Randy – Wisdom From the Word

Making Room

This past week I had coffee with a pastor friend and we were discussing the church. He said one of the problems is that though people talk about the kingdom they tend to see their church as the kingdom rather than the kingdom expressing itself through the church. I concur. The church is an aspect of the kingdom; it is not the kingdom. That being said, Jesus did say He would build His church (Matthew 16:18). Thus, the question we need to answer is what the church should look like.

At the simplest level the church is meant to be His dwelling place, the place where Jesus expresses Himself through His body. In one of his encounters with Yahweh this is what Yahweh said to Moses.

⁸ And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8 (NKJV)

This is His desire, to express Himself among us, or in the case of the church, in and through us. After all Paul tells us that individually and corporately, we are His dwelling place, referring specifically to the Holy of Holies in the temple, the place where Yahweh sat enthroned between the cherubim (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). In both references Paul is exhorting his readers, and by extension us, to live holy upright lives because we carry His presence.

That being the case, I think we should seek to see more of His manifest presence when we gather and then take what we receive out to those around us. I have never been in a revival atmosphere. I have read about it in church history; I have listened to a couple of old sermons by Duncan Campbell, the preaching voice of the Hebrides revival. In listening His presence is tangible and gripping. This stirs in me a desire for more, for a corporate experience and expression. I have had powerful encounters alone with Jesus and I have been in gatherings where His presence has been very tangible but nothing that rises to the level of what I have researched regarding revival. I think we as His body need that.

That being said, I don’t believe, as some do, that we can create revival. I believe it is like the birthing of a baby. The baby beginning to move down the birth canal brings on labour, it is not the labour that brings on the baby. He initiates, we respond. Yet, in looking at church history it has usually been in times of great darkness that revival is birthed, and culturally we are certainly there. In the West we live in a moral quagmire and we are in desperate need of His presence among us.

Given that we cannot manufacture revival what can we do. Of course, scripture has the answer. Here is one of my favourite verses in Proverbs (I have a few!)

¹ The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:1 (NKJV)

Many translations have the word ‘plan’ or ‘plans’ instead of preparations but while the Hebrew word carries that meaning it primarily means to arrange or set up. I was involved in planning a few large events and conferences in my career in and the focus was on preparation. We prepared the agenda, the room and everything else. There was a plan but the focus was on proper preparation for when the people arrived. To that end, while I do not believe we can create revival, we seem to be in a cultural state that requires it and I believe we can prepare our hearts to make room for Jesus, to give Him freedom to express His Lordship in our gatherings. There is a worship song titled Make Room that I believe expresses what we can do, we can prepare our hearts, surrender our plans and make room for Him to move. Let’s do that!

Song link below.

NOTE – I have written a weekly post for over 12 years now. I am going on vacation and actually taking a break from writing my blog, and a few other things. The next one will be Saturday June 6. I am frankly somewhat weary at present. I suspect a large part of that comes from having two major surgeries in the past 14 months coupled with a busy schedule and me not being very good at actually taking breaks, so I am going to do that and seek His face on our trip.

Make Room (Lyrics) – Community Music

A Proper Estimation

Someone once said that the devil and the Lord are both asking the same question, “Who do you think you are?” I have written about this idea in the past and shared it in teaching sessions but felt it was time to revisit it. In this season it seems to me that it is important that we have a proper perspective on and of ourselves and what better place to draw that from then looking at His word. There are two views that we need to avoid, the sadly popular teaching that focuses on Jeremiah.

⁹ “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)

The other is some version not of seeing ourselves as always broken and wicked but rather as deserving of health, wealth and happiness. A verse many have used is in 3 John.

² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 2 (NKJV)

John isn’t here promising material wealth and perfect health; he is opening a letter praying that things go well for his readers because spiritually they are in a right place with Jesus.

That being said, scripture does encourage us to hold a right estimation.

³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 (NKJV)

Paul places this encouragement right after telling us to renew our minds with His word and right before his encouragement to use our gifts from Him to bless others. He is telling us to draw our view of ourselves from His word and from that place of understanding and perspective to be a blessing to others. So, here is some of what scripture teaches about believers, passage we can mediate on, renewing our minds with His word, and then from that place of understanding ministering His life to others. Be blessed.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4–6 (NKJV)

¹ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1–4 (NKJV)

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ¹⁸ Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17–21 (NKJV)

This is what was Spoken?

