In Matthew 26:39, we read that Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and cried out to the Father, “Lord! If it be possible, take this cup from Me! Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Jesus could have stepped into His God-given authority and come off the cross, but He didn’t because He was here to do the will of the Father. When He received the 39 lashes, He could have fled the scene and said, “You know what? I think I have been through enough! I am going back to heaven now!” but He did not! He submitted His flesh to the will of God. Why? He saw the plans and the purpose of the covenant that God had made with Abraham. He saw that we were about to see, witness, and experience the fulfillment of that covenant promise and it was coming through Him—Jesus the Man.

Yes, He was God, but He was still a man, one who was thrust into the den of His enemies. He experienced the agony of every single lash, the shame of having His clothes stripped from Him, the abandonment of all His disciples. He lived every agonizing minute of the process! Why? Because He knew the plans, the purposes, and the will of God. He understood that this battle was for every soul that would enter the Kingdom of Heaven and the weight of each soul hinged on these moments. He knew that if He did not complete His call, those souls (our souls) would be lost. As hard as His flesh fought to flee, He stayed the course for you and me. Jesus stayed the course because He knew what would come forth if He obeyed the will, the plans, and the purposes of God.

Jesus was God, yet He spent every day setting aside time to be with the Father. No matter how much we have of Him imparted into our lives, no matter how much we are clothed with Him, we still must invest the time with Him to be taught, to be refreshed, to go deeper into the One we serve. If we do not, we will begin to lose sight of His will, His plans, and His purpose. If Jesus set aside time every day to be with the Father, should we not do the same?

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

When we present our bodies a living sacrifice and allow a true transformation of the inner man, a transforming of our minds into the mind of Christ, we put on Christ as a garment, ever aware that we are clothed in Him, here to do His will. The deeper we allow His refining to go, the greater becomes our hunger to complete His will. There comes a point where our flesh, or the soulish nature, no longer holds us back. Our fear of fleshly pain, embarrassment, wounded pride, all that we initially feared, everything diminishes because the call to fulfill His will drives us on.

We are called to be sons of God and the manifestation of the Sons of God is coming—the earth is groaning for it. Why? Because the earth literally longs for His presence and their release will bring forth a righteousness within the earth that it has not been seen in a very long time. Those who are ready will carry an anointing to set aside all that they are in order to fulfill His will. They will be driven to weep, to war, or to engage in anything He commands because it is not about them anymore, it is about His will being done in the earth, His perfect will.

Mordecai sent his niece, whom he had raised, into the palace of the Persian king, knowing that if God’s will was accomplished, she would fulfill a higher call than either of them had imagined. Esther was the key to saving her people, and because they looked not to their own desires but instead, focused on God’s perfect will, they were positioned to be the vessels used to bring about a plan to rescue the children of Israel.

The same holds true for us. The more we focus on our God, the greater our capacity is for receiving spiritual truths that have been designated for us to release in this hour. There are spiritual truths, certain revelations, specific purposes of God planned to be released in this season. These revelations are not just for our lives, but the lives of those around us, including birthing something in the nation. That is what the refining is for—birthing something in our nation that will enable it to fulfill its purpose. America was created to be a beacon of light unto all the nations. We were created to stand by Israel and to be a beacon of light, sending forth missionaries unto all the nations.

Romans 13:13 “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Ephesians 4:24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The goal is to put off darkness and be transformed into a brand new person, created in righteousness and holiness. Living a life of holiness allows the believer to receive spiritual truths. When we cast off the works of darkness, it transforms us completely from deep within so all that we do becomes a bi-product of the work of God within us.

For a moment, let’s extend this to the bi-product of our transformation, or in other words, what comes out of us! What we learn must flow out of us to others. I’ve often felt that you can tell how deep a person’s transformation is by the way they treat and speak about the people who serve them. This is the waiter, the checker at the grocery store, the hotel staff and especially the cleaning crew. Esther found favor with Hegai—why was that? She came from humble beginnings and while a host of servants had been granted to attend to her external refining, she did not take advantage, nor did she abuse them. She had a heart for her people, and she desired to be in a place of service to them.

When we cast off darkness and put on love, love flows naturally from us. Why? Because when we look at our neighbor, we don’t see their flaws, but instead, we see the hopeless eternity they are facing. We will fight for them like we do for our own flesh and blood. Whether that neighbor is the person that lives next door, the citizens of a nation, or maybe your brother or sister—everything we do becomes focused on their eternity. That is what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.

That is what it means to let His transformative work be done in our own lives, to walk in the newness of life, to prepare ourselves to receive spiritual truths—it is all a process of deep refining. The sweet-smelling fragrance that comes out on the other side is a person who can weep before His crucifixion, “Not My will, but Yours be done, Father!” Sometimes we forget the struggles that Jesus, the man, faced in His effort to live a life of holiness, striving for the will of God to be done. He came and walked our journey before us so that when we struggle we can call upon Him, asking for help, knowing that He understands where we have been, where we are and where we will go. That understanding is what makes Him our intercessor before the Father today.

When He places a call on your life to drive you into the depths of who He is, it is not something He does lightly. He knows the journey set before you and He also knows that in your pursuit, you too will begin to hunger for the will of the Father. And as He gives you the grace you need to press through the obstacles, He begins to impart to you more and more of Himself so that in the end, you will say, “Not my will, Lord, not my will, but Yours be done.” Press through the refining! Press through to the victory! The impartation is coming; it is more than you can imagine. Press through, my friends!

Blessings & Love,
Ricci Wilson