Sole Reliance: Your Assurance to Truth and Security in a World of Ambiguity and Insecurity

By Ann Kegley

We have the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven to guide us, counsel us, encourage us, and teach us the truth of God so we are enabled to live according to Gods plan for man. As we grow in our faith, we eventually learn to become less dependent on human support. Not that having support from others is not beneficial, because it is. But there comes a time in the progression of our faith when God will draw us closer to Him. In fact, inevitably He will wean us from the necessity for external support and transition us toward a dependency on our internal support: Him. He has a covenant with us, and He is committed to the fulfillment of His covenant. As John stated, because His anointing abides in us, we have no need for anyone to teach us, because He will. We learn to live a life of sole reliance on Him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490873343

Ann Kegley

After years of multiple economic challenges, contrary relationships, and diverse adversities, Ann learned that the most secure means to live the life of faith is with a sole reliance on the Lord.   In this book, she describes how walking by faith and not by sight becomes a progressive experience of launching into the unknown, which requires the certainty of His anointing.   Ann currently lives in New England where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening and the surrounding natural beauty.

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Copyright © 2015 Ann Kegley.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-7333-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7335-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7334-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015904336

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/13/2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 – The Calling

Chapter 2 – Going Not Knowing

Chapter 3 – Transformation

Chapter 4 – The Danger of Doubt

Chapter 5 – The Enemy

Chapter 6 – Unwavering Faith

Chapter 7 – God’s Rest

Chapter 8 – Sole Reliance

The heart of this writing

and the core of its meaning

is derived primarily from

the exclusive dedication

of my first pastor,

Dr. EuGene W. Scott,

whose indelible teachings

placed me onto the singular path of a sole reliance

on the One whom he served so faithfully throughout his life.

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INTRODUCTION

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:14

H ave you ever experienced a time in your life when all of a sudden your world is unexpectedly shaken to an extent where you say to yourself, What’s going on here ? Or, the conditions around you suddenly become bizarre you shake your head in utter disbelief and think, No way, no way could this be happening ? In a split-second, everything in your world abruptly changes. You are jolted by your experience, which immediately transports you to another mental realm. You feel as though you just stepped inside The Twilight Zone.

I probably age myself by making this reference, but The Twilight Zone is television program which was a mind-boggler during its time (1959–1964), just as some of the unexpected events that spontaneously appear in our lives can boggle our minds. We become frozen in a state of absolute disbelief and confusion, nearly becoming paralyzed in thought because of the unbelievable conditions of our new reality.

For those of you who follow the Lord Jesus, these kinds of incidents most likely are familiar and common. For those of you who have not experienced these unexpected interventions, just wait a while, because your time will come. Or, perhaps, if you say you have walked with the Lord for a while and you do not experience these types of events, I really don’t have anything to say to you right now. My hunch is you probably are walking all on your own—apart from Him. So you might as well stop reading here, because what I have to say is foreign to your present understanding and may be irrelevant to you anyway.

For those of you who know exactly what I’m talking about, I can console you. There is nothing you can do to prevent or avoid these times. Nor can you control them, so just relax and get used to them. I know I’m not offering the consolation you might be looking for, but basically it’s just the way it is…as a son (or daughter) of God. Although we live in the world, we are not of the world. We are foreigners here dwelling in a hostile environment, and we will be the target of attacks by those who are of the world. In one form or another, at one time or another, these attacks will come. It’s only natural for us.

As shocking as these times can be, there is no cause for dread nor is there any reason to fear. Quite the contrary! You enjoy the good times, you cope with the bad, and you learn to manage the unexpected adversities which boldly stare you in the face. As strange as this may sound, the difficult part during these times is not how to manage the adversities. Ironically, the challenging part is how to manage yourself when confronted by these adversities.

