroom (Jesus), and commit our lives to Him, we lose our identity and take on His identity, that in a submissive relationship to Him, we become the witness and expression of His life, as was John the Baptist.

“He said, I am the voice of One crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.”  John 1:23

Another term that relates to the present day workings of our Lord is the “sons of God.”  Being a “son” speaks of our having a “cooperative relationship” with the Lord.  I cannot have a cooperative relationship with the Lord as a son, unless I have first submitted myself to Him as being His bride.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:28

In the Church, “under the anointing,” there is neither male nor female.  We can all function as we are enabled by the Lord, totally irrespective of gender.  Male and female become a type of our relationship to the Lord.

As a “Bride,” I am dependent and become “one” with Jesus.  As a “son,” I enter into a cooperative relationship with the Lord.  I “rise above” the earthly as an “overcomer,” and the Lord’s power – His very life – begins to flow out through my life.  I am then able to give expression to the life of the Lord, as my life becomes the witness of His life.

We are approaching the last days, the time of the closing out of the Church Age and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, which is the government of God ruling all mankind.

“And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut.”  Matthew 25:10

Those who are prepared to enter with the Lord into the marriage feast, will be able to say (sing) in that day:

“And they sung a new song, saying, You are worthy… and have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”  Revelations 5:9-10