Discernment – Wisdom From the Word

Without Ceasing

I assume that at some point in time you have read or heard Paul’s admonition to ‘pray without ceasing’ and may have even attempted it. Let’s take a look at the context to get at what Paul was telling his readers, and by extension us.

¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise prophecies. ²¹ Test all things; hold fast what is good. ²² Abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–22 (NKJV)

What is clear is that Paul cannot be referring to praying 24/7 because he also says, ‘Rejoice always’ and, ‘in everything give thanks.’ Three inclusive commands, leading to the obvious question, “Paul, what is it? Are we to be praying all the time, rejoicing all the time or giving thanks all the time?”

Always, without ceasing and everything are three different words in Greek but they all cover a broad inclusive category. Given that we can do none of them 24/7, let alone all three, let’s seek to understand Paul’s point. Paul’s sharing of the gospel at Thessalonica is recorded in Acts 17:1-9. He began preaching in the synagogue, a number of Jews were converted then a multitude of Gentiles. Meaning the congregation was made up of a mixed multitude but predominantly Gentile in ethnicity.

The Jewish converts had a background in terms of how to pray, the Gentiles may or may not have had one depending on their cultural roots. They would have all had an idea of a spiritual realm inhabited by God, gods or other spiritual beings. We don’t know specifically what Paul taught them regarding prayer but we can be confident that he taught them something given his command above.

So, how would they have applied Paul’s instructions? Paul began his letter encouraging them, referenced their faithfulness along with suffering and rejection for their newfound faith. He then encouraged them that Christ would return for them at some point in time and told them to comfort and encourage one another. This is the background for his closing thoughts.

In essence Paul addresses two things. The first is an attitude, one characterized by rejoicing, prayer and thankfulness, no matter their circumstances. The second is an exhortation to embrace, discern and test the things of the Spirit, not cynically but with the aforementioned approach, rejoicing, prayer and thankfulness. As far as possible he wanted their first response to be these three things, always.

For us that means we are called to embrace rejoicing, prayer and thankfulness in all seasons. That doesn’t mean we receive a cancer diagnosis and respond with ‘Praise the Lord.’ It does mean that we view our circumstances in light of both time and eternity. For example, I am just about at ten weeks post op for my second knee replacement. With my first knee I finally slept through the night after seven weeks. Yet as I write this, I have now not had a proper night’s sleep for the past 68 days due to the pain at night. I am not thankful or rejoicing that I cannot sleep properly. I am thankful that I had my knee replaced, confident that I will come through this and praying and seeking His face in relation to my need for better sleep. I know this is a difficult season in time that will have an end and that in the light of eternity is a miniscule moment. That is my present application of Paul’s admonitions. How are you applying them in your life?

Deepening Discernment Part 2

In my last post I focused on the process of discernment, which I anchored in Hebrews 5:13-14. I also noted that, “…the two obvious levels of discernment are knowing and paying attention to the scriptures and knowing and paying attention to His voice.” Here we will delve deeper into that process.

To actually develop and deepen our discernment we begin with shifting our focus beyond outward appearances. It is easy to see behaviour; it is hard to discern hearts. This is the first area to grow in. We must head Paul’s admonition to stop judging by outward appearances.

¹⁶ Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16 (NKJV)

I am certainly not saying we should not address clearly sinful behaviour. I am saying in general we need to look beyond behaviour to try to see hearts.

Here is an example. I read of an experience a man had on the subway. He saw a man get on with two young children. The children seemed ‘out of control’ and were bothering other passengers. He judged the man a poor parent and decided to point out his negligent parenting. When he got the man’s attention he said, “Sir, I don’t know if you have noticed but your children are bothering the other passengers?” The man seemed to come around to greater awareness and responded, “I’m sorry, we just came from the hospital where their mother died.” What do you think happened to the man’s assessment of this father as a neglectful parent? Did judgment turn to compassion?

To discern rightly we need to seek to suspend judgment and try to understand hearts. We also need to consider whether there are things we need to lay down that colour our discernment. Do we have a history with someone that we need to lay down? Do we disagree with their doctrine? Is their doctrine our measure of their hearts? Most importantly, are we actively listening to the Holy Spirit and seeking His viewpoint as we seek to discern truth and life?

When it comes to discernment our call is to embrace the truth at a heart rather than head level. We pursue not a unity of belief in every single point of doctrine but unity around intimacy with Jesus (this will sort out a lot of our doctrine over time). Paul provides a goal for us.

¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Ephesians 4:13 (NKJV)

When we lay down our judgments and pursue His heart He will correct us, after all, the Holy Spirit is a faithful teacher!

