CROSSing Over Into Faith

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Whenever the Spirit brings the child of God to one of these CROSSroads where the saint’s natural life is found to be in opposition to the will of Yahweh, where the natural response of the flesh would take one path, usually a path of self-preservation, and the Spirit bids the saint to travel another path, the children of God are brought into a Gethsemane experience where they must decide if they will bear the cross prepared for them. For those saints who would walk pleasing to their Heavenly Father, there is no escaping the cross and it’s working to bring an end to the self-life.</div> <bR> <div> There are few saints who enjoy hearing about the working of the cross in the life of the saint. My own soul often shrinks back from hearing words that speak of sharing in the suffering of Christ. Yet I thrill, as do most saints, when hearing about great feats of faith and the awesome accounts of victories and miracles that were wrought through men and women of faith. To hear about enemies vanquished, massive walls falling down of their own accord, seas and rivers splitting to reveal dry land, bread being supplied from heaven, a youth slaying a giant seasoned warrior, the heavens being sealed up for three years at the prayer of a single man and this same man being fed bread in the morning and meat in the evening by ravens, of massive armies destroying themselves when God’s small flock went forth with praises on their lips, of barren women giving birth, of dreams and promises fulfilled that had tarried for many years, these are things that thrill my soul.</div> <bR> <div> How I long to see the same type of supernatural manifestations of the mighty power of God in my life, in the life of my family, and in the lives of all the saints. Yet I have seen that a Gethsemane and a cross stand between a natural existence and a supernatural one. Few are the saints who will CROSS this barrier to see the power of God manifested in their life.</div> <bR> <div> In a previous writing (“The Lion, the Bear, and Goliath”) I have shared how the miraculous has been demonstrated to my family, and how we have been recipients of the dunamis, miracle-working power of God. I have shared how Yahweh brought peace to my wife and how He has protected our family when we trusted Him for our security. I spoke of how He healed my son from a hereditary bone disease that had no cure and that had been the cause of his having twelve broken bones by the age of seven. From the time God spoke to us to look to Him alone for our son’s healing, to today, our son has not broken another bone (Josiah is now twelve). I also related how the Father instructed me the next year to cancel our health insurance and entrust our entire family’s health to His hands. I spoke of being diagnosed as diabetic right before the time I could cancel health insurance, and the fears that were attacking me. Yet we obeyed in this matter over four years ago and the Father miraculously healed me from all symptoms of diabetes and our family has not needed a doctor’s care in over four years. Finally, I shared how the Father led me to quit my job and to trust Him for our provision. For a period of eighteen months the Father commanded me to remain unemployed while He worked out many things in our lives and brought a great correction to our walk. I could relate pages of miracles that occurred during this time as we never lacked food, clothing, or shelter, and we ended this time by spending an entire month at the beach in a motorhome that the Father provided cash for us to purchase.</div> <bR> <div> In every one of these things there was a Gethsemane to CROSS to get to the place of supernatural provision. Fears had to be faced. The reproach of man had to be overcome. The reasoning of the natural mind had to be dealt with, and it became necessary to clothe ourselves with confidence in God in every instance.</div> <bR> <div> Gethsemane means “olive press”, and it was here that the flesh of the olives would be pressed to bring forth from them the pure oil of the olive. Oil represents anointing, and for our lives to exhibit an anointing we must also go through this place where our flesh is pressed. In Gethsemane the real battle takes place. It was here that our Savior’s soul was greatly troubled. It was here that He sweat drops of blood as He implored His Father to let the cup of suffering presented to Him pass from Him. Yet He ended this battle victorious as He spoke the words, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done.”</div> <bR> <div> It is ever the point of decision that is the struggle for the child of God. Will the saint deny their flesh and their soul to embrace the will of the Spirit? Will the saint in this way CROSS over into realms of supernatural grace and provision? To do so requires that we choose to ignore and place no weight in the things that our natural senses are reporting, for they show only defeat, despair and impossibility looming ahead. We must look through spirit eyes and then clothe ourselves with faith, for faith is the substance, the reality, of things unseen by our natural sight.