The key point to remember during these unexpected and adverse times is your perspective of these circumstances is paramount, because your perspective will slip into the driver’s seat, gain control of your thinking, and take you in its direction. This is why adversity is interestingly beneficial, because it provides the opportunity for you to choose a new direction for your life. A new choice is introduced to you, but you have to make the decision to walk it out. You must follow through with your decision, regardless of the looming circumstances. Simply said, often these times are the door to a pivotal point for change—positive, constructive change for the rest of your life. Who doesn’t want that? It’s all up to you in which direction you go. You can allow the adversity to leave you in shock and paralyzed, feeling helpless and defeated. Or, you can acknowledge it as the impetus to elevate your life onto the next higher plane of living. With this choice, you are given the strength necessary to enable you to set your course into an entirely new direction for progressive change. God’s grace guarantees it.

If you don’t step up and make this choice, though, the former will happen for an x-amount of time until you get sick of feeling trapped and helpless. You want out, and you want relief from all the misery. After you’ve had enough of feeling miserable and defeated, you reorient yourself. You pull your thoughts together into a constructive frame of mind. You decide to challenge the opposition, and then the latter becomes your results—marvelous change! You choose to rise and accept the challenge. You remain persistent in overcoming the adversity. And to your own amazement, you soon find yourself in a position you never thought you would ever be. Then is when you realize you arrived at this new destination all because of the new choice you made.

It’s all about choice.

It sounds so easy, I know, but it really isn’t. Yet conversely, it’s never as bad as we think, but it can be as bad as we imagine. Oftentimes we exaggerate the status of our condition by inflating the potential threat we see and end up reacting to our circumstances with an equal amount of emotional exaggeration. As I mentioned, perspective is the driver.

It’s imperative we avoid emotionalism. The more emotional you become in times of stress and duress, the less likely you will make an intelligent decision. Here is where your faith is critical. And here is where you must reach higher for your resolution. You must reach to God for wisdom. He is above it all, so only He can enable you to rise above it all.

Let me give you a little encouragement here. I actually have good news about all of this. When the moment comes as these unexpected intrusions burst into your life, consider an alternate perspective than the one which overwhelms you. Yes, I used the plural intrusions, because they will occur throughout your life. Don’t forget where you are. In fact, what I want you to consider truly is the only viable solution to those of us who reside in the kingdom of God. I make this assertion because I have walked this rocky path of uncertainty for a number of years and have experienced these rude awakenings several times. It’s all a part of our life as followers of Jesus. Although these sudden interruptions seem to disable us, this estimation is premature and therefore should never be seriously considered. Actually, these intrusions are catalysts for the next step of our spiritual graduation.

This is the importance of patience. We must have patience with ourselves. But more importantly, we must develop an extraordinary patience with our Father, God. Not because He is intrinsically malicious or fickle, but because these intrusions are often His way of cultivating and refining His nature within us. As paradoxical as it may seem, typically you are where you are at the times of these intrusions because He placed you there to encourage you to become all He plans for you to be. And you will, one way or another. So relax, and bend a little, and know all is well within His control. He is with you through it all.

The troubles within these chaotic times are manifold. Some issues are quite apparent, others not. Some we are cognizant of, others we are clueless about. Some issues are exclusive to our lives, other issues may include other individuals. Some issues we are directly responsible for, others have nothing to do with anything we have done. I could go on and on to describe how and why these things happen, but, basically, it doesn’t matter. So we can just forget about how and why. What does matter is this. We can be grateful and be glad we are sons of God (sons in this context is a generic term, implying having the nature of). Because we are led by the Spirit of God, we are assured of the Spirit of truth to guide us, the Spirit of wisdom to enlighten us, the Spirit of grace to empower us, and the Spirit of love to inspire and nurture us through all we undergo in this life. Because this spirit is one spirit, our God, we can be still and know He ensures our well being. And solely because of this, all is always well with our soul, or can be, if it’s the choice we make. He is with us, and we can trust Him. He is our security.

Knowing God makes being led by Him much easier and far less confusing than assuming we know Him and how to live the life He calls us to live. But it requires time and personal experience to truly know the Lord. It also requires a sincere desire and a heart of understanding to know Him. Where there is no desire, there is nothing to satisfy. It’s a matter of the heart. God responds to the heart only, and there His eyes are fixed. He knows whether the intention of our hearts is pure or whether we relate to Him in the vanity of words or actions only. He knows.