Here we will look at a couple of examples in scripture of things that the New Testament (NT) believers saw a little differently than the Old Testament (OT) writers. Our two passages of scripture, begin with the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the outpouring of the Spirit and birth of the church followed by Acts 15, the first church council generally referred to as the Jerusalem Council due to where it took place. Out title, ‘this is what was spoken’ comes from the first phrase of Acts 2:16. Our question to be answered is how the events of Acts 2 fulfilled Joel’s prophecy as Peter asserted.

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. ¹⁵ For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. ¹⁸ And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. Acts 2:14–18 (NKJV)

Peter quoted Joel saying that the outpouring of the Spirit would manifest in prophecy, visons and dreams. However, when we read earlier in the chapter, we find that the 120 were declaring ‘the wonderful works of God’ (Acts 2:11). There is no reference to dreams, visions or prophecy. These all came later as directed by the Spirit. Yet for Peter what was happening to he and others speaking in tongues declaring these works was the fulfillment. We don’t know what the 120 were saying beyond this, we do know they had a dramatic encounter with and filling of the Spirit. We also know that they were speaking in the various languages of their hearers from across the Roman empire. Interestingly, this is the only reference to tongues that we have in the NT where known languages are referred to. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul addresses the need for an interpreter of tongues, not a translator.

For Peter the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy wasn’t about specific items in the list Joel provided, it, it was about the dramatic outflowing of the Spirit through His people. The Spirit had been poured out and the results were evident, hence his insistence, ‘this is what was spoken.’

We now move to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Here the church met because Peter, followed by Paul and Barnabas, had taken the gospel to the Gentiles. The new church was no longer a sub sect of Judaism. It was now a new movement of the Spirit. Some Jewish believers wanted the new Gentile converts to in essence become Jews through embracing the Mosaic law and a lifestyle change. The elders and apostles debated the issue and James, Jesus’ half brother and leader of the church in Jerusalem settled the matter by quoting Amos 9:11 about the restoration of the Tabernacle of David.

¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: ¹⁶ ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; ¹⁷ So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all these things.’ Acts 15:15–17 (NKJV)

Here we encounter similar problem as with the Joel passage. The Tabernacle of David was a tent containing the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem prior to the building of the temple. It was not the tabernacle of Moses, that remained at Gibeon where the morning and evening burnt offerings were presented (1 Chronicles 16:39-40). The Ark carried the presence of Yahweh between the cherubim, a replica of His throne in the spirit realm. So how do we reconcile the seeming differences? The Tabernacle of David was about open access. The opening of the door of the gospel to the Gentiles was about open access! Thus, James recognition that the restoration of the Tabernacle of David was about open access to salvation, not the restoration of a building.

A side point is that many believers expect the temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem when the NT points to believers as the present-day temple (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).

My point in all of this is that the fulfillment of OT promises or prophecies in the NT may not look like what we are expecting and we need to seek His wisdom to understand. Thus, if we come across things in scripture that we don’t understand let us humbly and prayerfully seek to understand them depending on the Spirit and our fellow believers.

The Son of His Love

There is an interesting phrase in Colossians, “the kingdom of the Son of His love.” Contextually Paul writes that we have been delivered from darkness and that deliverance came about as a result of our transfer of allegiance to Jesus. Which tells us that salvation isn’t about saying the right words, it is about having a right heart, one loyal to Jesus.

Paul’s turn of phrase here is very interesting. He says the Father has, “conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” Spiritually we have moved domains, which is why later Paul references that our lives are ‘hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3). There is a lot to unpack here so let’s dig in. We know from the gospels that the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven are interchangeable terms. Thus, however we view it, at conversion we were moved to another kingdom. Now we look at the implications as seen in John’s gospel. Our initial phrase in Colossians 1:13 reveals the Father’s heart. Knowing that Jesus is ‘the Son of His love,’ tells us that the Father’s motive in the incarnation was to express His love to and through Jesus. While the Father, Son and Spirit are all involved in everything, at times the scriptures focus in on one of them. Here we are looking more closely at different roles. The Father is in view in the famous John 3:16 and later in verse 35 Jesus affirms how the Father loves Him.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)

³⁵ The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. ³⁶ He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:35–36 (NKJV)

The Father loves the Son and the world. Jesus says the Father’s love has placed our future in His hands. We can see this clearly. Yet as we move further into John to the ending of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, we see what is available to us.

