The Operation Of God

2007 Feb 24, 2007

The Operation of God

Kathleen Maples

There is an adversary out there, unseen but felt by every born again child of God. He hunts and pursues with hostile intent every avenue he can find to harass, persecute, and chase the children of God away from believing God, and His promises. Left unchallenged, he will hound our minds with his lies, depression, fear, unbelief and all other sorts of garbage from his dump. Psa 143:1 A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. Psa 143:2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. Psa 143:3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Psa 143:4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

This kind of pressure, when we try to battle it ourselves, and quickly discover we cannot, and when we don't cry out to God for help we will quickly sink under the pressure. The smart thing to do is to go to the Word of God, and pray and remind God He said He's an ever present help. Remind the devil whom the Son hath made free is FREE indeed! We have to learn how to react and handle these things, and I thank God for His mercy in watching over us as we do, ever ready to step in should we start to drown. Praise His Holy Name!!! Psa 143:5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. Psa 143:6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

The fastest way to overcome this is to remember who God is, to dive into His Word and let it cut us loose from whatever has gripped us. Even when we have been made to feel less worthy than the dust under our feet to still raise our hands and hearts to the Almighty, standing only on His promise that He'd never leave us or forsake us. If we don't willfully turn our back on Him, He won't turn on us. Psa 71:20 Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

God has allowed me to experience adversity, and trials, as well as causing me to take heed to the tribulation of others, for the purpose of testing and trying and proving me, to show me what I'm made of. He does this so He can show me how He comes through for His children, how He is well able to deliver them in hard times, in rough times. If we never suffer anything, we are of no use for we will be weak spiritually and spoiled and unbearably proud. God has to allow things in our lives that will keep us humble as we learn who He is, as we live this Christian life. But oh, hallelujah, oh saints, I praise the Holy Spirit of God for His willingness to teach us and draw us out of our misery, for His refusal to let us wallow in our depression without reminding us of who we are, and WHO is in us, and showing us the way out. The Scripture said He would quicken us again, and bring us up from

the depths of the earth... That word "quicken" (H2421) here means to revive, to nourish up and preserve, to recover, repair, and restore to life, praise His Holy Name! We have a promise here, when we are heavy laden, when we are overwhelmed in our spirit and in our minds, burdened with oppression, and depression, that He will revive us, He will restore us to the spiritual life He has birthed in us, and take us through. He will not leave us in the hand of our enemy, Hallelujah! He will revive us again! He'll lift us up out of that pit of despair and give us the life in Christ He promised! He will recover and restore us before Him. Oh, what an awesome God! This was written by David in his old age, when he knew his time on earth was coming to an end, but when we start dying to ourselves, and hungering and thirsting after the life and righteousness and kingdom of God, the devil will try to fight and buffet us in any way he can and it will tax our strength and mind and our heart. It's a valley of decision and warfare we all have to walk through and it is not pleasant. But we go in this valley more than conquerors and God is the One who brings us out still more than conquerors. When we walk through this valley we must never forget WHO is leading the way and going before us and behind us and inside us. We must remember GREATER is HE that is within us when we hear the roar of the lion, that old devil, who is desperately wanting us to turn around and flee back to our old lives, and remember we have the LION of the Tribe of Judah in us and all around us!!!! Hallelujah!!! Oh, God I praise Your Name! I Love You Lord!!! Oh, folks, He is so magnificent-there are no words to good enough to extol His greatness and mercy and kindness to us! The Scripture says He will quicken us again and bring us up from the depths of the earth! If you backtrack in this Psalm, you will see in verse 10, David says his enemies speak against him, they harass him, saying things that are not true and are just waiting and plotting to ambush him. They lie and say his God has forsaken him, there is none to deliver him, and they are going to get him. But he remembers God and hopes in His promise and His love, and His power, trusting God is able and will not allow his enemies to triumph over him. Saints, of God, does that sound familiar? Oh, it does to me. It's a page out of the devil's play book! But here, David is encouraging himself in the Lord, and reminding himself of the faithfulness of God and he knows he is going to come through this singing the praises of God in victory! Oh, glory to God! And we will, too!! Just like David said in Psa_71:16, I will go in the strength of the Lord God-just like He did when he went against Goliath-in the name and strength of our LORD! Didn't the Lord promise Paul in 2Co_12:9 His strength was made perfect in weakness? Psa 80:18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

The pressure is strong from the enemy on some of us because he sees something in us, something of the life of Christ in us, some love and hunger for God that terrifies him because he knows if we realize what we have been given, and start to understand just WHO is in us, and what we possess we can do great damage to his kingdom and plans. But, God is faithful, and if we cry out to Him, He will let us know just how close He is and He will revive us and refresh us, and endue us with His life and we will call upon His name, we will be saved. We will be victorious. God help me, He is too wonderful for words, people! Oh, taste and see the Lord HE IS GOOD! NOTHING compares!There is no greater high than being in the presence of the Lord and understanding His great love for us!

