Are you pursuing the easy or the extraordinary?
Jesus spoke to Ananias in Acts chapter 9:
11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.
12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer (experience) for My Name’s sake.”
Suffering not only includes the perils but also the deliverance. Jesus suffered in the wilderness, yet He was endued with power afterward. Many doors were opened to Paul so that he could fulfill his calling to bear the Name of Jesus before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
Pursuing the extraordinary will require consecration. What is consecration? It is:
to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be Holy, be sanctified, be separate.
Just as Aaron and his sons were anointed and consecrated, we too are to be consecrated as priests unto FATHER. Walking in Holiness allows us to receive intimate Words from FATHER which are reserved for those who are willing to come into full maturity IN CHRIST.
Let us remove and strip away the excesses and trivialities of the world’s trappings.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Colossians chapter 1:
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His Will in all Wisdom and Spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
We are called to be fruitful in every good work which is pleasing to HIM: spirit, soul, and body!
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
We are strengthened by His glorious power, not man’s.
12 giving thanks to the Father Who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
There is a qualification requirement which means that we can be disqualified as well. It is vital that we understand that we can be disqualified!
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the Kingdom of the Son of His Love,
14 IN WHOM we have redemption through His Blood, the forgiveness of sins.
The power of darkness should have no impact on us as we walk in the light.
18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in Heaven, having made peace through the Blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the Body of His Flesh through death, to present you Holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight–
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
We are required to be longsuffering (i.e. patient, enduring) as we move into full maturity in Christ. As we do, all blemishes are removed, and we become blameless in His sight. We are transformed by the renewing or our mind.
Will we suffer persecution? Yes, the world will attempt to divert us from our individual callings. The persecutions of the true church have been on the rise by those who have reprobate minds. It is their attempt to justify their sinfulness. Light judges darkness and exposes the Truth which can no longer be hidden.
There is a cost to walking in the supernatural, but it is well worth it!