</div> <bR> <div> What a glorious realm is the realm of faith. To see things which others are blinded unto. To walk in a confidence that others do not share. To know that the God who created the universe, the galaxies with billions of stars spread across unfathomed distances, the God who spoke and the world was created, who spoke and life came into being and a world was populated both upon the land and in the seas, this same God has condescended to reveal some small evidence of His might and power in our lives. His power knows no boundaries, and it is a wondrous thing that we should be able to demonstrate to the world that we have confidence in such a God. The church should be a realm of power where the miraculous is common and the supernatural has become natural. It has been my prayer for many years that Yahweh would have a people who would be to the praise of His glory, a people of faith that exhibit strong confidence in Him, a people fit for Him to inhabit and through which He might display His glory.</div> <bR> <div> There only lays a Gethsemane to cross to come to this place. In this hour when the church has only a form of godliness, a form without power, there are few examples to be observed of the types of situations Yahweh will bring His people to as He invites them to cross over into realms of the spirit. There are few testimonies of the unusual types of things He will require of men and women to bring them forth from the natural realms to the supernatural. Yet there are some. There is a remnant that has not fled from Gethsemane, but who have passed through and tasted of the powers of the ages to come.</div> <bR> <div> Recently, a brother I had not previously been introduced to, wrote to me and shared a word of prophecy with me and also recommended a couple of books to me. I purchased the books and they have wonderfully fed my spirit. The books have been written by Wade E. Taylor, and in particular, his personal examples of the working of God in his life has spoken much to me. He has given permission in the copyright statement of his books “to reproduce portions of this book, so long as this reproduction is not intended for financial gain.”</div> <bR> <div> The following portions are taken from the book “The Secret of the Stairs” and I share them as examples of the unusual workings of God in the lives of those whose hearts are turned to Him. The Spirit has dealt with me in many similar ways, so I recognize the things that are shared as Spirit and truth, and not the delusions of the mind of man. These things are also in wonderful harmony with God’s dealings with the saints whose lives are recorded in scripture. May you be blessed and encouraged as you read.</div> <bR> <div> <B>[The Following is from the book “The Secret of the Stairs” by Wade E. Taylor, from the chapter “Our Ascent Toward Him”.]</B></div> <bR> <div> That which works to crucify me would not accomplish the same for another. For example, I was once in a situation in which my income had been provided. However, the Lord showed me that I was to work, regardless. At the same time, another young man who was also hungry for God needed an income; but he felt the Lord had indicated that he should not work. Because we were quite different in our makeup, the Lord used “working” to deal with my self-life; and He used “unemployment” to deal with his.</div> <bR> <div> These two opposite means were used by the Lord to bring about the same result within each of us. Thus we dare not say, “This is the way it worked for me,” and then attempt to place our yoke upon another’s neck. The Pharisees did this. They weighted people down and killed them by putting a legalistic yoke on them which they themselves could not bear. Your cross may be quite different from the cross that I am to carry. Our Lord was a carpenter, and he knows how to make a cross that will fit each of us. We must not interfere with the plan of God. In the outworking of these crosses, our own ideas often conflict with what the Lord knows to be best.</div> <bR> <div> For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:10</div> <bR> <div> In order to bring about a further crucifixion in my life, to prepare me for the ministry that would come into being in His time, the Lord had to dig yet deeper within my life to deal with the “self-drives” that were within me. The law of “self-preservation” which works within each of us was very strong within me as I had owned two successful businesses. The Lord dealt with me to sell these and go to Bible School. Since I received a cash settlement, as well as a check each week for the next six years, my income was adequate. Therefore, I did not need to work while attending school. During this time, the Lord dealt with me about my weekly check. I was to give it to a young man for a missionary trip to South America. In obedience, I did so, and soon we were living on squash that we had picked up from the school dump.