A Deeper Christian Life

Recently, I felt like the Lord put me on a true “alternate day” fasting schedule whereby I eat, on average, the equivalent of two meals over the course of a 6-to-8-hour feeding window, followed by fasting for the next 40-42 hours. I’ve lost about 10 pounds over the last month or so since undertaking this approach to weight loss and incorporating this practice into my spiritual life. But the thing I love the most about fasting regularly is that it helps me draw so much closer to the sense of the Lord and His presence and divine life within that I long for. So my word to you is, if you aspire to a closer walk with Him, you might want to consider making fasting a regular part of your spiritual discipline. May the Lord be with your spirit always.

In my Adamic flesh, I can be pretty judgmental sometimes. One example is how annoyed my flesh can get when I’m sitting in a work meeting or some other presentation and have participants/speakers who are prone to extensively using verbal crutches, such as “umm, like, ah, you know,” etc. But as I continue on the deeper path, the anointing within recently gently suggested I use each such occurrence as a prompt to turn to the Lord by calling upon His name. So, now when I’m in these circumstances and find myself getting annoyed, I recognize this is just my flesh acting up, and the Holy Spirit reminds me to silently call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. And every single time I do, lo and behold, God instantaneously delivers me from the evil! And you know what else? I find myself getting less annoyed in my flesh to begin with these days. Thank you, Lord Jesus! May the Lord be with your spirit always.

There’s a view that one must use one’s mouth to exercise one’s spirit to truly touch the Lord and worship Him richly and fully. That is true, to some extent, at least when you are starting out on this deeper path.  But once you have developed your spirit to a certain degree of what we might call, for lack of a better term, spiritual “fitness,” there is another dimension of relating to the Lord that does not depend on your physical mouth to exercise your inner man. Here’s a reliable clue: If you are a Christian, it is common for the Lord to put a song in your heart, to find yourself humming the melody of a favorite hymn or spiritual song. The next time this happens, pay closer attention to it and use this as a prompt to turn within to your indwelling Lord. If there are lyrics, let those words dance lightly across the backdrop of your conscious awareness. Let it run in the background of the operating system of your mind, as it were. Now, you could stop right there and just continue a...

If you have read the first three messages on this theme ( here , here , and here ), and practiced the exercises I suggested, you shouldn’t be surprised at the direction this post is taking. The path of silence . If you’ve practiced those exercises, you should have some familiarity now with calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, calling upon Him as quietly as you can, and calling His name with as little use of your mouth as possible. Now, practice calling His name silently . Are you using your mind, your heart, or your spirit? Yes. Ideally, you’re using all three. Call His name now, silently. (“Lord Jesus”) Try this: When you call upon Him silently, try gathering as much of your innermost being as you can, and pour your heart into calling His name, all while exercising no (or barely any perceptible) effort on your part. This may sound paradoxical. Yes.  I like to think of it as a needle to thread. Call His name again. (“Lord Jesus”) Now, you might be thinking, why on earth would I c...

Suggested exercise: Play the song linked below and sing it to your Lord; play it again and listen to the Bride sing to her Bridegroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MOzk7-6j-I (As always, pardon the ads.)  May you enjoy the kiss of the divine life of your Lord and Savior in a new way through this exercise.

Another wonderful way to get to know your Lord more deeply and more intimately is to pray, or pray-read, the Scriptures. This is an ancient practice within the Christian tradition, with many contemporary practitioners throughout the ranks of the Christian Church. In this particular form of this exercise, I will draw from some inspiration the Lord gave me through a teaching from Frank Viola in one of his messages on his Deeper Christian Life Network. The gist of this exercise involves pray-reading, rewording and reciting Romans 8:28-39 as something of a love letter and word of reassurance from God the Father to you (and me), the individual believer. Here's my particular interpretation (based loosely on the rendering found in the Legacy Standard Bible): Starting now with Romans 8:28: “Thomas, you know that, for those who love Me  –  and that includes you  –  I make everything in your day, everything in your life, work together for good, for those I have called accordin...

