The Things to Come 2016

THE THINGS TO COME 2016

This is a Word from the Lord given to me on February 26, 2016, which I have reposted (SEE this link for the original: Things to Come). We are touching but the beginning of darker things to come. It is a time to prepare ourselves for the storm which is coming.

“I spake unto thee in thy prosperity;
but thou hast said I will not hear.
This hath been thy manner from thy youth,
that thou obeyed not my voice”
JEREMIAH 22:21 (*1 NOTE)

God is speaking to His Own in the day of prosperity. HE calls out to them, HE seeks to warn them of the storm that is about to break, yet they will not hear. The teachings of this hour dismiss obedience as a “legalistic” approach to our new understanding of “love” (see Revelation 3:19). We are told over and over again that we are OK and that somehow the God of the New Testament is not interested in obedience. We have a “gospel” that removes the fear of God from our land. To this person that will not hear and will not obey God goes on to say…

“The wind shall eat up all thy pastors (*NOTE 2),
and thy lovers shall go into captivity:
surely THEN shalt thou be
ashamed and confounded
for all thy wickedness”
JEREMIAH 22:22

He will remove the pastors who comfort those who should not be comforted. HE will take away their trust in men and the forms of gathering that prevent people from realizing their own responsibility to seek, hear and obey God for themselves. The storm is about to hit and we are unaware.

God speaks in the day of prosperity because in times of prosperity men tend to forget God; they become comfortable in a religion that does not convict. They glory in a form of truth, an appearance of something that is alive but in reality is dead. God speaks to His Church in Sardis…

“These things saith HE
that hath the seven Spirits of God,
and the seven stars; I know thy works,
that thou hast a name
that thou art alive, and art dead”
REVELATION 3:1

These are people who have not grown in their walk with God. The Bread of Life has not been developed within them; they hear much and see little. They have not developed a living relationship with the Fountain of Life and have a constant need to be fed rather than becoming bread for others. God will remove those pastors who have loved the place of pre-eminence in the assemblies but have not been burdened over the condition of the people of God. God will remove those who have spoken smooth things in this day, who have ministered a spirit of slumber, who have spoken “peace, peace” when there is no peace. Rather than sounding out the alarm on the day of the Lord (Joel 2:1), rather than calling people to repentance and righteousness, they have sought to comfort them with a gospel that makes men comfortable with sin and disobedience.

It is in the removal of these things that the people of God are suddenly struck with the true nature of their condition before a Holy God. God must remove these influences that in seeing their true condition they will turn unto Him in heartfelt brokenness to find mercy and grace. God’s end is always to bring men and women to Himself. He does not chasten His Own without the motive to draw them near, heal them, and restore them into a right relationship with Himself.

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (*NOTE 1); and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent”
REVELATION 3:16-19

*1 NOTE: This prophetic word to His Church concerning their nakedness is in stark contrast to the teachings of this hour. We have a teaching that we are already clothed in righteousness and that we need not concern ourselves with such things! This Word was given in around 90AD over 20 years after the martyrdom of Paul! How false and erroneous are the teachings of our day. God says “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten”, this is the true LOVE OF GOD, blessed are those who have ears to hear and hearts to respond to Him in this hour.

1. “Thou hast a FEW names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” (Revelation 3:4)
2. “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelation 16:15)

People who are content with such things (declared righteousness) are those who fail to realize their own responsibility to keep their garments clean; they cannot hear, are not able to see, and will not obey the voice of God in this hour.

*2 NOTE: This removal of Pastors is nothing new in the history of the church. The most recent occurrence of this on a large scale was in China (1950’s) when the Communist Government removed the pastors and installed their own and the visible organized church became a sounding board for the government. Those who had been a part of what was called “the Little Flock Movement”, where the people of God developed their own walk (prior to the purge), simply went underground and the church of God flourishes to this day.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be zealous therefore, and repent”
REVELATION 3:19

Brian Troxel

Reputation and Discipleship

“But made himself of no reputation…”
Philippians 2:7

The God and creator of the universe made Himself of no reputation. He was not motivated by the approval of men, He required no support system to propagate His message. He did not need marketing efforts and promotional strategies for the proliferation of His purposes. He was born in a lowly stable, raised by simple folks in a village of no regard as evidenced by the question “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46)

This passage has deep things that can be learned in our own interaction with Him in this world. There is a freedom from strife, from craving recognition and acceptance. Sooner or later there comes an acknowledgment that truth requires nothing but His Spirit to stand. We stand in His righteousness, His merit, and we are fully dependent upon His Fire burning within our own hearts. We are to be witnesses of Him, not of ourselves, and for that reason we feel the great responsibility to be faithful to represent Him.

