Written April 27, 2015
Christ’s apostles were simple Galileans, many of them fishermen. Although this Scripture was written of the Corinthian believers, it applies to the twelve as well: they were not… wise by human standards; not… influential; not… of noble birth. But God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise… He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1Cor. 1:26-29). Saul of Tarsus, however,was different.
From the tribe of Benjamin, he had been taught the law in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, a Pharisee honored in religious circles of the day (Phil. 3:5; Acts 22:3; 5:34). Almost immediately after saving him, God called Saul out to Arabia (Mt. Sinai?) to be separated unto Himself; He did not send him to Jerusalem to be taught by the other apostles as Saul likely would have done of his own accord (see Gal. 1:15-17).
No, it was imperative that this intelligent and wise religious man conform no longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by God’s renewal of his mind. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (1Cor. 1:19). Note that the Holy Spirit repeated this OT Scripture (Is. 29:14) in a Pauline epistle, not another.
God does not mince words about this; it is a very serious matter because our pursuit of knowledge continues to separate us from Him. God’s Way for us to pursue Him is narrow: it is by Christ alone. It is for us to humble ourselves and become as little children; we miss the mark when we pursue Him otherwise. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight (1Cor 3:18-19a).
God thus took the theologian of Tarsus into the desert and demolished his religious strongholds, arguments, and pretensions so that Christ could be revealed to all through Saul’s renewed soul (see 2Cor.10:3-6). This apostle-in-the-making had to be removed from human influence for a season in order to become truly knowledgable of his Lord by intimacy with Him. He had to be made a “fool” by the world’s standards so that he could become wise; the Pharisee had to humble himself and become a “child” in order to enter the kingdom.
…Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to the little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” – Luke 10:21
Becoming like a little child with you in Christ, your sister deanna
The Lord Is With Us 
To make such a bold statement, even based in scripture, especially where you are and ‘under’, it is both surprising and yet unsurprising. Since I came to Christ, I first became a part of the Baptist church but not being fed there, the Holy Spirit led me to some street preachers who told me about what they were doing. They were coming to the downtown area every 3rd weekend of the month. Then one day, I was led of the Spirit to go downtown again and I saw them again but it was not the 3rd weekend. One of them told me they had moved it to the 2nd weekend of the month. Holy Spirit knew this but I did not. I spent some time with them, learned what church they were with and became a part of it. They were all spirit filled believers and definitely had that hunger and thirst for the Lord that I was looking for.
Only those who hunger and thirst for the Lord will find where God wants to bring them in order to give them the best He has, no matter which church they are currently a part of. I praise God that He has touched you in this manner and that you are unafraid to share what He is revealing to you and incorporating into your life. This is both a jubilant time as well as can be a difficult one as you do encounter those who will oppose what God is doing in you. But God’s good hand is on you, which is evidenced by the messages in this website.
I am also thrilled that God has already guided you to others who share this wonderful walk of the Spirit and who are willing to share what God has graciously given to them. Would that all His children be like this. I would just like to offer to you the hand of a friend who, like you, is still on this incredible journey. As God continues to make connections with others, I pray that we will learn that we are not alone besides the Spirit of the Lord being with us. He has many who have not bowed their knee to ‘Baal’ or made compromises in their faith. What a joy to encounter others whose love and zeal for the Lord equals or surpasses your own. This is how I feel as I keep encountering people like you. I now have to very good friends and brothers in Christ who are also fellow laborers in the fields of their Master. Both live in western Australia. One I communicate in email and their website while with the other, we communicate through email and through Skype at least once a month.
God has privileged me to be able to make deposits in both their lives and the fruit of those deposits are springing up incredibly fast, faster than at any time I have seen in my 40 years walking with the Lord as His son and friend. And, to my continued surprise, He causes me to encounter you Deanna Reynolds with a heart that both loves Him and His Spirit and joyously receives His word. This is so encouraging to me, I just had to write it here, in your blog, so that others may see what value you are to the kingdom of God. I pray that God will continue to make His ways known to you and even to greater heights than you have ever known. For what He is bringing will be to cleanse us thoroughly and cause us to ride upon the crest of the greatest outpouring the world will ever see. That tsunami I shared with you privately, is also the “latter rain’ promised in the scripture.
Did you know that those who have lived in Israel for sometime, know that the early rains come in through a light rainfall but the latter rains which come in the time of the harvest are 7 times stronger than the early rains? So it will be when God pours out His Spirit for the latter rain, seven times greater than what we see recorded in the 2nd chapter of Acts. This is beyond our capacity to understand. I have had numerous visions of this, heard many testimonies of others who dreamed about it and even read books by those who prophesied about it.
In view of this, when I come across a blog such as yours and read the messages, I can see that God has chosen you and others like you to be the forerunners of this great move, to prepare the hearts of His people. Unlike the forerunner of Christ being just one man, John the Baptizer, God has chosen in these last days to gather to Himself a crowd of those He has chosen to be His forerunners. Even in my first year as a believer, He showed me that army of believers in a vision of the night. You can read out it on my website here under this title, “Dream of Warfare in Jerusalem”.
If the html code does not work in this comment, then here is the direct link: http://www.hiddenmanna.us/2015/11/a-dream-of-warfare-in-jerusalem.html
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I am humbled and so grateful to God for this, dear brother. I am thrilled to learn of the tsunami and that the latter rains are 7x the former! Hallelujah!
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Reblogged this on The Lord Is With Us.
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Renew souls! One blog at a time! Thank you for sharing your walk of faith!
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Amen! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. God bless you, brother.
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Interest you sent those two post to me. I feel my life and ministry is at a crossroad. I just started writing again after not penning anything but sermons for over 30 years. The responses to my writing have been nothing short of remarkable. I have no idea what God is using this for right now but it will be fun to see how it all turns out. Thanks for sharing and letting the Spirit of God use you.
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Praise God!! I am dancing on water with you this moment! Amen! So excited for you! May the Lord continue humbling us both, in order that we may be responsive to the touch of the tip of His little finger, that He write what He desires through our fingertips…
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Ah Deanna reading this again, even the third time the truth of it sinks even deeper. I’m so sorry that Jerry rejected you in the end Deanna as he me. These words that the path is narrow following Jesus Christ make it all the more tangible after watching the video we communicated on. Thanks Deanna and God Bless x
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Thanks for taking the time to share here, Jacky. God bless you!!
Praise God, we are not being rejected: as members of Christ Himself, it is He who is being rejected when we abide in our Vine! Recall how the first thing Jesus said when revealing Himself to Paul, on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus, was, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?”
Every person honest with themselves knows that our darkness does not like being exposed by the Light. Remember our Lord’s exhortation, “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their Fathers treated the prophets.” He also said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” Ah, recall in Acts the disciples were gleeful when they realized they were persecuted for the sake of Christ…
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I’m reading the book of Acts at the moment and it truly is amazing, I’m seeing it through new eyes. I too of the words from Jesus to Paul. There are times when I am comforted by the LORD’s words and other times afraid I confess. xx
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