Suggested exercise: Play the song linked below and sing it as you, the individual believer, to the Lord Jesus Christ; play it again and listen to the Bride sing to the Bridegroom; play it again and listen to the Lord Jesus singing to His Heavenly Father (tweaking the lyrics as should seem obvious, such as replacing “baby” with “Jesus” or “Father”).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFgAHdhONU (As always, pardon the ads.) May the Lord reveal Himself to your heart and spirit in a loving way through this exercise.

“How to call upon the name of the Lord.”  In a nutshell: As softly and as lovingly as you can, from the innermost part of your being. Check out my video on YouTube here . 

To build upon the foundation I laid in the first two posts on this theme ( here ) and ( here ), in this post, I’m inviting you to see how little use you can make of your mouth and still call on the name of the Lord and touch Him in a real and life-giving way. By now, from the teaching of the first post, you should have some experience encountering the Lord in reality in your regenerated human spirit simply by calling upon His name. And, from the teaching of the second post, you should have some experience fellowshipping with Him by quietly calling His name. Now, take this practice to another level and see how little you can use your mouth and call His name and still touch Him in a real and enriching way within your spirit. First, get in a quiet place, wherever your have your devotional time with Him, or upon your pillow, or, say, when you’re in the shower. Then, with your mouth open, see if you can say, “Lord Jesus,” without moving your lips. Experiment with that for a while. If y...

Suggested exercise: Play the song linked below and listen to the Father sing to the Son; play it again and listen to your Lord sing to you; play it again and listen to the Bridegroom sing to His Bride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVij6j5do2A (Pardon the ads, as always.) “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39, King James Version. May the Lord touch you with a new level of intimacy through this exercise. 

As marvelous and as glorious as this song is, as written, allow me to suggest another, perhaps even deeper, take. Play this song, featured below via the active hyperlink, and sing it, AS the Lord Jesus, unto His Heavenly Father, both as a prayer of His to God the Father, and as a song being sung by the Lord Jesus to the twelve disciples (or you can alternate between these views, as the lyrics suggest). And replace God the Son’s name, Jesus, with God the Father’s personal name, Yahweh. So instead of you singing the glorious original version of this song, “Jesus Is Love,” sing as the Lord Jesus singing “Yahweh Is Love,” perhaps as the Lord Jesus’s invitation to the twelve to explore an aspect of God the Father they had yet to contemplate or fully grasp. This exercise (if anointed to your ears and heart for this purpose by the Holy Spirit of God) will enable you to enter right into the eternal, ongoing fellowship that God the Son and God the Father have with one another through the power ...

Suggested exercises: Play the song featured at the link below (multiple times, if you feel so led or inclined), and in each successive turn, listen to the Lord singing to you, behold the Bride of Christ singing to her Bridegroom, sing this song looking for those portions where the Father is singing to the Son, and those portions where the Son is singing to the Father. And if the Lord reveals something else to you in this exercise, run with it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRHTXFIKfFs (as always, apologies for the ads)

Here’s another spiritual exercise for you. Take what you have gleaned from the deeper Christian life that you have experienced with the Lord thus far, and revisit The Lord’s Prayer per Matthew 6:9-13. Specifically, take these verses and pray them in the name of the Lord Jesus – which is to say, pray AS the Lord Jesus – unto the Heavenly Father. Here’s an example:  “My glorious Father, Who lives and rules and reigns in the heavens, in the heavenly dimension on the other side of that door of spirit, “When I need You and when I need access to You and Your kingdom beyond that door within, I turn to You in my spirit and I breathe Your sacred Name: Yahweh! “Your Name is holy, for You are holy, and Your Name gives me life – and it renews my access to Your heavenly kingdom – our home. “Father, one day Your kingdom will be fully established and You will be fully glorified here on the earth, just as You are right now and just as it is right now in the heavenly dimension. “Your will is done i...