²⁴ These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine. Isaiah 29:24 (NKJV)

I think our greatest aid to discerning accurately is walking closely to Jesus. Consider the following passage.

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9–11 (NKJV)

Here Paul is saying that when our love for Jesus abounds, we are able to discern and approve the things that are excellent. An encounter with Jesus’ heart is something deeper than information about Him. It is a pulling back of the veil over our hearts so that we can experience more of His heart and see clearly. Loving Jesus produces love for one another and aligns our heart with His heart.

What happens if we have this prayer answered? As we receive a revelation of His heart, we know how He feels about us, which brings release and freedom, and as our ear gets near to His heart, we can also hear how His heart beats for others! The caution of course is simply assuming our judgments are accurate discernment. Thus, we need a way to test what we believe we are discerning.

To practice discerning, I offer something I learned many years ago and have taught a number of times. The distinction between intuition and insight, recognizing that intuition is a spiritual function while insight is a function of the mind.

¹¹For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 (NKJV)

In the verses above, in the original Greek, the word ‘know’ refers to perceiving or being aware of something. The same Greek word is used in passages that refer to Jesus intuitively perceiving, becoming aware of, or knowing something.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” Matthew 12:25 (NKJV)

When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?” John 6:61 (NKJV)

Now, unlike Jesus, who was always accurate, when we perceive or become internally aware of something we need to test it. In essence we become aware of or discern something in our spirit but need to test it with our mind. The process is that we discern something via intuition, a ‘gut feeling’ in our spirit that initiates a process. We then engage our mind to test it and the ‘aha’ experience, insight, completes the process. In essence, to test our discernment there needs to be a marriage between our spirit and our mind.

How does this work in practice? In ministering to people, I have frequently shared with people things about their lives that I had no natural intellectual way of knowing. For example, I remember sharing with someone that the Lord wanted to dance with them. I only knew the person’s name and nothing else about them as they had showed up to our small group for the first time that evening. There were 15-20 of sitting on chairs in a circle worshipping when I shared what I ‘perceived’ or ‘became aware’ of. The woman was deeply emotionally impacted by what I said and it was confirmation of the accuracy of what I shared. The way I ‘heard’ this from the Spirit was simply a growing internal sense that I needed to tell this lady that the Lord wanted to dance with her so I stopped the worship and in front of everyone said something like, “I think the Lord wants you to know that He wants to dance with you.” She responded with tears, good tears and verbally share the significance of the impact of what I had said. I don’t recommend doing this in front of a group unless you are accustomed to hearing Him speak this way, which I was, and thus was confident it was Him.

On another occasion, when leaving a job, I shared with the manager two things I sensed in prayer that morning. At the time I wasn’t praying for him, I was in prayer and these thoughts arose in my spirit. He was not a believer but was interested and asked me about them later in the day so he could write them down. The things I shared with him both took place within a few months.

A very important factor is that when I share this way, and I encourage others to do the same, I always share it as my sense of something I believe I am hearing from the Lord as I offer it to them. I often preface what I am sharing with, ‘This may sound odd.’ I share in this way because we need to test what we discern and present it as something for others to weigh (1 Corinthians 14:29). I only remember one occasion of being insistent on something I was sensing from the Spirit and when I pressed the issue the person became angry with me. A week later the same individual came back, apologized, and affirmed that I had been correct.

So, discerning requires paying attention to what we are hearing in our spirits and then testing that discernment with our minds in line with scripture. This idea of understanding intuition and insight lays a basic foundation for knowing how to test what we believe we are discerning. Malachi said it well.

Therefore take heed to your spirit. (Malachi 2:16)

Deepening Discernment Part 1

In recent years the Lord has exposed a great deal of sin by well known church leaders and movements. In recent weeks it seems to have significantly increased, particularly in charismatic circles. There are varying opinions and assertions found in many places on social media, and in reading about it and listening to opinions it seems some would like to throw the baby out with the bathwater. When this happens there has been a departure from discernment to judgment.

From my perspective the events of recent years and the very fresh present example, is a call for us as His body to walk in a deeper level of discernment, to separate the wheat from the chaff. I say deeper because I believe that discernment operates at more than one level, so here we will delve into it a bit.

Discernment has long been an important subject to me and I first wrote about it over three decades ago. At that time, I defined discernment as follows, and still adhere to this definition, “Seeing the reality which lies behind appearances.” On the surface this may suggest that we require some mystical spiritual gift to exercise discernment if we need to discern the reality behind surface impressions. Yet my goal is just the opposite. I want discernment to be both practiced and practical. While 1 Corinthians 12 lists the gift of discerning of spirits, which I think can be useful in exercising discernment, the primary New Testament text on discernment is in Hebrews.

¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:13–14 (NKJV)

This passage makes it plain that discernment is not some mystical gift but is in fact the logical outgrowth of using our senses in submission to the Spirit.

To better grasp the process of discernment we will break this passage down a bit. First, the writer of Hebrews informs us the undiscerning are those who are ‘unskilled in the word of righteousness.’ An obvious reference to the scriptures. The clear implication being that a key aspect of discernment is developing the ability to rightly divide ‘the word of truth,’ the scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15). As the writer of Hebrews puts it, our discernment deepens through ‘reason of use.’ The phrase is one word in Greek and refers to habit or practice. Our discernment deepens as we practice discerning!

Here is an example that happened to me recently. I am a member of a few Christian Apologetics groups on Facebook. Someone posted an idea about the blind man Jesus healed who first saw men like trees walking then was able to see clearly after Jesus prayed for him the second time. Ostensibly the post was just an idea but then the writer quickly shifted into presenting his ideas as fact. While some of his ideas were plausible, I challenged the post on the grounds that it was eisegesis rather than exegesis. A reading into the text what seemed like a clever idea, rather than drawing out what the text actually said. The poster took offense to my comment and challenged my view. I then broke the text down and showed how some aspects were not only not supported by scripture, they were in fact in opposition to scripture. The poster responded with further offense and accused me of ‘nit picking’ rather than simply accepting things. My final response was that I broke things down and highlighted the errors because I take a high view of scripture. This experience highlighted the need to get at the reality behind the nice appearance.

My discernment process here was that I recognized the error in the post, even though I liked the idea presented, because it didn’t align with scripture. This is the fruit of exercising my spiritual senses and weighing what was being said against scripture.

An older example for me was reading a book in recent years by a popular leader from a popular movement. Something the author said didn’t sit right with me event though the book sounded good, felt good and was very popular. When I examined it in the light of scripture, I thought it plausible to draw the conclusion of the author but it still seemed at odds with the weight of scripture and the Lord’s heart. Something felt ‘off’ so I sat with it and literally set the book on a shelf. This was a few years ago. Then in the past year or so I listened to a podcast by some pastors I deeply respect. They were discussing the book and highlighted the damage it was causing in the body of Christ. They touched on what I had seen and other areas where the book was fostering the very types of sin being exposed in recent weeks. At this point I took the book off my shelf and threw it out. In both examples above my discernment was rooted in two things, a knowledge of the scriptures and an awareness or sense in my sprit of something being off, not sitting quite right. I then took the time to further examine what seemed off to discern where the error actually lay. This is the process of deepening our discernment. The Spirt will bring passages to mind to lead us into truth and will quicken things in our spirit that we need to pay attention to if we have developed the habit of listening to His voice. So, the two obvious levels of discernment are knowing and paying attention to the scriptures and knowing and paying attention to His voice. I encourage you to develop the habit, the practice of walking this way. It guards His body, can save us a lot of heartache, and is what He calls us to walk in, discernment.

Prayer and Distraction

Many long years ago, okay, 1990, I was pastoring a little church in the country. We regularly sang a song with the following line, ‘Enter into Canaan and possess your possessions for I will go before you saith the Lord.’ What has often come to me over the years is the question of whether we possess our possessions or they possess us. Now in the age of social media I believe that question is more urgent. Social media apps are designed to capture and keep our attention to make money for those who run them. Their presence in our lives is both pernicious and pervasive.

In line with this, years ago, I read some material from Dr. Carolyn Leaf about brain function and attention and she referred to the idea of multitasking as a myth. She called it ‘milkshake multitasking’ and her point was that neurologically we can’t focus on more than one thing at a time so when we attempt to do so everything is shaken up and done poorly. More recent research has demonstrated the cost of trying to multitask. A simple example. If you had 20 minutes to do a task at work and 5 minutes to check your personal email or other social media messages it could be done in 25 minutes, if done sequentially. If you attempted the same task by working for 5 minutes on your task, engaged for 1 minute glance with a social media app, then went back to your work task you lose time. Your brain takes time to refocus and transition from one task to another so your process takes longer than the 25 minutes allotted. Over a day it adds up to a lot.

Think of applying this to prayer. You begin, get distracted by something, come back, get distracted, and on it goes. Do you every really focus on the subject at hand – communion with the Lord?

Another issue is reading. If we do most of our reading on electronic devices we tend to skip over words more than reading on paper and we retain less information. Kindle devices seem to be a bit better and are more like reading a hard copy.