Humility is a fruit of the Spirit rooted in the power of relationship.

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that, he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”
John 13:3

Jesus’ ability to gird Himself as a servant and to wash their feet was based on the security of being in a right and pure relationship with His heavenly Father. His freedom was a revelation of true power; to Peter, it was an offense. Service to God will often offend the carnal aspirations of men. The same freedom that allowed the Son to speak the truths of the Kingdom of God without restraint is to become ours. Freedom from self allows us to be free in His Spirit. There can be no true freedom in Christ while we cling to the corruption of self.

As we walk with Him in the experiential realities of life we discover the taint and malaise of self. We see it in our interactions with others, in our own internal conflicts, and in the hidden motives of our hearts. Thankfully He is faithful to correct us, and we must be willing to heed those corrections. Failure to do so will result in selfish living and disappointment.

“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:1

There is a precious internal work of the Holy Spirit whereby our intentions are freed from the lust of the acceptance of men to live for His approval only.

“Because of this, we also are striving to be pleasing to Him,
whether being at home, or being away from home.”
2 Corinthians 5:9

Why was Paul so passionate about this?

“For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things done through the body, according to what he did, whether good or bad.”
2 Corinthians 5:10

Only by the fear of the Lord are we freed from the fear of men. Accountability to God frees us to live right and to walk right. He who made Himself of no reputation will free us to do the same

True humility is always predicated on the power of truth.

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:31-32

The fear of man, and the need for acceptance, bring men and women to the snare of conformity to a group, a congregation, or to something other than Jesus Himself. The scriptures declare emphatically:

“The fear of man bringeth a snare:
but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe”
Proverbs 29:25

There are many precious people in God who because of their own insecurities develop unhealthy alliances to leaders, denominations, groups, or teachings. Too often this results in tragic and heartbreaking situations, broken and impoverished lives. The disillusionment and realization that they have been bound to something other than Christ leave them isolated and wounded. Freedom in the fear of the Lord must be the atmosphere of serving God.

“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
John 12:42-43

See: Faithful and Wise Servant

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“Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest”
– Oswald Chambers (Disciples Indeed)

Brian Troxel

The Great Call – Part Two

The Great Call

Part Two

“As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.”
John 15:9

In reading this powerful discourse to His disciples we must pause to note the depth, the power, and the decisiveness of the words Jesus uses. There was nothing common or mundane about His speech. Every word was filled with the majesty and weight of truth. Having declared His incomprehensible love for them, He now addresses the need for them to stay in that love.

“continue ye in MY love”

The Greek translated “continue” means to dwell, abide, and remain in that love. The Love of God is more than a sentiment; it is an atmosphere, a power, and an all-pervading influence by which He rules and subdues our whole being. Those who know Him love because He is love. This love is of an entirely different nature than anything this world has to offer. It is not a love that we can fabricate. It is beyond the scope of human origin. It emanates from God and the pure delight and privilege of His children are to simply abide in its sphere.

The Love of God can only be realized by relationship. In making known to His disciples the wonder of this love Jesus clearly communicated their need to continue, to abide, and to dwell within the source of its inspiration. The secret to the Christian life is to remain within its warmth and power.

There are many who view His Love as a teaching or a doctrine. This reduces His love to a thing. But this concept negates the intent of God to rule by that love in their hearts and instead enables them to justify their cold indifference to walk in His Ways. His Love is not a thing to be taken for granted but an influence by which our lives are to be governed.

The whole discourse of John 15 can be summed up in ONE pervading truth: ABIDE. He is the source of Life and Love, and the Christian Life is simply one of partaking and drawing from Him. There is a joy that fills our hearts as we grow into the realization that we are free from trying to work up this life. It is not in us, nor of us that the verity of this influence is to be found. May we hear with the simplicity of child-like faith, “Abide in Me”.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit”
John 15:5

In my own journey, it has taken a long time to realize that many of the New Covenant scriptures are statements, not suggestions or doctrinal teachings. This has been revolutionary in understanding my life in Him. “He that abideth in me…bringeth forth much fruit”. A simple declaration of a fact. A healthy fruit tree bears fruit consistent with its nature. Lives which bear His fruit testify of Him. Lives that are barren and unfruitful are not abiding in the Vine regardless of their confession.

