God is moving across the face of earth, touching men's hearts. He is placing those who claim to love Him in trying situations, to see if they will truly follow Him or not. Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring a third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, the LORD is my God.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

We need to acknowledge one glaring truth. We do not "know it all." We have progressed beyond our forefathers in many worldly things, but we have drifted far from knowing and understanding the things of God. We have yet to comprehend and walk in the basic foundations of the Gospel, yet claim "I know, I know, give me meatier things to feed upon." We must first learn to digest and assimilate into our inner man the milk, before we can chew on a steak. We willingly receive and accept the doctrines of men, thinking we are feeding on the Word of God. If the 'truths' we are accepting are not working a profound change within us, bringing about a death to our 'self,' then there is something drastically wrong with what we are receiving as truth.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two - edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Our heavenly Father knows every thought we ever think. That should be a sobering realization. This two-edged sword which the Lord wields, may be painful, but is necessary if we would be changed. It will be the means by which we learn to live and be led by the spirit, instead of our flesh with its carnal reasoning. This sword is part of our death process... separating in us what is of God, and what is of the flesh. We are all guilty of being caught up in the 'traditions of men,' and it is only by this operation of the spirit in our lives that we can be set free. There is one good way to determine if what we are receiving is truth. If it is bringing about inner change; in the way we think, in our attitudes, in our relationship with God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We need to develop a hunger for God that will be satisfied with nothing less than to fully know HIM. We need to diligently search the scriptures, we need to learn how we may be found pleasing in His sight. None of us knowingly want to cling to anything that makes us unclean. The above verse speaks of filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. We need to do more than to just clean up our outside, seen by other men. We need to be cleansed from within. Only the Spirit of God can accomplish this job. None of our efforts are of any value. We must submit to His chastening and correction in our lives. The Spirit of God knows just what each one of us need, that we might be cleansed.

The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 64:6-8 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. If we truly seek to know God, if we truly desire that we might be conformed into the image of Christ Jesus, then know that we must die. Death to self, with all of its demands, is the requirement of knowing God. His is the potter, we are the clay. Until we are dead to self, and the things of this world, we are unclean. We are ineffective in all our attempts to accomplish good works, because we are doing them from the 'self' realm.

Men take the scriptures, and use them to support all manner of doctrines of devils, all the time thinking they are doing God great service. When in reality they are only fulfilling the lusts of their own flesh. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. This verse alone should cause us all to fall on our knees and repent. If we are going to believe what Jesus said here, that we shall have to give account for every word we speak, it should give us pause before opening our mouths to say whatever pops into our heads. If we are going to give account of every idle word, how much more then shall we have to give account for every word we speak with deliberate forethought. Think about it. We shall be held accountable for what we preach to others, for how we present the Gospel of Christ. Paul repeated it in Romans 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Jesus said in Matthew 22:29 Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

We have a responsibility to search out, find and learn the hidden treasures in the scriptures, as they are revealed to our seeking heart by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we have the calling, as born again believers in Jesus Christ, to press into a personal relationship with our LORD. In the same chapter Jesus went on to say, (37-40) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hand all the law and the prophets. We must learn how to fulfill the first commandment, to love the Lord God with all of our heart, mind and soul, before we can hope to fulfill the second, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Too often we are double-minded. We try to become victorious in our own strength, only looking to God when we are in over our heads. God requires that we do nothing without Him, and His approval. We are incapable of loving our neighbor as ourself. Remember that God already sees our deepest, hidden, most secret thoughts and feelings. We can deceive others, we can even deceive ourselves, but we can never deceive God. Only as we follow the Lamb that was slain; only as we follow the Lord's directive to us to take up our cross and follow Him, will we begin to be changed from within. Only by the power of God living through us, can we find the power to genuinely love others more than self.

God is even now moving upon men, women and congregations. His Spirit is shaking them out of their slumber. Here in American we cannot comprehend what it means to be persecuted fro the Gospel of Christ. Our very freedoms have allowed complacency to corrupt us. We take for granted our freedom to worship. The same freedoms that fellow believers in other parts of the world must pay a high price for. There are many who would face torture, imprisonment, and even death, for their belief in Christ. While we, who still have freedom from this kind of persecution, are so caught up in the daily affairs of life we don't have time to seek the face of God.