Psa 119:22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. Psa 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Psa 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

Oh, the enemy has tried to make us feel ashamed, despised, and worthless. In spite of his best efforts, when we hold on to the Word of God anyway, and refuse to let go of the hope of His promises, we are heading in the right direction. Even if it feels like we are sinking, we are not going down, we are progressing-we are going through! When we hear that voice of the accuser battering our minds speaking great things against us, remember we can meditate on the Word instead of listening, and remind ourselves we can and will overcome by the precious BLOOD of the LAMB and THAT Great High Priest IS the Word of our Testimony!!! The victory He won at Calvary destroyed the works of the devil for all who would trust and believe in HIM! (1Jn_3:8). Oh, I praise the Lord for how He has been ministering this to my heart... Psa 119:25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. Psa 119:26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

Oh, what marvelous truth unfolds when we take time to dig into this Precious Book! The word for 'soul' means more than your eternal soul, the inner you, here it also means appetite, body, desire...and he is confessing to the Lord here, my lust, my flesh clings to the rubbish of this world, the clay-or fleshly desires is what it wants to pursue, I hate it but it does. That which I would do, I don't. That which I delight in after the inner man, the things of God, I don't do. Oh, wretched man that I am, WHO will deliver me from this body of death! For to follow the carnal mind and the flesh is death! (Rom_7:24;Rom_8:6) We don't want to go that way! We have said we are on a journey with the Lord, that this world is not our home, we are strangers, pilgrims here, and our hopes, our dreams, our plans they are not for here. Our future is not in this place. We are aliens in a strange land. We do not build our security and foundation on a world that has already been condemned by its Owner. NO! We've made a good profession of faith, and He heard us. He wants to teach us HIS ways, guide our steps in HIS truth. He will help us understand and share the good news of His wondrous works. Psa 119:27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. Psa 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

That word again for soul here is the same one above (H5315) it refers to our vitality, our appetites, desires, heart, etc. It's the living being. Sometimes we can get tired, we hurt, we cry, we get empty because we pour out everything we have inside to others. It leaves you feeling drained. We need refreshing and refilling. HE alone is our Source. But sometimes, we just get weary under the pressure of the attacks of the enemy against our minds, against our faith, against the life of Christ inside us. But God can strengthen us according the promises (2 Pet 1:3-5) He's made in His Word. We have not, because we ask not, sometimes. Psa 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Psa 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

We can ask God for the desire to do His will, and ask Him to turn us, stir our hearts

to hunger for His Word, not the materialistic desire to possess temporary things of this world. We need to ask Him to turn our eyes from looking at things that do not profit, from focusing on things that are decaying and without eternal value. Revive us and strengthen us to once again be on fire for You, Lord, as we walk with You, help us stop lagging so far behind, but draw us closer, so close that by that very closeness, the chaff is burnt up, the spots are revealed, and can be cleansed, and the zeal of the Lord of Hosts eats us up again. Establish Thy Word unto Thy servant, who is devoted to Thy fear-to reverence of the Lord. Psa 119:92 Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. Psa 119:93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

There have been times if I had not spent time in the Word, studying it for myself I would have went under and drowned in the attacks of the enemy. I would have been deceived and believed a lie if I had not taken the time to read this precious BOOK myself. In my tests and trials, the Holy Spirit of God could pull that up and bring it to my remembrance. He could remind me of what I had taken the time to read and store up in my heart when I needed that Word to hold me up. Again, that is His strength being made perfect in my weakness. Thank You, Lord! Oh, hallelujah to the merciful Lord Most High! We want to be empowered with and by the life of Jesus Christ in us, so we must accept, believe and seek God to do this in us. We can't do it ourselves, it is not of us. There is no profit in merely going to church, singing a few songs, and reading a few Scriptures, if you do not spend time alone with HIM in this Book for yourself, seeking greater understanding of what you are reading. We must make ourselves available to HIM so He can teach us the Word of God-the last and only will and testament of our Lord and what it means to us and how it applies to us. Then we will be changed as we look at HIM in these pages, and see who He is, and behold Him in all His glory and splendor and holiness, his utter majesty, we will be changed by the revelation of Him, given us by the Spirit of God as we explore and dive into His Word. (2Co_3:18) When we begin to do this, the enemy goes ratchets up his attacks to try to hinder us but we must believe we are what God says we are. We must hold on to the Word of God and not forsake it, not let it go no matter what thoughts go through our minds, and no matter what people say. Praise God, in our weakness, He calls us His army. HE is mighty in our midst when we believe and trust Him. He sees His children who are born of His Spirit as the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He promised new life to Abraham and Sarah, who were too old and unable to do it themselves. Abraham believed God, and God looked at that, and declared Abraham's faith righteous. He restored the ability to create life in the body of Abraham and the womb of Sarah, and called forth Isaac out of their bodies. Can He not do the same for me and you? Can He not look on us with mercy and love and defeat the work of the enemy to destroy us and speak His life into us and cause us to stand up in new strength-HIS strength? Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Oh, I love that verse. He calls those things which are not as though they are. He speaks something out of nothing. He says LIVE and we live. Speak the Word only,