With this brief overview we can now look at how we can approach prayer and scripture. If your first impulse is to turn on or check our phone when you awake, resist the temptation. The social media apps on your phone are designed to capture and keep your attention. One of the inventions coming from the social media companies is infinite scrolling. When you finish one page another one automatically loads. They don’t have to function that way, they do because again, this helps to capture and keep your attention. With what they track and gather I am confident that for most of us the social media giants know much more about us and our likes and habits than our nearest neighbours!

My recommendation, set aside time in the morning to focus on prayer and worship, read a hard copy of your bible. Taking a few minutes doing it on your phone may seem more efficient, it isn’t, and will do more to fracture your attention. Scripture calls us to do a couple of things.

¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)

These things require our attention and focus. The context of Psalm 46:10 is warfare and the message from Yahweh is to be still, relax and watch Him work. The context of Colossians 3:15 is setting our thoughts and affections on heavenly things and the result is His peace.

Doing these things require intentionality on our part. Distractions have always tried to turn us away from individual prayer and worship and our current culture works harder than any other time in history to draw our thoughts and affections to other things. If you are struggling, it a cultural battle not just an individual one. Seek His face for help and seek out help from godly friends.

Practically I know I check my phone and social media regularly during the day. I do this because I keep my notifications on mute 99.9% of the time. I only turn on the ringer on my phone on if I am expecting a call. Otherwise, I call people back. I know many years ago when I first had a work BlackBerry about a week into my having it, I walked across the street to the Rogers store and asked them how to turn off the vibrate on my emails. The staff person I spoke with was shocked. I explained that I received plenty of emails and I didn’t need to know every time I received one, I could simply check regularly.

These were simply strategies I used. I don’t know if this is an issue for you, I do know research says it is a growing problem in our culture so, commit some time, seek His face and decide if you need to make any lifestyle adjustments to focus your heart on Jesus.

The Power of the Cross

One more post from my older writing. Next week I will look at prayer and social media distractions.

THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS – THE POWER OF GOD – 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18 (OCTOBER 1992)

In continuing on with the idea of spiritual maturity I want to look at the work of the cross in our lives. I believe that as we look at what the scriptures teach we will find a new liberty in our walk with Him.

The foundation for understanding how the cross works in our lives is the awareness of the place of the spirit and soul in relation to the cross. When we are born again Christ joins His Spirit to our spirit (1 Cor. 6:17, Rom. 8:9). At this time the sin nature/old man is crucified and Christ imparts His life and Himself to our spirits so that we are born again as a new creation (Rom. 6:9, Gal. 2:20, 2 Cor. 5:17, Col. 3:9-10). The work of the cross in our spirits takes place at conversion and is a one time event never to be repeated.

The reason we do not necessarily walk after the Spirit in newness of life is that the cross needs to work in the soul/flesh and this work needs to continue until we die or Christ returns. To walk after the Spirit means taking up the cross so that we do not walk after the soul. (Matt. 10:38, 16:24-26, Mk. 8:34, 10:21, Lk. 9:23, 14:27).

Taking up the cross does not mean crucifying ourselves. Nowhere in the scriptures are we told to crucify ourselves because it is impossible. We are told to take up the cross and to recognize that we are already crucified. If taking up the cross meant crucifixion it would mean either a very slow painful process or one which needs to be often repeated because Jesus said we are to take up the cross daily (Lk. 9:23). The taking up of the cross is simply the submission of our will to His will, not self crucifixion.

Christ’s cross was submission to His Father’s will and that is the cross we are also called to carry. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to the point that He was sweating blood (Lk. 22:44) there was no confusion in His mind regarding His Father’s will. The battle was Jesus knowing His Father’s will and His soul wanting to draw back from the horror that He knew lay ahead. He was choosing to submit when He said, “not my will, but Yours, be done.” Keep in mind that there was no sin in Christ’s soul.

The soul life is our natural life and is described by Paul as the fleshly/carnal nature or the carnal man (Rom. 7:14,18,25, 8:1, 3-9, 12-13, 1 Cor. 3:1-4). To be carnal or spiritually immature is to be in the habit of walking after the flesh or desires of the soul rather than submitting to the cross and denying our soul/self.

To walk after the Spirit means that not only do we have to cease doing evil deeds but good deeds as well. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the personification of the soul life, whereas the tree of life is the personification of the spiritual life. For Jesus to be made manifest means that not only do have to recognize the evil works of the flesh but also; “good deeds” rooted in things like selfish ambition (Gal. 5:20) that produce confusion and an open door to demonic deception (Jas. 3:16), or simply our desire to do what we know needs to be done, like Moses trying to be the deliverer of Israel 40 years ahead of Yahweh’s schedule.