²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:26 (NKJV)

Here Jesus is expressing that His revelation of the Father has the power to impart to our hearts the same kind of love for Him that the Father has. I can’t fully grasp that yet at the same time I know that this is the potential fruit of having been ‘conveyed’ into this kingdom. So, from the place of intercession let’s ask to receive, for both ourselves and others, a revelation of the Father’s love for Jesus and seek to remain in this love in His kingdom in all that we do.

The Gift of Presence

I have thinking lately about what we do or may carry into our interactions with others. Primarily I am thinking about being carriers of Jesus’ presence in our interactions. First, I will provide a context for the concept.

We all carry something into our interpersonal interactions. An example that has stood out to me for decades took place in May 1983 when I was 23. I had an issue and saw the Dr. on a Monday afternoon. He quickly diagnosed me with cancer. When I asked him how sure he was he said about 90-95%. I was admitted to the hospital the next day, had my first surgery on Thursday, I had a small cancerous tumour removed, and was discharged Saturday at noon and was married later that day. A few weeks later I had major abdominal surgery and the surgeon discovered a grapefruit sized tumour around my aorta, which, thankfully, he was able to remove.

Later in the summer I began chemotherapy treatments. It was frankly an awful experience, which brings me to presence. I tried to sleep as much as possible and my wife would come from work and sit near my bed and read the newspaper. We didn’t talk much, what was comforting was her presence. Neither of us were walking with the Lord at this point in time, however her presence brought a great deal of comfort. While I had been aware of various degrees of presence, this experience was what first led me to reflect on it in a meaningful way.

I had a recent experience that really highlighted the importance of presence. In March of this year, I attended a church men’s retreat for the first time. There I ran into Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyr’s Canada. We had been trying for many months to schedule a lunch and things kept getting in the way. Now we had an opportunity to catch up.

As part of catching up Greg shared the story of a pastor from Nigeria. His pregnant wife and five daughters were murdered by Fulani Muslim herdsmen. He became embittered and wanted nothing to do with God any longer. People kept going to him and talking with him but he remained bitter. Then someone went and didn’t talk, they just sat with him in his grief and that is what opened his heart to turn back to serving the Lord. Later that evening I was sharing the story with a fellow from church and when I got to the part about the man simply bringing the Gift of Presence he exclaimed, “Of course you don’t say anything.” What was significant about this was he was from the same region of Nigeria where these events had taken place and has only been in Canada a couple of years. He understood the importance of presence.

Decades ago, I was working in downtown Edmonton and had a friend who was down there at periods of time for work. We had both been spending time focusing on our relationship with Jesus and intentionally spending time sitting in His presence. Occasionally we met for lunch and we said very little but simply sat together with a focus on Jesus and His presence was very tangible. We made room for Jesus to be part of our lunchtime.

I think the reality of this is found in what Jesus promised. In the last phrase of Matthew 28:20 Jesus says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus said some things in John and prior to His incarnation He said something to Moses.

¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18 (NKJV)

²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:23 (NKJV)

¹⁴ And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14 (NKJV)

There are many more scriptures that address this issue but if we are believers He is both with us and in us. In Romans 8:16 Paul said that His Spirit bears witness with our spirit, there is an inner awareness, which is why we can sometimes meet someone and know they are a Christian because the Holy Spirit in their spirit is bearing witness in our spirit. His presence is real with us and in us. The point of my examples above is that I believe we can be more intentional about paying attention to His presence and inviting Him to manifest His presence in our interactions with others.

So, let’s be mindful of what we are carrying into your interactions with others and seek to bring the Gift of Presence.

Glorious Day

In recent weeks I was driving somewhere and the song Glorious Day by Casting Crowns came on. I recognized that it is a song replete with Easter references and it drew my heart. We will look at some of the lyrics, though the primary significance of Easter is captured in something Paul wrote, ably summed up in the last verse below.

²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. Romans 4:23–25 (NKJV)

However, to the lyrics.