“continue ye in MY love”

See: The Great Call – Part One
See: The Great Call – Part Three

(continued in Part Three)

Brian Troxel

Abandonment

“For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”
Romans 14:8

Abandonment to God is the result of knowing we belong to Him wholly. It is in the secret place that the tendrils of His Spirit enfold our hearts. It is often a quiet and hidden work deep within recesses of our own being.

Few in our land comprehend how near is the day of the Lord. The enemy is arising and many of God’s people are unaware of his wiles. In this darkness God is preparing a people for Himself with lights shining, hearts ablaze, and a growing passion for the King of kings. There is the pulse of a new faith within those in whom His fire burns.

“Unto the upright
there ariseth light in the darkness…”
Psalm 112:4

The light that is arising is upon those who are walking in the obedience of faith. There is a dynamic of Christ beating within their hearts. God will not leave this darkened earth void of a vibrant witness.

The full abandonment to Him is coming. Even now it is growing in those who are upright of heart. The purposes of God to every generation have ever been fulfilled by the faithful.

“So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. “
Luke 14:33

SEE: The Word of Fire

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“Go forth today, by the help of God’s Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life – come poverty, come wealth, in death – come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord’s. For this is written on your heart, ‘We love Him because He first loved us.”
– Charles Spurgeon

Brian Troxel

Be Enlarged!

“…be YE also enlarged”
2 Corinthians 6:13 (NET)

The heartbeat of every true ministration of Christ should reverberate with this One desire. We are not here to enlarge “our” church or “our” congregation; nor are we to seek selfish gain or the approval of men. Our only desire must be to see the influence, the impact, and the fire of God filling His people with the overwhelming Love of God.

Be Enlarged

Paul was not satisfied with the status quo of his relationship with Christ. His life was one of pressing, seeking, and pursuing a greater depth of “knowing” His Lord. Those who truly “taste and see” the vastness of God’s Being cannot be complacent in their walk with Him.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
Matthew 13:45-46

Too many have contented themselves with a belief, comfortable in knowing their sins are forgiven, all the while moving through life isolated and insulated from the battlefield of faith. Their hearts remain untouched and unmoved by the immensity of God’s beauty and the Love He holds for all creation. It is the one who in truth had “found” the ONE Pearl of Great Price who sold all to acquire its beauty. His “works” were to forsake all for Christ. His heart had no room for other things.

Love without passion, love without fervor, and love without sacrifice are impossible. Those who have seen the Christ cannot help but speak of Him and live in the joy and the desire to make Him known!

Peter and John, when threatened by the religious leaders of their day, declared with unflinching words:

“But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:19-20

The unction and power of Christ within His own selflessly desires to see the people of God enlarged. Paul’s plea to the Church at Corinth was for their enlargement; that their faith would go beyond lukewarm living and apathetic confessions of faith. The Spirit of God is looking for firebrands, motivated by the pure love of God, who feel the same indebtedness to the ONE who first loved them.

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also”
Romans 1:14-15

The question becomes – what is in us? What is the fuel that ignites and burns within our hearts? True ministers of Christ have no interest in propagating themselves, their church, their ministry; they live to make Christ known. They plead with, they admonish, and they exhort the people of God toward the same heart as the merchant who in finding the Great Pearl sold everything to acquire its beauty. His desire is to so move in us that we become the full possession of Christ and He becomes our own.

“I am my beloved’s,
and my beloved is mine”
Song of songs 6:3

May we feel the fire of His heart for HIS people:

“…be YE also enlarged”

See: Spiritual Development

Brian Troxel

ONE BREAD – ONE BODY

“For WE, though many, ARE one bread and one body;
FOR we all partake of that one bread”
I CORINTHIANS 10:17

Love is the fruit of a relationship with Christ. Love surpasses knowledge, rejoices with the truth, stands for truth, and knows that the only hope for anyone to be truly free, truly righteous, and truly like the Son is by the ministration of truth. Where truth is neglected the corresponding result will be a “love” which will lack the holiness and power of His Presence. I cannot know what love is except in the true knowledge of God. Truth is my only hope for knowing what LOVE really is.