Well, we had better re-evaluate our life and re-examine our priorities... lest we be guilty of the "sin of presumption." We should not assume anything. The writer of Hebrew tell us, Hebrews 12:4-8 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

This should make us question just how "right with God" we are. If we have never experienced being chastened of the Lord, maybe we need to take a closer look at our relationship. Hebrews 12: 25-29 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

Does this sound like a God we should be making assumptions about? Are we confidant that we are presently serving God acceptably? Do we even know what "with reverence and godly fear" means? 1Pe 4:17-18 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Peter did not say that some day God would judge His House. He said "the time is come," now, "that judgment must begin." We are to judge ourselves by the Gospel of Christ, by every word Jesus spoke. That requires that individually each one of us read every word that Jesus said. Get your Bible and go over all the red letters. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open your understanding. Read Jesus' words over and over, believing that His Word is true, that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. It is difficult at first, because we have heard some of Jesus' Words repeated so many times, that we have become almost desensitized to them. Many of us have grown up in Churches, and have had God's Word so filtered through men, that it will take the Holy Spirit to quicken them to us. There is a saying among men, that over-familiarity breeds contempt. So it can be with the Word of God. We can become numb to the life and power of God's Word, we can fail to have the fear, awe and respect that is necessary to grow up to mature son status. Mankind has taken this same attitude toward God down through the ages. We see in Isaiah 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. This passage is describing people who hear the word of the Lord, but fail to take it to heart and hold it in high regard. It is just words repeated over and over. And because they fail to take it to heart, to believe, to esteem God's Word, they are snared and taken, they fall backward and do not proceed no further.

I grew up in Sunday School, I thought I knew what Jesus said. But I found as I went through the Gospels, focusing on Jesus' words, that some of the things he said were brand new to me. After years in Church, and thousands of sermons, I had been guilty of assuming they had covered everything. Imagine my surprise to come across things our Lord said that I had never heard before. My further surprise, as the Holy spirit began to open my understanding, to see things in Jesus' words in a new and fresh way. I soon had to acknowledge that I didn't know anywhere near what I thought I did. Here is where we will find deeper truths.

The early Church lived with persecution. Persecution is a most effective tool in separating the sheep from the goats. Those committed to follow Christ all the way from the play actors. "If the righteous scarcely be saved," does not sound like our salvation is a done deal. Perhaps we would be wise to take a closer look at all that our Lord said. Perhaps, there is far more to our salvation and sonship than we have been led to believe. John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. This is not to be quickly passed over, as familiar territory. Jesus said if we want to find the spirit, if we want to find true life, they are to be found in HIS WORDS. We are looking in the wrong places. We are looking at the wrong things. We need to get back to the basics. Stop running after every new teacher, every new prophet, every new doctrine that comes along. We have all we can handle, all the steak we could ever chew, if we never read anything other than Jesus' Words. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go through life thinking I've got all the answers I need, only to stand before the judgment seat of Christ in humiliation and shame, and have Him say "depart from me, I never knew you."

There are many today who are seeking after the deep things of God. To fill this hunger, there is an endless stream of writings all claiming to have found new truth's. Where is the believer to turn? Who is he to listen to? Where will we find the answers to our heart's desire? We have a clear choice. These same questions have been around for 2000 years. 2Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. There is no shortage of people who would be more than happy to give you a "truth." We must be very cautious. We must not accept every thing we hear, but judge it by the Word and by the Spirit. The Lord Himself is where we are commanded to look to for all of our answers.

James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. First - we must believe, just as Abraham believed. Jesus said in John 15:14-15 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Our personal relationship with God is the most important, critical thing in our life. What we believe, and how we obey will determine our eternal destiny. As born again believers in Jesus Christ, we are offered the opportunity of being known of God; of being part of His Family and inner circle. We can be a friend of God. We will not achieve this by any fleshly means, other than the death of our flesh. If you hunger for more of God, for deeper truths, you will find them in prayer before the Lord. In your own quiet place of worship. May we all be hungry and searching. May we not settle for less than the fullness of Christ in our lives.