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
And buried, he carried
My sins far away

Rising, he justified
Freely forever
One day, he’s coming
Oh, glorious day
Oh, glorious day

In living on earth Jesus walked in love to those around Him and out of love for us laid down His life (John 3:16). On the cross He paid the price for our sins. When He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30) He was stating that the debt of sin had been fully paid and Paul tells us that our list of sins, our violations of the Law, were nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Reflect on that. Each of us have a sin debt, charges filed against us under God’s moral law. Charges that affirm that we are deserving of death. Yet Paul states boldly that the list of wrongs against each of us was nailed to the cross and in essence with Jesus sacrificial death, written across our debt was, ‘Paid in full!’

However, not only was our debt paid, scripture goes further. A line in the song is ‘carried my sins far away.’ Paul tells us where they were carried to.

³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3–4 (NKJV)

In His death Jesus took our sin debt to the grave with Him. He carried our sins not to some distant place but down to the grave, to burial, to be left in the grave.

This now takes us back to our starting verse, Jesus was delivered to the cross for our offenses, our sin debt, and then raised to life to justify us and establish our freedom from death and sin. Let’s walk through this a bit to appreciate the significance of the Easter story. Jesus took on flesh and the limitation of humanity out of His love for us. He then revealed the heart of the Father through His ministry (John 1:18, 14:9-11) He completed His earthly ministry by going to the cross. The sentence against us was carried out on Jesus, He then took our sins to the grave with Him, they are buried and done away with. He then gloriously rose to newness of life in a resurrected imperishable body as a foretaste of what will experience.

Given all of that, I encourage you, mediate on His finished work and the effects of this glorious day to truly appreciate what Jesus did on our behalf.

The full lyrics and a link to the song are below.

One day, when Heaven was filled with his praises
One day, when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is he

The Word became flesh
And the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
And buried, he carried
My sins far away

Rising, he justified
Freely forever
One day, he’s coming
Oh, glorious day
Oh, glorious day

One day, they led him up Calvary’s mountain
One day, they nailed him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my redeemer is he

The hands that healed nations
Stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

‘Cause living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
And buried, he carried
My sins far away

Rising, he justified
Freely forever
One day, he’s coming
Oh, glorious day
Oh, glorious day

One day, the grave could conceal him no longer
One day, the stone rolled away from the door
Then he arose, over death he had conquered
Now he’s ascended, my Lord evermore

Death could not hold him
The grave could not keep him
From rising again (rising again)

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
And buried, he carried
My sins far away

Rising, he justified
Freely forever
One day, he’s coming
Oh, glorious day
Oh, glorious day
Glorious day

One day, the trumpet will sound for his coming (we long for your coming)
One day, the skies with his glories will shine (glories will shine)
Wonderful day, my beloved one bringing
(My Saviour) my Saviour Jesus is mine

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
Buried, he carried
My sins far away

Rising, he justified
Freely forever
One day, he’s coming
Oh, glorious day
Oh, glorious day
Glorious day

Oh, glorious day

Songwriters: Mark Hall, Michael Bleecker. For non-commercial use only.

YouTube

Carrying a Calling

There is a very interesting verse in Colossians, almost presented as an afterthought by Paul.

¹⁷ And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” Colossians 4:17 (NKJV)

The presentation in the Lexham English Bible is more pointed.

¹⁷ And tell Archippus, “Direct your attention to the ministry that you received in the Lord, in order that you may complete it.” Colossians 4:17 (LEB)

Paul is consistent in that he gives a similar encouragement to Timothy.

⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5 (NKJV)

While on the surface the primary point is the need to direct or give our attention to the ministry we are called to, there is an important subtext. That subtext is that we each have a ministry or calling. However, if we are unaware of what our calling is directing our attention to it is a difficult task. Over the years there have been various tools developed to help us discern the gifts that we carry. While we can fill out and labour over surveys there is another approach we can use. In Matthew 6:21 Jesus told us that our heart follows our treasure. That is, we all value certain things yet Jesus is telling us in the passage to set right priorities and choose to value the right things. This means pursuing His heart through His word, worship and fellowship. When we do this our gifts begin to emerge and it is easier to direct out attention to them.

