Summer 1987
Attaining That Which is Best
Wade E Taylor

We must guard our spirit concerning things that can hinder the quality of our our spiritual life. If this is not done, our understanding of spiritual principles will become clouded, or deteriorate. Then, we will be robbed of His best in our spiritual development.

These negative things, if not dealt with, will begin to eat away at the impartation that we have received from the Lord, and the spiritual sensitivity that has developed within us. Then, we will begin to feel that the Lord is far away. When we neglect to value and maintain His presence in our daily life, we will loose our sensitivity to spiritual things.

All former attachments must be brought to the cross, and left there. Then, we will be free to begin a new life, and cultivate our relationship to the Lord, and develop our understanding of spiritual things. We will be able to respond to, and value His abiding presence and His workings within our lives.

Consider the working of the Lord in David's life, in preparing him to be King over Israel in Saul's stead. A short time after he had been anointed by Samuel to be King, David was in the palace, waiting upon Saul. During this time, he often thought about the throne, and all that he would be able to do when it was his.

Then, Saul threw a javelin at David and he had to flee into the wilderness. He hid in the back of a dark cave, with Saul's army close behind, with orders to kill him. In the darkness of the cave, all of his dreams and ideas concerning the throne lost their significance.

As all of these former things that had meant so much to him began to die, David submitted his life to the Lord, and began to look to the Lord Himself. With a new vision and understanding of eternal values, David began to express his inner being to the Lord:

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His temple" Psalm 27:4.

David had been reduced to "one thing". Now, the Lord was first in His life. The throne that he now saw in the darkness of the cave, was the eternal throne of the King of Kings. The throne of Israel no longer mattered. He had been prepared by the Lord for the throne of Israel, while hiding in the back of a cave. Now, the Lord could trust him in places of pressure. He would not fail the Lord, as Saul had.

We also are to cultivate this "single eye" towards the Lord in our spiritual life and walk, that we may be ready and available to the Lord for His purposes. We do not necessarily need to know what these purposes are, in order to do this.

In 1959, while at Pinecrest, I was caught up by the Lord into a visible Glory. In the intensity of this experience, I received the understanding of a calling to prepare a people who would intimately know the Lord and who would be able to abide and function in His manifest presence. The Lord caused me to know that He desired a people who would truly know Him and who would be available to Him in the day of His visitation.

After this experience, I began trying to imagine how this could happen. Then, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Everything that you figure out is automatically terminated, it will not be that way. What I am going to do will be different than anything that you have thought of."

I struggled, and wore myself out trying to understand how it would happen. Yet, I never thought, or even imagined what the Lord finally did, in His perfect timing. He brought Pinecrest into being, to be a school of the Spirit. What He wanted me to do was to trust Him, and then to prepare myself so I would be ready when it happened.

Finally, I came to a place of rest. I knew that the Lord had something for me, even though I did not know what, when, or how. I often found an empty room, and then spend hours waiting on Him, holding all this before Him in simple trust, that His will and purpose might be manifested in my life. I truly believe that these special times of waiting upon the Lord had something to do with Pinecrest Bible Training Center coming into being, and all that happened after it did.

We are to put our faith in Him, knowing that He is concerned about us. We are to realize that "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. This verse tells us that the Lord has a before-known plan and purpose for our lives. We are to recognize this, and then trust Him to bring it about.

Jesus said "Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" Matt 18:3. We are to acknowledge our insufficiency to Him, recognizing that we cannot fulfill His will for our lives with our own ability. Some of us have much natural ability, or personality, but many of us do not. We are much better off if we do not, because then it is easier to trust the Lord.

Paul recognized the necessity of his dependence on the Lord. He said, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before" Phil 3:13. He was able to focus his vision in the right place.

While Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, Martha protested that Mary was not helping her to prepare a meal for Jesus. Then, Jesus said to Martha, "You are careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part" Luke 10:41-42. We are to focus our lives on the single fact that the Lord has something specific in mind for us, and it is most important for us to spend time in His presence in preparation for this.

I am to trust the Lord, and then begin to wait upon Him for the outworking of the circumstances that will bring His purpose either into manifestation or operation in my life pattern. "One thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part."

We must forget the past, both our successes and our failures, and then begin to reach forth unto Him. Reaching forth means that I am going to make an effort. I will wait upon the Lord in faith, and in expectancy. I will make room for Him to bring into my life pattern that which He has for me, and then obediently accept what He does.

We can trust the Lord with our lives. Jesus prayed: "OUR FATHER which art in heaven". We serve a Father who loves us, He truly is OUR Father. We can come to Him in trust, and in expectancy. "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Matt 7:9.

We should have a concept of our Heavenly Father as one who will give good things to those who come to Him, and ask. This relates to our daily pattern of life, not just to our spiritual desires. "That I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended". We are to believe that the Lord has a special purpose for our lives, and then trust Him to bring it about.

"Hast thou not known? hath thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding" Isa 40:28.

He does not weary. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength" Isa 40:29. No matter how good my intentions may be today, in a short time, I will become tired, discouraged and worn down. Then, I will begin to doubt everything that I believe and am enthused about today.

But, the Word says that He giveth POWER to the faint, to them that have no might. In our discouragement and weakness, He increaseth strength. "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall." This is were our problems begin. We get tired and weary, and say things that ought not to be said.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" Isa 40:31. We are going to get tired. We may even lose our vision, and say "I do not care." There is a provision and an answer, "But, ye shall receive power ..." Acts 1:8.

As we wait on the Lord, there will come a renewing and a strengthening of our vision and of our faith. Waiting on the Lord is as the burning bush which burned and was not consumed. That which burns within us of the fire of God cannot be consumed out of our lives, but it must be nurtured in order to be sustained.

Our devotional life is not arbitrary, or just a blessing. It is much more than that. It includes our communion and fellowship with Him, but also within it is the creation of new life, vision and strength that is birthed into all that He has for us.

"That I may apprehend THAT for which ...". I cannot see what it is, but I believe it. I am going to wait on Him for it to come forth into my pattern of life.

Do not let the enemy rob you. Come to this singleness of vision: "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after". And then, begin to do it.