The idea of ceasing our good deeds in an offensive doctrine but true nevertheless. It has always been, and always will be in the Kingdom of God, that works born of the flesh are flesh and works born of the Spirit are spirit (Jn. 3:6). The soul is unable to produce that which is spiritual (1 Cor. 15:45).

I earlier mentioned the idea that the soul is not to be crucified. Not only is it not to be crucified, it is instead to be purified by submission to the leading of the Spirit. 1 Peter 1:22 says, “you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” The soul is purified as it submits to the Spirit. This is the true taking up of the cross.

We need to be aware that no matter how pure the soul becomes, it (just like Christ’s in the Garden) can never take the lead in spiritual matters because it lacks the capacity. It was designed to be the servant of the spirit and when it embraces this place it prospers (3 Jn. 2). It can prosper in no other way.

The idea of taking up the cross is very important in our daily lives. An example from my own life relates to prayer. I was praying one morning and had a sense in my spirit that it was time to stop and go upstairs to have breakfast with my family. At this time I was also aware in my mind (soul) of some things I thought it was important to pray about so I continued to pray. Almost immediately I realized I was not praying in the Spirit and had to repent of my rebellion before I went up for breakfast.

I can think of other illustrations as simple as not taking that dessert or extra helping at the table when the Holy Spirit says no, or not exercising our rights out of submission to the Holy Spirit. When someone has wronged us and we have every legal right to seek justice we need to seek the mind of the Lord on the matter. When we feel anger or bitterness at something someone has said or done, no matter how right the cause, we need to repent of our wrong heart attitude and submit to Him. When we truly submit grace comes flowing into our hearts, our feelings change and the fruit of the Spirit is made manifest.

These are for the most part simple things but very important as they release His grace in our lives as we obey. I know that if we are not faithful in the little things He is not able to trust us with the larger things (Lk. 6:10). The big battles are won or lost by the character we cultivate in the little daily decisions that can seem so inconsequential.

Having said all of the above, Romans 8:1-2 best sums up the Christian walk. As we daily choose to submit and take up the cross it becomes a habit and we know the cross as the power of God. By walking after the Spirit we experience the reality of the law of the Spirit of life moving against and overcoming the law of sin and death. The result is the mind being conformed to the likeness of Christ (Col. 3:10, Eph. 4:23) and the fruit of the Spirit being seen in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23). The message of the cross is the power of God!

A Heart of Wisdom

I am returning to regular posts as my book is progressing well. For the next bit I am posting some articles I wrote over 30 years ago that are very relevant for today. In the early 1990’s I did a monthly article called The Apostolic Gospel and later compiled them into a booklet. Below is an excerpt.

THE APOSTOLIC GOSPEL: A HEART OF WISDOM

“So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” Ps. 90:12). In this hour the Holy Spirit desires to stir up in our hearts the reality of Moses’ prophetic cry to Yahweh. In this passage the Hebrew word translated as gain is bow or boh; it implies movement and means to gain or bring forth or carry. The Holy Spirit is teaching us that at the end of our days we will bring, gain, or carry the contents of our heart to the Judgment Seat. Moses’ desire is that each of us will bring to the Judgment Seat a heart filled with the fruits of wisdom. The Holy Spirit desires that we understand the requirement of presenting our hearts to Jesus when we stand before Him. Just as we can bring nothing to merit salvation, neither will we be able to present our own works at the Judgment Seat. All we can present is our hearts. All creation will know in that hour whether the treasure we have been carrying in our hearts (Matt 6:21) consists of gold, silver, and precious stones; or wood, hay, and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12-15). As the contents of our hearts pass under the fiery gaze of Jesus’ eyes (Rev.1:14) all that is not of Him will be consumed. That which sprang from faith will remain as our dead works are consumed (Heb. 6:1).

Gaining hearts of wisdom is an area where we, the church, greatly need to be exercised, and it is one of the many areas in which the Holy Spirit desires to lead us “into all truth” (Jn. 16:13). There is a great need for us to understand the scriptural reality that “He has put eternity in their (our) hearts.” (Eccl. 3:11). When we understand that the foundation of eternity has been laid in our hearts our first choice is whether to spend that eternity in heaven or hell. If we choose heaven, we must further decide whether to truly live out of the eternity dwelling in our hearts. It is only in embracing this mode of living that we can ever hope to “gain a heart of wisdom” because our hearts are the centres of our value systems and the centres of our needs. They colour and touch every area of our lives. Wise hearts are those that have learned to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33) and come into agreement with Jesus and His values, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” (Lk. 4:8).

