ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

TUTELAGE.  That sounds like such an old-fashioned word, doesn’t it?  In most everyday circles we likely do not hear many people using this word in their everyday conversation.  But as I’ve prepared to pen the words of this long overdue article for our church blog, I heard God say that one word to me.  I looked up some definitions of the word and I guess with what has been going on in my spiritual journey since I’ve last “chatted” with you – it makes sense!  This is a specific place of learning that I have come to anticipate daily not only as I sit at the feet of Jesus, but as I walk through my day.  But it is truly what I soak in and come to understand in the quiet times that allows me to practice and act on in the real living that takes place when I leave my “desk”. 

Tutelage actually means the teaching or instruction of an individual student by a teacher.  That would be me, of course, as the student, being taught one-on-one by the Teacher.  Yup, you’ve got it.  The Teacher that I’ve sat under in tutelage in recent weeks has been none other than Jesus! A deeper meaning of the word is that it is an act or process of serving as guardian or protector.  And that is exactly what I have received from my Teacher; He has totally looked out after me in all of the circumstances that have been flung my way and He has guarded me like no other one could.  I’ve known I was safe from any and all attacks of the enemy of my soul, no matter what form he would choose to come in.  When I sat at my “desk” or on the floor of my “war room – my prayer room” … He tutored me personally and imparted knowledge and skills to me as I opened His Word and drank in the truths.  What I didn’t understand, He made clear – a bit at a time.  Sometimes I had to live it out for real before it made total sense. 

In this time of daily coaching, I have begun to realize that I am being conditioned:  conditioned to believe and to receive everything that God sends my way … and conditioned to be strong enough to not receive anything that comes my way that is not from God!  Did you get that?  Go back and read it again!!  Responding to everything in my life that way has been nothing short of life-changing!  It becomes a cry-of-the-heart prayer that transforms into a way of life that brings liberty and freedom.  This is truly how God meant for us to live!  Yet, even as believers, it takes most of us a lifetime of taking on the weight and the shackles and chains of captivity thrust upon us by the enemy – before we are ready to be done with that once and for all! 

Under the tutelage of my Lord, I have been cultivated, prepared and readied for not only my todays, but for what lies ahead of me.  I have been developed, directed, guided, and nurtured.  I have learned and then I’ve failed again.  But my Coach picks me up and stands me up on solid ground and tells me I can do it.  He tells me to try again.  And when I succeed, He picks me up and swings me around in a celebratory dance complete with whoops and hollers!  Yes, Jesus gets excited about the progress His students make! And I have loved being a student in these past weeks more than I ever have in my past!  When morning dawns, I can hardly wait to take my place at His feet and listen and learn ~ and then go out and live it.  My favorite parts of the sessions are the dialogue we share.  I love when He invites me to pour out my heart in all honesty before Him.  I love knowing that I have His full attention, for after all, it’s just Him and me!  Sometimes I feel a little chided when He makes me aware of some tests I have to re-take so that I get it right – but He is always so tender and caring and patient with me.  I can tell He wants me to experience the best and the whole of all He has to teach me, even more than I desire it.  That makes me want to please Him, though, even more.  And I love when He smiles at me with those eyes that hold me in their gaze; for then I know He loves that I desire to lavish my love on Him each new day, making our relationship as life-giving as the air I breathe.

There are really no words to flesh out the spiritual intimacy between God and man – in this case, me!  Or ~ you!  But I know more deeply than I’ve ever known, that He wants us to come and sit at His feet for many reasons:  for fellowship, forgiveness, learning, love, receiving His good and perfect gifts, and battling the enemy in His Name so we can reject his attempts to destroy everything and everyone we hold close to our hearts!  And, dear ones, there is SO much more!  We’ve just barely scratched the surface about this journey under the tutelage of our Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit!  But let me tell you, when they Team-Teach, we can never remain the same!  How we live changes!  I’d love to hear your stories, because we are in this time of instruction for a purpose far greater than we can ever imagine.  Lord Jesus, have Your way in our lives, I pray!

REMEMBER . . .

“In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
~ Proverbs 3:6 

Serving Christ Joyfully . . .

Pastor Doug & Debbie