The School Of God

There could be different ways through which a Christian might grow towards the glorious and energetic version of life, which is filled with authority and freedom. Such higher life is obviously revivalistic, as it will easily bring Christ and His power to act in the world for the good of the Kingdom. When such people manage to get out of the challenging fire of the School of God, they will be refined to be pure enough to see God and to let His authoritative power be revealed through them.

There is an old classic Christian Mystic Book titled The Adornment Of Spiritual Marriage. The book is not about two people marrying, but it is about a saint and Christ harmonizing through time. This book mentions Hidden children of God. The meaning is not to be isolated from people, but it means that when you get matured enough to let God work through you mightily, you don't necessarily have to be standing on the pulpit to preach. But you will be showing the world a true God with power and glory as long as you grow in the knowledge and experience of Him.

Not only that, you will be one of the holders of authority in the world, controlling it as others do. But it is not that simple to grow to such a higher life. The following two are crucial points a diligent Christian needs to consider in order to successfully walk on the path of growth without lagging.

It is normal to assume that God is all we need, and hence to spend as much time as possible in prayer or mystical worship is nothing but fruitful. But such an attitude might be wrong and dangerous, especially once the power of God starts to manifest in the person's life.

As you know, when Moses was given instructions on the way the priests serve the temple, God was specific about the amount and the timing of the services performed by these priests. No matter how zealous and loving they were towards God, the priests could not divert from the schedule of the service in the holy place. And Aaron and his children were not allowed to present sacrifices and incense to God however and whenever they liked.

That's why Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, died during their service. They presented a different kind of fire than usual and put the incense on it. And then they died as they were consumed by a fire from the presence of God (Leviticus 10).

You show God how much you love and revere Him by keeping the list of His directives—not more and not less. Time is an important element during our pursuit of God, even more important than when we were unbelievers. This is because our wholeness will depend on doing all His commandments during each day. Failing to do some things and spending too much time on other things is dangerous, no matter how innocent we are.

So here are additional things to focus on besides prayer: reading the Bible, fellowship with others, working, knowing your mentors closely, and spending time with family. These things might sometimes seem like a waste of time or useless, but they are the way we can synchronize with the real will of God.

Surely, God has a lot of things to reveal to us because it is not only experiential encounters we need but informative knowledge of God too. The people of God in the Old Testament had seen many wonders and miracles from God, but they still lacked knowledge, which made them fall and suffer consequences.

Prayer and worship are the paramount tasks to make us grow by experiencing and manifesting God through our very life. As iron spends enough time with fire, it will have its impurities vanish, and sooner or later it will start to look like the fire itself. In the same way, it is possible to have our life reflect God's glory and beauty by spending time with God regularly.

But sitting with the experiential knowledge of God is not the destination; we also need knowledge of His will. His will is not just one or two things, or even a hundred, but there are innumerable things to know about it. Hence, as much as experiential knowledge of God is an endless pursuit, similarly the knowledge of His will is also endless. Such knowledge of His will makes us more powerful and active participants in this world.

So besides prayer and worship, we need other virtuous tasks or simple participations which will help us stand on a path through which our mind can understand His will. It is important to mention that just as prayer and worship are the grounds one should stand on to experience and live with God, similarly, regular reading of the whole Bible is the ground on which one should stand to know and do the will of God. And we should remember that without knowledge of His will, our life will be lame and vulnerable to the enemy no matter how much we pray.

When you start your pursuit of God, there may be a duration of time during which you may need to ride solo until you get that spark of spiritual fire. You may remember Moses spending time in the land of Midian, away from his people. But one day he saw the flame of fire of God, and after that he went back to entangle himself with the people. In the first chapter of Luke, John the Baptist was reported to have lived in a wasteland until the time came for him to show himself to the people of Israel.

Once you determine to live with God, your endeavors to know Him will not be in vain, and you will find some experiential knowledge of God. After that, a volitional need will be born in your heart to develop the “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. But this time you may put at the plate your social life, your career, your family—in order to prioritize nurturing your spiritual aspirations, which have a hope of influencing the world.

It is a big dream, so the risks and the choices you make along the way are difficult. For this reason, you will need a spiritual father to guide and guard you on your path. Such entanglement with a spiritual father is very needful. Spiritual fathers are anointed ones who have a great history with God. Because of this, they have a special covenant with God, and their words and wills have power over the forces of the cosmic world, for they are not alone but the Creator and Lord of all works within them. To stay under the shadow of their spiritual umbrella is a protocol by which a pursuer of God can grow safely and successfully toward the destination aspired to in the heart.

Do not be confident about your optimistic expectations unless you participate in the place where God pours His Spirit to help and empower those worshipping Him. Be at the right place at the right time, where you may encounter God. Such places are where truly anointed men of God serve.

You may raise a question about how to choose a church where the right spiritual father for you is. You can check different places, and you will find one where your soul and spirit will rejoice and revive the most.

In Luke 1:39-56, Mary and Elizabeth, who had separately encountered God through His angel, had some special entanglement with one another. That is why, when they met, both started to praise God and utter prophetic words.

When you find the right church for you, you will know the harmonious, deep connection between God, yourself, and your church. After that, your growth will accelerate wonderfully because God will be found for you in such a unified place of worship and praise.

So once you start to experience the power and knowledge of God, it is important to be wise enough to walk in prudence and humbleness. This is because mistakes cost in the kingdom of God, and major mistakes are those that happen because of failing to do God's commandments or offending others.

We should understand how to spend the hours of each day. Each of us has the responsibility to pray, read, work, take care of our families, and more. Spending all the time on some of these tasks while leaving others should not be the way of life, no matter how right it seems. This is because God reveals Himself and His will to us during all these tasks, not just during prayer.

Once we give our time to entangle ourselves with other people, especially in the church, virtues should be sought and practiced seriously. This will help maintain the right harmony and unity, which is the required atmosphere where God can come to visit and bless us with His wonderful and miraculous acts.

When God comes to the assembly, He does not just do normal things but extraordinary ones. So make it your diligence to be reverential and believing, in order to keep the loving atmosphere in your relationship with your church leaders.