Love is the selfless and pure expression of the God who so loved the world that HE gave His only Son. That same Love that gave The Only Begotten Son is the same God who in total holiness and impartiality is the judge of all men. All the heavens and they that dwell there are awestruck with the Holiness, the Righteousness, and the Omnipotence of His Majesty. The holy angels who have never known sin or rebellion shield themselves from His glorious penetrating light; such a contrast with the apathy and religion of today. Where there is no unity in the midst of God’s people there will be little or no glory.

In every case of unity in both the Old and New Testaments, there was God’s glory to such an extent that men were bowed and the heavens were opened. The unity PRECEDES the moving of God. On the day of Pentecost, they were in ONE ACCORD prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We read in the Old Testament that when the singers and dancers were of ONE Voice the Glory of God fell (2 Chronicles 5:13). May we hear afresh His Word to us.

“And he spake also a parable unto them; “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed…”
LUKE 5:35-38

The New Wine will not be poured out into old wineskins. They are old, inflexible, and weak. They have become rigid and have a form of righteousness that cannot be changed. God is not in the renovating business; HE TRANSFORMS anyone who dares walk in truth and in the light. His Love does not compromise with sin and religion. He cleansed the temple in His Day and He has not changed!

In His day men and women were satisfied with their paltry offerings, the money changers, and “business” of religion. Even the disciples (prior to Pentecost) were found marveling at the temple buildings in their day. Yet Jesus declared that there will not be left one stone of that old order. For the new was ready to break forth upon the grounds of the pure sacrifice of the LAMB OF GOD. Now it is a temple not made with hands; a living temple made up of living stones mortared together by the simplicity of the LOVE of God. Men no longer build their own edifices but are themselves built together INTO this glorious temple.

“ In Him, you also are being built together
into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
EPHESIANS 2:22

The Living Temple

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”
I Peter 2:5

The ONE BREAD is to bring forth the ONE BODY in truth and reality. Not a oneness based on the effort of men or the compromise of the truth! This ONENESS is the revelation of the truth not the ignoring of it. True love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is called the “Spirit of Truth”. When men love programs, teachings, the esteem of men, and self-promotion more than they love truth they reap the fruit of their own ways. This in itself is the great judgment of God. When men are content with such things nothing changes. Agnosticism*, apathy, and unbelief have rendered truth to a form and a concept instead of the living demonstration of Christ. Truth is seen as being relative; there is no concern for wrong teachings and soulish ways. We are not to say anything, do anything, that might offend others. God has a name for such a generation… ICHABOD!

“And she named the child Ichabod,
saying, The glory is departed from Israel”
I SAMUEL 4:21

It is time to read the scriptures for what they say and to see through the “status quo” of today. It is a day to return to the simplicity of truth and the power of His Spirit that can only be found where the New Wineskin is made up of those that love one another fervently out of a pure heart. We can no longer meet in the ways of the world. The true church is not an earthly organization but a spiritual organism living in the breath of the Holy Spirit, where men no longer walk in titles and positions but live and walk in the pure expression of His love. It is a place where our meeting together is no longer orchestrated by the programs of men but has become the place where the Spirit of Liberty is free to EXPRESS THE LIVING CHRIST. A place where His Glory comes in such power that the ways of Ananias and Sapphira are judged and God is glorified. A place where HIS Glory so permeates our gatherings unto Him that no earthly agenda can survive and men speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11).

Daniel and the Word

Daniel in captivity UNDERSTOOD by the reading of the scriptures that they would be in exile for 70 years and began to pray and repent; GOD ANSWERED! It is as His people read the scriptures and hear HIS voice that repentance and change come. Daniel did not simply say “Well, God is going to do it”… HE knew God enough to know that HE MUST RESPOND to God’s Word personally to experience the LIFE OF IT. Faith is simply the ability to respond to God’s Word.

The scriptures are read every day across our land but the famine of the word is not in the reading of it but in the HEARING of it. For FAITH comes by hearing not reading. So Jesus warns us to take heed “HOW WE HEAR” and “WHAT WE HEAR”.

