Category: Living in the Spirit

The Mystery of Life

The Mystery of Life

“As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.”
Ecclesiastes 11:5

The secret of the true disciple is one of simplicity and rest. Even as the flow of His Spirit is ever active within, the heart of the true disciple is to be at rest; a relationship of communion (co-union). The child in the womb is a portrayal of our life in Him. The formation and development of His likeness within our own being is fully dependent upon the cord of life from whence come the essential nutrients of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). This dependency is the hope and substance of our life in Him. The true ministers of Christ are ever focused on the formation of Him within the life of every believer, not the fulfillment of their own ambitions and agendas. They are to nurture the development of Christ within each life. The only bonds that should exist between members of His Body are the bonds of pure love and our interactions are to be to this one end: “until Christ be formed” in each of us.

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in you…”
Galatians 4:19

Any ministry with a different end in view does not walk in the mind and Spirit of Christ.

“Charity… seeketh not her own”
1 Corinthians 13:5

Brian Troxel

Our Example

Our Example

” And in the day time He was teaching in the temple;
and at night He went out, and abode in the mount
that is called the mount of Olives”
Luke 21:37

Jesus set such a simple pattern before us: teaching by day and communion with His Father at night. In other words, an active life balanced by time spent with Him in refreshment and inspiration. We are called to this balance just as the workers on the wall in Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. They built with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other (Nehemiah 4:18).

The Trowel

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves
on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost…”
Jude 1:20

First, we are to be built up in our faith that
we may encourage and exhort
one another.

“And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works”
Hebrews 10:25

The Sword

“Fight the good fight of faith…”
1 Timothy 6:12

The need to be active and diligent in our sharing of His life with others necessitates His touch of renewal in the evening. I like the work used here: “at night He went out and abode in the mount”. The daily press of the crowds, the vehemence of religious rulers, and the constant treachery of those trying to trick Him into a response whereby they could accuse Him, is beyond comprehension. Time alone with His Father was crucial and is set forth as an example for us. He, the Only Begotten Son, has come to show us the way to live in this troubled and unraveling world. May we draw near to Him that we may be equipped to stand in the darkness of this day in which we find ourselves.

Ω

“For consider him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Hebrews 12:3

Brian Troxel

PODCAST – Your Book

Your Book

And the prophetic call

 

And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
(Eze 2:7-10)

Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
(Eze 3:1-3)

PODCAST – The Book of God Part 3

The Book of God
(Revelation 5:1-2)

“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne
a book written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals”
Revelation 5:1

He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’  (Rev 3:5-6)

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.  (John 15:5-6)

 

 

PODCAST – The Books of God

The Book of God
(Revelation 5:1-2)

“But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
(Exod 32:32-33)

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
(Psa 139:16-17)

Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”
(Psa 40:7-8)

Shelter from the Coming Storm

Shelter from the Coming Storm

The Sacred Place of Prayer

“Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.”
Ecclesiastes 3:16

The sacred place of prayer is the secret to our relationship with God. It is here where we draw near unto Him. We enter the closet of our hearts and shut out all the distractions and noise of the world around us; even the commotion within. In drawing near unto Him we enter His Presence and touch the atmosphere of Holy peace. This peace calms our troubled hearts and causes us to listen to Him alone who is our salvation. Often, in my own experience, this Peace floods in with a quiet hush to assuage my perplexities to such an extent that my requests are answered in the power of His presence alone. The wonder of His presence imparts the assurance that I truly am in His hand and need not worry about the storms without.

In God’s presence it is often far better to listen than to rush in with a multitude of requests from our anxious hearts. The calamities without are silenced by the Peace of Him within. How often in my haste I respond to things which should have been considered first in His presence. The desire of the Lord is for us to abide in prayer and in His presence throughout the day. This is not some grievous religious exercise; in reality it is His provision for us. In the storms which are coming to our land God is ever drawing us into the shelter of Himself.

“For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…”
Isaiah 30:15

There is a a quietness founded upon confidence that is a result of our dwelling in Him. This dominion of peace is not achieved by a teaching, a reciting of scriptures or some other strategy; it is the Peace known by those who dwell within the courts of His presence.

The full scripture quoted above from Isaiah is as follows:

“For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not”
Isaiah 30:15

Many thrust themselves into prayer with list of wants and petitions while missing out on the Presence of God Himself. In truth His presence is the answer to our prayers. His presence is the privilege of those who love and seek His favor, “for in His presence is fulness of joy”!

Praying for Others

I have found that praying for others becomes more fervent if I allow His presence and love to permeate my heart first. His presence can ignite a deeper love than my own and I find the fire of Him brings a far more intense prayer than anything I could manufacture. How good is it for us to come to His House of Prayer to first of all listen and allow our hearts to be filled with Him rather than rush blindly into the “sacrifice of fools”.

Shelter from the Coming Storm

God has afforded us a time now to prepare for the days ahead. It is a time of great learning to draw near to Him to listen and to discover the “voice of stillness” (still small voice KJV) that we may meet this Day “Hid with Christ in God”.

“Be silent before the face of the Lord Jehovah, for the day of Jehovah is near. For Jehovah has appointed a sacrifice; He has consecrated ones He called”
Zephaniah 1:7

Literally in the Hebrew: “He has sanctified His Called Ones”; those in whom His presence dwells and who receive His correction, and who “follow the Lamb” obediently wherever He leads.

