You Better Put A Girdle On It!
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of JESUS CHRIST…” (1 Peter 1:13, KJV)
This one is for the “deep divers” in the realm of the spirit; those of us who are embracing the divinity GOD has given us as His children. One day as I was communing with the LORD I thought about the many ways my walk with Him required that I lose my natural mind. Honestly deep divers, don’t you sometimes feel like you’re about to lose it because of the things GOD is saying, revealing, and requiring of you??? It’s then that I reach for the remote and put the T.V. on and let it watch me and touch down for a while. Don’t get me wrong. I love the holiness of JESUS, I love His Presence, I love the wonder of exploring dimensions of His glory, and His WORD, but sometimes…
There’s so much about Him that is disorienting to the flesh; like when He insists I love my enemies and bless them that curse me and despitefully use me. And for those of us that are fighters, the LORD requires that we NOT avenge ourselves but let Him do it instead; and He takes so-o-o long to do it too! What about when He gives you a powerful prophetic word that causes your stomach to churn so that you can hardly eat, but insists you must “Pray into it and not release it because the time is not yet”? Please tell me deep divers how long does it take you to recover from a supernatural field trip with the HOLY SPIRIT? Do you ever tire of obeying apparently ridiculous instructions that turn out to be the wisdom of GOD just before a deadline? And what about when you have a moment of regression in which you beg Him for something and He tells you, “Use your faith and create it!” Then there are all of the paradoxes that a relationship with the LORD requires like: serve to reign, stand still to advance, expect humiliation before exaltation, use a soft answer when you’re yelled at, to be first you must expect to be last, the way up is down, die to live, give to have, lose to gain, the meek rule, be angry- but don’t sin…they’re never ending!
The experiences connected with an intensely supernatural walk with GOD and its paradoxes make me appreciate 1 Peter 1:13 in a personally prophetic way other than its contextual meaning. It contains three essential pieces of advice for deep divers like you and me if we are to enjoy (not endure) our walk with GOD. “…Gird up the loins of your mind…” Let’s face it; the natural human tendency is to allow any thought or image to come and go freely in and out of our mind making it weak and flabby. But walking with the LORD in dimensions of the supernatural definitely requires that we put a girdle on our mind for optimal function. A loose and jiggling mind cannot hold all that the LORD wants to download to a deep diver! A disciplined mind is an absolute must in order to maintain balance when you’re visiting dimensions of glory on a regular basis and still living in the physical world. A mind that is strong and flexible is necessary to sustain the estrangement we may feel with those we love or with whom we work or worship.
“…Be sober…” I’m sure we deep divers like to enjoy ourselves as much as other believers, but there are times when what the LORD reveals pushes the giddy right out of us…and with good reason. Prayer, meditating on His WORD and His goodness is sometimes the only thing that can restore a smile to our lips. In addition deep divers you know that sobriety is a must while determining who, what, and when we share the revelations the LORD gives us. Thank GOD for His wisdom in this matter.
“…And hope to the end for the GRACE that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of JESUS CHRIST…” Thank the LORD for the hope we continue to have because of His enabling grace. It assists us to understand and accept the many paradoxes that challenge us as we walk closely with Him. Without grace, the pain of being misunderstood, isolated, and forsaken at times because of our spiritual insights and authority would be unbearable. Without grace the wonderful revelations that foster deep and intimate knowledge of the LORD would cause sorrow not joy, when we consider how members of the Body of CHRIST fall short of His glory.
I’m certain that none of we deep divers would trade the intensity of our relationship with the LORD for anything. This post is just a shout out to let you know you’re not alone and give you something to smile about. Deep divers unite!
DECLARE: “LORD JESUS, it’s good to know I have brothers and sisters out there like me. Thanks for this word. It did make me smile. It’s also good to be reminded that Your grace is there for me as You continually insist I come up higher and stay ready to receive more. Amen.”