"Most blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit." Jer. 17:7-8
The Lord showed me three divers fully suited (mask, oxygen tank, etc.). One was trying to dive in shallow water and with all the deep water equipment on - the diver looked pretty ridiculous with his body half-way in the water. The Lord said to me, “You cannot live in shallow water and expect to find treasure. You have to go deeper.” So I saw the three divers swim towards the deep water. There were many sharks swimming above the deep water, near the surface, but I heard the Lord say, “because the Holy Spirit and I are with you, they cannot see you, they are blinded by the Light of Whose company you dwell.” As we reached the bottom of the deep water, I saw a treasure chest filled with treasure…pearls and gold. The Lord said, “You did not find this treasure in the shallow water because thieves would have come and taken it. Counterfeit people, who call themselves Christians, are these thieves. They do not care about My treasure. They abuse it. They don’t polish the precious gold, but allow it to tarnish. But I have hidden My treasure deep for those who truly follow Me, those who truly lay down their want-to’s, their hopes, their dreams, everything to follow and obey Me. For them, have I designed this precious treasure to dwell in; they will keep it well polished and not allow pride to tarnish and fog-up their vision. These, will I build My Kingdom in. These, will I present to My Father as holy and blameless. My treasure will be hidden in their hearts; a place no thief can rob or destroy it.”
From creation, God in His Holy Wisdom put in our DNA to BE as our Heavenly Father IS. Human beings are able to love like Him, act like Him, speak like Him, and have His likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). People who go by the name “Christian” (Christ-like), but make excuses to gorge themselves on their human desires and want-to’s are fake – they live a lie. I John 3:10 says, “By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God's will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ).” Even those Christians who do everything politically correct on the outside (going through the motions in what is deemed “Christianity” in today’s society), but in their hearts, they still lust after and satisfy their sinful desires in secret, they are void of Truth.
I would call the latter, shallow and convenient Christians. These types of Christians may want to go deeper in the things of God, but lack the self-control and willpower to die to the flesh; they aren’t willing to give up hatred, bitterness, un-forgiveness, pride, etc. Often times, pride will conceal itself so well that a lie becomes truth. Your vision becomes blurred until all you see is gray or black and because of pride, you call it white. Are the things we are going after (our want-to’s/desires), are they worth risking eternity for?
The Father is faithful and full of Mercy and Grace to those who hear and OBEY Him calling them deeper into His fullness - higher into His presence. He gives us His Son AND His Holy Spirit to take us through the shark infested waters. II Cor. 4:6 says, “For God Who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God.” These waters are areas in our lives we MUST conquer to move deeper. They are full of evil spirits wanting to pull us into self-consciousness, guilt, and anything else that might focus on “me and my failures” to distract us from looking to the Lord for our saving help and healing. We must (with strength in the Lord) push past our own nature, old habits, immaturity, laziness, etc. We should never try doing this on our own! If we try (and most of us do), we get torn to shreds and pile on ourselves a good dose of guilt for failing. Thankfully Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there to help us when we call upon Him. II Cor. 4:7 says, “We possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves." We must stop looking at ourselves and take on the nature of Jesus. “But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh [put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to [gratify its] desires (lusts) - Romans 13:14.” This beautiful robe of righteousness allows us to dwell safely without fear.
Is. 33:16 says treasure is, “The reverent fear and worship of the Lord.” To worship the Lord is to love Him with your whole heart, your whole mind, and your whole strength (Mark 12:30). In three words, treasure is “Relationship With Jesus!” Jesus says in John 14:23-24 that, “If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him. Anyone who does not [really] love Me does not observe and obey My teaching…” We must exercise that which we have put inside of us so we don’t become careless, fat Christians. Those who obey Christ are actively polishing and keeping their life in-check with the Holy Spirit; unlike those false people who merely put their “Christian” name tag on the mantle and allow the cobwebs and dust to putrefy the testimony of the One they foolishly mock. Those who follow and abide by the Truth will be doers of the Word, and not merely listeners to it (James 1:22). Matt. 6:20-21 says, “But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
We must keep in obedience and communion with Christ so our vision doesn’t become cloudy with pride. Ex. 19:5 says, “Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall by My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples…” Keeping in obedience with Christ just takes polishing our treasure with TLC (Tender Loving Care) everyday. Staying in the Word and being in constant communion with the Holy Spirit will make it so much easier to die to ourselves and allow Jesus and the Holy Spirit to take us deeper. Col. 2:2-3 says, “[For my concern is] that their hearts may be braced (comforted, cheered and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, [which is] Christ (the Anointed One). In Him all the treasures of [divine] wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and [all the riches of spiritual] knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.”
I pray that the Lord would continually move us deeper into His fullness and higher into His presence as we continue pursuing Him with all our might! It is His will and good pleasure to move us from glory to glory. May we have the grace to obey!