</div> <bR> <div> A few weeks later, the Lord told me that I was to go to work. About three miles from the school, there was a chair factory that made upholstered chair frames. They were unable to keep employees because they paid very low wages for extremely hard work. In obedience to the Lord, I applied and I was hired at one dollar and five cents an hour. Night after night, I was so tired after working that I could barely drag myself to the car to get home and fall into bed.</div> <bR> <div> The weather was bitter cold at this time. Often I was sent in a large truck to a secluded railroad siding where, with only the light of a lantern, I was to unload boxcars of hardwood lumber. Alone, cold, and tired, as I unloaded boxcars night after night, my spirit sank lower and lower. Then I was asked to work one Saturday morning because a tractor trailer load of lumber had arrived. At 7:30 I started unloading the lumber, outside in the cold, freezing rain. I felt weary, discouraged, and wished I could be home in bed. About 8:00 the owner came out and said, “No, no, that’s not the way to do it. Step to one side and I will show you.” he then began to unload the lumber frantically, as fast as he could. Then he said, “Do it like that,” and went inside to rest.</div> <bR> <div> I thought of the money I was receiving each week from the sale of my businesses - much more than I needed to live on. Why was I here, tired and cold, unloading this lumber? I did not need this job! Also, I knew the young man who was receiving my money each week was home in bed, warm and comfortable. I literally began to react as this worked on me. The next step naturally would be to act on my thoughts that came to me. “All this is absolutely stupid. I am going to tell this man off and quit.”</div> <bR> <div> But I had told the Lord that I wanted all that He had for me - His highest and best. I had made many extravagant promises to the Lord, telling Him all I would do for Him. As I stood in the freezing rain upon that pile of unloaded lumber, an intense warfare raged within me. Then a verse came to me, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,” and I began to melt. I repeated this to the Lord and said, “Lord, I do not care what happens to me, I am going all the way with You.” Just then, something of eternal value and substance was created deep within my being. I was changed. A deep inner peace, along with an imparted ability to obey the Lord developed within me, and I was able to finish unloading the truck. My commitment to the Lord was literally burned into the fiber of my being through the intensity of this situation.</div> <bR> <div> Later, as I talked with the young man who was receiving the money, he said, “Saturday morning the strangest thing happened. I was in bed (which I knew) and the Lord began dealing with me to get up and pray for somebody. It was so strong that I just couldn’t escape it, so I got out of bed. Then the Lord gave me a vision of someone in a truck and told me to intercede for him.”</div> <bR> <div> I said, “I know who that was!” and explained it to him. Now I truly understood it was the Lord Who brought me through this experience to reduce me inwardly so I would not react to Him in my own ways, that I might stand in the place of pressure. And through my obedience in this, a “Spirit of obedience,” or an aptitude to obey the Lord was imparted into my being.</div> <bR> <div> Within each one of us is a “potential” which the Lord desires to perfect. Therefore, He will carefully begin to tighten the “string” in order to tune it to the right pitch, that it may sound forth a pure note of “music” in all its beauty <I>(our acceptance of His will in the place of intense pressure).</I> If this string were to snap as the pressure increased, all would be lost. However, in my case, the Lord had caused intercession to be made for me so it would not snap. Now I understood that I might have quit, collected my pay check and gone home, but I would have completely missed all the Lord desired to accomplish within me through this situation.</div> <bR> <div> On yet another occasion, I had planned to visit a man who intimately knew the Lord, and was a spiritual father to me. The arrangements were made, and he had said there would be a special meal ready for me when I arrived. As I headed for the car, halfway between the house and the garage, the Lord clearly said, “You are not to go.” I halted. I knew it was the Lord, but I reacted. My friend was expecting me at a certain time and would have the meal prepared. It was to be a very special time of spiritual fellowship. For weeks I had been waiting with anticipation. With desire and expectancy, I planned to spend several days with him.</div> <bR> <div> But the Lord had just said, “You are not to go.” First came intense disappointment; then rebellion welled up, and I decided, “I will go anyway.” I realized, however, what I was about to do. God had spoken, and this was a cross for me to accept and embrace. The intense desire to go had risen up within me and had cut aCROSS the Word of the Lord to me. But I knew that I had no choice but to obey. Finally, I melted and said, “All right, Lord, I will not go. I will call and tell him that I am not able to come.”