Brian Troxel

Ministration of the Word

Ministration of the Word

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy”
Psalm 126:5

We are told in the Parable of the Sower that “the seed is the word of God”. Those who sow such precious seed must do so in the same Spirit in which that Word was given. Many may speak the scriptures, but few sow the “Word of God”. When the word is sown by the Spirit of God it teems with His life and power. There is an impartation into the lives of those who hear with ears of faith; the fire of Life burns, the heart of man is quickened, and Jesus is glorified.

“And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes”
Mark 1:22

In order for the ministers of God to speak with authority, their lives must be subject to the authority of the Word. Authority comes from submission. Otherwise, if men share His Word but their life is not subject to His Word, that authority of Jesus will be lacking. Even the Roman Centurion knew and understood this.

“For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it”
Matthew 8:9

The true authority in the Spirit comes to those who are under His authority. His Word has precedence in their lives. It takes very little discernment to know those who serve God and those who do not. There is a fire and the fragrance of Christ’s lordship in the hearts of those who are subject to His will. This touching of His life in one another is called fellowship. The fellowship of the Spirit is not the result of adherence to a teaching, but of Light; His Light resident within His own.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another”
1 John 1:7

The fellowship of the Spirit is not a function of teaching but of Light, His Light resident in His own.

Submission to the Word
is revealed in our obedience to it

Brian Troxel

Devotion and Worship

Devotion and Worship

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus”
Colossians 3:17

There is a sense of holiness which is to permeate our daily life. The mundane, the trivial and the great things all have significance in our walk before Him. As we walk closer with Him, His presence makes all things in our life important. These are things to be pondered. In our desire to please Him, and to be taught of Him, we become more attentive to the whispers of His Spirit.

“…in all things I am instructed”
Philippians 4:12

There are a couple of thoughts hidden within this scripture of which we should take note: 1) There must be a doing which springs forth from the well of His Spirit in our life. 2) The thing we are doing is to be done in His Name (the nature, the attitude and the Spirit). Not only is the deed important, but also the attitude in which the deed is done.

The foundation of true heartfelt devotion is Jesus Christ. This life of devotion is never about a cause, an organization or a ministry; all things are centered upon the person of Jesus Christ alone. Whether we are at work, at home, or out in the world, the words we speak, and the deeds we do are to be carried with a pure spirit of devotion unto Him. It is in the discovery of this that our life takes on the beauty and singularity of worship.

Worship is more than singing songs or a momentary focusing on Him; it is a life in which all things are simply an offering unto Him. The power of this truth is learned as we grow in the awareness of His Presence in the flow of our daily life.

“…for I do always those things that please him”
John 8:29

The Son never had an “off” moment; His life was full of the sense of His Father’s eye being ever upon Him. To the true disciple, devotion becomes the living of a pure life. Devotion is the gateway into a life in which His joy becomes our joy. The life of Christ within is our hope of entering into the simplicity of living intuitively in the wonder of continual worship.

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might”
Deuteronomy 6:5

Brian Troxel

Our Feet

Our Feet

Part One

“He will keep the feet of his saints”
1 Samuel 2:9

This scripture gives an assurance of His keeping grace. The feet of his saints speak of various things; one is sensitivity unto the Lord. Moses met God at the burning bush still shod in the shoes of Egypt. His sensitivity was lacking; though he stood in God’s presence he was unaware of the Holy ground upon which he stood.

“Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground”
Exodus 3:5

There was a numbness in God’s presence and an unfamiliarity with the things of God. Yet we see God drawing near to teach him the way of holiness. We see God at work in Moses to cause him to walk carefully and reverently before Him. In removing the shoes of Egypt, Moses was abandoning the ways and culture of Egypt and being introduced to the wonder of God. One cannot hold onto the ways of the world and expect to grow in the wisdom of God. The two are contrary.

“And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me,
but walk contrary unto me;
Then I will walk contrary unto you…”
Leviticus 26:27-28

A sensitive walk is one of feeling our way in God. We must remain sensitive to the intonations and gentle leadings of our Shepherd. These things are beyond the hearing of the ear and seeing of the eye; they can only be known through the deepening of relationship. God desires for us to become so ONE with Him that we know within our heart the way we ought to go. These things are not learned quickly; but as we set our heart to the daily doing of His will there is a recognition of His leading which can only grow through the medium of obedience. It is here we sense that “keeping” of our feet and His Shepherding grace is most evident. We discover by our response to His direction that even small incidents take on importance and adventure. There is a gentle assurance of “this is the way, walk ye in it”. Sensitivity in our walk is vital if we are to learn of Him.

“Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me”
Matthew 11:29

This yoke binds the heart of the disciple to the will and the way of the Master. It is always voluntary. He encourages, validates and directs us with His Staff; He also corrects and chastises us with His Rod. Both of these expressions come from the same heart of Love. The four Gospels are full of these great aspects of His Love. It is a poor parent who does not both affirm and discipline their child.

God’s purpose is for us to be led in a sensitive walk that transcends hearing, seeing and circumstance; where we instinctively do His will by virtue of an abiding relationship. It requires an intentional and vigilant walk by His disciples.

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye”
Psalm 32:8

The Psalmist goes on to declare:

“Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle”
Psalm 32:9

God’s way with His own is filled with such depths of promise. He stands as our great Shepherd to lead us into those places of relationship and grace. It is our obedience and willingness to learn that determine the extent of our walk with Him.

“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness (righteousness and stability)”
Psalm 143:10

Brian Troxel

PODCAST – Worship – P1

True Worship – Part One

 

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
(Gen 22:2)