To live this way, we need to understand that there is much more to the walk of a believer than simply being born again. The New Testament is filled with the truth that we have been empowered and are responsible to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4) and that we will be judged in terms of how well we have walked out that new life (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom. 14:10-12, Eph.2:10, 4:1, Phil. 2:12). Sadly, most of us in the church are either ignorant or terribly neglectful of these truths because we are so conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2, 13:11-14, 2 Cor. 5:15, Eph 4:1, 17).

A heart of wisdom recognizes that Jesus commissioned us (anointed, gave us authority and ability) to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I (He) have commanded (us)” (Matt. 28:19-20). This passage is pregnant with possibility and importance in terms of our calling, commission and responsibility as believers. We need to awaken to our responsibility! Paul said, “it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” (Rom. 13:11).

To carry out the “Great Commission” we need to understand that not only are we called to make disciples of individual members of all nations (Greek ethnos, ethnic groups or nationalities, people groups), but we are called to disciple entire nations. The Lord has called the church, not democracy, communism, humanism, or any other created thing (Rom. 8:37-39, Matt. 5:14-16), to be the light of the world. With the calling we have both the authority and responsibility to speak to the situations and institutions affecting our nations, and to provide the light to lead them out of darkness (Eph. 5:8-14). I am not suggesting that the church should use political power to take over countries of the world, because His kingdom is not of this world (Jn. 18:36, Matt. 6:9-10). We are however called to give light to our leaders and to set an example for the world to follow, rather than us following the ways of the world.

For example, one time I listened to a “Christian” radio program talking about a talent contest for “worship” bands. Concepts like this make me wonder if we as the church have drifted so far away from the Lord that we are not even able to recognize or discern when we have embraced the ways of Satan? Have we invited him right into our midst, as Saul did by bringing king Agag back to Israel, thinking he could control the enemy he had conquered? Would we exercise any more discernment if we thought about having contests for the sermon of the week in our local assemblies? Do we not understand that our weapons are not carnal?

Our foolishness in these areas demonstrates an ignorance of the Lord, of His ways, and knowing the power of the cross. This is but one example of our many failures to walk out our commission to teach the nations His ways. The scriptures are clear that there will come a time when “the law shall come forth out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Is. 2:1-3). I believe there will be a literal fulfillment of this in Jerusalem, and through Israel, when Yahweh gathers His people back to their land. There is, however, also the reality that this prophecy speaks of the commission of the church to be a standard for the nations. This means that we have a responsibility to come to maturity and then teach individuals, people groups, and nations to discern between good and evil (Heb. 5:13-14).

To walk in this reality and truly walk out our calling in the earth we need to function in a much greater level of anointing then that which is presently observable in most aspects of the local church. We need to learn to go beyond our programs and ideologies and into the Holy of Holies to dwell in His presence and draw on His wisdom. All the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and the love that motivates them in 1 Corinthians 13 need to be drawn out from behind the veil so that they transition from hope to reality. We also need the fivefold ministry of Ephesians 4:11 to function in individual members of the body if the body is to be properly equipped to come to maturity. Much of the present day church is functioning in the spiritual gifts to a limited extent and some segments have discerned the need for the fivefold ministry. We are beginning to wake up to and walk in these job descriptions. With these signs of hope and life in this time of darkness, let us press in to see the glory of the Lord manifest to a needy world through a mature body (Is. 60:1-2).

I say these things not to condemn, but rather to encourage and exhort us to search the scriptures and follow after the exhortations in them. Jesus was very clear that our eternal position in His kingdom will be based on how we walk out His teachings (Matt. 5:19) and the words of Paul strongly exhort us, “Be diligent to present yourselves approved to God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15).

Understanding the Times

There are important times and seasons. In Greek there are two words used in scripture for time, chronos (Chronos was the Greek god of time) and kairos. Chronos is the source of our word chronology, sequential ordered events, chronological time. Kairos is more qualitative and refers to the right time or moment. We have a great example of kairos in the 1 Chronicles.

³² of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command; 1 Chronicles 12:32 (NKJV)

This verse is part of a larger narrative referring to the nation of Israel gathering to make David king over all Israel. It was the right time in the life of the nation. In a similar way we have key times and seasons in the life of our culture and nation. If we are to know what to do, we need to understand the times.

Yet beyond understanding we also need to act. The sons of Issachar turned their knowledge into wisdom through action. Over the years I have many times illustrated the difference between knowledge and wisdom using the idea of standing in the middle of the road with a large truck heading directly at you. Knowledge is knowing you should get out of the way, wisdom is moving! Wisdom is strategically applied knowledge.

Which brings us back to our time and culture. In Canada, as a nation, we are not in a good place. We have soaring federal debt that is presently so bad that all of the federal GST (Goods and Services Tax) that is collected goes toward paying the interest on our debt, none to principal, and sadly we have a Prime Minister who just tabled and passed a new budget that is going to significantly increase our debt. Our culture has shifted in recent decades from being supportive of Judeo-Christian values to either ignoring them or being openly hostile toward them.

