Zadok Discipleship Course - Armed for War
38
Empowered through Union with Him
Christ in You - The Source of Strength
Colossians 1:27 • Colossians 2:9-10 • Intimacy as the Pipeline
We need to come to a place where we are plugged into the power of God twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Until we get there, our Christian walk will remain unstable - up and down, dependent on circumstances rather than rooted in an unbroken source.
A new dimension of strength is coming to the body of Christ. But it is not going to arrive arbitrarily - not like a sudden "poof" where everything changes. That strength is going to come as a result of us doing something different: we must learn to draw our strength from Him.
The Creator of the universe lives inside of you. The same Christ who defeated principalities and powers, who rose from the dead, who now reigns at the right hand of the Father, is not merely with you. He is in you.
The dimension of supernatural strength you will walk in is in direct correlation to the depth and intensity of your intimacy with God.
This is why there has been such a powerful move of God in the area of worship, in teachings on intimacy and the secret place. God has been deliberately laying that groundwork. He is preparing a people who know how to draw close to Him, because that closeness is the very pipeline through which His strength flows.
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El Shaddai - Draw from the Source
Genesis 17:1 • Hebrews 11:6 • James 4:8 • The Operative Word: DRAW
When God told Abraham he would have a child, Abraham responded with the obvious: "I am old. My body is as good as dead."
And God answered with one of the most profound names He ever revealed: "Abraham - I am your El Shaddai" (Gen. 17:1).
El = God (from Elohim). Shaddai = strong-breasted one - literally the nursing mother's breast, the source of life for a newborn child.
God was saying: "Abraham, your natural body is dead. You are old. But I am your divine source of life. I am the one from whom you must draw."
The baby can be brought to the mother's breast, but if the baby does not draw, the baby will die. God revealed Himself as the limitless source of supernatural life - but simultaneously said: "You are going to have to draw it out of Me."
"Be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]." - Ephesians 6:10 (AMPC)
Even though we are born again, we do not automatically receive God's strength. Many Christians approach life by doing all they can in their own ability, and then when depleted, they turn to God. That is completely backwards. God wants us to draw from Him continually so that everything we do is done with His strength from the start.
Diligently. Not occasionally. Not when the battle gets bad enough. Diligently. Every day. Drawing. Going after Him. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (Jas. 4:8). He is not hiding. He is not withholding. He says: "Seek Me, come to Me, draw from Me - and I will be found."
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She Drew It Right Out of Him
Luke 8:43-48 • Matthew 11:12 • The 1990 Account
Jesus was on His way to raise Jairus' daughter when a woman who had suffered for twelve years pressed through the crowd. She had spent everything on doctors - nothing helped. But she had a conviction: "If I could just touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed."
She pressed. She pushed through, probably trampled on and shoved aside - but she kept pressing until she touched His robe.
Jesus stopped: "Who touched Me?" The disciples were baffled - the crowd pressed from every side. But Jesus knew: "Someone touched Me. I felt virtue go out of Me." (Luke 8:46)
That woman drew her miracle right out of Jesus. She did not wait for Him to notice her and choose to bless her. She pressed with such focused, deliberate faith that she drew the healing power straight from the source.
In a meeting with an incredible anointing, Dr. Foss lifted his hands during ministry time and said: "God, I don't care if anybody else in this building gets it. I take it right now."
He grabbed hold of it in faith. All of a sudden he was hit by the power of God - on the floor, flooded by His presence.
When he came up, he asked: "God, what was that?" And He said: "It was an infusion of My love."
What happened? He drew it out. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matt. 11:12). You press in. You take it. You draw.
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The Cycle We Must Break
The Peak-to-Peak Pattern • Revival Lessons • The Well Inside
Ninety percent of Christians walk in their own strength. They learn the Christian language, how to manage daily circumstances through natural ability. And they survive on that for a while. But when the battle escalates beyond the reach of natural ability, they become worn out, discouraged, and frustrated. Some quit. Some backslide. Some keep running from conference to conference looking for another spiritual fix.
You cannot build your entire walk on moving from peak to peak. When the experience is over, you must have something left. There must be a well on the inside.
Those praying for people would keep saying: "More, Lord. More." They were drawing on God - actively, deliberately, staying in His presence and pulling on the anointing. And people were getting strengthened and transformed.
But over time? People got weary from drawing. They thought: "I'm strong now. I don't need to draw tomorrow." Then they skipped a day. Then a week. Then a month. And step by step they became weaker and weaker - until many were slaughtered by the enemy, not because the anointing was unavailable, but because they stopped drawing.
"Physically exhausted, running on empty, I have lifted my hands and said, 'Lord, I just draw strength from You right now.' And I could feel the power move through my body. Strength I did not have in the natural suddenly came on the inside. I have lived this in places around the world where it was my only option."
- Dr. Steve FossFill in the Blanks
Stay in the Presence - Don't Pop Up Too Quickly
Isaiah 40:29-31 • The Tree of Life • Living Water
One of the things God was trying to teach the body of Christ through the revival movements - particularly through Toronto - was how to soak. How to stay in His presence. How to wait - not passively sitting still, but actively staying before Him, drawing on Him, pressing in for more.
At altar ministry, the power of God touches someone and they go down. But the moment they can move, they pop right back up and hurry to their seat. You can watch them pull themselves out of the anointing by doing it too quickly. They got a touch, but they walked away before they got filled.
That word "wait" does not mean passive inactivity. It means to stay, to remain, and to actively tarry before His presence with expectation and hunger - drawing on Him and pulling on His strength.
In the very most intimate place with God there is a tree of life. We lost access to it in the garden, but through Christ we have access again. Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He said to the woman at the well: "I will give you living water, and he who drinks of this water will never thirst again" (John 4:14). He is the source. He is the well. And He is saying to you right now: Draw from Me.
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The Warning and the Call
Jeremiah 17:5-7 • Galatians 2:20 • Psalm 1:2-3
Multitudes of people in churches right now are surviving on a psychological, moral, positive Christian lifestyle. They have learned how to put on the Christian face and exist in a somewhat Christian experience. And for a time, that seems to be enough.
As wickedness increases, those who have not learned to draw supernatural strength from God are already beginning to fall. Their families are falling. Their marriages are falling. Their children are walking away. They are collapsing morally and emotionally because they have never built that pipeline. They have been getting a sip every once in a while, instead of tapping into a continual flow.
"I do all I can in my own strength, then call on God when depleted." Like a tree that occasionally visits the river. Unstable, withering, dependent on circumstances.
"To live is Christ." Every step draws from His strength. Planted by the river - roots permanently in the water. Always fruitful, always strong, never withering.
You are in no condition to engage in spiritual warfare until you are first filled with His strength. Don't go to battle prayerless. Draw from the One who makes the weapons effective. Be strong in the Lord. Be empowered through your union with Him.
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