For You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 116:8-9.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
The sanctified life is about living in the land of the living. The sanctified life is life indeed.
I have rescued you out of the realm of darkness and translated you into the Kingdom of My Beloved Son, and He is the light of the world. No follower of His will ever walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10.
You cannot enjoy life without faith. Without faith you will have fear and doubt. And those keep you from living at your maximum potential and they steal your peace and your joy. Even though I have rescued you from darkness, if you give in to those and do not feed your faith you will put yourself back in the darkness. And that is not My doing but yours.
I did not give you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind (self-control). I did not make you timid but confident.
And that is what I am talking about and what I call great faith. It is confidence that I always do just what I said I would do. I have told you I am your healer and that I heal ALL you ills, Psalm 103:3, and yet many tolerate sickness and are fearful of the unclean spirits of the various illnesses, pains, and infirmities. In fact, they will even say that I gave them to them and that they are accepting them to honor Me! That is an insult to My face and to all I have done for you in Jesus that cost Him everything according to His humanity to give you the abundant life in the land of the living.
And most “believers” have no confidence that I will heal them. Faith without confidence is not faith. It is what Jesus called “little faith,” “lost faith,” and “no faith.” Many people say they have faith in Me, but they have no confidence that I will do good things for them when they ask. They are just not sure so they hide behind saying that it may not be My will to heal and bless them, whether it be physically, emotionally, or financially. But that also dishonors Me for it attributes evil to Me and intimates that I am a liar since I have promised you otherwise. I blessed you from the moment I made you.
Once you have tasted My goodness and the life of confidence in Me, and that is confidence that I watch over My Word to perform it, you will not want to live any other way than in a walk of love and confidence with Me. That is described well in Psalm 116: For You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 116:8-9.
In the parable of the sower sowing seed on various types of soil, only one received the seed and let it grow to harvest, but even in that good soil the harvests differed in size. One was thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and finally there was a hundredfold. Only one attained the maximum level and I will tell you why: that was the heart with confident faith. That was the heart that knew Me.
When you take the time and have the interest to know Me, I mean really know Me for who I am, there is no longer any room for doubt or fear. You know too much. You have experienced My love and care for you. The faith that moves mountains and has no doubt is only possible if you have come to KNOW and BELIEVE in the LOVE I have for you.
Faith is not something you have to work up, it flows naturally from our relationship. It is at the point where we trust each other to be true and faithful, loyal and loving with one another. It is when we know we will not hurt each other or betray the other. It is when you know all I do is good and I will give you the best immediately when you ask. On My mountain there are only showers of blessing.
When various kings of Judah turned away from Me to worship idols, it showed Me that they did not trust Me to supply for all their needs and desires. They sought help elsewhere, and of all places, from a wooden totem pole or from statues of wood and stone.
Only one of the twelve disciples who lived and walked with Jesus attained to that level of love, and that was John. And the result? He had no fear and no weapon formed against him could prosper. He was the only one of the twelve that did not abandon Jesus but stayed with Him all the way and was at the Cross near Him. He was the only disciple that no one could kill no matter what they did to him. He had tapped into the power beyond all you can ask or imagine, that is, the anointing that is in all believers.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 1 John 2:20-21. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1 John 2:26-28.
You can live under the open Heaven of the anointing. You can walk with Me in the land of the living even now in the middle of a dark and confused world. The devil has blinded minds to the light of the truth in My Word. He has stolen it out of their hearts or choked it out of them by lusts, worries and cares. He keeps you walking in the flesh and not in the spirit. He works hard to keep you out of the land of the living.
How do you get there? There is only one way, and He is the way, the truth and the life and He is the living way to Me. For in Him I have made you righteous with My own righteousness so that we can walk together in the land of the living. Because He died and rose and lives forever, you too live forever. If He had stayed in death, so would you, for that would mean you would die in your sins. But as it is, I raised Him from the dead to newness of life with all your sins paid for in full and gone forever. And that is where you are in Him.
And where do you go from there? Straight to My throne of grace in the true Holy of Holies WITH CONFIDENCE to receive and take everything you need right when you need it to the delight of your spirit, soul, and body. And not only to take but also to partake of My divine nature in our flow of mutual love and honor that comes from KNOWING Me as I know you.
O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want. 0 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. Psalm 34:8-10.
I love you. For now, I would like to give you Psalm 116 to meditate on and in our next Life Lesson we will consider its application.
I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD, O, LORD, I beseech You, save my life!” Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.” What shall I render to the LORDfor all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the LORD. I shall pay my vows to the LORD, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones. O LORD, surely I am Your servant, I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds. To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the LORD, I shall pay my vows to the LORD, O may it be in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! Psalm 116.