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of HEARING the words of the LORD”
AMOS 8:11

That day is upon us, but the promise of God to His Church is …

“He who has an ear,
let him HEAR what the Spirit says”

The unity of the true Body of Christ is only known by the simplicity of WALKING IN THE LIGHT…

“But if we WALK in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another”
I JOHN 1:7

*NOTE: “Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is not known or knowable with any certainty” (Wikipedia) Can we not feel the spirit of this malaise permeating the hearts of many. Many believe in a god, many declare their “faith” in God but few reveal His reality in their lives. There is a fireless faith, a lukewarm attitude to His Word. The faithless teachings of men declare concepts and ideas instead of the fire to OBEY His Word. We hear many who say ‘be content’ with a God who remains hidden in the heavens rather than a God who breathes the power and the dynamic of Christ into His Own. How long will we tolerate the false, the carnal, and the pedantic atmosphere of unbelief? What many call “belief” in this day is unbelief, what many call faith is a trust in an idea of God rather than in the person and the truth of Christ.

Many mock the scripture… “Faith without works is dead…”. Yet it is certain that we will stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of what we have DONE with the measureless wonder of Christ Jesus our LORD! (Read the parables of the Talents and the Pounds)

“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For WE must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others“
2 Corinthians 5:9-11

The measure of our believing His Word is found in our hearts and lives warning His people of their accountability. Read afresh the Word of the Lord.

Let us all take heed to our ways.

“Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Or do you not yourselves perceive that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved”
2 Corinthians 13:5

Disunity is the result of sin,
unity is the fruit of walking in His Light.

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“The unity of Christendom is not a luxury, but a necessity. The World will go limping until Christ’s prayer that all may be one is answered. We must have unity, not at all costs, but at all risks. A unified Church is the only offering we dare present to the coming Christ, for in it alone will He find room to dwell”
CHB

Updated article from April 2014 – “One Bread, One Body”

Brian Troxel

Fervent in Spirit

“Be Fervent in spirit”

“Do not be slothful in zeal,
be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
Romans 12:11 (ESV)

To “be fervent in spirit” is the result of a heart that has touched Him, the touchstone of all creation.

Fervency in spirit is the Divine imprint upon a heart made alive by the fire of His being filling our own. Intensity is the fruit of love and abandonment. His fire within cannot coexist with apathy and lethargy. The true apprehension of us by Christ is described in the pure language of the scriptures.

“When He ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive…”
Ephesians 4:8

His resurrection is the basis of this captivation by Him. He took my addictions, my lost and captive heart and by the revelation of His wonder, those things lost their grip. Resurrection Life is the source of true freedom! There are no self-help strategies, no answers for the human condition other than Christ Himself. It is not the Christ of religion, words, and doctrines. It is only as the resurrected ONE reaches down from heaven’s Throne of Grace that men and women are set free.

Paul’s whole premise of faith was the Resurrected One; not words about Him but the very Life of Him. Who can behold Him and remain pragmatic, dispassionate, and satisfied with anything less than the fire of God burning within?

“And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain”
1 Corinthians 15:14

To all who struggle with sin, with failure within and without, come to Him, seek Him, for He will not turn away from a broken and contrite heart. He came and more importantly IS come, to set the captives free and to make them new creations filled with the vibrancy of His Life.

“For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved”
Romans 10:3

Addictions are simply our attempt to fill the emptiness, the hurt, the abandonment, and the sorrow of heart that comes to all in this broken world. Freedom is found in His love, His forgiveness, and His life filling us unto the true freedom for which He has redeemed us. When Christ fills the heart there is no room for other things! His fulness is our freedom.

Fervency of spirit is the resounding wonder of a life captivated by His beauty.

“Do not be slothful in zeal,
be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
Romans 12:11 (ESV)

It is the fervent in spirit who serve the Lord.

See: Morning by Morning

Brian Troxel

Loving the Truth

“And I beseech you, brethren,
suffer the word of exhortation”
Hebrews 13:22

Truth is simply the manifestation of the Life of Christ. His unrelenting quest within each of us is for purity and perfection. He does not spare His Own from His piercing gaze as He searches our hearts with the divine flame of His Love. His Word is living and sharp. Its cutting seeks to free us from that self that cannot and will not submit to God.