Phi 2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. "Work out your own salvation" tells us what; "with fear and trembling" tells us how; "His good pleasure" tells us why. God is working out His pleasure in us; not our pleasure. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth, but we must seek after it as for hidden treasure. We must guard our hearts, for there are many adulterated versions of Christ's Gospel. There are many claiming great things, that they can't back up. That is why the Word tells us in 1John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

The Lord is showing me that we have not performed the first steps. We are wanting to go on into the deeper things of God, when we don't even understand salvation and the gifts of the Spirit as we should. There are no shortcuts. We cannot advance beyond what we are already walking in. We too, have to pay the price. Yes, Jesus finished the work, and fully paid the blood price for our salvation, that we might boldly come before the throne of grace. He finished His part. He sits in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father to intercede on our behalf. He also set before us the example He has called us to follow: complete and total trust in the Father; complete and total obedience to all of His commandments; taking up our own cross and following Him all the way to the death of "self."

The religious world today seldom mentions the foundations of becoming an overcomer. Believing is not enough; the devil's believe and tremble. Just hearing is not enough; we must allow what we hear to change us. Having faith is not enough; we must stand and act on our faith. We must accept all that Jesus taught, by word and example, leaving no part out. If we try and embrace part, and not the whole of a consecrated life, we will fail. If we don't believe that we are in any kind of danger of falling short, we should look at Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father; and before His angels. We cannot just read what we want to hear, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment," and stop there. The Lord goes on to say "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life." One's name would have to first be written into the book of life... before it could be blotted out. It would demonstrate wisdom, on our part, to seek the face of the Lord on this. What could we do to deserve having our name, once written in, blotted out?

This is something that is the responsibility of every Christian to find out for themselves. Do we really want to take the word of some mere man on this? Do we really want to take the word of someone who has set themselves up as a leader, someone that is not walking in all that Jesus walked in... that the Apostles walked in... is that who we should trust? It is easy to talk the talk, but takes death to self to walk the walk.

As for seeking after the deeper things of God, we see in 1Co 2:9-14 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. If we want to know God, then we must come to God on HIS terms, not ours. We must learn to live, walk, be led by the Spirit in all things. This includes this physical, temporal world we live in as well as the spiritual, unseen world around us.

God desires to give us good things. God desires to have fellowship with us, on an intimate, personal level. But our God is HOLY, and we must submit to the operations of the Spirit in our lives, that we might be holy, too. Outside of the Holy Spirit, we will never grasp the 'deep things' of God. As we submit to the Spirit's working in our own life, we will begin to understand, we will begin to be changed and transformed from within. We may still look the same outwardly... our physical appearance may not be altered. But the Holy Spirit will work a transformation in our inner man. Our thoughts, our attitudes, our perspectives, our desires will undergo a radical change. We must come into proper relationship with the spiritual world first, before we can manifest the spiritual in the physical. As we undergo this process of growing up in Christ, which is what we are talking about here, we begin to discover that the deepest things of God, consist of knowing God.

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

2Timothy 2:19-21 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

Our perspective and outlook should be coming into clearer focus by now. It is good that we should hunger for and desire to know the deep things of God. But let us not go about trying to discover them in a backwards manner. Let us be willing to sit at Jesus feet, to drink in every word He speaks... for they are spirit and life to our heart, soul and mind. Let us learn to walk in obedience, reverence and the fear of the Lord. When we are doing that is when we will obtain our hearts desire.

Isaiah 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. It is not our wisdom. The wisdom of this world, yes, especially the religious world, is foolishness with God. There is a very pertinent verse found in Deuteronomy 29:29. The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. There are some things that only God knows. There are also those things which are revealed unto us, by the Spirit. They belong to us, if we will receive and walk in them.

Do you want to know... without a shadow of doubt...that you are standing in right relationship with God? Do you want to be instrumental in setting the captives free, opening the eyes of the blind, ushering in the Kingdom of God? Do you desire to hear Jesus say to you, personally, "Well done, my good and faithful servant?" Then press in to a personal relationship with God. You will discover more "deep things" than you can express throughout all of eternity. Let us strive to walk in what has already been revealed to us. Let us comprehend and live according to the law of Christ, by faith. If we are not walking in the light we have already received... then how can we expect God to give us more? He gives us all things that we have need of. Make knowing God the number one priority in your life, and you will find all the truth you can hold.