Little Bottle in the Sea: A Deeper Walk with the One Who Made You

By Stephen Westlund

There is a Creator. He made you and He loves you. He desires to know you and for you to know Him. He desires to be your friend. He desires to walk with you, and He desires for you to walk with Him in an ever-increasing and deeper way.

But how does one walk with the invisible Creator? How is one a friend to Him that is unseen? It is through His love for you that He has made a way. He has made a way for you to be near to Him.

In Him there is healing and hope. There is courage and victory. There is peace and joy. In Him there is love and life, and there is everything you need to truly live.

So what are you waiting for? As deep calls to deep, in the depths of your soul, He is calling you to Himself. Listen. He is calling, Come. Walk with Me.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512769692

Stephen Westlund

Stephen Westlund is a biblical worldview life coach, specializing in career transitions, spiritual formation, and hope coaching. Through life coaching and writing, Stephen shares the passion of his heart, which is to help people know God and to know Him more.

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Copyright © 2017 Stephen Westlund.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC),

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

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Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,

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Scripture quotes marked (NCV) are taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Scripture quotes marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-6970-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6968-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-6969-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016921226

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/06/2017

Contents

Preface

Introduction:  A Deeper Walk in a Generation of Good Enough

1.   God Made You and He Loves You!

2.   Be Born Again

3.   Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

4.   Evidence of the Fullness of His Indwelling Presence

5.   The Love of the Father

6.   Not by Sight

7.   Little Bottle in the Sea

The following is

dedicated to…

My parents…

…Thank you for instructing me in the way I should go.

My brothers…

…A cord of three is not easily broken.

My dear children…

…Always hide the Word of the Lord in your hearts.

And my dear wife…

…Your worth is far above rubies.

Preface

Why am I here? That was my question. To be honest, it was more of a statement made in anger than a question. After the financial crisis of 2008, I was out of work, drowning in debt, about to lose our home, and I was just plain mad. But what and who I was mad at, I didn’t know. So I raised my fist at the Almighty, and exclaimed, Why am I here!

Now, I don’t recall hearing an audible voice, but the message of the whisper in my heart was clear…

Because I made you and I love you!

I would love to tell you I took this message to heart and immediately turned my life around, but I didn’t. For 5 years I sought my way, listened to my wisdom, and took my path. What a fool I was! But God is faithful, and on January 28, 2014 He led me to Jeremiah, chapter 29.

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you… from all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile. (Jeremiah 29: 11-14 NASB)

And the One who I shook my fist at, the One who made me, and the One who loves me impressed the following on my heart, which I recorded in my prayer journal…

I have been in exile these 5 years. And in exile I will remain until once and for all, I put my whole life in His hands and truly learn to walk with Him. Then, and only then, will I be set free. And now I must go and live for the Lord. He has set me on this path and I should not depart from it. It is a good path. I should enjoy the work of my hands and enjoy the fruit of my labor. Stop worrying, and do not fret, for the Lord is with me. Be at peace my soul, and rest in the Lord.

And so I set out on a renewed journey to live my life, my whole life, unto the Lord. While on this journey, I began to write. Almost every day at lunch I wrote. I first wrote to process through the pain. Somewhere along the way, as the Lord turned my sorrow into gladness, I no longer needed to process my pain through writing, but still, I continued to write. I wrote for others who might be in pain of their own, who might be in exile, and are just asking why. The words I wrote, often through tears, are the words of one coming out of exile. I share them now for anyone who desires to leave a life of exile and enter a deeper walk with the One who made them.

On this journey the good Lord brought many across my path to help me along the way. A countless number of people have been instrumental in my life as I sought the Lord in a deeper way and in the writing of this work. If I have not mentioned you by name below, and you are one who God has used to so bless me, I thank you.

With much gratitude, I offer a special thank you to A.B. Simpson for sharing the concept of the little bottle in the sea in his timeless work, Himself.

I also want to thank my friend Steve Black for conversations over coffee. Those conversations planted the seed for this work. Thank you to my friend Brad Marcum for your prayers of blessing on my life that added water to that seed. Thank you to my friend Dave Babcock for challenging me to consider my culture. Thank you to my friend Kristen Alewine for your eye for detail. Thank you to Solution for Life for making the publishing of this work possible. Thank you to my Mom, Jessie Westlund, for your vision, love and support. Thank you to my Dad, Dan Westlund, for your careful and intentional discipleship and for sharing your immense knowledge and wisdom with me. Thank you to my dear wife, Tobey Westlund. You were there with me in the darkest valleys of this journey, and you have stayed by my side every step of the way. Thank you! And to my best friend, Jesus, there are not enough words in all the languages of the world to fully express my gratitude. From the bottom of my heart and with all my soul, I thank You!

Introduction

A Deeper Walk in a Generation of Good Enough

Do you hear the Father calling? He is quietly calling out to this generation, and His message for His children has not changed…

Do not fear. My child, I love you. You are my prized possession why do you think otherwise? Do not be deceived. As a father disciplines the son he loves, how much more do I bring discipline into your life? I am refining you My child. As pure gold and precious silver, I am refining you.

Do not seek to escape the Refiner’s fire. Do not seek to find an easy path. I have brought you into the fire and through the fire I intend to take you. There will be seasons of high pressure, but I am with you and I give you rest in the midst of the pressure. You must rest in Me every moment of every day. I am with you!

I have not given you a Spirit of fear, so do not be afraid. I am with you. I go before you and I come behind. I am to the left and to the right. I am always with you and I love you. My child, I love you more than you can know. My love is deep and wide and nothing can separate you from it.

But if you walk in a manner unworthy of Me, you will move away from Me. I will always be here for you when you return to Me. Do not wander, but choose today and every day to walk in a manner worthy of My call on your life. Remove all that is unclean from your life, all pride, anger, envy, strife, discontentedness, fear, and worry… and replace them with the fruits of My Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

To do this, you must forget yourself and wholly embrace Me. Forget what you want and what you desire. Lay down your earthly hopes and dreams. Stop chasing, for it is a chasing of the wind. Take up your cross today and every day. Seek first My kingdom and My righteousness. I have seated you in the heavenlies. Live your life with this in the front of your mind. Live your life on fire for Me. Let My life burn in you. For when you do this, when you say, enough! and come to Me and give your whole self to Me, first I will give you rest from your striving, and it will be a season of rest you have never known. Take My yoke upon you for My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Second, after a season of rest, I will give you hopes and dreams that are of Me and that do not wear you out. I will place desires in your heart that when you pursue them, they will be given unto you.

But until you say, enough! You will not know such things. Peace will be elusive. You will have seasons of peace, but My peace, My perfect peace cannot come in full, because you have not chosen to make room, and