I heard the Lord say, "I am calling you to complete obedience and total surrender."
Friends, you are marked.
God has set His eyes upon you. You have been chosen to bear His Name in the hour of His Second Coming. You are destined to be filled with the "fullness of Messiah."
But the Father is asking you to wrestle with a question this morning. And the question is this:
"How can you be filled with "all the fullness of God" if there still remains much of you?"
Beloved, you cannot "fill a container" with a new substance if it is partially filled with the old. The old must be completely purged if the new is to be poured within.
The same is true of the Spirit.
God is calling you to complete obedience and total surrender. This means you must give up all of your rights. You must empty yourself of every earthly desire.
God is taking you on a journey which requires you be incredibly "light on your feet." All baggage must be left behind. It is a great mystery but God requires you even lay down His promises at His feet.
When Abraham offered up Isaac, not only did He offer up his Beloved son, but He gave to God the very promise that God Himself made when He said, "I will make your offspring as numerous as the sands on the seashore." Abraham knew even if Isaac was killed, God could raise Him from the dead. But this act on the part of Abraham was a divine declaration that He knew God was better. And with His willingness to sacrifice Isaac came his willingness to sacrifice even His understanding of how Gods promises would be fulfilled.
Beloved, The Lord is calling you to the same level of commitment. He says to you this day, "Where are your Isaac's?"
He says to you this, "it is time to find them and head up the mountain."
Are your Isaac's financial security? Bind the sacrifice.
Are they a desire for personal fame and influence? Bind the sacrifice.
Are they to be liked and well respected by your family and friends? Bind the sacrifice.
This ruthless searching out is not in vain. God is searching after your Isaac's for a deeply redemptive purpose. Your Father knows that if you do not offer them up, you cannot fulfill His promises.
Hebrews 11:8 says By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Friend, are you looking forward to the city that has foundations whose designer and builder is God? If so it is time to bind the sacrifice. It is time to head up the mountain and offer back to God what belongs to Him.
It is time to find your Isaac's and raise the knife.
The divine irony is this, in doing so you will not slay the promises of God, you will enable their fulfillment.
So today, as you walk with the Father, count the cost of being His disciple. Let the Spirit shine light on all that cannot accompany you on this journey. And you will find that any pain you experience by letting go of something God is asking you to forsake, will pale in comparison to the glory that you will experience when He fulfills His promises to you.
Remember Beloved, "No eye has seen nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Cor 2:9)