Fall 1995
The Power of Truth
John W Follette

Presently, we are being made ready for that greater day in which we will be released from the Adamic and moved into our right habitat - that for which we were designed and are now being trained and disciplined. Then the Lord will become all in all and we will see Him as He is.

It would be nice if the Lord could be visible through us, with ourselves hidden. Rather, He brings us into a lovely moving of the Holy Spirit in which His presence becomes a personal reality within us, and then we are able to make Him known through us.

A true moving of the Holy Spirit will agitate those who are balanced half in religious form and half in emotionalism, and they will upset the delicate balance between the Word and the revelation of His presence. When this happens, many do not know what to do. It is better to stop and allow the Lord to work things out than to try to maintain something that has gone off.

The Lord greatly desires to be given "room" in our meetings, as well as within our personal lives, so He might initiate a creative moving of the Holy Spirit until He is able to find and establish an adequate dwelling place in which to make Himself and His purpose known.

Each of us who presently are being stirred by the Holy Spirit have within us a spiritual urge, or hunger. This can be compared to a baby who nurses; the mother need not teach her child to receive, as the urge to live is basic and only needs the right contact, and satisfaction results.

We should not be disturbed if our appetite is not as large as we would like it to be. If we are unable to sustain a prolonged moving of the Holy Spirit, or if we cannot handle the problems that arise due to this spiritual stirring, we should receive all we are capable of, and then wait upon the Lord to enlarge our capacity.

We should be careful to allow the Lord to do within us as He desires, and not what we would like Him to do. It often requires much time for us to move beyond our attempts to get the Lord to do as we feel He should. Much of our prayer time is used explaining to the Lord why He should do as we desire, and all the good things that would happen if He would.

At times, we respond to the Lord with a "pout" in our spirit, saying, "I will do it Lord, but I do not like it." The important thing is not the fact that we are doing His will, but rather, the state of our spirit in acceptance, while we are doing the will of God. When all is said and done, our prayer should be, "Lord, bring me more perfectly to the place where I can accept your will, with grace."

We should not do the will of God merely because it is a command. Rather, we are to wait upon Him until our spirit is in alignment with His will, even though we are unable to bring our emotional range into agreement. We can make the decision and choose earnestly from the depths of our heart, and yet many tears may flow at the same time.

At times I have had to say, "Lord, do not listen to this, it is my emotions. Rather, look to the deep <I>yes<D> within me that is seeking to surface." Many times, I have said "yes" through tears. These were not tears of resistance or rebellion, but of my self-life. The law of self-preservation within me was being broken and my will brought into submission.

This was not my will being broken. We should never say, "Lord, break my will." He does not desire a broken down will. He wants us with a strong will which is fully surrendered to Him. He can do much more with a strong will that is dedicated, than a weak floundering one. People sometimes say, "he has never had his will broken." The Lord does not break anyone's will, but works tremendously within us to cause it to be surrendered.

There is a vast difference between a judicial, or potential statement of truth, and the realization of it. For example, we may say, "Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world." This is a judicial statement of truth. It is a fixed truth, a value which will never change.

Many feel that if they mentally believe this, all will be well with them because they are convinced of this fact. But this is not all that is necessary. The devil knows that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and he believes it. But, his believing this fact does not save him.

This truth, or any spiritual truth, is never ours until faith has laid hold of it and it has been personalized within us. Only then does it become ours. Now we can say, "Jesus Christ is my personal Savior." This is quite different. We can push out under the impact and power of this truth, not because we gave mental ascent to it, but because something in our heart grasped it and it has become a personal reality, a living truth within us.

As we yield to the power of the Holy Spirit, His Word will become a living dynamic in our lives, even though He may have to slay us. But life is born out of death. Knowing this, when our old creation has to be subjected to its death, we do not mourn.

There are still vast territories in each of our lives over which He desires to rule and reign. When we say yes to this, He will come and begin to take possession, but it will be a slow, patient work. We cannot force God, nor can we make Him hurry. Our spirit must be continually conditioned to receive spiritual truth.

It has been so in my own experience. After a most terrific dealing, I have said, "Lord, I have always believed this, but now it is a reality within me." We also will be able to say this, if we rightly respond and allow the Lord to do it His way.