If you have already spent a week or two softly, warmly, lovingly calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as I detailed in my earlier post dated February 21, 2021, ( https://adeeperchristianlife.blogspot.com/2021/02/my-go-to-way-to-experience-jesus-christ.html ), here's another way to engage the Lord that can augment the way(s) you approach Him now: Experiment with how softly and quietly you can call, “Lord Jesus.” Can you call His name with your head on your pillow without waking your spouse? Can you call His name in the grocery store check out line, or while riding in the elevator, or in a conversation without someone else hearing you? See how quietly you can call Him and still hear your voice. Do that throughout the day, every day for a week or two, and notice how much closer you and your Lord are to one another. Then after that, spend another week or two continuing this practice, but making sure you wait upon Him and discern His presence. If it pleases our Lord to draw yo...

There's a form of prayer beyond words, beyond thoughts. It's simply silently sitting in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. No Bible reading. No prayer list. Just gathering the depths of your innermost being, occasionally calling the Lord's name softly, but earnestly, and waiting for Him to well up within you, within your regenerated spirit, where His Divine Life, His Holy Spirit, resides. Words and thoughts are intellectual activities. Spirit-to-spirit transmission is what imparts Life. If you are to know Christ Jesus more intimately in your deeper parts, the Lord is calling you to wade into the deeper waters of the River of Life that your spirit can access, simply by calling on His name and then quietly, patiently, reverently, lovingly waiting for Him.

Saints, today I’m going to take what should be an obvious turn and encourage you to engage the time-honored practice and tradition of  fasting  to augment, foster, and facilitate a deeper walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ll try to be brief. Why fasting? First, three conceptual points. Jesus fasted and advised His disciples re: the practice. The apostles, early church fathers, and great saints throughout the history of the church fasted. The practice of fasting is mentioned throughout the Scriptures as a primary way to humble one’s soul and flesh before God. If you have a concordance, break it out and dig into the Word yourself for first-hand illustration. Next, four practical points. The time you spend thinking about, preparing, consuming, and cleaning up after a meal is all time you could spend with your Lord. Every hunger pang or signal of physical discomfort can prompt you to return to the Lord in your spirit to sustain you with His life and Spirit within you. Fasting hel...

Here’s what you get when you cross Bill Withers and Jeanne Guyon: Ain’t No Sunshine When He’s Gone Suggested practice: Open the attached link in a new window (by right clicking) and then modify the lyrics as you sing along. Also note, you can sing this as yourself, as an individual believer seeking the Lord in your spirit but struggling to find him. And you can sing this as the Bride of Christ, longing for the Bridegroom. You can sing this as the church awaiting the Lord’s second coming. And you can sing this as the Lord’s earliest disciples, after the crucifixion but before the resurrection. Feel free to share your experience in the comment box below, if you feel so inclined. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPOYc4a2RPY (apologies for the ads) May the Lord Jesus reveal Himself to your spirit through this exercise.

This blog will present, among a variety of content, certain devotional exercises from a paradigm that views the Psalms as the recorded prayers of Jesus Christ, a concept introduced to me by Frank Viola. In this context, then, pray Psalm 1 in the name of the Lord Jesus (which is to say, AS the Lord Jesus), as the Eternal Son, praying to His heavenly Father. One example follows. May God the Father and God the Son and the fellowship they have through God the Holy Spirit be revealed to you in a fresh, new way, through this exercise. “My Heavenly Father, blessed indeed is that man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. “But his delight in is your precious Word, and in You, and in your Word does he meditate, and in your Presence does he abide day and night, day and night, day and night. “This blessed one will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf als...

The simplest, easiest, most effective and reliable way for me to touch the Lord Jesus Christ in my spirit is to just call upon His name -- “Lord Jesus!” --  as quietly, as softly, as gently as I can. Remember, Jesus Christ lives inside you . You don’t have to be loud for Him to hear you. God is not in the loud display or the boisterous activity (see 1 Kings 19:11-13: The Lord appeared to Elijah in a gentle whisper, not the powerful wind, not the earthquake, not the fire). Call upon Him quietly, gently, softly, as peacefully as you possibly can. So, get in a quiet room, by yourself, close your eyes, quiet your heart and your mind, turn within, and then, collect your spirit, if you can, and with all the love you have for your Lord, softly speak His name “Lord Jesus!” And then wait upon Him to approach you in your regenerated human spirit.  When your mind wanders--and it will--simply turn again to Him and softly call His name. I find the following lyric from the Josh Groban class...