Press Toward The High Calling!!!

Throughout this week, the Lord has been speaking about a word called Zion.  It is an in-depth and extensive revelation.  I am trying to share one aspect of it and make it clear and simple for all of us to understand and apply it in our lives.   

It is not enough that we are saved, become a Christian by obeying the waters of baptism.  It is not enough that we speak in tongues or the heavenly language.  It is not acceptable at all when just the follow the religious precepts and doctrines in letter like the religious leaders of Jesus' time.

 Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ desires us to have a very close relationship with Him to the point where the Lord rules and reigns in our hearts and in our lives and His perfect Will alone is done where our desires, our being, our thoughts become His.  We are completely being led by the Spirit of God beyond our own legitimate needs.  He has a full and complete control over our lives.  Living this kind of life transcends the generations and our works last for eternity.  Can you imagine who walked such a life in Old Testament? One I can think of is Enoch who walked with God while having family and responsibilities.  Can you imagine a king who desired for such a life? He was none other than King David.  His every act had such a spiritual implication and eternal value.  He did what God desired and He indeed received a testimony from the Lord as “a man after My Own heart.” I would like point out one incident from his life.

Zion is a fortress in the Old Testament period.  Jerusalem is located on two mountains, Mount Moriah and Mount Zion. Upon mount Zion, there was a fortress which belonged to Jebusites.  God put in the heart of David many thousands of years ago that Jerusalem will be the place where His temple will be built and that Jerusalem has an eternal value.  Even after destruction of the current heaven and earth, there will be new heaven and earth and there will be New Jerusalem.  It is so amazing that David was most of the time led by God even in the Old Testament period in all his life’s struggles.  David captures Jerusalem, but he is not contented with that, he pursues further to capture Zion which has an eternal value in the spiritual sense.  The following verses show how he captured it.

II Samuel 5

⁶ David then led his men to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land who were living there. The Jebusites taunted David, saying, “You’ll never get in here! Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For the Jebusites thought they were safe.

⁷ But David captured the fortress of Zion, which is now called the City of David.

⁸ On the day of the attack, David said to his troops, “I hate those ‘lame’ and ‘blind’ Jebusites. Whoever attacks them should strike by going into the city through the water tunnel.” That is the origin of the saying, “The blind and the lame may not enter the house.”
⁹ So David made the fortress his home, and he called it the City of David. He extended the city, starting at the supporting terraces and working inward.
¹⁰ And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him.

David was completely inspired by God to capture the fortress of Zion of the Jebusites.  But he was opposed by Jebusites who were so confident that they are quite safe and taunted David saying “David, you cannot capture this fortress Zion, our blind and lame will be able to keep you out.” What a mockery!!! David hated that.  David had won so many battles and He has already become a king.  Now, he wants to go further and go higher and make this Zion his own which is indeed the Will of God for his life and also has an eternal value. His army went through the water tunnel and finally captured the fortress and made it City of David.

Even in our own lives, we will not be able to make our hearts and lives to be the chosen and desired habitation the ZION for our Lord, when we miss out on GOD’s PERFECT WILL.  He would be just in a corner of our lives like a poor man rather than being the KING ON THE THRONE of our hearts and lives.  when we want to do the Lord’s Perfect Will we will face problems from spiritual blindness and spiritual lameness, sometimes from within and sometimes from outside.  When we are spiritually blind and when we do not walk in the spirit, we cannot accomplish the PERFECT WILL OF GOD.  Also, we might face opposition from the people who are blind to the spiritual reality, who do not walk in the Spirit, who feel right with God because they follow Bible in letter not in Spirit BUT their heart is far from God.
 ^{Matthew 15
8} These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.

The New Testament says, those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God.  Also, it says those who do the Will of God will live forever, it means themselves and their works have an eternal value.  When You are led by God, God is in it if He is not in it, it is not His Will.  Anything you do outside God’s Will may appear to be right, but it may not be appreciated by God and would not have eternal value.  If the Lord says anything to you and if you obey it the HEAVEN BACKS UP because it is the WILL OF GOD!!

Is this easy? It is not easy at all, because you will face problems; problems from within, our own will, fear, doubt, our reasoning,  and flesh or the sinful nature and problems from outside, either other people or the direct attacks of Satan. 

We need to overcome these struggles like going through a narrow water tunnel or gutter-like experience through crucifixion of self-will, renewing of mind to see spiritually,and through prayer and spiritual warfare removing every hurdles in the spirit realm.

Overcoming the self-will and flesh is through the crucifying of our will and sinful nature on the cross with Christ Jesus.

  Galatians 5

¹⁶ But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit, and the [desires of the] Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature); for these are antagonistic to each other [continually withstanding and in conflict with each other], so that you are not free but are prevented from doing what you desire to do.

²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit^]we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]

 When we are led by the Spirit of God, religious spirits become offended and become an obstacle for the Will of God in our lives.

1 Peter 2

⁶ For thus it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen (honored), precious chief Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall never be disappointed or put to shame.

⁷ To you then who believe (who adhere to, trust in, and rely on Him) is the preciousness; but for those who disbelieve [it is true], The [very] Stone which the builders rejected has become the main Cornerstone,

⁸ And, A Stone that will cause stumbling and a Rock that will give [men] offense; they stumble because they disobey and disbelieve [God’s] Word, as those [who reject Him] were destined (appointed) to do.

We need to avoid such religious spirits as per the Word of God mentioned below.
^{II Timothy 3:5}
 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].

Be also watchful to walk according to the written Word and commandments every step and be careful to be led by the Spirit of God throughout, and pray fervently and continually to overcome the external attacks of the enemy. 

The essence is, Lord Your Will is my will, Your Presence is my portion, and Your Reign in my life is my privilege!! This is the kind of life in us is the Zion of the current age where the Lord dwells in our bodies which is the temple of His Holy dwelling, and He rules and reigns in our lives with great desire.

Psalm 132: 

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His habitation:
14 This is My resting-place forever [says the Lord]; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.

This is God’s desire for our lives and this is a high calling, and like Apostle Paul we must press toward to this High Calling in Christ Jesus!!

Please feel free to share your comments and feedback if this post has been a blessing to you.  Thank you. 

Written By: Shanta S. Daniel
[Copyright@ Permission is granted to duplicate this article in its entirety, but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind, including the author and ministry name at the end]