Fall 1991

Maintaining a Close Relationship to The Lord
Nancy Warner

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine: For He taught them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes" Matthew 7:28-29.

The secret of the authority which was evident in the ministry of Jesus was the close PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP that He maintained with His Father. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I LIVE BY THE FATHER: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me" John 6:57.

Jesus openly confessed that He was totally dependent upon His Father; therefore, He stayed in close communion with His Father. "Then said Jesus unto them, when ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" John 8:28-29.

So also with us, "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me" John 6:57b. Establishing and maintaining a close personal relationship to Jesus should be central to our spiritual life and ministry. We maybe satisfied that we are seeking a deeper understanding of the Word of God, but it is essential also that we go beyond this level of spiritual desire and recognize that the only foundation upon which our knowledge of the Word can stand is the personal relationship that we maintain with the Lord.

The Lord greatly desires to further make Himself known to us. Most certainly, we are to seek after His anointing and the operation of gifts in our ministries. However, before there can be a quality impartation of "spirit and life" to others through the operation of these ministries and gifts, there must first be developed within us a quality of spirit which comes only from our having a personal knowledge of the Lord through our spending time with Him. From these times spent in waiting upon Him in His presence will come the experiences which will result in our having a measure of spiritual authority. Only then will there be a quality spiritual impartation to others.

For us to be willing to spend these extended times of waiting in His presence, there must first be within us a "dissatisfied satisfaction." We are to be satisfied with all that we have of the Lord and of His workings within our lives, but we must become dissatisfied, knowing that there is much more to be gained in our knowledge of Him. There must be a genuine eagerness in our seeking after this inward personal knowledge of Him.

It is only the goodness of the Lord and His patience toward us that brings us to repentance. As we come in anticipation and wait in His presence, He will begin to reveal to us the things which hinder our relationship to Him, and impart to us the grace to deal with them. Along with this, as a parallel experience, comes a call to Holiness; a call to a consecrated life.

As we continue setting apart time to linger in His presence and grow in this consecrated walk, the reflection of the glory which comes from our being in His presence will begin to change us into His image. Even as Moses reflected His glory, we need this reflection of His glory in ourlives, along with the gifts and the impartation that results from our being in His presence. As a result of this, others also will be changed.

I have been helped and blessed by being in the presence of some who maintained unusual relationships with the Lord. Along with this, I had the privilege of sitting under some excellent teaching ministries. As a result of what I experienced during these times, I made a very important decision. Rather than seeking after ministry, gifts, and revelations in the Word, I determined that I would seek after a closer personal relationship with the Lord. My heart is sold out to go after a quality personal relationship with the Lord. I have come to understand that as I spend quality time in the presence of God Himself, there will come into my life an anointing and quality of spirit, from which ministry and gifts will flow.

A short time ago, I attended a meeting in which the speaker gave an excellent word. He had an anointing and was reflecting light from his life, but there was something missing. As I left, I was saying, "Lord, what is wrong? The word was good." Then the Lord brought something to my mind that Brother Follette had said; "There is a difference between having truth itself deposited within our heart and made a part of our life, and simply reflecting truth that has come from another person or ministry."

Later, I had the privilege of sitting under the ministry of the one from whom this speaker, who had left me empty, had received his ministry. There was something in the latter's life and ministry that made me want to sit by her. I did not care whether she talked to me or not because there was such a presence of God in her; I just wanted to be near to her. There was this "little open heaven" right over her head, and I felt that if only I could get close enough, I would be under it also.

Then the Lord showed me that what the first man had ministered was good; and although there was a reflection of truth coming from his life, the truth Himself, Jesus Christ, had not been deposited within his life in the same way that it had been in the latter minister's life. There was nothing that caused me to desire to linger in this speakers presence.

There is a message that rings out from Pinecrest. We can recognize it because there is a certain flavor that comes out from Pinecrest. But this is not enough. As we hear these teachings, we must make a personal decision. Do we simply want to reflect the light that is being reflected to us, or do we want to develop within us the relationship from which this revelation came?

I greatly desire the relationship. I desire the reflection of His glory in my life. Each one of us needs to receive a revelation of the necessity of our developing a quality relationship with the Lord. We cannot realize all that is attainable until we become willing to go after it.

"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.
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" I Cor 2:9-12.

We are to seek for God Himself. He is the foundation of everything that we need. We are to focus our seeking upon the Giver rather than upon the gift; upon the Imparter rather than upon the impartation.

The Lord desires to do a total work within each of our lives. He desires to bring forth the "Fruit of the Spirit" from within each of us. As the spiritual gifts which we have received develop, there is to come forth a greater impartation through their functioning. Our entire livesare to become a testimony to Him, not just through our words, but through our lives. This will be the result of the "Habitation of God" being established within our being.

In His goodness, He is stirring us in regards to our loving one another, for without love, we are but sounding brass. The Lord is not causing "sounding brass" to come forth, rather He is creating trumpets, voices in this day who will speak the pure word of the Lord.

There is a place by God Himself that has been prepared for those who will come apart to wait upon Him. Are you willing to "come apart" and o seek Him for Himself?