</div> <bR> <div> As soon as I had accepted in my heart the verdict, and spoke it to the Lord, he said, “Now you may go, but you are not going alone. I am going with you, for you are now going in the center of My will and purpose.” This trip became a turning point in my spiritual life. I went knowing the Lord had accomplished something deep within me through my submission to His Word. And, I gained a better understanding of why it is important to be obedient to His will. As I went, I had an abiding sense of His presence resting upon me, beyond anything I had previously experienced...</div> <bR> <div> This visit became very special to me, for while there, I met the Lord in a wonderful way. From this man who deeply knew the Lord, I received an impartation that helped me tremendously in my ability to understand and respond to spiritual principles that would lead me to the Lord Himself.</div> <bR> <div> Many times when the lord desires to use us, He will bring us through a test of obedience. This test may <I>(seemingly) </I>have nothing to do with the Lord’s desire for us. But there will be a divinely arranged circumstance placed in our path which requires our obedience to Him. As we respond, we will encounter a very difficult cross with no possible detour around it. If we accept it... and die to our desires, it will become a platform upon which the Lord may do something totally different, but very necessary. Our obedience will make a way for this to happen.</div> <bR> <div> <B>[The Following is from the book “The Secret of the Stairs” by Wade E. Taylor, from the chapter “Separated Unto Him”.]</B></div> <bR> <div> One of the most difficult areas in our spiritual progress is our being able to trust the faithfulness of the Lord, especially when we do not understand what He is doing within us, or in our circumstances. This inability to trust the Lord makes it very difficult for us to completely commit ourselves into His hands, and then abide there. Our lack of trust must be dealt with if we are to go further into the realm of spiritual life experience.</div> <bR> <div> For example, the Lord once took me through a severe test involving the home we lived in. Our income had been cut off, and we were unable to pay the rent. The rental agency sent us a registered letter demanding us to be out of the house within a week, unless the rent was paid in full.</div> <bR> <div> The time expired and even though we were informed that we would be moved into the street, I clearly felt the Lord saying we were not to leave. I prayed, “lord, if you do not meet us soon, this will become the worst mess anyone has ever seen.” It was an exceedingly impossible situation as there was absolutely no apparent way through. Again, the impression that we were not to move, but to continue trusting in the Lord was strengthened within me, so, I obeyed. A short time later, the Lord, in a very unusual way, provided the rent and we were able to stay. Through this experience, I learned that His Word can be trusted and that He is faithful. I knew that I could trust my life in His hands.</div> <bR> <div> Another experience helped me to come into a complete trust in His ability to care for us as a family. I had owned a TV cable system and understood electronic repair work. I felt quite limited as to my abilities in the ministry. Knowing I was responsible for my family, I decided if I were not successful in ministry, or if the Lord did not provide enough for us, I could go back into business and earn enough to support my family. So I purchased an expensive tube tester that was in a black alligator-like case, and put it in the attic of our cottage at the Bible School. Now, if it became necessary, I would get it down and use it to earn enough to cover our needs.</div> <bR> <div> By having it available in the attic, I felt I had a reliable alternative. Then one day in class, the instructor began to talk about “little black alligators.” He explained how these little creatures make the nicest pets. But, they needed to be fed each day, which meant they would grow. Then he added: “The problem is, the time will come when they will have become big enough to eat you.”</div> <bR> <div> Immediately, the Lord began to deal with me. I strongly felt that what had been presented about this alligator was intended for me. Later as I was waiting on the Lord, an unusual presence of the Lord came and He brought to my remembrance the tube tester I had placed in the attic, “just in case.” The Lord reminded me that it was in a black alligator case. He showed me that I was “feeding” it, because I was relying on it to meet our needs, rather than trusting Him implicitly.</div> <bR> <div> Then He showed me that if I continued to rely upon this tube tester for security, it would begin to grow until it would devour me, concerning His will for my life. Now a battle started within me. I had paid a high price for “my alligator” and wanted to keep it. I complained to the Lord, “It cost me all that money; what am I to do?”</div> <bR> <div> A short time later, during a missionary convention, an urgent need was presented. The Lord began to deal with me to make a pledge and I resisted because I did not have the money to pay it. Then came the thought of the tube tester, and the Lord asked me if I was willing to give it up. In a few days, a postcard arrived from the man who had purchased my business. He needed a tube tester, had remembered that I had one, and wondered if I would be willing to sell it. I said yes, and was able to pay the missionary pledge I had made.