So, in this season in our culture is there an option available to shift our nation to sound values and sound stable fiscal policy? One answer is found in Proverbs.

¹¹ By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 11:11 (NKJV)

Jeremiah had the same perspective, but in a more pointed manner.

⁷ And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. ⁸ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. ⁹ For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. ¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:7–11 (NKJV)

The context was Yahweh’s people going into captivity. Through Jeremiah, He told them to “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive.” The reason being that no matter what the false prophets said, and even though Yahweh promised to return them to Jerusalem, most of them would never see that promise realized because Yahweh was clear that they were going to be in a seventy-year captivity.

If we apply this to us, no matter how godly or ungodly our leadership at the federal, provincial and municipal levels our calling is to bless our nation, province/territory and city to see it raised up to righteousness. This means praying for leaders, speaking truth and life into our culture and being a force for righteousness wherever we are. When more of us do this we will see a shift toward righteousness in our nation.

NOTE – In line with the theme of Understanding the Times, in a few weeks I would have completed 11 years of weekly blog posts, week after week without exception, I began the first week of January 2014. However, I believe the Lord wants me to take a break to focus on the book I am writing. I will decide next steps in a few weeks. I am also having a second knee replacement in mid December. In the meantime, since I began writing my blog it has grown to over 800 pages of theologically sound searchable teaching material. Thanks for reading and please pray as I write and discern the next steps. Given His call on my life, I will continue to teach until my last breath as it is inherent in who and what I am!

The Place of Intervention

The Lord has a plan. We see the loss of the garden in Genesis 3 and the restoration of the garden and the city of God in Revelation 21-22. In regard to His planning scripture makes the following comment.

¹¹ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, Ephesians 1:11 (NKJV)

Let’s linger on this phrase, “who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” God will accomplish His ultimate purpose in all of creation. Our hearts can rest confidently in this reality. At the same time, we have no guarantee that we will accomplish all He has prepared for us or how others will respond to His call.

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)

The ‘should’ in this verse implies something obligatory, in line with the famous Romans 12:1-2, an exhortation to present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice to serve His purposes. We also have Peter clearly stating Yahweh’s heart toward the lost.

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)

Knowing this we still know that many will be lost because they choose to not respond to His calling. As noted at the beginning we began in a garden and we will end there. Yahweh will fulfill His overall purpose but who will be part of it is the open part of scripture that depends on the exercise of our will in response to His drawing.

I remember decades ago Rick Joyner sharing that he asked the Lord why he used John Wimber that way he did. The Lord responded along the lines of, “When I knocked on his door he answered.” Think of Ananias, in Acts 9:10-18. Yahweh appears in a vision and asks Ananias to go and pray for Saul of Tarsus. What if Ananias had rationalized that this vision wasn’t from the Lord because he knew the danger? The answer is Yahweh would have sent someone else and Ananias would have missed a deep and powerful blessing. What if those who rejected the outpouring of the Spirit at Azusa Street had said yes earlier? Who else would now be in the kingdom? What if Wilberforce had rejected his commission by the Lord to end slavery in Great Britain? It would have eventually happened through someone else.

What does this have to do with my title, The Place of Intervention? Where He first intervenes is generally in the calls and nudges to obedience. When our heart responds correctly, He offers more. A good scriptural example, one I encourage you to look up and read, is the broader story of Saul and David. I have heard many assert that Saul was the people’s choice and David the Lord’s choice. We can see from scripture that isn’t true.

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 1 Samuel 13:13–14 (NKJV)

Here the covenant that Samuel said Yahweh wanted to give Saul, to establish his kingdom forever, was the covenant that David received. Why? Saul’s heart stopped responding to Yahweh and shifted to responding to the people instead.

The place of intervention is the place of our meeting with Him and choosing to walk with an obedient heart. May we always choose obedience.

Babies, Birth and Revival Part 2

We continue looking at babies and birth in the context of revival and reformation. I last referenced our need to respond to His leading to see the Spirit move. One way to understand this is to consider things that get in the way. The birth of a move of the Spirit can fail to be conceived, miscarry, or it may in His timing be delayed due to our response.

Think of the failure to conceive. The woman in the gospels with the issue of blood could not conceive and in her culture a lack of children would have been a source of shame. If we apply this to ourselves, we can reflect on whether there are issues in our personal lives, or in the fellowship we attend, that prevent the conception and bringing to fruition of His purposes?