After being emancipated from 400 years of slavery, the people of Israel witnessed the continual provision and protection by God. For forty years during their journey from the slave camps of Egypt to their promised land in Canaan, history records this people never did know God. They never developed an understanding of His faithfulness, although they were the benefactors of it. He responded to their cry for deliverance, but never did they exhibit any degree of appreciation and gratefulness toward Him for it nor for all He did for them during those many decades. Never did they extol to Him the reverence He deserved. He didn’t have to set them free, but He did. He didn’t have to provide for them as abundantly as He did during their trek through the desert, but He did. He did, because He is a loving God. He is a God who cares for His people, wherever they are.

The Lord is a God of His Word. Upon entering their promised land after decades of God’s protection and provision, once again Israel was presented with the opportunity to exhibit their confidence and faith in Him. But instead of a grateful and believing heart, they responded to Moses with their core disposition: doubt, mistrust, and unbelief. Is the Lord among us, or not (Ex. 17:7)?

Israel was a people with a tumultuous and erratic relationship toward God for generations, because they remained the same, unchanged in their hearts. There’s a Hebrew saying I heard in a sermon once that expressed: Because they have no changes, they know not God. In their case, this principle was pervasive. Israel remained unchanged due to their unwillingness to change. Regardless of His constant devotion toward them, and as miraculous as His provision was for them during their forty-year trek in the desert, they remained unaffected in their hearts. They remained unwilling to extend themselves in faith and with trust toward the God who repeatedly proved Himself faithful. Never did they express the slightest appreciation or gratitude for their deliverance from Egypt. Instead, they continued to question His intent for them. They were unable to grow beyond their mental parameters as former slaves. Consequently, their hearts became hardened by their unbelief. With their continued rejection of Him and their eventual expressions of hostility toward Him, they rejected His promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. They denied themselves His promise of enabling them to live a life of freedom with His blessing. Ultimately, because they rejected Him, He rejected them.

Moses declared the thoughts of the Lord concerning them: And He said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward (perverse) generation, children in whom is no faith (Deut.32:20). He continues: For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end (Deut. 32:28–29).

God sets the same choice before us. Will we choose life and trust Him, or will we choose death by not trusting Him? There is no other choice. Life is only in Him. Moses recorded His declaration in the book of the Law, Deuteronomy, …I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live (Deut 30:19). It’s all about choice.

Because we are sons of God, our lives are on a course we see dimly, if at all. This is why relating to and walking with the Lord requires faith. Or, as Paul said to the Corinthians: we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). In fact, because our relationship with Him is spiritual in nature, it is the only way we can live with God. More importantly, though, He desires and expects us to live by faith (Heb. 1:6).

We are created to live this way, to live by faith. Our bodies are dependent on resources of the earth to survive. Our senses are configured to acclimate and perceive only the physical realm. However, we are spirits dwelling within physical bodies. From the moment of our spiritual birth, we are taught and encouraged by the Holy Spirit to develop our spiritual capacity, which enables us to communicate with our Father. Our spiritual education also provides us guidance to acclimate to living in the spirit realm. Because we are commanded to take dominion over all the earth, especially over those opposing forces Jesus said to resist, we must learn to function in the spirit realm. Faith is the substance enabling us to live in the spirit and function as sons of God in the earth. It is our faith that empowers us. Essentially, faith becomes our way of life in the kingdom of God.

Faith is the only viable precept by which we live in the kingdom. Because we do not know where our path in life ultimately leads, nor do we know how to fulfill the purpose for which we are called, it is imperative we learn to live by faith. Since God defines our purpose, He is the only one who establishes the steps along our path. He provides our direction and prepares us for the fulfillment of our position in His kingdom. Therefore, it is necessary we remain in close proximity with the Father. As we look to Him and walk by faith, He provides the reinforcement of our faith and guides us according to His unique will for us.