</div> <bR> <div> Sometimes the Lord presses us into a situation where it seems as if we are blindfolded with our hands tied behind our back, a gangplank before us, and a sword pressing into our back, telling us to walk off of it into nothingness. This “gangplank” is often a set of circumstances that has been arranged by the Lord to accomplish something specific within our lives. It may seem that as we walk off the end of the plank, it will be the end of everything. Yet in reality, He permits these things in order to show us His faithfulness, and to teach us to trust Him. If we are to become His bride, then He must so work upon us that we learn to become dependent upon Him for everything.</div> <bR> <div> The Lord has wonderfully proven Himself to me again and again. Each time I have walked off the end of the gangplank, I have landed right in His arms. These experiences have accomplished something deep within my being, beyond anything that could have been learned in any other way. I have seen the outworking of His redemption, and have experienced the reality and faithfulness of my Heavenly Bridegroom. I have experientially learned that I can trust Him.</div> <bR> <div> One of the greatest blessings we can ever receive is to experience the faithfulness of God. Sometimes we may be afraid, but the Lord will lead us to the place where we are able to place our implicit trust in Him and then rest. This is not easy, because this ability can only be wrought out through experience on the anvil of life. Yet, it may truly be said that if we are willing to completely entrust our lives to His hands, He will bring us through. We must recognize, however, that there is a difference between presumption and obedience. We must know that He is leading us.</div> <bR> <div> Another experience which the Lord used to bring a correction in my walk with Him came while I was a student at Pinecrest during 1960. The Lord prompted me to set aside my weekly income check from the sale of my business for a purpose which He would make known later. I was being charged room and board for my family and tuition for classes; but now I did not have the money to pay these and my school bill began to climb. Before long, I was called into the office and asked for payment. I was not at liberty to reveal the reason I was unable to pay. I was then informed that I had to pay the past due amount within ten days or move out. The amount due now amounted to over $500. I had enough in the bank to pay this, yet the Lord had told me that I was to set this money aside.</div> <bR> <div> A few days later, the Lord began to reveal to me many things about Abraham. He had told Abraham to go <B>up</B> into the land that He would show him. When Abraham arrived, there was a severe famine, yet the Lord had led him there. Abraham, who had not yet experienced the faithfulness of the Lord, left and went <B>down</B> into Egypt for provision; but during his time there, he got into a lot of trouble.</div> <bR> <div> I saw that if Abraham had trusted the “word” he had received from the Lord and stayed, the Lord would have caused the very desert to spring up as a table of plenty. The responsibility rested with the Lord because He had told Abraham to go there. Therefore, during the time of famine his need would have been met. But Abraham turned to Egypt, a type of the world system, for provision.</div> <bR> <div> The next day, I learned that a factory in town was hiring, and if I would go in prepared for work, I could start immediately. This seemed right, for I could then approach the president of the school and tell him I was working and would soon be able to pay the bill. The Lord quickly reminded me of all He had just shown me about Abraham. Now I realized that I was about to go to “Egypt” to have my needs met, rather than trust Him. It was not easy to say no. But I had no choice if I was to please the Lord and truly learn to trust Him. I had to wait for His provision.</div> <bR> <div> There were only three days remaining until I would be told to leave. While I was on a ladder, patching the plaster on a ceiling, the following thoughts ran through my mind. I said within myself, “In the past when the Lord spoke to me, He always made a way through for me. This is the same voice telling me to set this money aside. If this is truly the Lord, He will make a way. If not, I need to know. So, I will get down from this ladder, go and tell the school president that I cannot pay the bill. Then I will go to my apartment, pack and leave.  ‘I do not understand, Lord, but I will find a place to live and I will serve You anyway.’”</div> <bR> <div> After I had made this determination, a very heavy presence of the Lord came upon me; so much so, that I had to bend over the top of the ladder to keep from falling off. The Lord spoke again and said, “This is what I wanted to hear. Now, go and use the money to pay your school bill.” I was very disappointed, as I wanted to go to the president of the school and tell him that I could not pay. I thought that perhaps something spectacular would happen when I did. However, I very reluctantly withdrew the money from the bank and paid the school the amount due.