Lord! Hallelujah!!! Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:

DON'T fall for the trick of the enemy who will try to turn your attention to yourself, to your weaknesses, your flaws and failures! Consider NOT yourself, but look to GOD like a child who KNOWS their parents love them, and will provide what is needed!!! GOD is more faithful than any earthly parents could ever be! Look UP not down!!!!! Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Oh, if He is in you, He will give His life to you. He will make it a reality in us if we yield to Him. Acknowledge Him, learn how to communicate with Him, and follow His direction. By His very presence in us, we have the life of Christ. It's HIS JOB to teach us, but we have to make time to learn. We have to present ourselves to Him, and bring hungry, humble, trusting hearts to Him, and ask to be filled with understanding, with light, with His power to be a witness for Jesus Christ in this crooked and dark world. I'm not talking about handing out a tract or telling somebody they need to get saved. I'm talking about LIVING this LIFE before the sons and daughters of men, a walking, living and breathing Word of God made flesh again. If His Word is in you, if you eat His Word, seek His kingdom, and trust Him He will infuse you with His life. It will be obvious to those around you who see you change from the image of a hard, bitter person to the image of a compassionate and caring person. When they see you leave the shame of drugs and alcohol and sexual immorality to the glory of virtue, and integrity, and honesty, and freedom from addictions, they will wonder. They will marvel. When they see you going from faith in God to handle one problem and faith in God to handle the next one, too, they will be astounded as the see the work of God in you. It will convict them. It will prove the reality that there is a God. It's not what you say as much as how much of His work and life do they see in you? It's a daily walk. I thank Him that He is willing to work with us in our weakness! That He doesn't get frustrated and throw up His hands and say I've had enough of you! You don't listen! I'm tired of cleaning up your messes! Oh, I thank Him. Rom 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

YES! Oh, we don't owe the devil or our flesh one thing! We owe GOD everything! We are not to make provision for our flesh or its demands. We are to immerse ourselves by the power of the Holy Ghost in the Lord Jesus Christ-in His Word, and seek to be filled with His Spirit more and more. We have the choice to make. We can feed our flesh by caving into its natural demands of pleasure, ease and appetite, or we can feed the life of Christ in us, feed that Spiritual man, the Word of God, and water it with prayer. Whichever we feed the most will be the strongest and will overcome the other. If we want our flesh crucified, we must feed the spiritual man and neglect the satisfying of the flesh its carnal desires. (Rom_13:14)

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins

YOU he has given life to, when you were dead in sin, when there was no holy life in your soul. When your soul was chained, powerless, in darkness, under the bondage of sin and the mastery of Satan, and his unclean works which ruled your life, God drew you, He convicted you, He opened your eyes to hope, and caused you to call on His name for deliverance and He showed up mighty with the key to your prison cell and set you free. He loves you and He has taught you and kept you through everything you have went through. He has not brought you this far to fail you or leave you now! Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

Oh yes He does! And that includes our spouses, our children, our parents, our friends and relatives, and neighbors. That also includes our enemies! There is a nightclub right behind my house. My back yard runs up against the wall of this building. On the weekends I can hear the thump thump of the music in there. My children can hear the fights in the parking lot, across the fence that separates the corner of the parking lot from mine and my neighbor's backyards. There has been gunfire erupt in this place. The local law enforcement absolute despise this establishment because they have to go there and try to restore order so much. I hate it. There are ungodly, sensual contests where women are put on display and exploited, because they put it on the sign in front of the place what they are doing. There are rappers invited to perform from big cities who perform the 'gangsta rap' and bring an element of lawlessness that is dangerous into the atmosphere. I have been praying for God to shut this place down for 2 years. Lately, I've also asked him to save the man who owns this establishment-that would be a marvelous way to stop this problem. God is able to quicken-to change, to give life to those He will. He can birth the cry for help in the soul. He did mine. I was not looking to change, I was not looking for Him. He created a discontent with my life in me. He worked and birthed the cry for deliverance that came out of my soul one day when I met Him for the first time. I can take credit for nothing. Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