There are a few lists of gifts in the NT, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Ephesians 4:11and 1 Peter. 4:11. Some are viewed as bestowed by the Spirit as needed in the moment and others as inherent motivational gifts, aspects of who and what we are. Paul illustrates some motivational gifts for us in Romans 12. I think they are illustrative rather than exhaustive but the important part is how he encourages us to use them.

⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6–8 (NKJV)

The gifts we carry, commensurate with our calling, need to be developed and their development comes about when we direct our attention to their use. For example, I know my gift is not hospitality. I enjoy spending time with people, I don’t enjoy preparing our home to host people. I do it because I think it is important, yet I know that unlike with me, it comes naturally to many. However, I do carry a desire to help people and I am very willing to help, to teach, to counsel, and similar things. Thus, these are the areas where I direct my attention.

I know the calling of some of you who read this, not all. Yet I also know that as we seek His heart our gifts and callings emerge and most importantly, I know that you carry a calling. Given that, pursue it and direct your attention to it that you may fulfill it. After all, as Paul wrote, we are His workmanship and He has prepared good for us to do.

¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

Out of His Presence

I was praying about what to write about and the Spirit brought to mind an experience from many years ago. It was the beginning season of a small group that grew and had a significant impact on many from a variety places and backgrounds. I have written about this in the past but with a different focus.

A small group of us were worshipping and as my friend Lynn was playing instrumentally on the piano words came to me and I began to sing, “I am here to worship, Intimate One. You are all I worship, Intimate One.” I don’t remember all of the words that emerged as Lynn played, yet I do remember that what produced them was an awareness of His presence, Jesus being real and tangible and a strong desire to submit to His presence and leading.

This was an ‘Out of His Presence’ moment. While we don’t often talk about it, there is a distinct difference between Yahweh’s omnipresence and His manifest presence. He can manifest His presence to varying degrees. On this occasion, though it wasn’t a lot of His presence, it was sufficient to move the hearts of a group of us and release a new level of worship. Any time He begins to manifest more of His presence, we have the opportunity to respond at a deeper level. Even as I wrote this, I felt led to pause and just fix the gaze of my heart upon Him. He responded by intensifying His presence and I was deeply moved.

In seeking to capture the importance of this idea I thought of a song that became popular a couple of years ago, Make Room. The song captures the heart of what I am seeking to express. One stanza says,

And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to

The repetition of submission to His will and leading is a key theme of the song. It is reflective of what you are likely familiar with in Proverbs.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV)

When we come into His presence and submit our will to His we are making room. It is from here, out of His presence, that life and revelation can flow. When we lay down our agendas and make room for His, the Spirit is free to move in our midst. A great example of this is the famous George Washington Carver, a former slave who became famous for his scientific acumen in the US and abroad. In his regular Give Him 15 posts Dutch Sheets recently wrote about Carver, his numerous agricultural innovations and his international fame. Most importantly Dutch wrote about the source of Carver’s wisdom. Carver lived by the above passage from Proverbs. He made room and sought wisdom from Yahweh and referred to his lab at the Tuskegee Institute as ‘God’s little workshop.’ Carver’s focus was on the Lord guiding his scientific discoveries and achievements, which were numerous!

Now back to us, if we, like Carver, recognize that what comes out of His presence is the opportunity to engage in worship, creativity, passion and wisdom it should encourage us to make room. Let’s do that.

Walk with Me?

Lately I have been thinking about walking, actually longing for warmer weather and the snow to be gone so I can go and walk freely in the woods. Given my limited walking over the winter with my second knee replacement three months ago this longing seems deeper than usual. Part of this desire is that when I walk in the woods and mountains my heart is drawn to prayer and worship.

With my desire for walking in mind I heard something that led me to reflecting on the first mention of anyone walking in scripture. We find it in Genesis 3.

⁸ And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)

Our next example of walking is in Genesis 5.

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Genesis 5:24 (NKJV)

Not surprisingly the Hebrew word for walk means, you guessed it, walk or walking.

I have heard people suggest that the language of Yahweh walking is an accommodation to our understanding as God is spirit and doesn’t have a body. I respectfully disagree. The consistent testimony of scripture refutes that view. For example, in Genesis 18 three men visit Abraham. We later discover that two are angels and one speaking to Abraham is Yahweh. In Isaiah 6 Isaiah sees Yahweh on His throne. He has a bodily appearance. The same is true for Ezekiel’s encounters. There are other Old Testament examples as well should you choose to search them out.

