When I talk about the Lordship of Jesus, I am talking about being a radical disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean that every decision of any consequence is submitted to the Lord, to know His will. Nothing is an automatic given as to the leadership of the Lord. There is no person, circumstance, or thing more important in life than Him.
That works out in practice in strange ways sometimes. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is given us to be our guide, so that we can not make a decision by what our ears hear or what our eyes see. It is subjecting the emotions, the will unto the leadership of the Holy Spirit before allowed to do what they are drawing us to do.
I had the great opportunity of seeing this demonstrated by my father and mother as I grew up. My Dad was a Methodist preacher from the age of 17. He sought to follow God to the best he could. He had been seeking a deeper relationship with God. In 1962, at the age of 33, he encountered the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in an Episcopalian healing meeting in Nacogdoches, Texas. A born again Jewish Rabbi was there, and he laid hands on him, and he received the Pentecostal experience, and life changed with that deeper walk with God.
He found the leadership of the Holy Spirit was very specific, even through dreams and other ways. About a year and a half later, he felt led to withdraw from the Methodist Church, and in a dream the Lord spoke to him to
"Go to Shreveport and locate in the vicinity of the airport." I was about 10 years old at the time.
Following God to Shreveport
He left for Shreveport from our Methodist parsonage in Port Acres, Texas. He knew that the Lord was leading him away from the familiar, the sure support that he had always had in ministry, and out to an unknown place. He would immediately lose his home and would have no real possessions, because Methodist parsonages are furnished. His insurance would be canceled and my mother was expecting my baby brother in a couple of months.
Nevertheless, he went in faith, trusting God that He had the answer for us. He looked for a place to live all day in the vicinity of the airport and just before he was to rent a 3 bedroom home, three single women got it. He thought he must have somehow missed God on that as he had found nothing else.
He decided to go to Life Tabernacle, pastored by Rev Jack Moore, to a service that night. He had met Anna Jeanne Price, Bro. Jacks daughter when he had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in Nacogdoches.
After the service, he was talking to Anna Jeanne, and Bro. Jack came up to meet him. When she told him that my Dad was leaving the Methodist ministry, he immediately exclaimed, " I have the answer for you. I have a bunch of furnished apartments in the vicinity of the airport, and you can live in one of them rent free as long as you need to."
What an amazing answer, and even exact choice of words. And we went to Shreveport and lived in one of Bro. Jack Moore’s apartments for about 18 months. He went out and bought new furniture for the one we moved into. It was a beginning of a journey of faith of the likes I could not begin to tell you all of. There were blessings that were sprinkled throughout those days in wondrous ways.
As I began my own grown up walk with the Lord, I learned the same kinds of radical faith. I did what I felt the Lord leading me to do and I saw the results. I learned to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and know that as I trusted the Lord, He always made a way even when there seemed to be no way.
Kansas City 1986 When I was 33
There were many tests of hearing and following God over the years, but one stands out in my mind very much. The Lord led me to go to a Women Minister’s International conference in Kansas City in the fall of 1986. Usually when I had gone to a conference, there had been at least one of my friends with me, but this time, it was me alone.
I had really sought God about whether I was to go, and the money for the trip was very hard to come by. When I left for the airport that day, I had money for the hotel and necessary expenses I knew of, but nothing but a few dollars extra, and I decided that if I needed to fast during the conference, I would. I knew that the Lord had led me to go.
When I got there late that night, it wound up costing more than I expected for the transport to the hotel. When I got in the elevator, I met a lady that asked me if I was by myself, and when I said I was, she said I ought to get with a lady that needed a roommate for the conference. I did, and we had a great time sharing the Lord. That also freed up half my money for things I needed.
About 3:00 AM, the phone rang in our room. It was my mother in Texas. She said, " Daddy has had a heart attack and is in ICU". I could feel the pull to go home and be there with the family and for Daddy. But, my training in the Spirit took over, and I said, "Well, I know that the Lord wants me to be here, and so I cannot come, but I will call Cindy and I will pray. Daddy will be better with me in the will of God than present with him in the natural.
Mother reluctantly agreed, as she knew better than me the truth about doing the will of God. I got on the phone to call Cindy Jacobs in her room, and she later told me that she prayed just about all the rest of the night for him. Thank God for the intercession.
I prayed what I felt led to, and then I went to sleep and slept well and woke up late. I hurried to get down to the conference, and did not have time to call home.
As I went to the meeting, the Lord spoke very clearly and told me to buy a memento for that day to never forget it. I saw a table set up with little ceramic things, so I stopped and looked at them. One drew my attention, and I bought it. It said, "God Will Turn It Around".
I hurried on into the meeting, and felt the peace of God. At the end of the meeting, a bellboy came to the speakers platform with a note. Carol Cartwright read it to me from the podium. She said, "Your mother has called and said the situation has turned around with your Daddy."
I was so joyful, and I recognized the reason for that little plaque I bought. I felt more secure than ever that you can absolutely trust the leadership of the Lord in every circumstance. The tests, including enzyme levels, that had shown heart attack the night before, were normal! There was no heart damage and all levels were normal.
I had passed an important test for me in the Spirit. Did I trust God with my Daddy and my own life more than the circumstances. That entire trip had been a test for me. Believe for provision, or for the grace to forego that provision. Daddy had always taught me that God will give us grace, or provision, as we put our trust in Him.
I knew that the word says that I must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else I need will be added unto me. That meant I had the peace of God in Kansas City when my beloved Daddy was in ICU with a heart attack in Conroe, Texas. It meant I could trust God to comfort my Mother in that situation, and that the best place I could ever be was the perfect will of God.
Whether I go, or whether I stay should always be a question I ask the Lord and never assume. That is the safest place for me and all that I entrust to the Lord. Even when the devil attacks to get you off track, the Lord will turn it around as you put your trust in Him.
I believe that the same Spirit that was on the Lord Jesus Christ that taught Him to not go by what His eyes saw or His ears heard is the Holy Spirit that is given to us to lead us in the will of God for our lives. And even when we miss it, God will forgive us and give us another chance.
I fondly look at that little ceramic plaque every time I dust it, and remember the reason I have it. It is truly a memento of a very important lesson in my life. That lesson had been demonstrated to me as a child, and then I had to walk it out as an adult. God is faithful.
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