What about miscarriages? I previously referenced what happened with Azusa Street and how the movement started and was stopped on more than one occasion because people were offended by how the Spirit began to move and so shut it down. In scripture we read about the people who said yes, that doesn’t mean we have a record of all the people Yahweh asked. When I began this blog years ago, I started with a series I titled Journeys with Abraham where I showed how it appears that Yahweh called Terah, Abraham’s father and he started his journey and stopped. Abraham continued to say yes and fulfilled his calling. Thus, Abraham rather than Terah is recorded as the father of faith.

In reference to timing, how many generations was it between Isaiah’s prophecy about the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14) and Jesus’ birth? How many people died believing the prophetic word had failed? What about Psalm 2, written about 3,000 years ago.

⁷ “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. ⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” Psalm 2:7–9 (NKJV)

This is a prophetic Psalm looking forward to Jesus ruling and reigning on the earth as the great Messianic King. It hasn’t been fulfilled yet. However, while knowing this Jesus Himself said the following.

¹ Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, Luke 18:1 (NKJV)

The writer of Hebrews said something equally important in this context.

¹¹ And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:11–12 (NKJV)

We also have what Paul wrote in Galatians. No matter how things may look to us, God is working in the background.

⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, Galatians 4:4 (NKJV)

In light of these factors, it is incumbent upon us to seek His face and heart and respond in prayer as He leads. We may not see revival and reformation quickly; He may have it sitting in the heavenlies waiting to release it in response to our intercession or later in response to the intercession of others. Our calling is to be found faithful.

This perspective of course takes us back to our faith and patience verse in Hebrews. The patience part is like a shower. Between the time we adjust the water and the time that the temperature changes, there is a delay as the adjustment has to travel the length of the water lines. While we don’t need to wait 3,000 years for the shower temperature to change, as we have for some prophecies, we do need to wait! We inherit His promises through faith and patience. During the waiting period something is happening even if we don’t see it. Thus, if He stirs our hearts to pray for revival and reformation let us continue to do so while we await the fulfillment! After all, scripture clearly exhorts us to be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Let’s do that!

Babies, Birth and Revival Part 1

We begin with babies and birth. First, I confess, when I hear someone from a couple say, “We’re pregnant” I have an internal reaction that I sometimes verbalize, “we” are not pregnant, the woman is pregnant. Now, while both pending parents may be excited about the birth, the process is dependent on what happens with the mother. For a healthy natural birth to take place the mother needs to pay attention to her health but she still doesn’t determine the time of birth. As the time of the baby’s arrival nears there are things that can be done to facilitate labour, but in a truly natural process it is the moving of the baby into the birth canal that brings on the labour. Which brings us to revival and cultural transformation.

When Yahweh wants to do something on the earth He first stirs something in the heavenly realm and inspires intercessors to pray (the labour pains) that birth the move of the Spirit in the earth. I have at times looked at the history of various revivals and I personally don’t know of a single one that wasn’t birthed through prayer in response to His leading. Some I am more familiar with are the Welsh and Azusa Street revivals. The key intercessor behind the Welsh Revival was Evan Roberts with his famous prayer, “Lord bend me!” bursting passionately from his heart. With Azuza street the revival initially began more than once but leaders were offended by what the Spirit was doing and shut it down. Each time it moved locations until it was embraced. The key intercessor was Frank Bartleman who was so given to prayer that some of his friends were worried about his health. Bartleman’s response was that he would rather die in fasting and prayer than not see revival.

At this point in history, I don’t personally know anyone with that level of intercessory heart for revival and reformation here in my nation. That of course doesn’t mean there are none, merely that I am not aware of them. We know about Evan Roberts and Frank Bartleman as we know history. Presently I know many of us express a longing for revival and some a longing for and understanding of reformation. In that context I believe we need to develop a greater sensitivity to His presence and leading. We can miss opportunities related to our calling and purpose and opportunities for our culture.

An example of this that I have come back to again and again for over thirty years is Moses. In Exodus 33 we see a transition take place.

¹² Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” ¹⁴ And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” ¹⁷ So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Exodus 33:12–18 (NKJV)

For context Moses had his first encounter with Yahweh at the burning bush and many after. Yet here, even though Yahweh has already promised to send his presence, and Moses has been dwelling in it in the tent of meeting in His presence, he has a sudden realization, he doesn’t really know Yahweh in an intimate way! Thus he asks Yahweh to show him His way then asks to see His glory, His character or nature. This is unfolded when Moses goes back up the mountain and is hidden in the cleft of the rock.

Now back to us. Have we spent time in His presence, in prayer meetings and church services but not really gotten to know His heart? Have we cried out in longing to know the One with us and to see His glory? Is He stirring your heart in this direction?