While in university, I had an experience in one of my psychology classes which reminds me of the principle of walking by faith and not by sight. Our assignment was to select another student to be our partner to study the principle of trust. Each partner was to lead the other blindfolded down the hall to the adjacent corridor and back. Then they were to exchange roles. Afterward, we were to return to the classroom and report our respective reactions.

My partner decided he would be the first sighted partner, so he placed a blindfold over my eyes and tied it in the back of my head (painfully pulling my hair as he tied the knot). Then, he reached for my hand and began to lead me down the hallway. Immediately, I froze. I found the experience frightening. I wasn’t afraid, because I had a certain degree of trust in my partner, although I didn’t know him well. But walking in solid darkness, and relying solely on somebody else to lead me through my darkness, was extraordinarily awkward for me.

I’m not sure why I was as reluctant as I was. My partner was a pre-med student, very nice, and seemed to suit his profession well. He was a young gentleman, soft-spoken, and his hands were kind and gentle. His voice was soothing and encouraging, which comforted my apprehension. I was twenty-one years old at the time and never had experienced a close and trusting relationship with anyone, not even with either of my parents nor any of my five siblings. Therefore, it was difficult for me quickly adjust to this level of trust, especially in the dark. Before the end of my walk back to the classroom, I sensed a greater confidence in my partner, and I was more comfortable with my trust in him. I think it was helpful when I began visualizing the hallway as I remember it and perceived where I might be along the way. Although I had no visual sight, I had mental sight, which also helped to give me greater confidence. Perhaps it was more the reliance on my visualization than my trust in him which eased my mind, I’m not sure. Regardless, though, the experience was rather thought provoking.

Although my experience was a short-term experiment, the dynamics of trust are the same as we learn to walk by faith in the Lord. Naturally, we have a certain degree of apprehension. We are asked to learn to communicate and live with someone we cannot see nor hear. We do not see God because He is a spirit. Essentially, we are in the dark. We are blindfolded to the spirit realm. From reading the Scriptures of the lives of individuals who walked with God, we gain an understanding of how to relate to Him. We also learn of His nature. Gradually, we learn to perceive His voice, as Jesus said we would (John 10:27). From this means of communication, we learn to follow His instructions for guidance in our lives. He cannot hold our hand, but His promise is He is always with us, will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6, 8). Our relationship with Him, then, is one of trust based only on His Word. This is the life of faith.

Throughout our lives, we are presented with opportunities to respond with faith in Him or to rely on our natural perception. These opportunities will always favor our sensory perception and contradict God’s Word. Our natural mind will choose to rely on its perception. However, the mind of our spirit will encourage us to choose to rely on God. This is why faith is a mandate in our relationship with Him and in all we do in His kingdom. Faith is the connecting agent with God.

After multiple experiences of trusting only in Him, we learn although He is unpredictable, He is reliable. We may not know, and usually don’t know, how He will respond to us nor when, but we are assured He will keep His Word. With each successive experience of His faithfulness, our faith in Him is strengthened.

To have an accurate perception of God, we must acknowledge the three preeminent principles God declared about Himself. When placed in their rightful order, our perception of Him is in proper focus. Subsequently, everything else in our lives will be as well.

First, God said: I am who I am and what I am, and I will be what I will be (Ex. 3:14 AMP). Contrary to the skeptic’s skepticism or the agnostic’s confusion whether or not He exists, God exists. He declared Himself long ago. Whether or not anyone acknowledges His existence is irrelevant. The atheist’s defiant rejection of Him does not invalidate the reality of Him. The Lord God does not need anyone’s acceptance or approval to validate His existence. He says, I am, therefore, He is.

Secondly, to Abraham and Jacob, God described His supremacy. To Abraham He stated: I am the Almighty God (Gen. 17:1) and to Jacob: I am Almighty God (Gen. 35:11). Man may create idols he recognizes as gods, including and oftentimes himself, but they are mere fabrications. There is only one God, and He refuses to be mocked by the