</div> <bR> <div> About two weeks later, I received further understanding concerning Abraham. The Lord showed me that He had miraculously given Abraham a son, Isaac, who was the result of the promise that had been given to Abraham and Sarah. Because of the impossible circumstances and the greatness of this miracle, Abraham now loved Isaac more than the Lord, and a correction became necessary.</div> <bR> <div> Likewise, the Lord showed me that I too had received a promise. My promise <I>(Isaac) </I>was Pinecrest. This had previously been given to me through a very clear and unusual visitation from the Lord. While waiting upon the Lord, I had been caught up and completely engulfed in a visible glory, which I saw in brilliant color.</div> <bR> <div> The Lord had made known to me - without my seeing any form or hearing any words, but rather through an understanding that came into me through this moving, visible Glory - that I was to establish a school at Pinecrest which would emphasize His anointing and manifest presence. Also, I was to teach His ways, and prepare many for His visitation and last-day intervention purposes.</div> <bR> <div> After learning of His purpose for me, “my ministry” began to mean more to me than my times of fellowship with the Lord. I had become so involved with how this vision could come into being, that the Lord had to deal with me to draw me back to Himself. My seeking the ministry that He had for me began to occupy so much of my time and energy, that I left the place of an abiding communion with the Lord, which I had once known.</div> <bR> <div> Then I realized that the Lord could not allow me to go on this way. He said, “You love your Isaac <I>(Pinecrest) </I>more than Me. Therefore, I led you up on the mount (I was on top of a ladder when all this happened) with Isaac <I>(Pinecrest)</I>, to offer Him. Then you raised the knife by saying, “I will tell the president of the school that I cannot pay the bill, and I will pack, leave, and serve You anyway.’ When I saw that you were ready to slay Pinecrest in obedience, I was then satisfied.”</div> <bR> <div> Once again, the Lord was first in my life; a correction had been made. This is all that the Lord wanted of Abraham. When Abraham raised the knife, Isaac immediately became second in Abraham’s life. He had restored the first place in his life to the Lord, and the Lord was satisfied. Immediately, a substitute sacrifice was provided.</div> <bR> <div> At this present time, the vision which I had received from the Lord has come into being. I am the president of a Bible School at Pinecrest, as He had revealed. Now, I can honestly say that it is not mine; it belongs to the Lord, for “Isaac” has been given back to Him. I can truly trust the faithfulness of the Lord to accomplish His purposes in my life and in Pinecrest, whatever the circumstances may be.</div> <bR> <div> The Lord desires to work out His creative purposes in each of our lives, even though it may seem to lead to death. The way into this new experience of life is by taking up our cross and following Him. Jesus said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” John 12:24b. He will abide faithful in all. This has been made experientially real to me many times. I could have gone to work and paid my school bill, but the loss would have been eternal.</div> <bR> <div> The Lord may allow circumstances in our lives that appear impossible in order to reveal His faithfulness to us. Then He will be able to bring us to the place where we can, in loving trust, submit to and become dependent upon Him. As we are His Bride, He has a right to expect this of us.</div> <bR> <div> [End of quotations from the writings of Wade E. Taylor.]</div> <bR> <div> How unusual are the workings of Yahweh in the lives of His saints. To one He commands to work when he has plenty of money. To another who is lacking in money, He commands to not work, but to trust in Him. To one He gives a vision and a promise, and then He calls for this same one to sacrifice this vision and die to the promise that He might prove that there is nothing greater in his life than his love for God.</div> <bR> <div> How different are the children of faith from those who walk by natural reason? How can one who is walking by faith explain his path to those who have only known a walk of sight? They will consider such a one to be a fool, deluded, out of his mind. Yet those who walk by faith, those who are led of the Spirit, have this testimony; that they are pleasing to God. These obedient saints become partakers of divine life and they see the awesome hand of God manifested in their lives. These become strong in their confidence of the One who has created them for His glory.</div> <bR> <div> May all of Yahweh’s children come to have such strong confidence in Him. He is truly worthy of it.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>