My point in raising this is that I believe Yahweh was in the habit of coming to Adam and Eve in the evening in bodily form and walking with them. Something was passed down to Enoch that stirred him to seek out Yahweh and walk with Him. In the walking their relationship became so close that Enoch was taken from earth to heaven.

My experience is that there is something significant about walking with another. Decades ago, working on an adolescent psychiatric unit I found walking and talking with the patients more productive than sitting and talking with them in an office. A friend from church recently shared that in a supervisory role he was in there was an identified problem with an employee, he went to see him and said, “Let’s go for a walk.” After 20 minutes of walking the source of the problem was revealed. I have another friend who regularly gets away to the mountains to ‘walk with Yahweh’ and the fruit is evident in His life. Walking is an openness and intimacy opportunity and we see the pattern of walking with Yahweh further reflected in Genesis.

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. Genesis 17:1 (NKJV)

⁴⁰ But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. Genesis 24:40 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, Genesis 48:15 (NKJV)

Walking with Yahweh was important both from the perspective of Yahweh and the patriarchs.

Now, I don’t want to stretch a metaphor beyond its usefulness but I believe there is spiritual truth and opportunity in the idea of walking with Yahweh, in particular outdoors. Research demonstrates that people working on difficult tasks do better when exposed to nature. It makes sense given our original habitation was a massive garden.

There is an expression, ‘Not all who wander are lost.’ It reflects being more than doing. I know that when I sense His drawing to walk and be with Him I become more conscious of His presence with me throughout the day. So, is He asking you to walk with Him? Is that something you will do?

Bing Videos Kim Walker-Smith Walk with Me

The Main Thing

There was a popular song a few years ago by Matt Redman about the importance of true worship. You likely know the song, The Heart of Worship. It is a beautiful song that reflects a spiritual reality found in the expression, ‘The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.’ A key line in the song is “I’m coming back to the heart of worship.” This leads to some obvious questions, ‘Why do we have to come back? Why did we leave?’ The answer of course lies in scripture.

¹ Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, ⁴ God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? Hebrews 2:1–4 (NKJV)

The warning is about ‘drifting away’ not intentionally leaving. There have been stories of people over the years who didn’t survive because they were on some small floating device, stopped paying attention to the shore and drifted out to sea. In recent weeks there was the story of the Australian mother and her three children who went out on paddleboards and an inflatable kayak and the weather become rough and they drifted out to sea, even though they were paying attention. Thankfully they were rescued because the 13 year old boy swam four hours in rough seas to reach shore and help for his family.

The story serves as a warning and read carefully; Hebrews is a very sobering book that warns and deeply challenges us. One example above is the author highlighting the danger of drifting away. It is one reason for this famous passage in Hebrews.

²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24–25 (NKJV)

We need one another, we need to be checked and encouraged by one another, ‘lest we drift away.’

Thus, I think it is important that we have a way to assess whether or not we have drifted and need to come back to the heart of worship, our reason for being. As a way of making that assessment let’s go a little deeper into Redman’s song by looking at the initial verses.

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart

I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart, yeah

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus

In essence Matt is saying that our words are an insufficient assessment tool. We can’t go by surface appearances. Instead, what we need to do is invite Jesus to examine our hearts and see if our focus is truly on Him. If it is our worship and lifestyle will be about Him. After all, true worship is scripturally defined most clearly in Romans 12.

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

In the passage above the NKJV has ‘reasonable service.’ This is an accurate translation. Paul is saying that it simply makes sense in light of what he has previously written in Romans. Yet some translations, the ESV for example, have these two Greek words as ‘spiritual worship’ because the translators recognize that this level of surrender is at the heart of worship.

So, we can invite Jesus to assess our spiritual condition and whether our hearts have drifted, which I think we all do at times, I know I have more than once gone through the motions without my heart fully engaged and surrendered at that moment. The beautiful thing about walking with Him is that even though I can fail, each time I do I can run not away, but boldly to the throne of grace to ‘obtain mercy and find grace.’

Thus, if you see that you have drifted, simply seek His face and ask Jesus to help you reorient your heart to worship.