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”
Romans 8:7

Our hearts are revealed in our openness to receive exhortation. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews pleads with us to “suffer the word of exhortation” to the end we may walk a life that is pleasing to God. Truth must expose within us all that is not of Him. Being the perfect manifestation of all that is true, He has great love and determination to change us from “glory to glory”. While many readily receive His forgiveness, the real test is in our receiving that Living Truth which pierces even to the dividing of our “soul and spirit”.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”
Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

Those who bear His Word must know that work within themselves. Only In becoming free from self, with all its devious and corrupting ways, will we be able to communicate to others that same word of exhortation. A word of exhortation can only be received by those who because of their love of truth suffer its liberating ministration of life.

May we all hear the “beseeching” of the Spirit of God to embrace His Word. To love truth is to receive His corrections and the pruning of His two-edged sword.

“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights”
Proverbs 3:11-12

“For whom the LORD loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives”
Hebrews 12:6

The true in heart desire correction. They know within their own being the necessity to receive His reproofs and exhortations. The passion to become true outweighs the tendency to hide from His probing gaze. Many love the promises of God but few are willing to endure the correction necessary for His promises to come to fulfillment in them.

“If you endure discipline,
God bears Himself to you as to sons”
Hebrews 12:7

It is in the crucible of correction that the true in heart reveal their sonship and love for their heavenly Father.

“Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it”
Psalm 141:5

See: Psalm 23 Chapter 14

Brian Troxel

The Refiner’s Fire

The Refiner’s Fire is the showing forth of His wisdom being brought to bear upon those whose hearts long to bear fruit unto Him.

“And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them…”
Zechariah 13:9

If our heart’s desire is to be re-created into His likeness, we must seek to walk as Christ walked (1 John 2:6). The purpose of God’s Spirit is to “quicken” us, to transform us “by the renewing of our minds” whereby we are “changed from one glory unto another”. No individual truly called of God has escaped the depths of loneliness, separation, misunderstanding, and rejection. It is the forging of the fire which draws out the impurities of our own selves – the very construct of our wrongness. In God’s wisdom, He uses our circumstances to complete His work in us. If He spared not His own sinless Son, who are we to escape His loving and determined means to “bring many sons to glory”?

For the Jacobs to become Israels, God must use the Labans to bring purity, purpose, and movement. Man left to himself will remain in desert places, and tarry in stagnant situations, even as the sands of time exhaust the brief moments of our life here. It is in the antagonism, the strife, and the pressings of God that men leave the former things only to discover later God was in the exodus from our Egypt.

“As an eagle stirreth up her nest…”
Deuteronomy 32:11

God’s stirrings will press His own to movement; journeys which bring separation from the former things so that the new is readily received. It is in the journey with God where the crucible is known and the renovations of our being are realized. We experience the wrestling with God at our Jabbok where our natural man is crippled and we begin to comprehend Him whose name is “wonderful”. We discover the two-fold meaning of Jabbok*: our “being emptied out” and Christ being “poured in”. The exchange and transactions of God are not without price nor are they without great reward. The sorrow becomes the matrix of a Joy of which only the broken may know.

For the pilgrim of faith, the call to heavenly places propels him on through valleys, deserts, and lonely paths where the pure air of His presence is worth it all. The promise of God stands:

“…to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…”
Isaiah 61:3

In the dark places, the days of mediocrity, the days where our heart’s fire burns low, we learn “The Lord is thy keeper” (Psalm 121:5) and the restorer of our souls!

“He healeth the broken in heart,
and bindeth up their wounds…
Psalm 147:3

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“Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water, yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance”
Psalm 66:7-12

The abundant life is a tested and purified life.

* Jabbok. Hebrew pouring out or emptying. (Bullinger)

Brian Troxel

The Legacy of Life

The Legacy of Life is a chief concern of those in whom the fire of Christ burns. There is an intense desire to pass on the truth of His power and His might to the next generation. They no longer seek their own legacy; they choose to live life in such a way that the next generation would know in a much greater way the wonder of His Glory. Their singular intent is that His Light would grow “more and more unto the perfect day” in succeeding generations.

“So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come”
Psalm 71:18

The love of Christ reaches out to others. It frees us from self-centered objectives through the workings of the Cross of Christ within. There is a new desire to touch the lives of the coming generation with the pure truth of Christ.

“…since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things”
2 Peter 1:14-15

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“A Righteous Person
is one who lives
for the next generation”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Brian Troxel