When you are buried with Him, that means you have entered in with Him, dead to sin and alive to HIM. You no longer want to live your life for yourself, but for His sake, for His purpose to do with as He chooses. When we are hungry to present our bodies daily a living sacrifice to the plans and purposes of God rather than what we would do, He will be able to raise us up because we must believe as did Abraham, who was called to sacrifice the new life God had given him, that if we die to this world, and self, GOD will as He promised raise us up in new life, spiritual life, to walk, and work as the Lord did on this earth. We will believe the operation of God will work as He said it would. We place ourselves and all we are and have in His capable and loving hands, to do with as He pleases. When we have become dead to sin, have learned to hate sin, especially in ourselves, and around us, and want no part of it, and we know we can't strive in our flesh and self effort to please

God, we give it up, and trust Him to work it out, and realize He's already given us the power of His life in us to work it out, and He's forgiven us for all of our transgressions, our errors, falls, and failures because He has seen the cry in our hearts that hates these things, and longs for HIS righteousness. He knows when you sin or fail or react badly in your flesh, He sees in your heart whether that bothers you or not. He sees if you regret it and are ashamed for bringing a reproach on His name by getting in the flesh and losing your cool. HE KNOWS. Yes, I believe we must repent of our sins, but I also believe when God sees the loathing in us for our failures and sins, and the desire to be free, He does not impute that sin to us. That cry in us, that loathing of our failures, and anything and everything that is not like God is also a cry of repentance and regret, and He sees it. Oh, what liberating truth! Do you feel this truth cutting the ties of guilt and condemnation that have hindered you? I do! Praise the LORD!! Glory to HIS HOLY AND PRECIOUS NAME!!!!! This does not apply to those who play games and do not mean business with God and lightly esteem Him and His Word. You can not take the grace of God and try to consume it on your own lust and think you can willfully sin without consequence and get by on grace. God will not allow His holy things to be misused. You need only read about Belshazzar in Daniel 5 to see that. Psa 85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Oh, God knows His people have been under attack. He knows those who are weak and weary and in need. He will strengthen them and their praise will be like fingernails on a chalk board in the ears of the devil! Praise GOD for His mercy, folks! The sound of their praise and rejoicing in the love and victory of CHRIST will infuriate that old devil but He can't stop it!!! He's been a failure since he fell from heaven and he cannot take the life and promises of God from you if you do not surrender them to him!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH TO THE LAMB OF GOD WHO IS HOLY AND MIGHTY IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE AND AN EVER PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE! He said call on me and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me! (Psa_50:15) Glory to God! Psa 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. Psa 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

Oh, yes He will! He promised! When the warring of the adversary gets too much, God will come to your rescue! Stand on His promises! He will not fail you! Be not dismayed, He is alive, He is all powerful, all knowing, and He sees! If you are so down you can't even form coherent prayer, He still hears that cry of despair in your heart! He KNOWS and He's coming to deliver! His WORD, His SPIRIT can stir you up and bear witness with you yet again that He still loves you, and in spite of the lies of the devil you still are His child. The blood is still there! It'll never lose Its power! He will make you perfect (complete and whole) in Christ! He said He would! Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in

the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Psa 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. Psa 34:22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Thank you, Almighty God, for your magnificent Word! Oh, people, praise Him. He is worthy. He deserves the reverence He demands, He deserves the fear we are duly bound to give. Respect and have regard for Him. Love Him. Bow and worship Him. HE is HOLY and He loves us anyway! What more can I say? Oh, I could say a lot but I think I've said enough for now...I pray God make this a reality in all our lives... He's coming back to earth, people, for a prepared, free and ready to leave body of believers. Take this Word and let Him cut the ties that bind you to this decaying planet and the temporary trappings that go with it. We need to get our eyes off ourselves and on Him and His Work and trust Him to save our families, and keep us, and be about His business of filling up on HIM so the lost and dying around us can see the manifestation of the Sons of God and the Daughters of God who are open displays of the life and reality of Jesus Christ. God bless you all, with a greater hunger and greater understanding of HIM and His love for you.